As I wrote back in April:
That the crown has been well and truly lost isn't shameful - for a 2015 phone camera to have still been competitive for as long as the 808 and 1020 were in their day speaks highly of the work done by the ex-Nokians at Microsoft on the 950 camera design. But, eventually, the advances in imaging signal processor design (including combining multiple exposures), in sensor technology, and in integrating multiple cameras with different focal lengths, have all told.
I've said, with regards to phone cameras with extra telephoto lenses, that thay 'draw ahead anyway if you do lots of zooming', i.e. which phone camera wins depends to some extent on what you like to take photos of. This is just as true here, though it's also worth noting that the S9+'s standard (dual aperture) is already arguably level with the Lumia 950 in terms of performance - the telephoto lens just adds an extra dimension to photographic possibilities that takes it into another league.
In terms of camera specs, it's worth diving into nerdy detail here:
- Galaxy Note 9: Dual cameras: 12 MP (f/1.5 and 2.4, 26mm, 1/2.55" 'Fast2L3' sensor with 512MB of onboard RAM, whole sensor Dual Pixel auto-focus) and 12MP (f/2.4, 52mm - i.e. 2x, 1/3.6" sensor), both with OIS
- Lumia 950 XL: 20 MP (f/1.9, 26mm, 1/2.4" sensor), ZEISS optics, OIS, 'simple' phase detection autofocus
Some notes:
- As usual, I've mainly stayed away from 'sunny' shots in perfect conditions - I want to try and make these phone cameras really work, so I'm deliberately trying to make things hard. This shows up differences in output much more clearly.
- The Galaxy Note 9's shots are at 9MP shooting at 16:9. I'm using the 950 XL in its reduced/oversampled 8MP mode (it could rise to 16MP if absolutely needed), because I intend to make life very hard for these phone cameras in terms of lighting, and they'll need all the oversampling/combination processing they can muster to achieve detail and keep noise down. Plus I do use zoom on both phones quite a bit at times below.
- Zooming is under manual control on the Lumia 950 XL, in that a 2x zoom is always half 'PureView' (smart cropping) and half digital interpolation, while on the Galaxy Note 9 it depends on the light levels. Outdoors, in reasonable light, the Note 9 uses its telephoto lens - indoors, or in poor light, it keeps the f/1.5 lens and uses digital zoom and interpolation.
- All photos were taken handheld on full 'auto' on both phones, unless stated otherwise, and with the phones handheld. Mimicking real life users.
Let's pit the results against each other, using our Famed Interactive Comparator (FIC). All 1:1 crops are at 900x500 for comparison, but see the links for full versions.
| Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! You ideally need a powerful, large-screened tablet or a proper laptop or desktop. This comparator may not work in some browsers. Sorry about that. On Windows 10 Mobile, use the 'AAWP Universal' UWP app, which handles the comparator very competently (see the tips in the app's help screens). |
Test 1: Sunny landscape
My standard suburban test, taken in patchy sunshine in the UK in October(!) Here is the scene as presented by the Lumia 950:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Perfectly fine photos from each phone camera, though a look at the brickwork in the Note 9 image shows the extra edge enhancement and sharpening that's applied, typical for a Samsung product. It lends a slightly artificial air to the photo when looked at close-up (or when cropped in), so drops a point here.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 9 pts
Test 2: Sunny landscape, 2x zoomed
The same scene as in test 1, but this time zoomed at capture time to 2x (an estimate in the Lumia's case, since there's no scale or control for this).
In case you want to grab the original zoomed images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the zoomed images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
A clear win for the 2x telephoto lens on the Note 9 here, of course, while the Lumia 950 XL struggles slightly, with a mix of PureView zoom and lossy digital zoom - resulting in noise, artefacts and lack of clarity. As expected.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 10 pts
Test 3: Clock detail, 2x zoomed
A favourite subject to test zoom, shooting this clock tower on an overcast but bright day. Here is the scene as presented by the Lumia 950:
In case you want to grab the original 2x zoomed images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the zoomed images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Not a terrible result for the single-lensed Lumia 950 XL here, though the telephoto-shot result on the Note 9 is definitely 'cleaner', look at the clock hands, for example.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 9 pts
Test 4: Nature scene
That's enough zooming - let's look at a use case which often sorts the men from the boys - greenery and nature. Here is a lake scene as presented by the Lumia 950:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
As with test 1 above, the Samsung sharpening and edge enhancement can make a mess of things - and little things like leaf and (here) duck detail start to get lost down at the pixel level. The Lumia 950 XL has its own sharpening, at least when compared to the perfect results from the likes of the older Lumia 1020, but it's controlled and most people will agree that the top crop above is more natural and the bottom one more artificial, as if from a colour photocopy and definitely 'lossy'.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 7 pts
Test 5: Flower macro
Some pretty flowers, amazingly still out in late Autumn. Here is the scene as presented by the Lumia 950:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The Note 9 got the 'pink' wrong here, the Lumia nails it, which is ironic as it's often the Lumia that overdoes the colours! I've checked and the flowers are definitely rich pink and not light red... Plus the Lumia 950 XL camera wins again with better detail on the flower's innards. Quite stunning, in fact.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 8 pts
Test 6: Piercing the gloom
An outrageous test of seeing in the dark, these wreaths were in deep shade in an unlit church, me eyes could hardly make out what they were. Here is the scene as presented by the Lumia 950 but deliberately darkened to show what my eyes saw:
The OIS in both phone cameras made short work of the gloom, shooting at 1/5s and 1/10s respectively.
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Although I prefer the more natural look and purity of the Lumia image, there's no doubt that the Note 9's extra processing makes the written note clearer, so I'm scoring this one as a draw.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 9 pts
Test 7: Indoor colour and detail
Elsewhere in the church, lit by light coming in through side windows only, here is the scene as presented by the Lumia 950, and left this time at the Lumia's long exposure light levels, but trust me, it was quite a bit gloomier to my eyes:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
A clear win for the Lumia again, with much more natural looking detail, thanks to the PureView oversampling, while the heavy handed processing on the Note 9 is clearly not suited to low light shots like this.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 8 pts
Test 8: Night time
Dead of night and a floodlit golf club house. Here is the scene as presented by the Lumia 950:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Galaxy Note 9, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The Note 9's processing does bring up a little more detail in places, but overall the Lumia does seem to gather significantly more light and ends up with far less noise and artefacts, thanks to the PureView oversampling again.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Samsung Galaxy Note 9: 7 pts
Verdict
Adding up the points gives us:
- Lumia 950 XL: 73/80
- Galaxy Note 9: 67/80
What's surprising is that the Galaxy S9+, with ostensibly the same camera module was rated by me as just pipping the Lumia to the post, but it does go to show how critical the choice of subject can be. Do loads of zoom tests and the two Samsungs come out on top, look just at standard photos and the Lumia 950 XL sails away. Mind you, I did take some of the same photos here with the S9+ and the latter usually produced a better shot than the Note 9. By small margins, but it does show that the 'Scene Optimiser' in the Note 9's Camera application could do with a few updates!
Next up in terms of imaging comparisons on AAWP will be the much vaunted Google Pixel 3 - can it finally vanquish the Lumia for standard unzoomed shots? There's a very high bar to clear here!
