As the excitement builds for next week’s launch of the OnePlus 6, the company has been teasing the capabilities of the new phone’s dual camera, challenging us to differentiate its output from the best available from Apple, Samsung and Google.
In a new blind test posted on the OnePlus India website, the company pits the forthcoming OnePlus 6 against Apple’s iPhone X, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Google Pixel 2, three of the best-performing smartphone cameras currently available.
Without naming the cameras which took each photo, the blind test invites readers to select their favourites from each of four categories: ‘Architecture’, ‘Low Light’, ‘Low Light Portrait’ and ‘Portrait’.
The blind test also forms the basis for a competition where users can enter a lucky draw to win items from a selection of OnePlus goodies, including a OnePlus 6.
Importantly, all sample images have been stripped of any identifying metadata and reduced to the same size and shape in pixels. This has the effect of making it harder to distinguish between them as only full-size samples can fully reveal any advantages to be gained from higher-resolution cameras and sharper lenses.
However, significant differences remain between the output of the four cameras. Some of these are down to subjective choices such as whether to enhance colors for more impact or leave them more neutral, or whether to artificially boost sharpness and clarity. One camera, in particular, seems to render images with a noticeably warmer tone than the others. Whether this is a good or bad thing will be down to user preference.
The biggest differences appear in the regular and low-light portrait tests, where issues of capturing a wide dynamic range are seen to come into play. This causes some shots to blow out highlights and lose shadow detail where others do not. There are also errors present in some shots where the camera has failed to accurately separate the subject from the background when creating an artificial bokeh effect in portrait mode.
If you’re familiar with any of these smartphones, you may find that some of these results have a tell-tale look about them which provide clues as to the identities of the phones which shot them, but so far no-one seems to be sure which is which.
Taking to Twitter on Friday @OnePlus posted images from the Architecture category, challenging readers to match the images to their respective phones.
The #OnePlus6 Dual Camera takes on the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S9, and Google Pixel 2. Can you match the shot to the phone? https://t.co/5TPq08B71n pic.twitter.com/1zj3CeWAgV
— OnePlus (@oneplus) May 11, 2018
“The #OnePlus6 Dual Camera takes on the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S9, and Google Pixel 2. Can you match the shot to the phone?”
Many differing opinions were posted in the comments, which would indicate that the OnePlus 6 can at least hold its own against its biggest competition when taking general, not-so-demanding shots (the Huawei P20 Pro being notably absent from the comparison).
And this, I believe, is the whole point of the exercise; to show that a cutting-edge camera need not require an eyewateringly expensive handset. Pricing is yet to be announced, but the OnePlus 6 is expected to undercut the competition by a significant margin.
All will be revealed on May 16th when the OnePlus 6 launches in London, UK.
___
More By Me On Forbes
Huawei P20 Pro Camera: How It Beats The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus And iPhone X
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Camera: How It Beats The iPhone X
