See also my image gallery, unboxing and setting up the Duo 2. Here are the imaging specs of the two:
| Lumia 950 XL (2015) | Microsoft Surface Duo 2 (2021) |
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Dedicated camera shutter button and launch key, main specs: 20MP PureView f/1.9 1/2.4" BSI sensor, PDAF, OIS |
12 MP, f/1.7, dual pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP, f/2.4, PDAF, OIS, 2x telephoto 16 MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide) |
As usual on this site, most 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, 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: Landscape
I had no sun at all throughout these tests. Not that it matters much, since any phone camera does OK in good light. For everything below I had grey and cold Autumn weather in the UK. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Although the Duo 2 shot looks over-processed - contrast enhancement, colour enhancement, edge enhancement - it does also bring the drab scene to life a bit, so I'm only going to dock it a single point. The Lumia, as usual, handles the scene exactly as it was to my eyes, with almost perfect purity.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Duo 2: 9 pts
Test 2: Landscape, zoomed
The same scene, but zoomed to about 2x - with a little PureView and a little digital zoom on the Lumia and the telephoto on the Duo 2:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Stripped of its PureView oversampling, the noise in the Lumia shot is evident. Plus there are digital zoom artefacts, while the Duo 2's telephoto does rather well, with even the image processing being quite restrained. Not bad at all!
Lumia 950 XL: 7 pts; Duo 2: 9 pts
Test 3: Overcast landscape no.2
With the weather still desperately challenging(!), here's another familiar test scene:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Unusually for me, I've taken a crop here towards the edge of the frame - and both phone cameras do pretty well. Just the odd uncertainty and overprocessed detail from the Duo 2, but I do like the colours and the way the scene has been improved overall, even if the Lumia's greyer image better reflects reality.
Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Duo 2: 9 pts
Test 4: Macro time
Perhaps not strictly a macro, but I was trying to see how close I could get with each phone camera to these berries in terms of focus.
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
Here are scaled photos, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Again both turned out well and top marks. It's tough to see exactly when each phone camera manages to get a good focus lock since the on-screen indicator on the Duo 2 lies and you have to resort to manual tapping and trial and error on the Lumia, all the while the breeze waves the branch backwards and forwards! But both are perfectly good enough efforts.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Duo 2: 10 pts
Test 5: Low light spooky test(!)
It being halloween, I thought this low light test would be in order. You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are scaled versions, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The Lumia, on full auto, is just sooo good at low light scenes - auto-exposure, colour, all handled for you. Top marks. The Surface Duo 2 doesn't do a bad job, but I had to have several tries using night mode and tapping on various parts of the scene, to get the slightly inferior version above. True, it gets more detail on the tombstone, but otherwise it's a Lumia win.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Duo 2: 8 pts
Looking at the same photos, but this time 1:1 cropped, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Again, not too shabby from the Duo 2, but it's worth remembering that the Lumia 950 XL is also a Microsoft product - from six years ago! I'm guessing the differences in the camera tech made using some of the same algorithms impossible? Or maybe it's just that this is how good the PureView oversampling was/is, and Microsoft and other manufacturers would do well to get back to using it?
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Duo 2: 8 pts
Test 6: Night time landscape
Dead of night and a brightly lit garage. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The extra enhancements in the Duo 2 mean that the detail, the text, all come out more clearly than the Lumia's more natural shot but one which has lower dynamic range. I think I prefer the Duo 2's rendition, but I could be persuaded either way. When is too much enhancement also too artificial? A score draw overall. The Lumia's capture of more of the scene's ambience (see the full photos) is balanced by the clearer detail on the forecourt in the Duo 2.
Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Duo 2: 9 pts
Test 7: Night time landscape, zoomed
The same scene, zoomed to 2x. Part PureView zoom on the Lumia, just the telephoto on the Duo 2.
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 950 XL and Surface Duo 2 for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
There's no contest here, obviously - the glass zoom beats out the PureView-stripped digital zoom on the Lumia. All that enhancement and noise reduction on the Duo 2 working very nicely here, I think.
Lumia 950 XL: 6 pts; Duo 2: 9 pts
Test 8: Portrait test
Just a quick and dirty portrait test, with my wife doing the shutter honours. It's not worth exploring this too far since the Lumia doesn't have an equivalent mode. But this will give you an idea of the difference.
Here are scaled crops, from the Lumia and then the Duo 2, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
This comparison is almost the story of modern phone imaging in one go. The Lumia's shot of me is more natural - if a tiny bit yellowed and I suspect the focal plane was closer to the wood behind me. While the Duo 2 uses its depth sensor to synthesise a fake 'bokeh', focussed on me and with the wood (only 0.6m) behind me completely out of focus.
Which one do you prefer? It's subjective, I contend, but I'll give an extra point to the Duo 2 because at least it can 'do' these fake portraits. Even if they're... fake!
Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; Duo 2: 9 pts
Scores on the doors
For the record, the scores add up as:
- Microsoft Surface Duo 2 (2021): 80 pts (/90)
- Lumia 950 XL (2015): 79 pts
So virtually a draw overall then, but any draw with a Lumia 950 (even with some zoom tests and a portrait) is worth celebrating for modern phones in 2021. Although the very best in the phone world (iPhone, Xiaomi, Samsung flagships) easily top the 950 overall now, a great many phone cameras fall miles short (including the latest Fairphone 4, of which more in a few days), so pipping the 950 in terms of points shows that the Surface Duo 2 camera system is actually pretty decent. And note that I didn't even show any ultra-wide examples, since the Lumia can't match them in any way. So add that to the Duo 2's credit too.
My fear was that Microsoft hacked on some average camera hardware and without care and attention to the image processing, but it's clear that they did put effort in after all and much to my surprise I find myself thinking that I could absolutely live with the Duo 2 camera system in a primary smartphone. Who'd have thought it?