It's notable that Sony phone cameras have traditionally underperformed, despite Sony itself being a leader in sensor technology - the blame is usually laid at the door of the teams working on optimisation and image processing, but it does seem from my tests here that the team has at least been doing some good work.
Let's start with a few specs:
| Lumia 950 XL (2015) | Sony Xperia 5 ii (2020) |
|
Dedicated two-stage shutter button/launch key 20 MP (oversampled to 8MP here), f/1.9, 1/2.4", PDAF, OIS |
Dedicated two-stage shutter button/launch key
12 MP, f/1.7, 1/1.7" main sensor, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS |
Notes:
- I've shot at 16:9 at the default output resolutions on each (8MP/9MP).
- On the Sony, I used the default Camera app, though note that Photo Pro is also preloaded on the phone, for extreme control. Maybe another article for another day!
- All photos were taken on full auto and handheld, as a regular user would do. No tripods or desktop Photoshop 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 the 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
The static plane at the Berkshire Museum of Aviation, shot at about 50m. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Xperia 5 ii's image is less sharpened and enhanced than the 950 XL's PureView version. So we've finally found an Android phone that now leaves any final enhancement to the user and doesn't just apply it in spades to the final JPG. Which is good. Having said that, I do think the optics in the Lumia are slightly better in the main camera here. Resulting in slightly more genuine detail at the 1:1 pixel level, and that's enough for a slender win here.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Test 2: Sunny landscape, zoomed
I'll stay away from wide-angle tests, as the Lumia has no optics for this, but I think that, as usual, zoom is fair game, with the Lumia using a little bit of PureView zoom and quite a bit of lossy digital zoom, and the Sony using its dedicated 3x telephoto.
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Not a perfect telephoto shot from the Xperia, but pretty good. As with the main camera, a little user sharpening later could be done if needed, but I'd rather have things 'natural' from the outset. The Lumia's mainly lossy digital zoom isn't too bad, but seen at the pixel level here there are blocky artefacts galore.
Lumia 950 XL: 6 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Test 3: Sunny vegetation
Let's try the same thing with a natural scene, full of greenery and fractal detail. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
It's a familiar tale - incredibly well tuned PureView processing and top notch optics on the Lumia give it amazing detail at the pixel level, with the caveat of the scene being somewhat 'yellowed' - see the lattice fence in the crop, for example, plus the tree trunk in shadow really shouldn't have been that clearly brown - and, in the overall shot, the tarmac clearly isn't that colour, despite the sun. The Xperia produces a decent enough 'neutral' shot, with correct colours, but the generic Bayer processing can't quite compete with the Lumia's pixel-level detail. A score draw overall.
Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Test 4: Sunny vegetation, zoomed
Again, we'll try the zoom test (don't worry, I won't overdo zoom below).
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Not so hot for the Lumia's zoom algorithms again - I've always said that this was the one weakness of the 950's camera. Oh, and autofocus in low light. The two weaknesses. Oh, and the yellow cast. The three weaknesses(!)
The Sony does very well, with natural detail that doesn't look too artificial, all captured with its 70mm lens. Quite a dramatic difference between the two crops, of course.
Lumia 950 XL: 6 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Test 5: Garden colour
Into the garden in the sun, then, for arty close up shots. Rather than shot the whole scene as a thumbnail, let's go for the shots from each, scaled for the comparator.
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Not much between the two, I'd say. A little too much saturation from the Lumia and perhaps a hint of blown out highlights in the Xperia shot. A score draw overall - as usual, we need to dive down to the pixel level, below.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 10 pts
So, 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:
Drawing ahead, the Lumia has better dynamic range and more pleasing colours, but I'm not going to penalise the Sony too much, since with such close-up shots there are always slight differences in focus points and this makes a huge difference. Seen overall (as above), both photos are fine.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Test 6: Garden colour, take 2
Some pretty wild flowers and natural bokeh, again starting with the shots from each, scaled for the comparator.
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Again, two cracking photos. With subtly different atmosphere - the Xperia's is more cinematic in terms of colours and naturally soft bokeh, with the larger aperture allowing this. Though you can't fault the slightly colder (for once) Lumia shot. 10/10 for each.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 10 pts
Again, 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:
And sorry to pass the buck in terms of scoring, but again the issue of exact focus point comes into play - we've got to the point with modern phone camera apertures that depth of field can be pretty small for close-up shots. Not enough to ruin the shot, but enough that an exact petal-by-petal comparison can't be done in my crops. Honours even yet again.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 10 pts
Test 7: Low light medium distance
With the sun setting, a gateway in shade and some challenging sign detail. This will start sorting the two phone cameras out! Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Of note is that, from now on, the Xperia switches to an auto-night-mode that captures several shots and then combines them - while the Lumia takes just a single shot but combines pixels from the high resolution sensor. So different approaches, but both work really well, as you can see here. The Xperia's shot is fractionally sharper and less noisy, but the Lumia's is fractionally smoother in details. Both excellent IMHO.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 10 pts
Test 8: Low light landscape
A club-house against the post-sunset sky. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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 definite Lumia win here, the purity of the 950 XL's camera in low light always impresses me, while the multi-frame auto-night mode on the Xperia can cope with a lot - and focus reliably - but it ends up smudging the finest of detail - look at the signs in the clubhouse window, for example.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Test 9: Night
With the sun long down, it's almost completely dark, yet the phone cameras gather so much light that it seems much lighter than the scene was to my eyes. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Genuinely crisper and lighter, the Lumia 950 XL wins this again by a slight margin. The Xperia 5 ii isn't doing badly and its results are comparable to the mainstream in the phone world. It's just on a lower tier to the mighty 950. If you don't believe me, grab the photos and see for yourself.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 8 pts
Test 10: Shooting the moon
I don't often try this, as it's so tricky on phone cameras that don't have periscope zoom - but here goes anyway, just for fun. Don't expect too much from either phone camera. Here is the overall scene, shot just after sunset:
You can grab the original (shared JPG) photos here from the Lumia 950 XL and the Sony Xperia 5 ii for your own analysis.
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:
Unsurprisingly, the Xperia's telephoto does slightly better, though the blocky zoom on the Lumia doesn't do a terrible job - you just have to squint a little more when looking at it. Don't bother judging the sky colour either - so much depends on the exact zoom level, focus point, and so on. This one's just for fun, so I'm being generous to each!
Lumia 950 XL: 7 pts; Sony Xperia 5 ii (mid 2021 retest): 9 pts
Verdict
Adding up the points gives us a close run thing:
- Sony Xperia 5 ii (2021 retest): 111 pts (/120)
- Lumia 950 XL (2015): 108 pts (/120)
Given that the last time I did this exact same test, the Xperia came in a few points behind the Lumia, it's notable that it's now (just) in front, due to better image processing all round. Well done to Sony - the Xperia 5 ii camera isn't quite perfect yet, but it's better than it was and it shows that Sony is paying attention to its products and general software quality control.
It's also worth noting in passing that the Xperia 5 ii doesn't claim to be an imaging-centric smartphone - rather it's a good multimedia all rounder, with the good 3.5mm output, the front-firing stereo speakers, and the innovative dynamic vibration system. Is the phone a natural Lumia successor in the Android world? Almost.
PS. The Sony Xperia 5 iii is delayed, but I'll hopefully have one in September, for more testing!