It was tempting to pitch the Lumia 950 and iPhone 11 Pro head to head, with our comparator, and maybe I'll do just that in a future article. But context is everything and with the 'industry leading' (according to some) Pixel camera now under Android 10 and with Huawei's camera algorithms now mature (though still over-eager, in my view), I'm opting for a four way comparison. Yet again, the question I'm asking is: if a Lumia 950 owner wanted to keep the same IQ and yet needed to jump to another smartphone platform, which one, and which device to target?
As usual, all shots are handheld and on full auto (other than turning off auto-flash) and at (PureView/pixel-binned) default resolutions. All AI aids (from the Lumia 950's fairly simple HDR to the Pixel and iPhone's HDR+ and Smart HDR, to the P30 Pro's 'AI enhancer' system) were left turned on, to see how the manufacturers wanted to treat each scene.
It should also be noted that the iPhone 11 Pro and Huawei P30 Pro have extra, useful, wide angle lenses, but these aren't matched by the Lumia and Pixel, so we'll leave a direct comparison of these from the equation, for now. Although the Lumia and Pixel don't have telephoto lenses, they do have a workable software zoom, through PureView smart cropping and multi exposure combination, respectively, so I think zoom is fair game for comparison here.
Test 1: Sunny landscape
A doddle for any phone camera, of course, with masses of detail to examine in gory detail. This is the rather picturesque Oracle in Reading, UK. Here's the scene from the Lumia 950:
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
All four crops are pretty good in this light, of course, but the Lumia just takes the win on purity. Look closely and the Pixel's output is slightly processed and also a little muted, the P30's image has the usual Huawei over-sharpening that ruins delicate detail (as in the tree), while the iPhone 11 Pro's output looks promising but straight diagonals (e.g. in the white fencing) have 'jaggies'. Anyway, let your own eyes be the judge and yes, grab the originals if you're keen, to do your own checks and analysis in the photo editor of your choice.
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 10; Google Pixel 3 XL: 9; Huawei P30 Pro: 9; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 9
Test 2: Sunny landscape, zoomed
The same Oracle scene. I've gone to 2x, at which level three of the phone cameras are happy, but in the P30 Pro's defense and assuming that if you wanted to zoom then you probably wouldn't mind more of it, I've allowed the P30 Pro's 5x periscope zoom lens.
So here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
Unsurprisingly, the Lumia 950 and Pixel's 2x zoom is imperfect, in each case with some guesswork - the Lumia's attempt comes off as too 'blocky', while the Pixel's is too 'vague'. In contrast, the optical zoom of the iPhone 11 Pro (2x, but incredibly precise and sharp) and the P30 Pro (5x, though over-sharpened and over-processed) produce more - and better - zoom. The P30 Pro has to win this, but not by a landslide - the iPhone's output is very satisfying and useful, whereas (as I've pointed out before) 5x zoom is overkill for many situations and the Huawei can't use its telephoto beneath this zoom factor.
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 6; Google Pixel 3 XL: 6; Huawei P30 Pro: 9; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 8
Test 3: Landscape no.2 - greenery overload
A pretty canal lock and a favourite place to snap in the sun. Here's the scene from the Google Pixel 3 XL, for reasons I'll explain below:
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
Now, you could argue that the Lumia 950 XL's shot renders greenery best, but the iPhone runs it close and I have to dock the 950 XL a point or two because of the yellow cast, seen clearly here on the grey concrete, which appears almost orange as a result! I know the Lumia was trying to represent a warm sunny day, but it clearly goes too far. Then there's dynamic range, with the bright sun on the stonework causing some blow out on all but the Pixel 3 XL's shot.
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 7; Google Pixel 3 XL: 9; Huawei P30 Pro: 8; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 8
Test 4: Interior detail overload
The church in Sonning, with masses of detail to latch onto and pleasant interior lighting in places (thanks to it being sunny outside still!). Here's the scene from the Lumia 950:
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
Don't be swayed by the dramatic attempt by the last three camera phones to extract the carved patterns in the wood of the pulpit - it's impressive, but unrealistic and they couldn't be seen in such detail with the naked eye. This focus on increasing contrast and sharpness is a modern trend, of course, and it adversely affects other items in a scene. So the flowers here, for example, look more natural in the Lumia photo and more artificial in the others. I realise that it's a small 'hill to die on', but I want my greenery to look real and not like it's from a colour photocopy.
The colour differences in the wood are interesting - the Lumia (unusually) gets the wood about right to my eyes, along with absolute purity, while the others lighten the wood and also introduce noise (or noise plus smoothing in the Huawei's case).
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 10; Google Pixel 3 XL: 8; Huawei P30 Pro: 8; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 8
Test 5: Interior detail, zoomed
Look, if I just tested phone camera with no zoom (or wide angle) then the four year old Lumia 950 XL is going to keep winning, even in 2019. Because it's main PureView camera (at least, unzoomed) is that good. So we'll give the others a chance again, by looking at zoom (2x or 5x, in the P30 Pro's case) in the previous church interior setting and see where we get to.
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
Similar to the previous zoom test, the Huawei's 5x periscope zoom is in another class (if you actually need to zoom in that far) and so has to win here, even if there's that odd 'noise reduced and then sharpened' processed look. You're optically that much closer, etc. The iPhone 11 Pro's genuine 2x telephoto does very well though, not blowing out the window too much and producing clear detail. One step back, the Pixel's shot is more contrasty, though not in a good way, and the Lumia actually brings up last place here - I did say that zooming wasn't its strong suit!
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 6; Google Pixel 3 XL: 7; Huawei P30 Pro: 9; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 8
Test 6: THOSE flowers...
In the church I was struck with a couple of amazing bunches of artificial flowers, loads of colours and detail, a perfect subject. I picked the best lit. For this test shot, levels of detail were similar, so I decided to judge based on the whole shot and colour balance, which seemed to be the main differentiator.
So here are scaled versions from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
Here again, I find greater accuracy and pleasure in the Lumia 950's photo - the colours are richer, but not overdone, the exposure is spot on, etc. In contrast, the Pixel 3 XL version is colder and somehow muted, while the P30 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro versions ramp up the brightness over-zealously, all reducing the visual impact of the real life colours.
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 10; Google Pixel 3 XL: 9; Huawei P30 Pro: 8; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 8
Test 7: Indoors, artificial light
Inside a store, loads of candles, with indifferent lighting, and with detail that deserves cropping in on. Here's the scene from the Lumia 950:
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
All four crops are pretty good, though the Pixel's slightly narrower field of view gives it a slight advantage here in terms of the clarity of text, while the Lumia does the best job on the background colours and general purity. The P30 Pro perhaps tries too hard to lighten up the scene, while the iPhone shows a very slight 'fuzzing' (as also seen in the diagonal rails in the first example above), perhaps a sign that its imaging algorithms need a little fine tuning?
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 10; Google Pixel 3 XL: 10; Huawei P30 Pro: 9; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 9
Test 8: Pub time!
A very tricky night time shot, with dark and bright areas. Here's the scene from the P30 Pro, which seemed to have the best dynamic range here, using its Night mode. The Pixel 3 XL also has a multi-exposure 'Night Sight' mode, as does the iPhone 11 Pro, though the latter can't be selected manually, it's used if the phone thinks light is low enough, etc.:
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
It's something of a sign of the times that even the Lumia 950 XL's legendary night time prowess is now being defeated by multi-exposure 'night modes' in today's flagships, using capture times of up to five seconds in this case, taking dozens (hundreds) of shorter exposures and then aligning and then combining them in a second or so of advanced processing. Doing things this way, actual 'exposures' can be as long as is needed to grab enough light, plus dynamic range can be much higher because the extremes of light and dark are set in software, not dictated by sensors and optics.
As a result, the 950 XL's photo isn't as crisp as I'd like (only PDAF in the focus department), plus its 1/7s exposure could really have been upped to gather more detail. The P30 Pro has excellent dynamic range, quoting a 5s exposure time, but it goes (as usual) so far overboard in the processing department that details are somewhat ugly, with even the white-painted bricks over-obvious in the crop. The iPhone 11 Pro gets the scene more balanced, though quotes exposure as 1/8s, which can't be right.
The win has to go to the Pixel though, with its more mature Night Sight system, quoting 1/4s exposure, even though actually capturing the scene took four seconds! Go figure... You can't trust EXIF data anymore! The Pixel's shot is balanced well, with impressive detail - look at the colour on the red flowers on the right of the crop, for example.
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 6; Google Pixel 3 XL: 9; Huawei P30 Pro: 8; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 8
Test 9: Dead of night
Few light sources and my standard night time test. The Lumia 950 has always ruled the roost here, but I think the 2019 night modes on the other phone cameras will have something to say! Here's the scene from the Pixel 3 XL:
And here are 1:1 crops from, in order, the Lumia 950, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Huawei P30 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, click the phone names here for the original JPGs, to do your own analysis:
All very interesting. The Lumia 950 XL produces a shot that gives a good idea how dark it was, plus there's actual detail in the greenery, but spoils things with a little yellow cast. While at the other extreme the P30 Pro goes for such a long exposure that you can see quite a few stars! Wow. However, it then ruins many scene details with over-zealous noise reduction and compensating sharpening. The Pixel's shot is very useable, with colours nicely balanced and neutral, but the surprise here is the iPhone 11 Pro's shot, which includes the brightest stars again, but also produces a hyper-real result that almost turns night into day, including greenery that's not too offensive. And just look at the detail captured, including, I think, part of the Plough constellation?(!) Exposure is quoted in EXIF as 1/2s, but I remember that it actually took around four seconds in real time. So, again, don't trust EXIF data anymore!
It was a surprise becase Apple said at the iPhone 11 Pro launch that its Night mode was intended to be restrained and representing reality, unlike the hyper-reality of the Pixel's Night Sight. Hmm....
As for scoring, I guess it depends on the effect/shot you wanted to capture! I'd have given the iPhone 10 pts, but because there's no way to turn Night mode off, you're stuck with hyper reality, it seems - and that's not always right!
Scores: Lumia 950 XL: 8; Google Pixel 3 XL: 9; Huawei P30 Pro: 8; Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 9
Verdict
Adding up the scores (all out of 90) gives:
- Huawei P30 Pro: 76
- Google Pixel 3 XL: 76
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro: 75
- Lumia 950 XL: 73
All very close then, and it shows that 2019 imaging flagships have definitely caught up to the best of Lumias, at least if you factor in zoom and night modes. Which I think you have to do. And I haven't even gone into the excellent wide angle lenses of the P30 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro, which add another creative dimension again.
(In fact, the iPhone includes a cool feature where, having taken a standard shot, if you accidentally chop something out of the frame and wish, after the fact, that you had taken a wider angle photo, you can multi-touch ‘out’ inside the Photos ‘Edit’ cropping UI and - magically - information from a ‘behind the scenes’ wide angle shot is spliced in around your main shot. When this works - and saves the day - it's reminiscent of the best of the Lumia 1020 back in 2013, with its 'reframing' feature.)
Comments welcome. I still don't think we can say that the absolute 'purity' of the Lumias has been bettered, but the competition are getting ever closer in this department, all the while pulling out computational photography miracles from multiple lenses that blow the mind in terms of results.