Oppo Find X8 Pro at a glance

• 50MP f/1.6 main camera, 23mm equiv. OIS
• 50MP f/2.0 ultra wide camera, 15mm equiv.
• 50MP f/2.6 telephoto, 73mm equiv. OIS
• 50MP f/4.3 “ultra telephoto”, 135mm equiv. OIS
• 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera (no AF)
• 4k video recording, 30/60fps
• 6.78-inch FHD+ (2780 x 1264 pixels), 120Hz, 4500 nits peak brightness AMOLED,  Corning Gorilla Glass 7i
• 5770mAh battery with 80W fast charging, up to 50W wireless charging
• MediaTek Dimensity 9400 processor
• Android 15

For the last few years, Oppo has been responsible for creating some of the best smartphones for photographers on the market – however, they haven’t always all been available around the globe.

For example, the Oppo Find X6 Pro was easily one of the best smartphones of 2023, but only being available in China was a real shame for anyone anywhere else.

Fortunately, this time around, the Find X8 Pro has been granted a wider release, including in the UK and Europe. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be widely available for sale in the US – though you can import it via the likes of eBay and so on.

Features

Oppo has once again teamed up with Hasselblad for the Find X8 Pro, but there has been some changes to the camera set up compared to the Find X6 Pro.

You now get four lenses, instead of three, however, the main sensor in the previous model was a large one-inch type, whereas now, it’s a more conventional 1/1.4” sensor.

All four of the sensors are 50MP resolution. Alongside the standard (23mm equivalent) lens, there’s also a 15mm ultrawide and two zoom lens (73mm and 135mm). Personally I’d have preferred to keep the larger sensor and lose the extra lens, but we’ll see how they perform a bit later on.

The selfie camera is a high-resolution 32MP, but unlike its predecessor, it now no longer has AF, which again is a shame.

Both of the zoom lenses are periscope type, making it the first “globally available” smartphone to have dual periscopes. Oppo claims that using this design allows them to fit high-performing zoom lenses on top of excellent sensors, but again, I’ll evaluate that a bit more closely in time. There’s also an “AI Telescope Zoom”, which uses AI to enhance digital zooming – it automatically kicks in when working at 10x or above and promises sharper images than its rival.

Other useful photography specs here include “Lightning Snap”, where 7fps shooting is activated if you hold down the shutter button, Hasselblad portrait mode, which gives you the option to recreate the look of six different Hasselblad lenses, and 4K video recording.

Looking elsewhere on the specs sheet, we’ve got up to 80W super fast charging, up to 50W wireless charging (you’ll need compatible chargers, sold separately), IP69 waterproofing and a 4500-nits peak brightness display.

Handling and Design

With its 6.78” screen, the Oppo Find X8 Pro is pretty similar to other smartphones in this sector. You might find it a little on the large side if you’ve small hands, but it’s pretty par for the course these days. It’s smaller than some of the very largest flagships out there, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

It’s slightly lower in resolution than its predecessor, but it has a higher max brightness, so photos and videos continue to look great on the screen.

In terms of outward design, it’s got sleekly rounded corners and a smooth finish to the back. I’ve been using the Pearl White version, which looks very nice and doesn’t leave you with fingerprints or a smudged back. Additionally, apparently no two of the Pearl White phones look the same, so that’s a quirky feature.

Perhaps more importantly, the phone has “Oppo Armour Shield” which is designed to keep the phone safe from damaged. It goes beyond the pretty standard IP68, giving you IP69 waterproofing, meaning not only is it waterproof but it can apparently also withstand jets of 80 degree water being sprayed at it. This isn’t something I’ve tested it for, but, I can say it’s survived normal wet use.

The screen also seems to have withstood scratches perfectly well, too. One thing to note here is that it’s a curved display, which seems to have fallen mostly out of favour with other manufacturers. Oppo calls this “Infinite View Display”, pointing out the sides are only “slightly” curved, so as not to affect on screen content that delivers the “best of both worlds.” It seems to work well, but if you’re insistent on the completely flat displays of Samsung, Google et al, then you’ll be out of luck here.

You can double tap either of the volume control buttons to quickly launch the camera when the screen is off. This is handy when you quickly want to grab an unfolding moment. Note however, that if you have the screen unlocked but you’re in a different app, then it won’t work. You can also use the volume button to fire off the shutter, or if you prefer you can change this to control zoom instead.

An interesting new feature is the “Quick Launch” button, which doesn’t feel like a button at all, as it’s flush to the side of the phone body and uses haptic touch to work. With this, you can double tap it to open the camera from wherever you are in the phone, and you can also tap it to take photos or videos. You can also slide your finger along it to control the zoom – making it a little bit like the iPhone’s Camera Control button.

The difference here is that there’s no “protection” to stop you from accidentally touching it, so when you’re first getting to know the camera/phone, it’s very easy to accidentally zoom in and out when you didn’t mean to. It’s something you do get used to eventually – and note that it only works in landscape orientation anyway. You can also switch it off if you find you’re doing it far too often.

Native camera app

There’s lots of different shooting modes to choose from with the Find X8 Pro, so it’s worth spending a decent amount of time getting to know it, especially if you’ve not used an Oppo before.

The default shooting mode is “Photo”, where you can access all four of the phones native lenses, as well as the digital and AI zoom options. You’ll also notice if you tap on the word Photo, you’ll be able to choose one of the “Smart Scenes”, which you can use if you’re photographing a concert, a silhouette or some fireworks.

If you tap the 1x lens, you can also access 28mm (1.2x) and 35mm (1.4x) options – similar to what we’ve seen on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Here however you can also tap on the 3x lens, and also access 85mm (3.5x), or tap on 6x and access 300mm (13.3x) or 600mm (26.6x). If you want to zoom further than this, you can pinch on the screen to reach up to 120x.

In this mode, you can also access a range of digital filters, including some which are designed to emulate film stock from Hasselblad. You can also alter exposure compensation, switch on or off Auto HDR, change the aspect ratio and more besides. A set of extra settings can be adjusted by tapping an icon at the top of the screen, including changing shooting formats and so on.

For macro work, you can either bring the lens closer to a subject and a macro mode will automatically activate, or you can swipe down from the top of the screen and select “macro shot”, at which point telephoto macro will activate. Similarly, if you find yourself in low light, night mode will automatically switch on, but there is also a separate night mode which you can find under the “More” tab.

The new “Lightning Snap” is activated by simply holding down the shutter button. These will then be grouped together when you come to look at them in playback, so you can choose the best moment.  

If you head into “Master” mode, then here’s where you’ll find the ability to adjust settings such as ISO, white balance and shutter speed. You can also shoot in raw format, should you wish to.

The Portrait mode is designed to recreate the look of six different Hasselblad lenses. You can choose between 1x (23mm), 1.4x (35mm), 2x (48mm), 3x (73mm), 3.5x (85mm) and 6x (135mm). Oppo claims that this is the first “globally available” smartphone to include a 135mm option in its portrait mode – it’s true that most others on the market top out at 5x (120-125mm) – it’s not a huge difference as such, but it’s a nice thing to add into the marketing.

Other photographic modes of note include the XPan option, which my colleague is a big fan of, Hi-Res and Long Exposure.

There are of course a number of video options too, at a variety of frame rates and resolutions, as well as an “Ultra Steady” option and mode which is optimised for recording concerts.

Image Quality and Performance

While the Oppo Find X8 Pro delivers very good results across a range of scenarios, I’m disappointed by the decision to remove the one-inch sensor that was found on the X6 Pro.

In essence, it’s reduced the overall image quality from excellent down to simply very good. There may be some people who are more interested in the additional zoom, but I would wager that most would prefer excellent performance from the main sensor instead.

Now, that’s not to say that there isn’t lots to like. Colours are vibrant without being oversaturated and unrealistic – something which happens a lot elsewhere, and details are also pretty good. We see the best results in good light, and generally I’m happy with what we get here – it’s certainly comparable to many other flagships on the market, but it still seems a shame to not have the best possible image quality available if you can.

When it comes to the zoom options, as we’d expect, we see the best results from the 1x lens, with good results also coming from the 2x crop which uses the 1x sensor. The ultrawide lens performs well in good light, and the 3x lens is also a good performer. Things are less impressive with the 6x lens, with some noticeable loss of detail – however when looking at files at a small size on your phone screen, they still appear to be very good. It’s great that the colours between all four of the lenses appear to be well-matched, too.

Going beyond this, we’re entering into “AI Zoom” territory. At 10x, the results are still pretty good and clear – and again, so long as you’re looking at fairly small sizes, they’re usable enough. The maximum reach of 120x is best avoided however, as details are completely smudgy – this is another case of marketing, rather than a setting anybody is realistically expected to use.

In low light, the Find X8 Pro performs reasonably well, but, thanks to the smaller sensor size, it’s not as good as the Find X6 Pro. We get the best results still from the 1x sensor, with a reasonable performance from the ultrawide, too. By the time the 3x lens is engaged, results are much less impressive, with noticeable loss of detail. The 6x lens I would avoid using in low light situations altogether.

OPPO Find X8 Pro · f/1.6 · 1/68s · 6.06mm · ISO400

As mentioned, there are two options for macro. The one where you simply get close to the subject works well enough, but you will see better results by engaging the telephoto macro option. Here, the results are pretty good – again especially at small sizes. You can see some smudging if you look closely enough, but the overall effect is quite good.

OPPO Find X8 Pro · f/4.5 · 1/120s · 13.85mm · ISO250

Portrait mode works quite well. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say that it perfectly emulates shooting with a Hasselblad – come on, of course it doesn’t, but it’s good to have the different focal length options. The background blurring is reasonably convincing too, and it even copes fairly well with fussy outlines such as hair.

OPPO Find X8 Pro · f/4.5 · 1/51s · 3.23mm · ISO100

Oppo has taken away AF from the selfie lens, but it still produces perfectly serviceable results, especially in good light.

Value for Money

There’s no real getting around the fact that this is an expensive phone – especially for one from one of the less well known brands.

That said, what you get for your money arguably exceeds what you see from other high-end expensive flagship. For example, the Oppo Find X8 Pro might be about the same price as iPhone 16 Pro Max, but with the latter you only get three lenses.

One of the other major big names offering four lenses – the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra – also offers four lenses, but it costs significantly more than the Oppo Find X8 Pro.

So, while it is expensive, the fact that you get four lenses plus a range of other appealing features perhaps makes it reasonably good value for money.

As always, it’s worth remembering that when it comes to resale, it’s probably fair to say that the Oppo will hold its value less well than an iPhone or a Samsung, so that is also worth considering too.

Verdict

I was excited when I heard the Oppo Find X8 Pro was getting a wider release than the Find X6 Pro, as that phone was one of my favourites of the last couple of years.

However, while the Find X8 Pro is excellent, the decision to go with four lenses rather than keep the large sensor for the main lens is a disappointing one for me. It keeps the Find X8 Pro back from greatness, which is a shame. In essence I’ve been spoiled by seeing what is possible, and I don’t want to go back now.

OPPO Find X8 Pro · f/1.6 · 1/901s · 6.06mm · ISO50

Overall, it’s a very well performing device, but it’s reasonably similar to others of its type. The four lenses are all good, but the second of the zoom lenses isn’t amazing, and therefore doesn’t make up for reducing image quality elsewhere – yes I’m complaining about the one-inch sensor being missing, again.

That said, there is still plenty to like here. Image quality is probably about on a par with something like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra – but with nicer, less overly vibrant colours – and there’s an excellent macro mode. It also performs similarly to the Google Pixel 8 Pro, but again, with a better macro performance and the additional lens does have its uses every now and then.

It’s quite an expensive phone, especially for a Chinese brand, but it offers good value for money when compared with other flagships on the market.

I hope for the next iteration of the Find series, Oppo makes the decision to bring back the one-inch sensor. For now, for me, it still doesn’t unseat the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, but it should still sit quite happily on our list of the best smartphones for photographers.

The post Oppo Find X8 Pro Review – FOUR premium cameras but one big problem appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the S24+ sit underneath the flagship Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in the company’s line-up. While the Ultra is quite probably the best smartphone for photographers – it has a couple of major downsides. One is the very high asking price, and the other is the huge screen size – great for some, but off-putting for others. 

If you don’t want to splash out quite so much cash but have a desire for a high-performing smartphone, the S24 and the S24+ are good alternatives – indeed, their spec sheets would make them flagships for most other companies. 

Now let’s not pretend the S24 is cheap. It isn’t. However, starting at $700 / £599*, it’s significantly cheaper than the S24 Ultra. It’s also a significant saving on the S24+, which starts at $845 / £999 – considering you get the same camera setup, if you’re happy (or maybe even prefer) with a smaller screen, then it makes a lot of sense. 

* Seasonal deals at time of publication of this article

Compared to the S24 Ultra, the S24/S24+ has one fewer camera unit, and there are a couple of other differences too – which we’ll explore in more detail throughout the review. 

The S24 itself follows on from the S23. The S24 has a slightly larger, and brighter screen, a newer and faster processor, an improved battery, and perhaps most interestingly – certainly for photographers – is the new suite of AI tools which can be used both during shooting and for making edits. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 at a glance:

• 50MP f/1.8 24mm equivalent camera, OIS 
• 12MP f/2.2 14mm equivalent ultrawide camera
• 10MP f/2.4 67mm equivalent telephoto camera, OIS
• 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera with PDAF
• 8K video at up to 30fps 
• 4K video at up to 60fps 
• 6.2-inch, 2340 x 1080 pixels (FHD+), 2600 nits peak brightness, 120Hz AMOLED screen
• Operating system – One UI based on Android 14
• Processor – Exynos 2400 for Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy S24 Features

The triple-lenses of the S24 series makes it akin to many other flagship smartphones soon the market, despite not being Samsung’s best model. 

The line-up consists of a 50MP “main” camera, with a 24mm f/1.8 equivalent lens. Although the S24 Ultra also has a 24mm f/1.8 lens, that phone has a 200MP sensor. Both output images at 12MP by default though, and the 200MP is almost certainly overkill – so whether you need it or not is debatable. 

Alongside the main lens, you also get a 12MP 14mm f/2.2 ultra wide-angle and a 10MP 67mm (3x) f/2.4 telephoto lens. With the S24 Ultra you’d also get a fourth lens – a 5x telephoto lens, but a 3x is likely to be enough for most situations – and you can always use digital zoom if you need to get that little bit closer.

The S24 has the same camera array as the S24+, so much of this review can also be considered a review of that – but of course, we have also reviewed that separately too just to be sure. 

AI tools for the S24 series are designed to enhance night photography, zooming, colour reproduction, HDR (high dynamic range) and noise reduction. You don’t actively select AI tools, but rather they work behind the scenes to bring those improvements. 

For editing, there are tools to remove reflections, move and replace objects, crop and rotate images and use generative fill to sort out any gaps left behind. We’ve seen similar functionality from the Google Pixel 8 series. 

Other specifications of note for the S24 include a 4000mAh battery, wireless and quick charging and other places where you can use AI – such as Circle to Search. A charging plug is not included in the box, so factor that in when making a purchase – but a USB-C cable does come with it. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Handling and Design 

The S24 uses a fairly plain and boxy design, albeit with rounded off square edges. It’s quite a lot like an iPhone, and not quite as sleek / flat as the S24 Ultra. Whether you like it or not is of course down to personal preference. 

At 6.2”, Samsung has made the S24 slightly bigger than the 6.1” S23, but it’s still much more pocket and small-hand friendly than the S24+ (6.7”) or the enormous 6.8-inch S24 Ultra. There’s no denying a large screen is great for displaying images, though personally I prefer using a smaller phone for everyday tasks such as emails and texts – again this is a subjective matter. The screen itself is very bright and clear, and although it’s significantly smaller than a lot of flagship models, it’s still great to use. 

The S24’s tough credentials include an Armor Aluminium Frame, along with a Corning Gorilla Class Victus 2. It’s not quite as tough as the S24 Ultra, but you’d expect that for the price. IP68 makes it waterproof and dustproof too. There’s no case supplied in the box, so you might want to purchase your own for added peace of mind. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Native Camera App

As with other Android phones, and indeed other Samsungs, the native camera app for the S24 is pretty comprehensive, giving you lots of scope to create pictures exactly as you want them. 

The default mode, Photo, is probably the one most will use most regularly. Here you can switch between all three of the cameras lenses, or use digital zoom. Settings such as aspect ratio and resolution can also be accessed – including switching to the full 50MP of the main sensor if you want to. Tapping the cog icon lets you adjust how much AI interference you can expect in each of your photos – switching it to Minimum should also increase the speed of operation but I’ve not had any problem with that so I’ve been leaving it to the maximum setting. 

Other specific shooting modes include Portrait – which will create blurred backgrounds for people and animals, a video mode for recording up to 8K, and a Pro mode for making more advanced edits – such as to shutter speed and white balance.

A Night mode is selectable, but it will also automatically activate should the phone detect that light is low. A second advanced mode – called ExpertRAW – can be downloaded as an add on for the native camera app to give you even more control.  There is no Macro mode, which is disappointing at this level and price point – it’s hard to justify really, perhaps Samsung will sort that out for future models.

Galaxy S24 · f/1.8 · 1/100s · 5.4mm · ISO32

A host of new edits can now be made with AI. For example, you can move and replace objects or crop and rotate and use generative fill to fill in missing details. It’s fairly self-explanatory to use and also works quite quickly. Results however are varied – sometimes for example lots of fiddly details can result in a messy finish. It’s quite fun for removing unwanted objects (or people) from otherwise clean landscape type shots though. 

When you make any edits, the saved version will include a watermark to indicate that AI has been used. Information to that effect is also included in the image’s metadata too.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Image Quality and Performance 

As expected, images from the S24 are extremely good – and it’s heartening that you get the same image quality from a smaller and cheaper device than the S24+, and they are indeed very close to that you’ll find with the S24 Ultra too. 

Galaxy S24 · f/1.8 · 1/2544s · 5.4mm · ISO25

Colours directly from the phone display a good level of vibrance without being wildly over the top – something other Androids can sometimes suffer from. It’s also good to see that colours between the three different lenses are pretty close in colour too – again this is something that can be problematic, particularly for cheaper models.

Galaxy S24 · f/2.2 · 1/2600s · 2.2mm · ISO50

There’s plenty of detail on display from the main 50MP sensor. You might see just a touch more if you examine closely with the S24 Ultra, but the likelihood of doing that with a smartphone picture is pretty slim. 

Galaxy S24 · f/2.4 · 1/2144s · 7mm · ISO25

As we’d expect, the best results come from the main sensor. It would be ideal if the accompanying camera/lens units on models such as the S24 were also high resolution – plenty of cheaper models out there do exactly this. It’s not a dealbreaker however, and the good news is that despite the lower resolution, image quality is still pretty good. The ultra wide lens produces some very good shots, while the 3x lens is also very usable. Digital zooming at 5x is fairly good, and you can probably even stretch it to 10x, albeit with some noticeable smudginess in parts of the image. The 20x or 30x digital zoom options I’d probably avoid altogether unless very keen to get that close for a record shot.

Galaxy S24 · f/2.4 · 1/3024s · 7mm · ISO25

Galaxy S24 · f/2.4 · 1/2712s · 7mm · ISO25

Night shots are captured well with the S24. The best results are shown from the 1x lens, but the ultra wide also produces good results too. The 3x lens doesn’t fare as well, so again, apart from “record” shots I’d probably avoid using this is in low light, while the digital zoom really isn’t something you’ll want to use after dark.

Galaxy S24 · f/1.8 · 1/17s · 5.4mm · ISO3200

Portrait mode works well for both animal and human subjects. Sometimes we can see some dodgy outlining if the subject has fine hair, but for using on social media sites, you get some very nice results. It compares well with the Portrait modes found on the S24 Ultra as well as competitors such as the iPhone 15 Pro.

Galaxy S24 · f/1.8 · 1/100s · 5.4mm · ISO50

The selfie camera uses autofocus, which is a big bonus for those who like to take a lot of selfies. You can also go wider if you want to include another person in the shot, with the results being very pleasing. You can also add a blurred background “portrait” effect too. 

Video results are very good. You can shoot at up to 8K if you wish – a rarity at this price point. However, it seems likely that most will shoot at Full HD or 4K instead. It’s worth noting that while you can use all the lenses for recording, you won’t be able to switch between them once you start when you shoot in 8K or 4K, but you can in HD. On the whole, video quality is fairly smooth and contains plenty of detail. 

Galaxy S24 · f/2.2 · 1/147s · 3.3mm · ISO25

Samsung Galaxy S24 Value for Money

For a flagship smartphone, $700 / £600 is a pretty good price, and it’s an advantage that there is no compromise to the quality of the camera due to its smaller size – it has exactly the same as the larger S24+. Having this choice available is great news for those who want to save money (and pocket space). 

It feels like even better value for money when you compare it against the S24 Ultra. By opting for the S24 over the S24 Ultra then you’ll save around $500 / £450, which is not to be sniffed at. You lose some key features – but mostly the extraneous ones which probably don’t add too much to the overall experience. 

Essentially, if you desire the higher resolution sensor, an additional lens and a half-decent macro mode – and you’re happy to supersize your screen – then the S24 Ultra could be the one for you, but if you can live without all of that, pocket the change instead and spend it on something more fun – perhaps even a holiday where you can take lots of pictures! Other options include the iPhone 15 Pro (6.1inch screen), and Google Pixel 8 (6.2inch screen), although the Pixel 8 lacks a 3rd telephoto camera.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Verdict

With the fantastic specifications that the Samsung Galaxy S24 has, it’d likely sit at the top of most companies’ smartphone ranges. If you favour a smaller phone, too, but don’t want to compromise too much on great specs then it’s also heartening to see that you don’t get “punished” for having the smaller device. 

While the only difference between the S24 and the S24+ its size (which also means battery sizes aren’t the same too), there’s more of a bigger difference between the S24 and the S24 Ultra. With the S24 you get a lower resolution main sensor, no macro mode and only three lenses instead of four. 

Galaxy S24 · f/1.8 · 1/180s · 5.4mm · ISO64

The main sensor and the lack of a fourth lens isn’t really a problem but it’s a big shame not to have a macro option at this price point. If you’re somebody that has a penchant for close-up shots, it’s really worth considering. 

Macro problem aside however, images and video are very good in a range of different situations. The size of the device is a big winner if you’d prefer something that sits more easily in your pocket and your hand, and it might be for this reason alone that you decide go for it. 

Comparing the S24 against it is predecessor, the S23, there are a number of useful updates, including the addition of AI functionality. This alone probably isn’t worth upgrading for, but it does the boost the quality of the device nonetheless. 

Overall, just like the S24+, the S24 is one of the best smartphones for photography currently on the market. There’s a couple of flaws which stop it from being perfect, but in terms of the best small flagships out there, this is certainly well worth considering.

Specifications: 

Related reading:

• Samsung Galaxy S22 Review: still worth buying in 2024?
• Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Review

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The post Samsung Galaxy S24 Review – the best small flagship smartphone? appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, as a folding phone, offers a dual camera setup, as is the norm with “flip” or smaller folding phones. The other norm with dual camera phones is an ultra-wide-angle and a main wide-angle camera, however, the 50 Ultra changes this, with a main camera, and a 2x telephoto camera. No ultra-wide-angle camera to be found anywhere. But how does this premium phone perform? Find out in this review. 

At a glance

• 50MP f/1.7 main camera, 24mm equivalent, AF, OIS
• 50MP f/2.0 telephoto camera, AF 
• 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera (internal) 
• 4K 60/30fps front/rear video recording 
• 6.9inch folding (internal) screen, 3000nits, pOLED, HDR10+, 120Hz 
• 4inch external screen, 2400nits, pOLED  
• 4000mAh battery, wireless charging 
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen3 processor, 12GB RAM/512GB storage 
• IPX8 water resistant 
• Dimensions 171.4 x 74 x 7.1mm (unfolded) 88.1 x 74 x 15.3mm (folded) 
• 189g weight 

Features 

As mentioned, the Razr 50 Ultra features a dual-camera setup on the rear, and instead of an ultra-wide angle camera, and a normal wide angle camera, we have a wide-angle camera, and a 2x telephoto camera. The wide-angle main camera has OIS, as well as an f/1.7 aperture, and PDAF (phase-detection auto-focus).  

2x telephoto camera

The telephoto camera offers a rather pedestrian 2x telephoto reach, as well as an additional 4x hybrid digital zoom camera as well. It’s a shame that it’s not a 3x or 4x telephoto camera, as the main camera could have offered the 2x zoom option (with digital/hybrid intelligent zoom).  

The selfie-camera is a 32MP camera without auto-focus (AF), which gives pixel binned images at 8MP. However, this doesn’t matter too much, as you can easily use the main cameras instead thanks to the external screen.  

Hardware and Design 

Whether you like them or not, folding phones, whether large tablet sized models, or this smaller flip phone, are great options for those that either want a massive screen, or for those who want an ultra-small phone. The latter, such as the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, folds into a phone half the size of normal phones, all while giving you a large 6.9inch screen. 

On the outside, you can use the phone as a mini-phone with the 4.0inch screen giving a convincing user experience for light use, such as browsing, YouTube, and photography using the main cameras. The display can be setup as an always-on display, if wanted.  

The phone is available in a number of colours, hot pink, midnight blue, peach fuzz and spring green. The phone used in this review is the Midnight Blue model.

There’s IPX8 water resistant which is quite rare on folding phones, the outer screen is glass, and the inner screen is soft and should be protected where possible.  

The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and unless you know this, you’d easily miss this, as it simply looks like a power button.  

A protective case is provided in the box in a (semi) matching colour, and comes with a neck strap. 

As is fairly usual for folding and flip phones, the battery rating is lower than expected on a premium phone, with a 4000mAh battery included (however, this is fairly generous for a flip phone). The phone also supports wireless charging.  

Inside you get a large, but tall screen, and if that’s something you’re happy with, then you should be pleased with the display, thanks to great colours and a brightness level of 3000nits. 

Running the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, that keeps things nice and responsive. The amount of RAM and storage provided is generous with 12GB RAM, and 512GB storage. It’s running Android 14, and you can get all the usual apps from the Google Play store.  

The camera app… 

The photo app gives quick access to slow motion, video (with night vision mode features), Photo, Portrait, Pro and more photo options available in “More”. In more there are a range of options including Scan (for documents), spot colour (remember that?), night vision, panorama, ultra-res (50MP 1x or 2x available), dual capture, photo booth, tilt-shift, long exposure, timelapse, spot colour (video), and dual capture (video).  

In playback you have access to Google’s Magic Editor, and once you’ve backed up your photos to the cloud, you can use this to edit the photos.

Performance and Image Quality 

The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra delivers bright, saturated photos with strong blues and greens. In settings, you can switch ‘Shot optimisation’ on or off, and this automatically enhances photos with AI scene detection.

motorola razr 50 ultra · f/1.7 · 1/982s · 4.68mm · ISO100

The results from the telephoto camera are good but require good light – the lack of optical image stabilisation (OIS) means you can miss shots due to camera shake. Especially in low light or when using 4x (digital) zoom.  

motorola razr 50 ultra · f/2 · 1/100s · 7.07mm · ISO206

Low-light performance from both the wide-angle camera, and the telephoto camera, is generally good. However, you do need to pay attention to the results, as the telephoto camera does not feature optical image stabilisation, so any shake is more likely to cause a blurred image.

Macro / close-ups – the camera doesn’t offer a dedicated macro mode, but you can get relatively close to your subject, for reasonable photos. If macro is your thing, then you’re going to be best served by a different phone.  

motorola razr 50 ultra · f/1.7 · 1/100s · 4.68mm · ISO145

For selfie’s you can use the external screen and use the main camera or the telephoto camera.

motorola razr 50 ultra · f/1.7 · 1/200s · 4.68mm · ISO126

The phone gives the benefit of using the main camera(s) rather than the inner selfie camera, giving you the best possible photo quality. If you do use the selfie camera, the results are reasonably good, and not terrible, compared to some other folding phones. The telephoto camera gives pleasing looking portrait shots, and using the portrait mode you get a choice of 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm equivalents, as well as aperture/blur settings.

motorola razr 50 ultra · f/2 · 1/100s · 7.07mm · ISO647

The only main issue I found was that if you unlocked the phone to quickly take a selfie, you would end up with a square photo rather than the normal aspect ratio used in the main photo app. This wasn’t a problem if you first opened the camera app, but was annoying, nonetheless. 

Video – For video recording, out and about, the telephoto camera will be of benefit, however, for interior recording, the lack of an ultra-wide-angle camera could be an issue. Video quality recorded from the main camera is good, and the built-in speakers give a good audio experience with a nice amount of bass available.  

Value for money 

With a price of around £800-900, for the 12GB/512GB version, this is good value for money for a flip phone. The Samsung Galazy Z Flip6 is priced at £1049 (RRP £1149) for the 512GB version. If you look at folding phones, then prices are a whole lot more than this.

Verdict 

If you’re the kind of person that prefers using a telephoto or zoom camera, rather than an ultra-wide angle camera, then the 50 Ultra could be the choice for you, particularly if you’re looking for a flip phone. If you do want the ultra-wide, then the Razr 50 (non-ultra) offers this. Photo results are good, but not up there with Google, Apple or Samsung phones. 

The phone is well-made and good value for money at roughly £800-900 for the 12GB/512GB version. It’s a shame the telephoto camera is “only” 2x zoom, when the main camera could provide 2x, and the telephoto could offer 3x (or more with digital/hybrid zoom).  

The small outer screen looks great, and if you’re looking for a less distracting phone, then a small half-sized phone is a great option. 

The post Motorola Razr 50 Ultra Review – Flip or flop? appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

It’s well known by now that Google Pixel phones are some of the best phones for photography, particularly with easy-to-use features that help us take better photos. However, it’s the hardware line-up that leaves the Pixel 9 in an awkward limbo, more expensive than the 8 Pro, and lacking in zoom and storage. 

At a glance

• 50MP main camera, f/1.68, OIS (1/1.31inch)
• 48MP ultra-wide, f/1.7, with macro AF (1/2.55inch)
• 10.5MP f/2.2 selfie camera with AF
• 4K 60fps video recording
• 6.3-inch, 6-120Hz, 1800 nits peak brightness, Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• 4700mAh battery, 45W charging, wireless charging
• Google Tensor G4 processor, 12GB RAM

Google Pixel 9 Features

The Google Pixel 9 matches the 9 Pro in size, with the same size screen, and it even uses the same cases as the 9 Pro, however, it features a dual camera setup on the rear, rather than the triple camera setup. The main thing to note about the Google Pixel 9 is what’s lacking, and we’ll start by comparing it to the 9 Pro.  

Here’s how the Google Pixel 9 compares to the Pixel 9 Pro:  

The Pixel 9 doesn’t support 8K upscaling option, nor Video Boost (Cloud software features), nor Night sight video (despite using the same cameras) as the 9 Pro model.

Now onto the Pixel 9 cameras…

The Google Pixel 9 has two lenses on the back, both with bright apertures of roughly f/1.7, with an ultra-wide and a wide-angle camera. Looking at the EXIF information, the ultra-wide gives a 12mm equivalent, while the main camera gives 24mm equivalent, both wide-angle lenses compared to standard cameras. The main camera has a larger sensor, which is 1/1.31inches, so quite large, but not as large as 1inch sensors found on some premium phones.

Camera app…

The photo app gives quick access to different shooting modes, and makes slow-motion photography, as well as night photography incredibly easy. You can take these shots handheld, without the need of a tripod, but if you do use a tripod you can use the astrophotography mode for even longer shots.

AI features… 

Like the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro, the Pixel 9 is full of AI features, as well as useful photo editing and shooting features. There are more features found on the Pro models, as Google has deemed them only available on Pro versions of the phone, even though they’re software based, rather than hardware based features.

However, for the most part, you get a whole range of really great photography features, including Magic Editor, and a range of on-phone as well as on-cloud editing options. The on-phone editing options are much quicker and easier to use, and don’t require images to be backed up to the cloud before editing.

We go into more detail in the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL reviews for more detail. 

Performance and Image Quality

Google Pixel phones give great results, with really pleasing colours that aren’t as saturated as Samsung phones, and colours are generally consistent between the different cameras.

Pixel 9 · f/1.7 · 1/246s · 2.02mm · ISO51

The ultra-wide-angle lens shows some distortion into the corners, and purple fringing, but this is fairly typical for this type of lens, and will be more visible with some subjects more than others, such as trees and leaves in the corner of the frame. This won’t matter if you’ve got blue skies in the corners of the frame.

Pixel 9 · f/1.68 · 1/177s · 6.9mm · ISO23

The main camera gives great results in a variety of conditions, whether that’s bright sunny days, or in low-light.

In low-light both the ultra-wide and the main camera give good results, with the main camera giving the best results, thanks to a larger sensor.

Pixel 9 · f/2.2 · 1/240s · 2.74mm · ISO51

The selfie camera performs well, and thanks to the auto-focus, it gives better results than phones with fixed focus. You can take photos of yourself or group shots and not worry about whether you’re in the perfect spot for focus.

Pixel 9 · f/1.7 · 1/136s · 2.02mm · ISO57

Macro performance is acceptable, but nothing special, and this is the same across the 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, as all phones use the ultra-wide-angle camera and crop into the image. This gives a photo with pixelated detail and a lack of fine detail. Other phones that let you use the telephoto camera for close-ups give noticeably better results.

Value for money

In terms of pricing, you’re looking at $800 / £800, which is a little steep, considering almost phone at this price point offers a triple camera setup on the rear, with a third telephoto camera (excluding iPhone 16/16 Plus). If you look at Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi and everyone else, even last years Google Pixel 8 Pro can be found for less than this phone. 

The Samsung Galaxy S24 – around the same price, or less, and comes with 3x telephoto camera, plus manual controls, plus AI features, plus 8K video recording, to name just a few of the features. What does the Google Pixel range of phones offer, that other Android powered phones don’t?  

You could look at the 9 Pro if you like the size, but want that extra telephoto camera, or take a look at the Google Pixel 8 Pro, which offers a telephoto camera, as well as being on offer for less than the 9.  

Verdict

Ultimately, whilst the Google Pixel 9 is capable of taking some great photos, with another price increase over last years model, it feels overpriced compared to the competition, and 128GB is not good value for money these days.

The Google Pixel 9 is a small flagship phone without a 3^rd telephoto camera. This is fundamental in what’s missing from this camera. All other brands (excluding Apple) will aim to give you a triple camera setup on the back, often for less money than this. If this was a mid-range phone, I’d still want a telephoto camera on the back.  

Pixel 9 · f/1.68 · 1/1134s · 6.9mm · ISO21

If this was a budget phone, then it would be entirely reasonable for there to only be a dual camera setup on the back. Even some budget phones (but not many) will set themselves apart by offering a telephoto camera. This is how far I feel Google have missed the mark with this flagship priced phone.  

Sure the 2x digital zoom is impressive, and gives great results, but so is the 2x digital zoom on the Pixel 8a. What is there on the Pixel 9 to mean you should pay $300/£300 more for this phone, over the $500 Pixel 8a, and even at $500, you can find phones with triple camera setups, such as the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, Samsung Galaxy S22, and others. 

And of course, you’re getting great photo quality with some of the best AI features available, but the phone doesn’t feel like value for money any more. Google’s phones used to offer flagship features at a lower price than the competition, but the prices keep going up every year, and the value proposition has disappeared.  

If you choose a Samsung phone, you’re also going to get some impressive AI features, manual controls (not just on the Ultra model), and you’re going to get a 3x telephoto camera. So why choose the Pixel 9? The base model has 128GB, which is just not good, especially if you’re interested in video recording.

Pixel 9 · f/1.68 · 1/17s · 6.9mm · ISO270

On the plus side, you do get 7 years of updates, but how often do you keep a phone for 7 years, and if you do, getting one with a telephoto camera would be a wise move. 

Last year the Pixel 8 was $699 / £699 (RRP), which felt reasonable for a mid-range phone, but $799 / £799 (RRP) feels like we’re entering the premium end of the market, but not getting the features that usually come with premium phones. If the price drops significantly, this would be a great buy.

It’s difficult to recommend a premium phone (with a premium price) that doesn’t feature a telephoto camera on the back. Just buy the 9 Pro, 8 Pro or a phone from a different brand and you’ll get more. Now that the 9 Pro is the same size as the 9, there’s very little reason to choose this phone, unless you actually hate having a telephoto camera.  

Specifications

The post Google Pixel 9 Review – why you shouldn’t buy the Pixel 9 appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

It’s been a busy year for Xiaomi, a Chinese consumer tech giant which is pushing hard to become a major player in the Android smartphone market in the west.

Despite bringing out some quality phones for photography this year, notably the phenomenal Xiaomi 14 Ultra , the brand is still not that well-known in the UK or US. Will the new Xiaomi 14T Pro change this?

First, a quick reminder of where the Xiaomi 14T Pro sits in the company’s line-up. It’s essentially a mid-range flagship, meaning it sits below the Xiaomi 14 and 14 Ultra but above the budget Redmi and Poco handsets. So the Xiaomi 14T Pro is cheaper than the 14 and 14 Ultra, but as we will see, it still offers many of the benefits of these higher-end phones.

The company’s tie-up with Leica has also attracted a lot of attention, and the relationship between the two companies seems to go from strength to strength – so much so that they are planning to open an ‘optical institute’ in Beijing. Leica’s certainly not going to allow a shonky outfit to use the esteemed ‘Leica Summilux’ brand on its phones, so it’s a vote of confidence in Xiaomi.

Xiaomi 14T Pro at a glance

• Triple Leica Summilux-branded camera set-up
• Main camera, 50MP, 23mm equivalent, f.1.6, OIS
• Telephoto, 50MP, 60mm equivalent, f/2
• Ultra-wide, 12MP, 15mm equivalent, f/2.2
• Front (selfie) camera, 32MP, 25mm equivalent, f/2
• Light Fusion 900 1/1.31″ sensor
• 8K video at 30fps
• LOG capture at up to 4K resolution, with 24 or 30fps options
• 6.67-in, 446 ppi display
• Available in metallic blue, gray and black

Compared to the Xiaomi 13T Pro, the main change is that the Xiaomi 14T Pro’s main camera lets in 32% more light thanks to its faster f/1.6 aperture. Other significant changes include hardware and computational photography improvements that make image capture speed 1.5x higher than the Xiaomi 13T, while noise is reduced in low light shooting and dynamic range expanded.

This being 2024, the new phone has more AI features too, including the incorporation of the Google Gemini personal assistant, which we will discuss in detail later.

Features

So to recap, the main changes to the triple Leica Summilux-branded camera set-up on the back, elegantly constrained within a square, include a new sensor and wider aperture lens on the main camera, a longer (2.6 x) zoom and a higher resolution 32MP selfie camera (it’s only fixed focus however, which has only partially addressed one of the ‘cons’ of the Xiaomi 13TPro).

Other noteworthy new features include a brighter 6.67-inch CrystalRes AMOLED display and support for up to 50w wireless charging.

Handling and design

The Xiaomi 14T Pro is a couple of millimetres taller and wider than the Xiaomi 14, coming in at 160.4 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm and very slightly heavier at 209g. While the curved glass back with metallic colours is certainly elegant, the handset is sometimes a bit slippery so I would definitely use the (supplied) plastic protective rear case. The slightly bigger 6.67-inch screen is impressive, with the extra peak brightness (400 nits) making a noticeable difference.

Key control buttons are placed towards the left side of the right (or top) edge and fall to hand easily, though you have to be careful not to activate them by mistake when attaching a mini tripod. The rear cameras protrude slightly compared to the Xiaomi 14, which I prefer as it makes them easier to clean.

So it’s a stylish and easily pocketable phone but not a head turner – an issue that many Android phones face, compared to the still very cool-looking iPhone. The colour schemes are not very exciting, either, with metallic blue being the most eye-catching.

Native camera app

This is good, but not perfect. ‘Pro’ is the first option, oddly, and it comes in very handy if you shoot raw. As seen in my previous article, this is very easy on Xiaomi phones. You can only use the Leica Vibrant preset with raw, which is not a problem as it does a good job of boosting saturation without going over the top.

There is also a good choice of Leica Filters, available in Pro and standard modes, and I really like Leica BW HC (high contrast) for punchy mono shots. You can really see the difference they make when shooting in 50MP ‘Ultra HD.’

However, the icon to activate these is easily missed – a rather meaningless trio of circles – and should be much more obvious. Also, it’s really easy to accidentally toggle back to JPEG if you touch the ‘RAW’ icon by mistake (when whipping the phone out of your pocket, for example). This is just poor design, on an otherwise well thought-out phone.

Also noteworthy is the revamped Portrait mode interface, which now offers a handy EV button for adjusting exposure, and labels for 23mm to 75mm focal lengths (a mix of native focal lengths and zoom modes). Appearing under ‘More’ is Director Mode, which adds a more professional looking interface when shooting videos (you can record at 4k @ 60fps, with support for Log format).

So the native camera app is generally nice to use, my only other bugbear being the cramped zoom icons when using the main camera – it’s easy to touch them and zoom in or out by mistake when you use onscreen focussing/shooting, and they can be hard to read in bright sunlight.

Image quality and performance

For the money, image quality is good, and very close to that of the pricier Xiaomi 14. Colour saturation is punchy without being garish and too obviously ‘computational’, and you can easily kick up the colours with the Leica Vibrant preset if you wish.

For more natural images, the Leica Authentic preset is fine, delivering slightly darker and moodier results.

As with the Xiaomi 14, the Xiaomi 14T Pro’s telephoto camera really excels. The 2.6x zoom magnification is great for capturing distant features or for nicely blurring the background in portraits.

Noise is well controlled, too, particular in low-light and there is plenty of dynamic range, with decent contrast. When it comes to the ultra-wide camera, it is fixed focus, which can feel restrictive sometimes but wide landscapes generally come out sharp.

I really like using this phone for portraits. As well as handy camera app widgets mentioned earlier, the choice of sensor and lenses means it’s very easy to achieve shallow depth of field and skin tone and texture is accurately captured in decent light (and again, a wide range of creative effects can be achieved with the generally tasteful Leica presets and filters).

In poorer light, or when using the telephoto camera, skin sometimes takes on more of a ‘waxy’ quality, however.

For macro shooting, you are limited by the so-so minimum focusing distance of 45cm with the telephoto camera, so this is worth bearing in mind if you like to do lots of close-ups. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is better equipped for macro, but expected to pay several hundreds pounds more. As for the selfie mode, you now get more resolution but it’s still nothing special. Xiaomi clearly doesn’t regard it as a big priority.

There are no complaints about night mode for a phone in this price bracket. As you can see with this Glastonbury shop window, there is very respectable detail and noise is well managed.

That said, we did notice a tendency to blow out highlights when you are shooting around a neon sign in a bar, for example, or with this candle in a restaurant.

Software

Enhanced AI features are a big selling point of the Xiaomi 14T Pro. The Google Gemini personal assistant app is now built-in and this is a wise move on Xiaomi’s part, as it is surprisingly helpful. I asked Gemini ‘when was the best time to photograph Glastonbury Tor’ for example, and as a local, I was impressed by the detail of its response. If anything it rambled on a bit too much!

Xiaomi’s native AI editing tools are now available via a rather sizeable 800Mb download and they are… OK. The background-distraction removal tool is not particularly intuitive compared to those in Apple and Samsung phones, but works well enough once you get the hang of it.

There are some neat features, however, such as the ability to add cool-looking Leica watermarks and turn your stills into simple movies from the photo library, with a choice of basic soundtracks. We can see this being used a lot for social media and is surprisingly addictive.

A new AI feature called Circle to Search, which uses AI to bring up information on a item you’ve circled with your finger, still isn’t available yet. Android rival Samsung’s AI tools generally feel more polished.

HyperOS, Xiaomi’s Android skin, isn’t particularly noteworthy, being relatively unobtrusive and fast to load (the Xiaomi 14T Pro is powered by a nifty Mediatek Dimensity 9300+ chipset).

Value for Money

Chances are your mates haven’t heard of Xiaomi, so the bragging rights are minimal, but this shouldn’t put you off considering the Xiaomi 14T Pro, as it’s good value. The phone is currently discounted to £649 if you buy direct from Xiaomi (£699 on Amazon, via an exclusive deal) which means it’s roughly the same price as the Samsung Galaxy S24.

The Samsung’s AI editing features are more polished and there is a slightly ‘longer’ telephoto camera, but you don’t get Leica-branded lenses, or those quality Leica filters.

With Amazon discounting, the still-excellent Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is coming in cheaper, too. It’s the first Samsung to boast a 200 megapixel sensor, so might be a more compelling option if you want as much resolution as possible.

Verdict

While it is facing some very tough competition and suffers from limited brand recognition (particularly in the US), there is no denying the appeal of the Xiaomi 14T Pro. The tie-up with Leica is proving to be way much more than a marketing exercise, and the phone is well-designed, fast charging and fast generally.

Given all this, it is probably a safer bet than its older bigger brother, the Xiaomi 14. While this boasts some higher-end specifications, the differences won’t make a massive difference to your day to day photography, and we suspect it will be upgraded at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona next March (the same goes for the top-end Xiaomi 14 Ultra).

There are some handling and interface design issues – without a case, the Xiaomi 14T Pro is annoyingly easy to drop and it’s wise to double-check the settings before shooting raw – but generally it’s a fast and reliable mid-range phone that should keep most smartphone photographers happy.

Camera performance aside, the bigger, Dolby Vision screen is bright and colourful, battery life is great, and the handset also has IP68 rating, which literally makes it a safer bet than another very attractive rival, the OnePlus 12 – you can submerge the Xiaomi in water for up to 30 minutes.

So, and pardon the pun, if you’re not lured by Samsung or other better-known brands, it’s definitely worth taking the plunge with the Xiaomi 14T Pro. We’d also pay a bit more and choose it over the Xiaomi 14T, announced at the same time, as the price difference is not huge (though it does come in snazzier colours).



The post Xiaomi 14T Pro review: Leica quality at a keen price appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

There are two variants of the Google Pixel 8 series. The Pixel 8 has its own review and the Pixel 8 Pro. Here we review the 8 Pro, which offers a triple lens system, compared to the 8’s dual.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – At a glance:

• Price as reviewed: $999-$1179 / £830 – £1100
• 50MP wide camera, f/1.68 aperture, 25mm equivalent
• 48MP ultrawide camera, f/1.95 aperture
• 48MP 5x telephoto camera, f/2.8 aperture, 113mm equivalent
• 6.7” Super Actua LTPO OLED screen
• Android 14
• Manufacturer: Google

Looking at these specs alone, there are a few interesting differences between this and the older model – improvements to both hardware and software with some AI updates for the Pixel 8 Pro since its initial release. The latest Google Pixel 9 Pro is a relatively small update considering it uses the same triple lens set-up for its main cameras, but it did a big update on its selfie camera along some new features via software upgrades, like better skin tone and colour handling, improved exposure, sharpness, detail and contrast.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – Features

Like its predecessor, the 8 Pro features a triple-lens setup. While the focal lengths have remained the same, we’ve seen some improvements in resolution and other metrics.

The main sensor of the 8 Pro has 50MP, and is 1/1.31” – that’s the same as last year’s Pixel 7 Pro, but the accompanying 25mm equivalent lens is now f/1.68.

It is joined by two 48 megapixel sensors. The ultrawide has an f/1.95 lens. This compares with last year’s 12MP, f2.2 lens. There’s also a 5x telephoto, which remains similar (now 113mm, previously 120mm ). The sensor size remains, but the maximum aperture is now f/2.8, rather than f/3.5 – so expect improvement in low light performance. Digital zoom for the Pixel 8 Pro reaches 30x, as before.

The 10.5MP f/2.2 selfie camera now has autofocus too, which again could mean some slight improvements in this area too.

In software improvements, Pixel 8 Pro brings a new “Pro” mode, which provides controls over things like shutter speed and white balance. Other AI features, including “Best Take” and “Magic Editor” allow for enhancements to photographs, such as swapping out faces in group shots. These improvements – being software related – may eventually come to older Pixel models, but for now at least, are restricted to the latest.

Other features include the screen, which remains at 6.7” but is slightly different in shape, and ever so slightly lower in resolution – it has improved tough credentials though and is brighter. The battery is 5050mAh and boasts both fast charging and wireless charging.

The Pixel 8 Pro is the first phone to feature Android 14, but other models can now upgrade to the latest OS.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – Handling and Design

With its 6.7” screen, the Pixel 8 Pro is on the large side, but it matches other similar high-end smartphones, including the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and its own predecessor, the Pixel 7 Pro. The Samsung S23 Ultra is bigger, at 6.8”. For their large proportions, these phones are good for displaying photos and videos well.

The overall dimensions of the Pixel 8 Pro come in at 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm; similar to its predecessor, and weighs 213g – just 1g more than the older model. The corners of the screen however have been rounded – you could say it’s got more of an iPhone look, where previously it resembled more a Samsung. The screen now uses Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, so should withstand scratches even better. We haven’t tried to damage test the screen, and it’s resisted normal usage.

Flipping to the back of the phone and we see a “visor” set up for the camera housing similar to previous generations. The cameras are found in a horizontal strip across the top of the phone. A new addition noticeable in this strip is a cutout for a new sensor – this is a temperature sensor which can measure the same of various things (not yet approved for human use). This has nothing to do with the camera.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – Native Camera app

The native camera apps in Google Pixels have generally been noted for their simplicity of use; a little like iPhones in this regard. That changes somewhat for the Pixel 8 Pro, which for the first time in a Pixel model introduces a “Pro” mode. Note that the standard Pixel 8 does not have this.

Pro mode is accessed by tapping an icon from the main Photo screen – upon doing which, a set of adjustable parameters appears. This includes white balance, shutter speed, and ISO. You can also engage manual focus, as well as switch on useful functions such as focus peaking. After making multiple changes to settings, there’s a “reset all” option to revert to the default ones.

Slightly confusingly, there are also separate “Pro” options available when swiping up in the main Photo mode. Here you can change the resolution from the default 12MP to 50MP, as well as switch on raw shooting (you’ll get both a DNG and a JPEG if you do that).

Other settings can also be accessed by swiping up here, including switching on the Timer, allowing macro focus to automatically engage, and changing the aspect ratio. More settings can be accessed in the main menu, such as switching on a grid and so on.

In the main Photo mode, if low light levels are detected, “Night Sight” should turn on automatically. However, you can also activate it manually – this can be helpful in mixed lighting situations. Just like with the 7 Pro, within Night Sight mode, there are additional options, including Astrophotography, which can be used if you place the phone on a steady surface or tripod.

Another photo mode is “Portrait”, which enables capture of shallow depth of field effects. You can shoot at either 1.5x or 2x. You can combine Portrait mode with Night mode for capturing portraits in low light, and there are other options, including face retouching, too.

Google makes use of AI technology for a couple of the other photo modes, including Long Exposure, which can be used to capture blur with moving subjects, while keeping the background sharp. Similarly, there’s also Action Pan, where the moving subject is kept still, with the background blurred to create a sense of movement that way. Both are incredibly easy to use – you just point the phone at a moving subject and it’ll do the work for you. Some subjects work better than others, but being able to do this directly from your phone with very little intervention is impressive nonetheless (albeit not new for the Pixel 8 Pro – the 7 Pro had these modes too).

All of the video modes have been separated into a different tab. This is a departure from the 7 Pro, however, if you update the 7 Pro to Android 14, you’ll see the same division too. In the Video section, you’ll find the standard ordinary Video mode, as well as other options such as Slow Motion, Time Lapse, and Pan (for creating panning video with smooth stabilisation).

A fair amount has been made of the Pixel 8 series’ new editing tools, particularly Best Take and Magic Editor. We’ve taken a closer look at how the Pixel’s Magic Editor works in a separate feature. But, to sum up, there’s a number of edits you can make, with perhaps the most interesting being to erase objects, move them around the frame, or make them bigger or smaller.

Sometimes it’s very successful, other times less so – it’s certainly worth experimenting with and can be useful for removing distracting elements. It does have some drawbacks though – for example, it’s quite slow to use and you’ll need to back up (all of your) your images to Google Photos before you can use it.

Best Take is a fun feature for group portraits and selfies. When you take a series of portraits with faces in, you can head to the editor afterwards and select the best of the faces – perhaps somebody was blinking or looking miserable – in one shot. Again, sometimes this works better than other times – it can be confused by things like glasses on occasion, but generally it’s a fun feature that can certainly “save” a family photo that’s gone awry and requires no special editing expertise.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – Image Quality and Performance

We have been continually impressed by the quality of imagery from the Pixel series, right from the very first model – and the 8th generation builds on everything the previous models have done to produce the Pixel’s best quality images yet.

Shooting in good light yields the best results, with images which display a good level of detail, accurate exposures and colours which strike an excellent balance between vibrant and realistic. Comparing it with models such as the iPhone 15 Pro Max – which tends to be a little flatter – and the Samsung S23 Ultra – which goes far too vibrant, the Pixel 8 Pro sits neatly in the middle. What’s more, there’s excellent colour matching between the three different lenses available too.

In good light, the differences between the Pixel 7 Pro and 8 Pro aren’t huge – on the whole the two models put in a fairly similar performance, especially from the main lens. However, I noticed that on several occasions when I thought I was shooting with the 5x lens with the 7 Pro, it was in fact utilising the 1x sensor. This never happened with the 8 Pro, which has a wider aperture, so it’s likely that it’s down to the available light – even when it’s not particularly dark. As a result, images shot with the 5x lens selected from the 8 Pro produces consistently better results.

On the whole, the 5x lens is very good. Some might argue that 5x is “too long”, compared to the 3x lenses you’ll find on the S23 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro (not the 15 Pro Max which also has a 5x lens), but you can also shoot at 2x or 3x with the 1x lens (which will use the central portion of the sensor). My feeling therefore is that it’s good to have a dedicated lens for getting just that bit closer. Digital zoom is available up to 30x. Up to around 10x, the results are usable, especially at smaller sizes, but beyond that, the images become a bit too smudgy for anything but a record shot.

The ultrawide lens also produces more detail, and copes better in low light – as is to be expected from the jump in resolution and wider aperture. This also means that macro images are also better from the 8 Pro too, which uses the ultrawide angle lens. Here you’ll find that close-up shooting yields some very detailed and impressive results.

When it comes to Portrait mode, there’s not a dramatic improvement here from the last generation. Considering how much AI usability Pixel models have, it’s perhaps a surprise not to see some kind of automatic portrait recognition, but otherwise, the results are pretty good – with a natural drop off between subject and background, particularly if you’re only looking at them on your phone screen. You can adjust the strength of blur, and the focus point, after you’ve taken the picture if you want to – which comes in handy on the rare occasion there’s been a misfire.

The introduction of autofocus for the selfie lens means you get much sharper results – arguably this makes them less flattering, but either way, from a photographic point of view, it’s hard to deny they’re “better”. You can switch on “Portrait” mode for selfies to create a shallow depth of field effect. The result is a bit “obvious” here – we’ve seen much better results from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but if you only intend to look at your selfies on a small phone screen, the effect is not too bad.

Low light is where we see some excellent results. We thought the Pixel 7 Pro was very good, but it just goes to show that there’s still plenty of improvements that can be made. The wider aperture lenses are probably helping here, with the sensors able to gather more light, but there’s also no doubt some more advanced computational wizardry on display too. There’s very little in the way of lens flare – which can sometimes be an issue with the 7 Pro – while in general, there’s much more detail on show from images from the 8 Pro. It also compares very well with other flagships like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Samsung S23 Ultra – in short, if low light is your thing, I’d wager that the Pixel 8 Pro is one of the very best for low light photography you can currently buy.

Video performs very well too, with smooth results that are nicely detailed. Stabilisation works well at 4K 60fps, and with a range of other video options, it’s a good choice for content creators who want lots of different styles to experiment with. No 8K video here, but that’s still a very niche requirement.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – Value for Money

The Pixel series has always been known for its excellent value for money – especially in relation to other flagship brands.

There’s been a bit of a price hike this year for the Pixel 8 Pro, with it now reaching the minimum £999/$999 mark for the first time – for that you’ll get 128GB of memory.

You can pay a bit more (£1059/$1059) and get 256GB, or more again (£1179/$1179) for 512GB. While it’s more expensive than last year, it’s still significantly cheaper than the iPhone 15 Pro Max (£1199/$1199 for the 256GB version – there is no 128GB with the Apple device), or £1399/$1399 for the 512GB.

It’s also a fair amount cheaper than the S23 Ultra, which will set you back quite a bit more, at £1249/$1249 for 256GB, £1399/$1399 for the 512GB. Again, there’s no 128GB version for the S23 Ultra. Additionally, both the S23 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max have 1TB options, so if you’re keen on outrageous amount of storage, you won’t find that with the Pixel.

So, while the 8 Pro certainly isn’t “cheap” by any means, it’s well-priced compared to its nearest rivals. If you want to save a bit of cash, going for the older 7 Pro is worth considering – with prices starting at £849/$899. You can buy the 7 Pro directly from Google at this cheaper price, and you may also be able to find them in the second-hand market for even better prices too.

That said, of course by opting for the older model, you lose out on some of the great new features of the 8 Pro, and may feel you want to upgrade sooner – the slightly more expensive choice might therefore be better value for money over the longer term.

It’s also worth pointing out that Google offers an incredible 7 years of update support for the Pixel 8 Pro, which makes it the best mainstream smartphone on the market in terms of ongoing support – again, increasing its value proposition significantly.

Google Pixel 8 Pro – Verdict

After Apple phones and Samsung phones, Google Pixel phones seem to be the ones you see most readily in people’s hands. Perhaps this is confirmation bias based on their distinctive-looking camera setup on the back, but either way, we often think of the Pixel series as being one of the “big three” when it comes to the best smartphones for photographers.

Using a combination of excellent hardware and advanced software, the Pixel 8 Pro takes what the company has already done with its existing models and improved it even further to make it extremely impressive.

It produces excellent images in a wide range of conditions, and there’s been a noticeable jump in image quality from its predecessor – something that is often harder to spot from the likes of Apple and Samsung, where each new version seems to be a lot more gentle.

That said, if you’ve got a Pixel 7 Pro, there’s probably no need to immediately go out and upgrade. Yes, the 8 Pro is better, but with the main differences coming to low light and if you scrutinise things like detail at close quarters. There are also software improvements, such as the Pro Mode and Best Take – but how often you’ll want to use those is questionable. If this is how good the 8 Pro is – you might question, how good will the 9 Pro be – perhaps if you’ve got a 7 Pro already, it’s better to wait. You’re more likely to notice a bigger difference if you’ve got an older Pixel.

If you’re coming from a different brand altogether, unless you’ve already got one of the other flagships, the Pixel 8 Pro is likely to give you noticeably better pictures than what you’re already used to as well. It doesn’t quite snatch the crown from the Samsung S23 Ultra as the ultimate device for photographers – that phone’s extra zooming capability, plus 8K video recording means it just about pips it, but it’s an extremely close-run thing.

Overall, there’s a huge amount to like about the Pixel 8 Pro – and very little to dislike. It takes great pictures, is very pleasant to use and won’t set you back quite the fortune that other flagships will. Will you be getting one?

Related reading:

• Google pixel 7a – new budget phone king
• Google Pixel review – Mid-range phone shines
• Google Pixel 7 Pro Review – Premium camera performance
• iPhone 14 Pro vs Google Pixel 7 Pro – cameras compared

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The post Google Pixel 8 Pro Review – Great Hardware meets AI Magic appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

At a glance:

• 50MP Main f/1.6 23mm, 1/1.56″, OIS
• 50MP tele f/3.0 3.5x periscope zoom (90mm) OIS
• 40MP ultrawide f/2.2 112 degrees (16mm) AF
• 2x 20MP f/2.2 selfie cameras (interior/exterior)
• Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps,
• 6.3inch OLED front screen with 5000nits
• 7.92inch AMOLED main screen, 1800nits
• 5150mAh battery
• 12-16GB RAM and 256GB/512GB/1TB storage
• Android 14, Magic OS 8.0
• Dimensions 156.6 x 74 x 9.2mm (folded)
• 156.6 x 145.3 x 4.4mm (unfolded) 
• Weight:226g

The foldable phones sector, one of the fastest growing segments of the smartphone industry, and the latest addition to the market is the Honor Magic V3, which claims the title of the world’s thinnest and lightest vertically folding phone – beating its own predecessor, the Honor Magic V2, which was the previous holder of the title. Despite its diminutive dimensions it offers an impressive spec list that, on paper, beats many of its competitors, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, the Vivo X Fold3 Pro, and the OnePlus Open.

In the UK, it is available in three colours: Velvet Black, Tundra Green, and Reddish Brown and costs £1699 for the 512GB version. (A 256GB and 1TB version are also available). I had the black version for review, but if I was buying one I’d be tempted by the brown and gold one, which looks very classy. 

Honor Magic V3 – Why foldable?

Clamshell style folding phones were once all the rage but they were killed off by the iPhone, which set the agenda for what a phone should look like for over a decade. But when Samsung introduced its Fold and Flip foldable phones in 2019, with a single bendable screen that folded with the casing, they discovered that the demand for such phones hadn’t died, it had merely been dormant, waiting for the technology to catch up. Samsung is now on its sixth iteration of its Flip and Fold phones but is now no longer the sole purveyor.

There are two types of foldable: the ones that fold in half across the width to become super compact (ie the ‘flip’ phones) and those, like the Honor Magic V3, that fold along the length and open out to create a double size screen (the ‘fold’ phones). Although my wife is a flip phone addict, for me it has to be the fold style all the way.  It’s like having a tablet that folds in half and goes in your pocket, and what’s not to like about that? But there are some drawbacks. Firstly, foldables are bigger and heavier, and I find that it can feel like you’re carrying two bar phones hinged together, which creates quite a bulk in your pocket. Secondly the battery life is generally not as good and, crucially from my point of view, the camera has traditionally been inferior to those in more conventional phones. And of course let’s not forget the price, because foldables tend to be considerably more expensive.

Honor Magic V3 – Handling and Design

The Honor Magic V3 goes some way to mitigating most of those disadvantages. Firstly, when folded it’s only 9.2mm thick and weighs only 226 grams. For context that’s just 1mm thicker and 5 grams heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. By comparison the Samsung Fold 6 is a chunky 12.1mm deep.  When opened up, the V3 becomes just 4.35mm thick. 

Despite its relatively diminutive form factor the V3 feels really good in the hand. Honor has used premium, impact-resistant materials in the construction and the super-steel hinge is rated for 500,000 open and close cycles. It offers IPX 8 level water-resistance too, being submersible up to 2.5m for up to 30 minutes. I was at the phone’s launch in Berlin, where Honor showed a V3 surviving a cycle in a washing machine, clattering around the metal drum, in and out of the water for 15 minutes. Very impressive. 

For extra protection the green and black versions of the V3 come with their own two-part protective case in which the metal octagonal ring around the camera housing swings out on a hinge to become a built-in kickstand, so you can stand the phone up at an angle. On the reddish brown version, which uses gold metal trim instead of black, this kickstand is built into the phone itself, rather than the case.  

The Magic V3 is essentially a bar phone on the outside hiding a tablet on the inside. On one side, the cameras are now arranged within a raised octagonal hump (or dome, as Honor would prefer to call it) centred within the top third of the handset, instead of being in a row down the side like the Magic V2. I prefer this cluster layout, which is similar to the design of the recently launched Honor Magic 6. I find it easier to avoid covering one of the lenses with my finger.

On the other side is the outer cover screen, which is a full size, 6.3” OLED screen with an anti-scratch NanoCrystal shield, boasting a 120Hz refresh rate and a class-leading 5000 nits of brightness. Opening it up reveals a double-width 7.92” AMOLED screen with an almost square aspect ratio of 10:9, which provides a pixel density of 402ppi and a claimed 1600 nits of brightness.  Both screens offer stylus support. One criticism of foldables is the visible crease along the fold which some users find distracting. The good news here is that the crease on the V3’s screen is very shallow and I found it to be barely noticeable in normal use, backlit from behind.  

Honor Magic V3 – Features

The V3 is powered by the popular Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which is also used in many rival flagship phones, and runs Android 14 and MagicOS 8. Despite the thin profile it boasts a silicon carbon battery with a capacity of 5150 mAh, which is larger than some flagship bar phones (the iPhone 16 Pro Max battery is 4685mAh). It boasts a fast 66W charging or 50W wireless charging, (with Honor’s compatible charger) as well as 5W reverse charging, so you can use your phone to charge other devices, such as a smart watch.

With all of this screen real estate it might be tempting to spend even more time staring at it, so Honor has incorporated a variety of new technologies to help reduce eye fatigue and protect your eyesight. The V3 boasts class leading PWM dimming, which reduces screen flicker, but their headline tech is AI Defocus Eye Protection, which uses AI to modify the screen sharpness in a barely perceptible way to reduce the risk of Myopia, which is apparently increasing globally at an alarming rate due to our increased screen use.

One of the coolest Honor-specific features is Magic Portal, in which content on your main screen can be opened in a different app using a simple drag and drop action. Dragging anything to the right hand side of the screen will bring up a pop up strip featuring a selection of relevant apps. So for example, you could drag a photo or video clip onto the Gmail or WhatsApp icon to send it to someone, or the Instagram app to share it. It works with text too and it doesn’t just have to be your own content; drag any photo or piece of text from a web page onto Google search or maps, or open it in ebay or amazon to buy it. Honor uses AI to analyse the content you’ve selected and show you the most relevant apps to interact with it.

There are multiple other tricks that live up to the Magic name, such as the hugely impressive Face-to-Face Translation, in which you speak or type in your own language onto the main screen, and a text translation pops up on the cover screen in your chosen language, so the person that you’re talking to gets an almost immediate translation of what you’re saying. This is an amazing benefit to travellers and another advantage of the dual screen.

Honor Magic V3 – The cameras

The 23mm (equivalent) main camera has a 50MP sensor with an f/1.6 maximum aperture. This is accompanied by a 50MP periscope-design 3.5x zoom telephoto lens with an f/3.0 maximum aperture, which zooms up to 90mm equivalent. The third camera in the trinity is a 40MP f/2.2 ultrawide, equivalent to 16mm. The standard and tele cameras both feature optical image  stabilisation. In addition to these are two identical 21mm f/2.2 selfie cameras, one on the inside screen and one on the cover screen.

Of course one of the benefits of a folding camera phone is that if you open it out you can also shoot selfies using the main 50MP camera, if you like to see yourself in high resolution.  This is useful for content creators.  The front cover screen can also be switched on when you’re behind the camera, so that the subject can monitor themselves when you’re photographing or filming them. 

The foldable design also means that the phone can stand up unsupported in both portrait and landscape orientation. This means that you can shoot long exposures or selfies without the need of a support, such as a tripod, which I found very useful.

Honor Magic V3 – Native camera app

As expected, the camera interface offers the usual array of shooting modes plus a few extra ones. In the default Photo mode you get auto subject recognition, and optional tricks including a motion-sensing capture feature which takes a photo when it senses movement. Portrait mode offers a bokeh adjustment slider so you can set the level of background blur. There is also the option of selecting Honor’s Harcourt menu, a selection of three nice looking profiles created in collaboration with the Harcourt Paris photo studio, including a striking mono profile. These don’t work with the selfie cameras but, as already mentioned, the folding design means you can shoot selfies with the main cameras. Pro mode offers full control of settings including the ability to shoot in raw. 

For the film-makers there’s the standard Video mode, which can shoot at up to 4K 60fps and is vertical by default. You have to rotate the phone 90 degrees tom shoot in landscape. There’s also a separate ‘movie’ mode which promises a more cinematic experience and works in landscape orientation, This offers 10-bit LOG, and a variety of stylish LUT previews that you can add later in the edit.

With all of the rear cameras, and in every mode, you can either shoot with the phone folded, using the cover screen, or you can open it out and use that impressive double width one inside. I found that shooting with the screen open requires two-handed operation, but then I don’t have especially long fingers. But the larger space gives more breathing room for the on-screen menu options and makes it easier to compose, tap to focus and examine the detail in your images. You can, if you prefer, choose the split-screen option, with the camera’s view on the right hand side of the screen and a film-strip of your most recently taken images on the left. 

Honor Magic V3 – Image quality

By default the Honor Magic V3 outputs 12.5MP images from the 50MP cameras and 10MP from the 40MP ultrawide, but you can shoot in High-Res mode to get the full 50MP resolution if and when you may need to make giant prints, though if you did this every time you’d soon fill up your storage. And it’s unnecessary for the most part because in the default camera modes the V3 delivers impressive images that gave me no indication that I was compromising on the camera by choosing a foldable. Whether shooting in the Natural, Vibrant or Authentic profiles, colours pop nicely without being gaudy or looking over-sharpened. The standard Photo mode offers automatic scene recognition and adjusts the shooting mode accordingly. 

FCP-N49 · f/3 · 1/20s · 14.92mm · ISO1250

I found the autofocus on all three main cameras to be fast, decisive and usually picked the right focus point. Moving subjects in low light can be challenging, as with any phone, but I filmed concerts in very low and constantly changing lighting and had no issues with the focus or exposure, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Portrait mode delivers nice portraits with a pleasing level of defocus (which you can adjust) and of course you have that telephoto lens available for a more flattering perspective. Some may find the level of default skin-softening to be a little heavy but this can also be adjusted using the beauty slider, from zero to full Madame Tussauds.

There’s a Super macro mode, available under the More menu, which uses the ultrawide camera and offers three preset levels of magnification. This enables you to get close enough to crop within a postage stamp, and the results are pretty sharp if you can hold it steady enough at that distance.  

FCP-N49 · f/2.2 · 1/15s · 1.96mm · ISO500

The V3 also offers a digital zoom up to 100x, and it produces acceptable images up to about 10x but beyond that things start to deteriorate pretty quickly, so it is best avoided. 

When it comes to photo editing the Magic V3 supports some of Google’s cloud based AI party tricks such as the AI magic eraser, which allows you to remove people and objects from your photos simply by drawing a circle around them with your finger, and it does a pretty good job. These features are not of course exclusive to Honor.

Honor Magic V3 – Video 

Whether shooting in the default 4K 30 fps mode or downsizing to a more storage-friendly Full HD, videos from the V3 setting are pleasing, with nice colours, and generally faultless exposure and white balance. The Image Stabilisation does an effective job in all modes, though walking while zoomed in is probably pushing it beyond its limits.

The addition of a more cinematic movie mode will be welcomed by filmmakers seeking higher quality and more control over the look and feel. The available LUTs vary from the subtle to the more extreme, and while serious cineastes will prefer to do their grading in post, they’re fine for creating clips with, say, an instant moonlight look. You can view additional low-light video samples, and LUT settings here.

Honor Magic V3 – Verdict

Foldable phones offer so many benefits over bar phones and the only real disadvantage, apart from the cost, is the extra bulk and weight. But Honor has largely eliminated this with the Magic V3 by making it so thin and light. For photographers and content creators it’s hard not to be seduced by the ability to view and edit your shots on a tablet sized screen, to use the cover screen as a preview monitor for your subject, to shoot selfies with the main 50MP camera, and to be able to open it to 90 degrees so that it stands up on its own in either orientation without the need for a tripod.

It’s no wonder that the foldables sector is such a fast-growing one. The Magic V3, specifically, takes these benefits and adds a camera module that can cover from 16mm ultrawide to 90mm telephoto, optically, and deliver generally good photos and videos at all focal lengths in all but the most trying of circumstances. There may well be slightly better cameras available for less money on some bar phones, but the differences will be subtle and in my opinion the other benefits offered by the folding form factor more than make up for it. 

The larger than average 5150mAh battery did not seem to translate to extended battery life, but given that all those screen pixels aren’t going to power themselves, it does a good job of ensuring that the power lasts for about the same amount of time as most single-screen bar phones, and the fast-charging is a welcome back-up plan.

For non-photographers the Magic Portal, Face to Face Translation and Eye Protection tech are all welcome additions. The only real negative is the price – £1,699 isn’t cheap, but you get a lot of phone for your money, and with 4 years of OS updates 5 years security updates thrown in it should last you a good while before you need to upgrade.

Related reading:

• Samsung announces Galaxy Z Flip 6 with 50MP main camera!
• Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 Review: Flipping expensive
• Motorola launches Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra flip phones
• OPPO brings Find N2 Flip to the UK
• OnePlus will launch its first foldable phone

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The post Honor Magic V3 review – The perfect folding phone? appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

We’ve already reviewed the iPhone 16 Pro, but for the sake of completeness, we thought we should also test the iPhone 16 Pro Max too, to find out if bigger is better, or perhaps if less is more. There’s of course no denying that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will end up on our list of the best smartphones for photographers, and certainly no doubt that it will be on our best iPhones for photographers list. But it’s worth considering whether or not there have been any major improvements compared to the older models.

iPhone 16 Pro Max at a glance

• 48MP wide camera, f/1.78 aperture, 24mm equivalent
• 48MP ultrawide camera, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm equivalent
• 12MP 5x telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 120mm equivalent
• 6.9” Super Retina XDR OLED screen
• Titanium chassis
• iOS 18
• Processor: A18 Pro Chip

This year, both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max share an identical camera set up. So this review, just like our iPhone 16 Pro review, can actually be considered a review of both models, it’s only the screen / size which is different. Both models have the 5x zoom, where previously you had to buy the bigger iPhone to get hold of that – good news for anybody who wants the longer zoom but also wants a choice of screen sizes.

The big news for the iPhone 16 Pro models this year is the introduction of the “Camera Control” button, which is designed to give you the experience of shooting with the iPhone as if it were a “real” camera”.

Otherwise, much of the camera specifications are very similar to last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Features

There’s a 3x lens setup, with a 1x, 0.5x ultrawide and a 5x telephoto lens. The only major difference between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max is that the ultrawide lens now has 48MP rather than 12, bringing it in line with the 48MP sensor. The telephoto sensor remains at 12MP.

Disappointingly, we’ve also got the same selfie set up as seen in the iPhone 15 Pro series, meaning there’s a 12MP f/1.9 device with AF – that’s pretty low resolution compared with other flagships, including the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Other specs to take note of include USB-C charging, three different storage options, and the ability to charge wirelessly and quickly.

Handling and Design

With its 6.9-inch screen, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a bit of a whopper. It’s larger than its predecessor, and is starting to verge on “small tablet” territory – sometimes known by the pukeworthy name “phablet”. Some people like these huge devices – and while I can’t deny that they’re great for viewing your shots and video, it’s very unwieldy for use as an actual phone. I much prefer the 6.3-inch screen of the iPhone 16 Pro, but this is a subjective opinion and you may feel the opposite.

The design follows the same iPhone playbook we’ve seen for a few years now, being boxy with rounded edges and a flat screen. The new colour variation for this year is Desert Titanium, which is a pretentious way of saying “matte gold”, but it’s quite nice. I’d rather see the brighter colours offered by the iPhone 16 series, but there we are. If you’re using a case – which I’d generally recommend despite the phone’s tough credentials – it doesn’t really matter what colour it is after all.

Those tough credentials include IP68 water and dust proofing, a Titanium chassis and a ceramic screen. I haven’t stress tested this phone to the extreme, but the last one has survived a year of being bashed around fairly well so I assume the same will be true.

The “Action Button” – a new feature for last year’s iPhone 15 series – can be set to launch the camera. But, you may not want to do that as you now have the “Camera Control” button as well. With this, you can launch camera, but also take a picture, zoom and move between different settings. The positioning of this button is supposed to make it make you feel like you’re shooting with a proper camera, but I don’t particularly like it – personally I’m used to using the screen and don’t have a problem with it. Perhaps I will come to like it more as time goes on, but I don’t find it particularly comfortable, and it’s next to useless when you’re shooting in portrait mode, something which we’re all doing more and more of.

Native camera app

If you like things simple, then the straightforward nature of the iPhone’s native camera app will likely appeal to you.

The standard Photo mode will see you good for the majority of your shots, where you can access all the lenses and shoot in raw format. It’ll also automatically detect people and pets for portrait-effect shots without you having to move to the dedicated Portrait mode too, which is useful for erratic subjects.

Night mode is automatically activated should you be shooting in low light. You can’t manually switch it on, which is a shame as occasionally the iPhone gets confused about what should be recorded with it and what shouldn’t – but it’s not a huge problem.

A new feature for the iPhone 16 models is the latest generation of Photographic Styles. These have been around for a while, but you’ve now got greater scope for editing and adding and removing styles even after you’ve taken your shots. It should be noted that you’ll only be able to add or remove a style if you shoot in “HEIF” (High Efficiency Image Format), which is something I generally recommend anyway to save space.

Apple Intelligence is supposed to bring a set of new functions for photo editing. However, Apple hasn’t introduced it yet. I will update this review once it becomes available, but early reports from the Beta suggest it won’t be anything we haven’t already seen implemented elsewhere – such as the ability to remove unwanted elements of a picture, a la Google’s Magic Eraser.

Image Quality and Performance

As the camera setup is the same in this model as with the smaller iPhone 16 Pro, I’ve already examined in quite some depth the capabilities of the camera in that review.

iPhone 16 Pro Max · f/2.2 · 1/2500s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO50

The big takeaway is that although image quality is great, there has been no noticeable major improvement from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and Apple is being overtaken in some areas by its Android rivals, too.

For example, the ultrawide lens now has a 48MP sensor. You might reasonably expect that to result in greater detail being shown, but it’s hard to see any obvious differences in the same scene shot with the old and new models. It’s also still being output at 12MP, rather than the 24MP default output of the 1x lens, which also has 48MP.

iPhone 16 Pro Max · f/1.8 · 1/3200s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO80

Portrait mode produces some reasonably nice results, with fairly natural bokeh and drop-off, but again, it’s about as good as it was last year, too.

iPhone 16 Pro Max · f/2.2 · 1/100s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO50

Meanwhile, macro mode, once one if the iPhone’s key selling points is now only doing a reasonable job compared to others out there. It uses the ultrawide angle to get close to the subject, and while the results are pretty good – something like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which uses the telephoto lens for macro, does a much better job.

iPhone 16 Pro Max · f/1.8 · 1/10s · 6.7649998663709mm · ISO1000

Low light shooting yields some nice results, with plenty of detail and good exposures. Again, this is now nothing special however, with comparable results from both older Apple models and competing Android flagships.

You can see lots more sample images in our iPhone 16 Pro review, which uses the exact same camera setup.

Value for Money

If you want that massive 6.9-inch screen, you’re going to have to pay a pretty penny for it.

The cheapest iPhone 16 Pro Max will set you back £1199. Unlike with the smaller iPhone 16 Pro, there’s no 128GB option to save you a bit of money, with the base storage starting at 256GB for the Max variant.

If you want even more storage, you’ll need to pay £1399 for the 512GB version or £1599 for the 1TB option. I can’t imagine who needs 1TB of storage on their phone, but there must be people out there.

This might sound like a lot of money, and it is, but it’s comparable with other flagship Android models, and in fairness to Apple, it hasn’t put up its prices for a few years now, so it’s no longer more expensive than anybody else (in fact, sometimes it’s cheaper).

It’s always worth remembering too that Apple phones hold their value very well, so when you come to trade it in or sell it on, you’ll likely get more back for it than you would with other brands.

That being said, a phone which offers relatively little in the way of improvement over the previous model is arguably not very good value for money at all if you already own an iPhone 15 Pro Max. For those users, I’d probably advocate sticking with what you’ve got – at least until the 17 Pro Max.

Verdict

On the whole, the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers great image and video quality for photographers, but, it’s safe to say that the improvements over the iPhone 15 Pro Max are few and far between.

Aside from an increase in resolution for the ultrawide camera and the new generation of Picture Styles, there’s not a lot here to recommend it over sticking with your iPhone 15 Pro Max if you have one.

There’s the new Camera Control button, and there’s even bigger screen before. I would argue that the Camera Control button isn’t necessarily, and the larger screen makes the phone harder to use – but others will feel differently and that’s something I am happy to accept.

If you’re coming from an older model, such as an iPhone 12 Pro, or an iPhone 13 Pro, then jumping to the iPhone 15 Pro Max (or iPhone 15 Pro if you prefer more sensibly sized phones), makes a lot more sense, but otherwise this is very much a soft evolution of the iPhone.

There’s still disappointment aplenty too. Why isn’t there a better selfie camera? Why is there still no Pro mode? Why don’t we have three high-resolution sensors… all these reasons are why Android is pulling away at high-speed from iPhone.

Of course, all of that simply doesn’t matter if you just like iPhones and the Apple ecosystem. If that’s describing you, then yes, this is the best iPhone ever made, and you’ll likely be very happy with it.

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iPhone 16 Pro Max Specifications

The post iPhone 16 Pro Max Review: Gonna need a bigger pocket appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

There’s no doubt that the new iPhone 16 Pro will make it on to both our list of the best smartphones for photographers, and the best iPhones for photographers, but just how good is the new model – and has there been any significant upgrades over last year’s iPhone 15 Pro? It’s a fair question, but, it seems that significant overhauls for Apple’s flagship smartphones aren’t particularly forthcoming, with each year seeing seemingly ever more incremental upgrades than the year before.

iPhone 16 Pro at a glance

• 48MP wide camera, f/1.78 aperture, 24mm equivalent
• 48MP ultrawide camera, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm equivalent
• 12MP 5x telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 120mm equivalent
• 6.3” Super Retina XDR OLED screen
• Titanium chassis
• iOS 18
• Processor: A18 Pro Chip

This year, the big news for the iPhone 16 Pro is the addition of a new “camera control” button which aims to make using the phone a little more like using a “real camera”. We’ve also now got a 5x zoom on this model, where previously it was reserved for the larger “Max” variety of iPhone.

Otherwise however, many of the specifications are remarkably familiar, so we probably shouldn’t expect to see a huge jump in image quality. Considering both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max have the exact same camera setup, you could consider this review to be of either model if you’re concerned with image quality alone (or primarily).

Features

The iPhone 16 Pro has a triple-lens camera setup, comprising a 1x, 0.5x ultrawide and a 5x telephoto lens. You’re now no longer “punished” for opting for the smaller phone by getting a shorter (3x) telephoto lens as seen on the iPhone 15 Pro, as this is exactly the same camera set up as we see in the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Another difference from the iPhone 15 Pro is that the ultrawide sensor has been upgraded to 48MP, compared to 12MP of last year. The lens is 13mm f/2.2 equivalent. The main sensor is also 48MP, and with its 24mm f/1.78 lens appears to be the same as last year’s iPhone 15 Pro. The 5x telephoto is 120mm f/2.8 equivalent, and seems to be the same as the one found on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Compared to several other models on the market which have three high-resolution sensors, such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro Max, this sensor and lens set-up isn’t hugely impressive, but we’ll see how they perform in real-world shooting.

Apple doesn’t disclose specifications for sensor sizes, but again, we can pretty much guess that there’s been no improvement there either, as I’m sure we’d have heard all about it if any of the sensors had been made larger.

I’m also disappointed to discover that Apple has kept its disappointing selfie camera for the iPhone 16 Pro series. That means you get a 12MP f/1.9 device, which although benefiting from AF is very low in resolution compared with others out there.

The iPhone 16 Pro has USB-C charging, and is also compatible with both fast and wireless charging. Only a USB-C to USB-C charging cable is provided in the box, so you’ll need to buy a charging plug if you don’t already have one (or several) available.

Unlike the 16 Pro Max, the 16 Pro comes in four different storage sizes. You can go as low as 128GB, or as high as 1TB, with 256GB and 512GB in between. This means that the cheapest iPhone 16 Pro comes in at just a shade under £1000/$1000, but you’ll need to be happy with a relatively small storage amount. If you want more storage, prices rise incrementally, reaching £1499/$1499 by the time you get to the 1TB version, which is likely to be overkill for most ordinary users – especially if you factor in any cloud storage you may have.

Handling and Design

Apple has made the iPhone 16 Pro slightly larger than the iPhone 15 Pro. It now has a 6.3-inch screen, compared with the 6.1-inch screen of its predecessor. The Pro Max has also seen an uplift in size too, now coming in at a whopping 6.9-inches. It’s good therefore if you don’t want to deal with a big phone (gonna need a bigger pocket), yet still want to have the best possible camera available. I spent the last year using the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max, and find the 6.9-inch version a step too far. The 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro is much nicer to hold and fit in my pocket, but if I’m being totally honest, I’d love to have something in between – some folks are of course never happy.

Otherwise, design has remained pretty much the same, with a boxy appearance with rounded off edges. There’s a new colour this year called “Desert Titanium”, which I would describe more bluntly as “matte gold”. It’s quite nice, but I remain sad about the fact that brighter colours are reserved for the non Pro models, as if us “professionals” are devoid of fun – I’m here to attest that we are not! Of course it kind of doesn’t really matter what colour the phone is if you put it inside a case, which I always do, so perhaps I should stop complaining.

As with previous iPhone Pro iterations, the 16 Pro/Max is IP68 water and dust proof, meaning you can submerge it in fresh water and it should be fine. I regularly run mine under a tap to give it a clean.  

Last year, the new “Action Button” debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro series. This replaced the old volume/mute switch and gave you the option to set the button to control other things, such as launching the camera. You can still do that now with the iPhone 16 Pro/Max, but another new button has been introduced that may mean you don’t feel the need to. The new “Camera Control” is found on the bottom right hand side of the phone if you’re holding it in portrait orientation, but turn the phone landscape and it’ll be positioned where a traditional shutter release button would be.

With this button you can give it a long press to open the camera app, and you can then take a photo with it with a secondary press. It’s got haptic touch enabled too, so if you lightly press on it and scroll in either direction you can zoom in and out (change between the different lens options). If you softly double tap it, you can also change different settings too, such as exposure compensation, picture style, and even the amount of “depth” in a portrait effect shot.

Personally I’ve found it quite tricky to get used to using the new camera control button after years of not having one, but it’s perhaps something I’ll get more used to over time. It’s also worth noting you’ll need a case that accommodates the control well to make it the most comfortable experience too. Additionally, if you’re frequently shooting in portrait format, you may find it doesn’t come in that handy either.

Native camera app

The iPhone’s native camera app hasn’t seen an overhaul for some time. If you like it’s fairly simple approach then that’s great, but it’s perhaps a bit frustrating for those who would like to see a bit more control in the way of a pro mode or similar. You can shoot in raw format directly in the standard “Photo” mode however, so if that’s your thing, then it’s there.

In the standard Photo mode, you’ll see you can switch between 0.5, 1x, 2x (a crop mode) and 5x lenses. If you tap on the 1x lens, you’ll also be able to activate 28mm (1.2x) and 35mm (1.5x), which comes in very handy when 1x isn’t right, but 2x is too much. If you find yourself frequently shooting at 28mm or 35mm, you can set this to be the default focal length if you prefer.

A new feature that came to the iPhone 15 series, which is still here for the 16, is the ability to automatically recognise portrait subjects. As such, if a person or a pet – or sometimes completely random objects – appears in front of it, the phone will record everything you need to turn it into a “Portrait” later on (i.e. blur the background). I find this a hugely useful feature as I have both a child and a dog, and remembering to put the phone in the correct function first isn’t something I always do. You can also adjust the focus point after the fact too, which can be handy if it’s got it slightly wrong – such as focusing on the nose of your dog, rather than its eyes.

Something else which started with the 15 series was that images are output at 24MP when shooting with the 48MP main camera. You can also opt to output at 12MP if you prefer. The same is true here, though it should be noted that if you enter into Night or Macro mode, then it’ll revert to 12MP. I had assumed that the new ultrawide camera would also output at 24MP, now that it has a 48MP sensor, but that appears not to be the case.

Much of the other settings in Photo mode are hidden unless you swipe up or press a small arrow icon at the top of the screen. If you do, you’ll find settings such as aspect ratio, exposure compensation, flash and timer. You can also switch on/off Live Photos (short video clips that are recorded alongside your image.

If you’re shooting in low light, you should find that Night mode automatically activates. This can occasionally be thrown off if there is some artificial light present in the scene – such as street lights, so it’s a shame not to be able to switch this on manually. However, if Night mode is detected, you can increase the exposure time to up to 30 seconds if you have a tripod or steady surface to hand.

A new feature for the iPhone 16 models is the latest generation Photographic Styles, which are digital filters to give your photos a different look and feel. Although Styles isn’t a new thing, you’re now able to fine-tune colour, intensity and tone, as well as save any settings you create. There are a wide number of presets also included, such as “Vibrant”, “Dramatic” and “Luminous”. As you might guess, “Standard” is the default option. Previous iPhone generations included digital filters, which are now gone and are completely replaced by Styles. The included black and white options are quite pleasing, and with scope to adjust the filters however you like, this shouldn’t be a problem for most.  

You can add, edit or remove a Photographic Style after the fact, but it should be noted that it only works if you’re shooting in “HEIF” (High Efficiency Image Format). If you’re shooting in the more widely recognised JPEG format, you will be stuck with whatever Style you chose to record at the time. This is something you can change in the main camera settings app. It’s worth shooting in HEIF to save space on your iPhone – if you need something to be in JPEG, you can always convert at a later date.

There is a standard Video mode, where you can shoot in a range of frame rates and resolutions. There’s also Cinematic for creating a shallow depth of field effect, as well as Slo-Mo and Time-Lapse. There’s also an option to use “Spatial Mode”, which is for use with Apple’s Vision Pro headsets – that’s not something I have.

With Apple Intelligence, new photo editing features are promised. But it hasn’t been rolled out yet, which is disappointing considering this is a phone you can buy right now. It’s even more disappointing when you consider that much of what is to come – such as the “Clean Up” feature is something we’ve seen elsewhere, particularly from the Google Pixel series, for several generations now – where has Apple been? I will update this review when Apple Intelligence has been properly rolled out, though.

Image Quality and Performance

I feel like I’ve been writing the same thing every year for a few years now, but, while image quality from the iPhone 16 Pro is excellent – it’s hard to discern a noticeable difference in most scenarios from its predecessor. If there is an improvement, it’s so incremental so as to be unobservable for the average person, certainly anybody who is looking at images on the small screen of an iPhone.

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/2841s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO50

The ultrawide lens now has a 48MP sensor. You’d expect that to translate into extra detail, for example, but I can barely see any difference between images shot with the 15 Pro Max and the 16 Pro. Where you will see some benefit is in the intermediary focal lengths between 0.5x and 1x, where the extra pixels should result in a better result when cropping. But that’s perhaps a fairly niche use-case.

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/3460s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO50

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/3460s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO50

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/3460s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO50

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/8130s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO80

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/8130s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO80

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/8130s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO80

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/9901s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO64

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/9901s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO64

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/9901s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO64

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/2817s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO80

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/2817s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO80

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/2817s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO80

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/1818s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO50

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/1818s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO50

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/1818s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO50

Having the 5x zoom lens for the smaller iPhone 16 Pro is good news for anybody that wants the longer focal length. It takes fairly good pictures, but which are noticeably worse than those taken with the 1x or 0.5x lens. Some argue that the 3x lens found on the iPhone 15 Pro was actually a better performer, which is probably true but neither are particularly amazing.

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/243s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO100

Portrait mode is very good on the whole, but again, there’s no noticeable improvement from before. You get fairly convincing outlines most of the time – though sometimes if hair or similar is fussy, it’s a bit more obvious that it’s not real bokeh.

More frustratingly, the selfie camera remains the same too. That means you can get pretty nice selfies in good light, but if you want to take any in low light, you will likely be disappointed in the results.

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/99s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO40

Macro mode, once a star turn of the iPhone, is now starting to look a little old hat now, being as it uses the ultrawide lens to achieve it. We’ve seen much better performance from phones which use the telephoto lens for macro, such as the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. The results from the iPhone 16 Pro are detailed enough and certainly look pretty good on the phone screen, but there is no observable jump in quality from the previous two generations of iPhone Pro models.

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/8s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO1600

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/8s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO1600

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.2 · 1/8s · 2.2200000286119mm · ISO1600

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/9s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO1250

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/9s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO1250

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/9s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO1250

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/5s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO400

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/5s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO400

iPhone 16 Pro · f/1.78 · 1/5s · 6.7649998656528mm · ISO400

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/4s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO1000

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/4s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO1000

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/4s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO1000

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/18s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO2500

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/18s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO2500

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/18s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO2500

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/29s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO2000

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/29s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO2000

iPhone 16 Pro · f/2.8 · 1/29s · 15.659999847383mm · ISO2000

In Low Light, the Night mode produces fairly good results, though sometimes they’re a little darker than I’d like. Video quality is smooth, nicely detailed and the colours are good. The new option to shoot at 4K 120fps might attract some users, but it’ll be largely irrelevant to most.

Value for Money

It used to be received wisdom that iPhones were super-expensive in comparison to other flagship devices, however that’s simply not the case anymore. While iPhones have stayed roughly the same price for the last few years, most other high-end Androids have risen in price to match – or exceed – Apple’s.

So, while the iPhone 16 Pro certainly isn’t cheap, at under £999 for the base storage option, it’s only in line with others like it on the market. The Google Pixel 9 Pro is also £999 for the 128GB version, while the cheapest you’re likely to be able to pick up an Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (albeit with a much bigger screen and higher storage than either the Pixel 9 Pro or the iPhone 16 Pro), is £1099.

It’s also worth remembering that iPhones keep their value much, much better than pretty much every other phone on the market. So, if you’ll be selling this again in one or two years time, you can expect to receive more back for it than other models you could buy from rival brands.

All that said, you could also argue that a phone which only has a relatively minor upgrade compared to its predecessor does not represent good value for money at all – if you own one, you’d do better to just keep hold of it for a bit longer.

Verdict

So here we are at the end of another iPhone review. What does the iPhone 16 Pro/Max give you that the iPhone 15 Pro/Max doesn’t? Well, in my opinion, not an awful lot.

If you’ve got an iPhone 15 Pro and you want a longer zoom without having to get a bigger phone, then there’s good news there. And the extra pixels on the ultrawide lens sometimes come in handy.

Otherwise, image quality is more or less the same, and even experts like me will struggle to find the differences. For the average person, it’ll be nigh-on impossible to tell.

The new Camera Control button is nice if you really want a physical button in that location, but after years of not having one and using the screen to control my phone’s camera, I’m not convinced it’s altogether essential. Others may feel differently, but I think you’d be hard pushed to convince me that it’s worth upgrading for that alone.

Now, if you’re coming from an older iPhone such as the iPhone 13 Pro/Max or the iPhone 14 Pro Max – like most sensible people should be – then it’s perhaps worth the upgrade. That said, even from the 14 there’s only been an incremental increase in image quality, so I’d probably be tempted to keep hold of that model for a bit longer too if I was keen to save money.

Of course, it might be something else which is making you feel like you should upgrade. The new 6.3” size is a good compromise between pocketability and being able to see your photos well, so that could be a good reason to upgrade, for example.

Essentially, while image and video quality is great from the iPhone 16 Pro, and usability is pretty good too, there’s nothing particularly exciting here and it’s starting to become a bit underwhelming year on year. I would have loved to have seen a triple high-resolution set up, a Pro mode, and a better selfie camera – perhaps it’ll come next year, maybe not.

If you love iPhones, then of course you’ll be pleased with what you’ve got here, but it’s certainly true that many Android models offer far more for photographers these days – if you can bear to part ways with iOS and the Apple ecosystem (and no judgement if you can’t – I haven’t been able to), then it’s worth considering the alternatives.

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iPhone 16 Pro Specifications

The post iPhone 16 Pro Review: Small screen, maximum zoom appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

If you step outside of the world of Apple, Google, and Samsung phones you can find some great value mid-range and budget phones with camera setups that put even some flagships to shame. Joshua Waller reviews the Vivo V40. 

This Vivo V40 features a dual 50MP camera setup on the back, and a 50MP selfie camera with AF, this is more megapixels than found on the flagship Google Pixel 9! And the phone comes with 512GB storage, 4x more than the base model Pixel 9. Yet it’s available for roughly half the price… But how does it perform? Find out in this review. 

At a glance 

• 50MP main camera, f/1.9, AF, OIS 
• 50MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2, AF 
• 50MP selfie-camera, f/2.0 with AF 
• 4K 30fps front/rear video recording 
• 6.78inch AMOLED, HDR10+, 120Hz, 4500nits screen with Schott protection 
• 5500mAh battery, 80W wired charging 
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor
• 12GB RAM / 512GB storage
• ₹34,499 (£316)

Features 

As mentioned, the Vivo V40 features a dual-camera setup on the rear, with Zeiss branded optics, both cameras have 50MP sensors, and optical image stabilisation (OIS) on the main camera. In fact, all three cameras have a 50MP sensor, as well as auto-focus, so it doesn’t matter which camera you use, you get photos that are in focus. There’s also a ring LED light on the back that can be adjusted for colour, between warm and colder colour temperature.

The camera app… 

The camera app is easy to use, with a few extra features to be found, including Zeiss portrait options. In the portrait mode you can select which Zeiss lens bokeh effects that you want, adding an extra element to your portraits, even making them look like they’ve been taken with Zeiss film (or digital) lens from larger full-frame cameras. The effect is, of course, produced using software processing, but the effect looks quite convincing at first glance. More on this later.

There are the usual Night, Portrait, Photo, Video modes, as well as Micro Movie, plus more including High resolution, Panoramic, Documents, Slo-mo, time-lapse, Supermoon, Astro, Pro, Snapshot, Food, Dual view and Live photo.

Hardware and Design 

The phone is stylish looking and thin, with curved edges on both the front and back, it’s a different style compared to the square thick phones from Google and others.  

You also get the choice of a variety of colours including purple, peach, blue/green, and grey/silver depending on local availability. It’s also IP68/69 dust and water resistant, and has a glass front and back. The screen is protected by Schott protection, but it also comes with a pre-installed protective film giving some additional protection. Speaking of protection, a TPU case is provided in the box in a matching colour. 

The screen is impressively bright, offering a peak brightness of 4500nits! Regarding large numbers, there’s also a generous 5500mAh battery and 80W charging supported. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t include wireless charging, nor a charger in the box. 

Running the phone (which is basically a tiny computer) is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, that keeps things nice and responsive. The amount of RAM and storage provided is generous with 12GB RAM, and 512GB storage. It’s running Android 14, and you can get all the usual apps from the Google Play store.  

Performance and Image Quality 

Overall, the cameras provide images with pleasing colour, good dynamic range, and reliable exposure. You can simply point and shoot with this camera, and get great results without having to worry about it.

vivo V40 · f/1.88 · 1/14s · 5.56mm · ISO2994

The main camera has a larger sensor (with 1.0µm pixels), whereas the ultra-wide and selfie cameras have smaller sensors (0.64µm pixels), which means it’s going to give the best results, in most situations.  

vivo V40 · f/1.88 · 1/1127s · 5.56mm · ISO50

The main camera performs well, but there are signs of noise in the corners of the frame, when you view images at full-size. If you don’t, then you don’t really need to worry about it.

Low light performance is relatively good, but in extremely dark conditions the phone struggled, in comparison to phones with larger sensors. The main camera is the best choice, and the ultra-wide gives worse results in low-light, struggling to keep the shutter speed quick enough at times. 

vivo V40 · f/1.88 · 1/14s · 5.56mm · ISO8557

The ultra-wide-angle camera gives good results in good conditions, for example on sunny days with bright scenes, but in darker conditions (or indoors) results can suffer.  

vivo V40 · f/2 · 1/132s · 2.23mm · ISO76

There’s no telephoto camera, but the 2x zoom (digital) lens option is shown on-screen in the camera app, and when selected shows 47mm (equivalent).

vivo V40 · f/1.88 · 1/100s · 5.56mm · ISO363

The results are good enough, and it’s only when you start ‘pixel-peeping’ that you notice any issues. If you’re just using images on-line, or on social media then results are good, and you should be able to get reasonable prints if needed. Does anyone print photos anymore? 

vivo V40 · f/1.88 · 1/1289s · 5.56mm · ISO126

Close up performance from the main camera is very good, and gives nice background blur. You can also use the ultra-wide-angle camera for “Super macro” photography, thanks to the auto-focus, however, you need to manually select this option on-screen, as the camera won’t automatically switch to this mode from the 1x camera. (Many other phones will automatically activate the macro mode when available). 

vivo V40 · f/2 · 1/50s · 2.23mm · ISO825

Selfie performance – There are a variety of portrait options available when using the main camera, and it’s nice to see that these are also available with the selfie camera. This includes different focal length options, Zeiss bokeh options, and face/editing options. 

The focal length options included with the selfie camera are 0.8x, 1x and 2x, whilst the options with the rear camera are 24mm, 35mm and 50mm (roughly the same). There’s also more bokeh options available with the rear camera. The results look really good, and the auto-focus helps make sure you’re correctly focused. 

Video – 4K 30p video, along with optical image stabilisation (OIS) on the main camera means results look good. You can also record 4K 30p video with the selfie camera, and thanks to auto-focus, the results are better than phones without auto-focus, as the main subject stays in focus. 

Value for money 

If you can find this phone for a good price in your area, then it represents excellent value for money, priced at around £360 (256GB) / £430 (512GB), it’s just a shame it’s not more readily available in the UK and other areas. The Vivo V40 Pro is also another good option. There are models from other brands, but few offer 50MP on all the cameras. Other budget options include the Google Pixel 7A and Pixel 8A, as well as the Samsung Galaxy A55 and A35, and the Motorola Edge 50 Neo (with telephoto camera).

Verdict 

If the Vivo V40 is available in your area, then it makes a great choice, the only complication is whether to choose the V40 or the V40 Pro with 2x telephoto camera. Results are impressive, and the phone gives you a premium feeling product, with a significantly lower price. The Zeiss portrait effects are pleasing and a great reason, along with the selfie camera with AF, to choose the Vivo phone over other brands.

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The post Vivo V40 Review – Can this Vivo beat Google? appeared first on Amateur Photographer.