Let's start with a few basic specs:
| Lumia 950 XL (2015) | OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020) |
|
20 MP (oversampled to 8MP in 16:9 mode here), f/1.9, 1/2.4", PDAF, OIS |
Main camera: 48MP (pixel-binned to 9MP in 16:9), f/1.7, 1/1.43", omnidirectional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS |
So the Lumia is massively out-gunned - but can the legendary PureView oversampling algorithms get close to the newer hardware's raw capabilities?
Notes:
- I've shot at 16:9 at the default output resolutions on each (leaving headroom for some lossless 'PureView' zoom into the 950 XL's sensor (and 'pixel binning' on the OPPO device) and also getting the advantages of oversampling and noise reduction).
- All photos were taken on full auto and handheld, as a regular user would do. No tripods or RAW editing sessions needed!
Let's pit the results against each other, using our Famed Interactive Comparator (FIC). All 1:1 crops are at 900x500 for comparison, though I've put up the originals on my own server, for you to download if you want to do your own analysis.
| 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
A suburban front garden, shot in the sun, with distant flower detail. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 XL and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
I'm not happy with either photo, to be honest. The Lumia 950 gets decent enough detail and colouring, looking fairly natural, but it blows out the heads of the white flowers, so the HDR system isn't coping there. But worse is to come, because the OPPO Find X2 Pro not only blows out the flowers but also over-sharpens and edge-enhances everything (grass/stems etc) to the point of looking horrible. If one were to crop a Find X2 Pro photo then you'd quickly be staring at ugly artefacts too. The Lumia 950 isn't totally innocent on the purity front, of course, but it stays within acceptable bounds, while the OPPO over-steps the mark, in my view.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 6 pts
Test 2: Man-made detail
A sunny day, but this is man made detail, with text, in bright-ish shade. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 XL and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
From the artefacts in areas of pure colours (the green supports) to the 'photocopied' nature of the seed detail and label text, the Find X2 Pro woefully disappoints here. The imaging specs are amazing, but the image processing is terribly tuned, as if the imaging team applied the same algorithms as for a $100 budget phone. All a bit of a let down, really....
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 7 pts
Test 3: 100% artificial, evening sun and shade
No nature in this shot, so all man-made edges! Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 XL and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The extra light requirement here, plus the lack of natural detail to mess up, both mean that the OPPO draws equal for this shot, with its larger sensor and native resolution. The Lumia 950 shot is darker, though realistically so, to my eyes, plus its detail is slightly more believable. But the OPPO Find X2 Pro makes a good fist of this scene, lightening it up and accentuating all those hoses and signs.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 9 pts
Test 4: Showing that 5x periscope zoom, though...
The same scene, but I should at least acknowledge the Find X2 Pro's 5x periscope zoom lens. You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 XL and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
A dramatic result, to be sure. Zoom is one of the Lumia 950 XL's weak points, in terms of algorithms, while 5x zoom is the big selling point of the Find X2 Pro's imaging system. And, interestingly, as soon as you zoom, the over-sharpening and edge enhancement is kept in check. Showing that if OPPO has the will, they can tame the processing on non-zoomed shots too.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 5 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 9 pts
Test 5: HDR flower
A pretty back-lit flower buried in a mass of green shade - I couldn't easily get close to it, so a crop, as here, is a good way as any to see it larger in the frame. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 XL and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Although the Find X2 Pro's sharpening and edge enhancement isn't offensive here, in fact it helps the flower's detail 'pop' off the page, even at 1:1 here, the phone camera does lighten the scene so much that what should have been a purple/lilac affair becomes positively pink! The Lumia 950's pixel-level detail is less immediately impressive, but it is more accurate and more natural.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 8 pts
Test 6: Last sunny test, last zoom...
One more data point for the pot before I switch to low light testing. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 XL and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
As usual, phone cameras which over-sharpen come unstuck when asked to snap bricks. You can see the effect here, with the brick-to-mortar ratio being very different between the two snaps/crops. Edges are enhanced so much here that the house looks 'wrong' in the OPPO shot. The same processing makes a mess of the greenery - again. In contrast, the Lumia 950 XL adds a slight 'warmth' to the scene, but nothing too outrageous - the bricks and greenery look natural, if not 'real' (as you'd get from a Lumia 1020 shot, for example).
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 8 pts
Test 7: And now with the periscope...!
The same house but this time tapped through to x5 on the OPPO and at maximum zoom on the Lumia. You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Again - unsurprisingly - the genuine 5x optical zoom on the OPPO wins out by a huge margin. And in some style. Though I should also point out that it's possible to completely mess the shot up if you don't know what you're doing - in the UI you can zoom in with several methods and as you zoom in to get artistic framing, you might end up at, say, 4.3x zoom. At which point it's lossy digital zoom, with uncertainty and artefacts. With a sub-standard shot. Then as you slip past 4.9x to 5x, the camera used changes and everything's beautifully clear again.
PS. As a side note, although digital zoom at 4x isn't ideal, I've noticed (and beyond the scope of this comparison) that the OPPO sharpening gets dialled down at the same time. Which has to be better than leaving it all turned on!
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 5 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 10 pts
Test 8: Macro attempt
These flower heads were road-side during lockdown and lent themselves to trying to see how close each phone camera could focus. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Stunning results from the Lumia 950 XL, as you can see. Just amazing. The OPPO also claimed to be focussed, but more on the petals behind the head, it seems, even though they weren't centre of the frame. I'm not going to knock the OPPO down too much here, since macro shots are always a bit hit and miss in terms of focus and shallow depth of field, but I think you'll agree the Lumia has to take a bow here.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 8 pts
Test 9: Books in a dim living room
A severe test of light gathering ability and noise reduction, in dim indoor lighting. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Considering the very low light, both shots are great - the Find X2 Pro gets lots of text for its imaging routines to enhance, as you can see above. Yes, the same processing also exagerate the blemishes in the spines, but overall this becomes a win for the OPPO, with its much larger lens and sensor. Plus, I suspect, it's more accurate focussing - the Lumia 950 XL is always a bit hit and miss in this regard when light gets low!
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 9 pts
Test 10: Dead of night
My usual suburbia at night test. Here is the overall scene, from the Lumia 950:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 950 and then OPPO Find X2 Pro, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
I'm declaring this one a score draw - the Lumia wins on colouring but the OPPO wins on sheer detail, even if some of this comes from simply cranking up the contrast and sharpening (and one could do the same to the Lumia shot in a photo editor). Neither photo is perfect at the pixel level, but then you wouldn't expect them to be, in such darkness. The photos already look way lighter than it was to my eyes. And if the goal was snapping something under almost impossible lighting then both phone cameras are up to the job.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 9 pts
Verdict
For the record, the scores add up as:
- Lumia 950 (late 2015): 83 pts
- OPPO Find X2 Pro (2020): 83 pts
I promise you this isn't a fix. It's just how things worked out. Now, just because the scores are level doesn't mean that the phone cameras are equal and that the OPPO Find X2 Pro would make a good replacement for a Lumia 950 XL - it won't. Switch and you'll be driven crazy occasionally by the edge enhancement at the pixel level, especially when grass, hedges, trees or bricks are in the scene. However, there's the obvious plus side of a genuine 5x telephoto lens (claiming up to 10x 'hybrid' zoom, but that's just some interpolation on the 5x results, so I didn't bother testing this), along with an ultra-wide (fish eye) lens (also not tested). So the two phone cameras are very different beasts. You pay your money (quite a lot, in this case) and you take your choice!
PS. The next logical test would be to pitch this against the Lumia 1020, from even earlier, from 2013. Which does have decent zoom and which steers ever further from the modern trend towards over-processing. If there's enough interest then I'll get right on this!