It's an all-wood battle today! XtremeSkins on the Duo 2 and a Mozo back on the 950 XL!
As ever, a reminder of raw specifications and imaging features:
| Surface Duo 2 (2021) | Lumia 950 XL (2015) |
|
12 MP, f/1.7, 1/2.4", dual pixel PDAF, OIS TOF 3D (depth) |
Dedicated camera shutter button and launch key 20MP PureView f/1.9 1/2.4" BSI sensor, PDAF, OIS |
The more modern phone camera system obviously matches and exceeds the older hardware, if only by virtue of extra lenses, but how will it match the refined PureView RGB oversampling algorithms that Microsoft inherited from Nokia back in the day?
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: Sunny landscape
A regular landmark near me, lit by gorgeous but weak winter sun. Here's the scene, for context:
You can grab the original photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
We've been here before, of course. The Android phone, even under Microsoft's care, has some edge enhancement and sharpening that I don't like much. It's nowhere near in Samsung's league here in terms of over-enhancement, but it's also not that close to the sheer beauty of the PureView-oversampled Lumia shot, which looks so incredibly natural, even here at the pixel level.
However, the extra point I'd have given to the Lumia gets immediately lost because of the 'yellow' cast, typical of Lumia processing when there's sun around. Every hour is 'golden hour' when a Lumia's in control!!
Surface Duo 2: 9 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts
Test 2: Sunny landscape, zoomed
The same scene, this time centred on the church clock, but using the 2x telephoto camera on the Duo 2 and trying to get close in terms of zoom factor on the Lumia 950 XL (the UI doesn't give exact figures!) You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
As regular readers will know, the Lumia 950 XL has 1.5x PureView (smart cropping) zoom, then the rest is lossy digital - as evidenced here by a significantly worse zoomed image, not helped by a bit of over-exposure on the clock hands and even more 'yellowing' than in the non-zoomed test shot.
In contrast, the Duo 2 does pretty well here. Remember that this is a 1:1 crop into a 12MP image from a relatively small phone telephoto camera.
Surface Duo 2: 9 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 5 pts
Test 3: Medium distance detail
Still vaguely sunny and in good light, here's a charity plaque at about 10m. Here's the scene, for context:
You can grab the original photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
You'll notice a difference in framing, despite standing in the same spot for both - that's because the Lumia (as you'll see in all examples here) has a slightly wider angle main camera. Partly explaining the slight detail differences in the plaque in the two photos - leaving the yellow cast being the only major and significant difference. Enough to lose the Lumia a point. At least.
Surface Duo 2: 9 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts
Test 4: Medium distance, zoomed
The same scene, but I can't resist another basic zoom test. Again, 2x telephoto versus 1.5x PureView zoom plus 0.5x digital. You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
As ever, text detail shows up defects very clearly, and here the words 'Rotary International' on the gearwheel are best to focus on. I can't fault the 2x telephoto result from the Duo 2, but again the Lumia's zoom is pretty awful. Worse than it should have been, as I've said for years, Nokia and Microsoft just put zero effort into their zoom algorithms for the 20MP sensored devices (Lumia 930, 1520, 950 etc.)
Plus it's err... all yellow again!
Surface Duo 2: 10 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 5 pts
Test 5: Serious zoom
Before I leave zoom, we'll try one huge software zoom. Here's the scene, for context, you're looking at the tiny bird on a pole in the centre:
I then zoomed by 5x on each device. The Duo 2 has 2x telephoto and then an extra 3x software zoom, while the Lumia is almost all digital zoom and using Nokia/Microsoft's rather shoddy zoom algorithms (IMHO)! The Lumia's camera UI also doesn't quite make it to 5x - there are no numbers in the interface but I estimate it tops out at 4x.
You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Yes, this is something of an artificial test, since you wouldn't actually use either photo, let alone the 1:1 crop, but the difference between the two is somewhat stunning. Most smartphone camera software is rather good at 'interpolative zoom' and has been for a decade, but (for the umpteenth time) this is an area where Nokia and then Microsoft dropped the ball. Or maybe they didn't think people zoomed much?
[For the record, I still think the Lumia 930/1520/950 cameras should have been limited to the Pureview smart-crop limit (for their 20MP sensors) of 1.5x and prevented from zooming at all when in 16/20MP modes.]
Surface Duo 2: 8 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 5 pts
Test 6: Indoor macro
Let's change it up. Indoor lighting and a close-up subject, a dried pale pink rose of some kind.
You can grab the original photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
Here are scaled shots, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
PureView tech does well here, to my eyes the Lumia shot looks more realistic, while the Duo tries to edge enhance everything, with a somewhat artificial and sterile look. Of course, this is somewhat subjective and you may prefer the more defined photo. But it's my feature and I'm giving the Lumia the nod!
Surface Duo 2: 9 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts
Test 7: Indoor colour frenzy
A few metres away, a stunning mass of coloured plumes.
You can grab the original photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
Here are scaled shots, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Here the slight edge enhancement on the Duo 2 actually works to its advantage, with the mass of artificial fibres really standing out. But the Lumia shot is also excellent, so let's call this one a draw.
Surface Duo 2: 10 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts
Test 8: Night landscape
Now one of the major improvements in the Surface Duo 2's January 2022 update was night mode in the camera, so we need to drop down to very low light levels from now on. Here's an interesting, partly illuminated, building site at night, shot at about 30m. Here's the scene, for context:
You can grab the original photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Analysis is tough here, since the crops are so different. The Lumia's PureView processing gets rid of most noise in one single exposure, while the Duo 2 uses modern multi-frame exposure, i.e. 'night mode', and then combines the images using clever algorithms. Both photos are eminently useable as-is, even if not perhaps at 1:1. The Duo 2's night mode uses some pretty heavy handed noise reduction routines, plus edge enhancement, resulting in details like railings seeming too artificial, but on the other hand those same routines pull out detail (especially in text) that are all but impossible to make out in the Lumia crop.
Surface Duo 2: 9 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts
Test 9: Night landscape, take 2
Some graves in an urban church yard, shot at about 30m. Here's the scene, for context:
You can grab the original photos from the Surface Duo 2 and Lumia 950 XL for your own analysis.
1:1 crops then, from the Surface Duo 2 and then the Lumia, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Both photos in this low light scene are rather decent. Neither are 100% perfect, but from a tiny phone camera they're surprisingly good. The Duo using 'night mode' multi-frame capture, of course, though it's notable that it does this in a second or so rather than three seconds or more on iPhones or Pixels. While the Lumia is using its single frame PureView oversampling, to similar effect.
I'm going to give the nod to the Duo 2 by a small margin, even though the increase in detail is partly due to the narrower main lens field of view.
Surface Duo 2: 10 pts; Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts
Scores on the doors
For the record, the scores add up as:
- Surface Duo 2 (2021): 83 pts (/90)
- Lumia 950 XL (2015): 69 pts
Now, much of the difference in scores is down to the inclusion of some zoomed photos, but this is 2022 and if there's an extra camera then I should definitely test it. In fact, I didn't test the Duo 2's ultra-wide, which would have widened the scores further (I still consider ultra-wides something of a gimmick, which is why I rarely test them).
The January 2022 update certainly improved night shots on the Duo 2, but the main improvement in daily use is that the viewfinder is faster, i.e. the preview images don't lurch around in imperfect light, as they did before. The device's form factor doesn't perhaps lend itself to intensive snappingm but when you do, it's a far more '2022' experience and I'm sure Microsoft will improve things still further as the updates roll on...