Surprisingly, the iPhone 14 Pro can’t win this epic camera shootout - Digital Trends

1 year ago 49

Huawei and Leica created immoderate of the precise champion camera phones I’ve ever used, with the P20 Pro, successful particular, igniting my involvement successful mobile photography. The Apple iPhone has ever provided it with a beardown challenge, and for a agelong time, an iPhone and a Huawei telephone were my camera go-to devices. Huawei and Leica person present parted ways, truthful what has go of the brand’s cameras?

The Mate 50 Pro is 1 of its highest-profile caller devices to motorboat without Leica’s engagement successful the camera, truthful it’s fitting to enactment it up against the iPhone 14 Pro to spot whether Huawei’s cameras inactive stack up against the champion Apple has successful 2022.

iPhone 14 Pro and Mate 50 Pro camera specs

Huawei Mate 50 Pro camera module seen adjacent up.

Huawei calls its caller camera the XMage, and the main 50-megapixel camera has an antithetic manually adjusting adaptable aperture from f/1.4 to f/4.0, positive optical representation stabilization. It’s joined by a 13MP wide-angle camera and a 64MP telephoto camera with a 3.5x optical zoom.

The adaptable aperture isn’t thing we’ve seen connected a smartphone before, and it allows you to experimentation with the extent of tract successful photos, creating a genuine blurred inheritance effect alternatively than utilizing a Portrait mode to present a fake one. Huawei’s RYYB (that’s red, yellow, yellow, blue) colour sensor plan returns to assistance cod much airy to marque nighttime photos adjacent brighter.

The iPhone 14 Pro has a 48MP main camera with an f/1.78 aperture and optical representation stabilization, positive a 12MP wide-angle camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera that takes some 2x and 3x optical zoom photos. Apple has a assortment of clever bundle features to amended photos, including its caller Photonic Engine for adjacent amended low-light photos, Deep Fusion instrumentality learning system, and Smart HDR 4. The iPhone manages each these features, and you don’t person to bash thing to alteration them.

On the beforehand of the Mate 50 Pro is simply a 13MP wide-angle selfie camera, portion the iPhone 14 Pro has a 12MP autofocus selfie camera. For this test, we are not comparing video performance, lone stills. Photos were taken successful car mode connected some phones, examined connected a color-calibrated monitor, and past resized earlier work for easier online viewing.

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Mate 50 Pro main camera

If you similar photos taken by caller iPhone models, you’re astir apt going to similar the Huawei Mate 50 Pro’s camera, arsenic the 2 thin to thin towards earthy colors and tone, without the dense saturation we’ve seen successful immoderate rival devices. But determination are cardinal differences betwixt them, making it hard to take a victor successful this category.

Main camera photograph taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Main camera photograph taken with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.

Take a look a the photograph of the signs. The wide look, astatine slightest with a casual glance, is highly similar. The iPhone 14 Pro’s achromatic equilibrium and vulnerability are antithetic from the Mate 50 Pro’s, and it does fell immoderate detail. There’s besides flimsy grounds of borderline enhancement, portion successful the Huawei photograph edges are crisp and defined.

In the 2nd photo, you tin spot the tiny differences successful colour and warmth, with the Mate 50 Pro giving the writer a much earthy tone, and balancing it good with the colour of the entity and clouds. Both person akin levels of item successful the foreground, but the Mate 50 Pro keeps this up successful the inheritance wherever the iPhone can’t lucifer the level of sharpness. The entity successful the iPhone 14 Pro’s photograph is noisier too.

Finally, the photograph of the cupful of java shows the Mate 50 Pro’s quality to crook an mean photograph into 1 that’s amazingly pretty. This was taken successful mean car mode with the main camera, and not with representation mode oregon the Mate 50 Pro’s adjustable aperture. I conscionable pointed the camera successful the absorption of the cupful and pressed the shutter button. The Mate 50 Pro’s beauteous extent of field, sharpness of focus, and level of item marque it genuinely attractive. Meanwhile, the iPhone’s photograph is conscionable that — a photo.

The 2 cameras whitethorn person akin tones, but the Mate 50 Pro truly impresses with its method quality and its precise DSLR-like tuning, truthful it’s acceptable to nutrient a gorgeous photograph without immoderate existent enactment from you, the photographer, extracurricular of your originative intention.

Winner: Huawei Mate 50 Pro

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Mate 50 Pro wide-angle camera

Shot straight into the sun, with lone the subdivision of a histrion to obscure it, our archetypal wide-angle photograph is simply a existent test. It’s a autumn scene, and the Mate 50 Pro captures the warm, aureate colors and dew connected the writer successful an atmospheric, charismatic way. The histrion trunk inactive has detail, and the aureate leaves are vivid and noticeable. The iPhone 14 Pro doesn’t bash truthful well.

Wide-angle photograph taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Wide-angle photograph taken with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.

The 2nd photograph shows however these code differences continue, with the Mate 50 Pro balancing the country amended than the iPhone. However, the iPhone’s atmospheric entity looks great, but it does adhd shadiness to the enactment of trees. Both photos person rather a batch of noise, but the Mate 50 Pro’s photograph is sharper, with amended absorption and item erstwhile you look closely.

You tin spot this again successful our last photo, wherever the cardinal histrion is much defined successful the Mate 50 Pro’s photograph than it is successful the iPhone’s. I truly similar the attraction of the entity successful the iPhone’s photograph though, but there’s much grounds of sound erstwhile you analyse the photo, and it’s simply not arsenic crisp arsenic the Huawei image.

Huawei’s bundle is evidently moving hard to region sound and sharpen up the camera’s images, but it’s doing truthful intelligently and subtly due to the fact that there’s small grounds of smoothing oregon assertive borderline enhancement.

Winner: Huawei Mate 50 Pro

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Mate 50 Pro telephoto camera

The Mate 50 Pro’s default optical zoom level is 3.5x, portion for the iPhone 50 Pro, it’s 3x — meaning you’ll spot a quality successful however adjacent the camera gets successful the pursuing photos. What we’re much funny successful are the detail, colors, sharpness, and bundle enhancements that marque up the photos.

3x zoom photograph taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

3x zoom photograph taken with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.

The statue of the stork shows however muted the Mate 50 Pro’s colors are, and its evident deficiency of item too. There’s much disposable smoothing and a batch little sharpness compared to the iPhone. In fact, successful astir each the photos I’ve taken with the telephoto cameras, the Mate 50 Pro’s reliability has been haphazard, with galore photos coming retired blurred oregon with questionable focus.

Our 2nd photograph of the birdhouse emphasizes the problem, with the Mate 50 Pro capturing the histrion successful amended detail, but blurring the birdhouse itself. The iPhone 14 Pro captures the full country much effectively. It whitethorn not get rather arsenic adjacent up arsenic the Mate 50 Pro, but the iPhone’s telephoto camera takes superior photos.

Winner: Apple iPhone 14 Pro

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Mate 50 Pro Night mode

The archetypal photograph taken with Night mode connected some phones was successful precise acheronian conditions, yet the Mate 50 Pro’s photograph appears to beryllium illuminated by a spotlight. It produces a precise antithetic image, with a bluish tint successful the entity and agleam greenish grass. The iPhone 14 Pro’s photograph looks similar it was taken astatine night, with a achromatic entity and muted colors.

Night mode photograph taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Night mode photograph taken with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.

It’s a akin concern with the 2nd photo, wherever the iPhone maintains a “nighttime” look, and the Mate 50 Pro brightens the representation to the constituent wherever if the entity wasn’t acheronian (you’d presume it was taken during the day). The iPhone 14 Pro’s achromatic equilibrium is better, and portion it’s not rather arsenic crisp arsenic the Huawei’s photo, you tin truly spot the smoothing astatine enactment successful the Mate 50 Pro’s image.

In the 3rd photo, these elements each travel unneurotic to amusement the differences betwixt the 2 cameras. The Mate 50 Pro’s photograph has little noise, but the software’s smoothing is obvious, positive it’s mostly brighter. The iPhone’s photograph has a blacker entity and much sound and is acold little bright.

At this point, the iPhone 14 Pro wins based connected its show successful these 3 images, and portion this whitethorn not beryllium everyone’s choice, the Mate 50 Pro loses by brightening the representation truthful overmuch it tin suffer the ambiance and the existent nighttime look. It’s achromatic skies implicit bluish skies, for me. However, erstwhile you instrumentality a photograph successful astir implicit darkness, the Mate 50 Pro does an astonishing job.

This last photograph was taken successful a acheronian country astatine night, with a small ambient airy coming from a antithetic room. The iPhone’s photograph is noisy and lacks colour and detail, but the Mate 50 Pro’s representation has detail, color, and large achromatic balance. No, it’s not a good photo, but it’s technically precise impressive, and gives the Mate 50 Pro a level of versatility astatine nighttime the iPhone can’t rather match. For this reason, the class is simply a draw, arsenic each excels successful peculiar situations.

Winner: Draw

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Mate 50 Pro Portrait and Aperture mode

This is hard to judge, arsenic the 2 phones grip bokeh, oregon blurred inheritance effects, precise differently. Both phones person an artificial Portrait mode to blur the inheritance erstwhile taking photos of people, portion the Mate 50 Pro besides has an Aperture mode to blur the inheritance erstwhile taking photos of objects. The iPhone 14 Pro volition blur the inheritance successful the aforesaid way, but it’s not arsenic effectual astatine recognizing objects arsenic it is faces.

Portrait mode photograph taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Portrait mode photograph taken with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.

As you tin spot from the bollard successful this photo, erstwhile the iPhone 14 Pro gets it right, it’s precise effective. The blur is conscionable right, and it blends successful with the foreground successful a realistic fashion, and borderline designation is besides excellent. The Mate 50 Pro’s blur is overmuch stronger by default, and borderline designation isn’t arsenic effective. The iPhone needs to spot ample objects, and works amended astatine a distance, portion the Mate 50 Pro is little picky astir its Portrait subjects.

In the Mate 50 Pro’s camera app, you tin besides prime a Physical Aperture mode, letting you manually change the aperture, overmuch similar your would erstwhile utilizing a DSLR camera. What’s it like? Crisp. Really crisp. The photos beneath amusement the iPhone 14 Pro taken with the Mate 50 Pro utilizing the Physical Aperture, and the Mate 50 Pro taken with the iPhone’s Portrait mode. You tin spot the evident quality successful realism.

Aperture mode photograph taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

However, it requires not lone a grade of method cognition to get the champion from it, but it besides needs a batch of proceedings and error, arsenic getting the close focal constituent is rather a challenge, arsenic you tin spot successful the photos below. The iPhone’s Portrait mode much efficaciously captured the full emblem, portion I truly needed to set the settings much successful the Mate 50 Pro’s photo. The occupation is, it’s hard to spot this connected the surface erstwhile you’re shooting the photo, truthful opportunities could beryllium missed.

The Mate 50 Pro’s Physical Aperture mode is technically precise interesting, and dissimilar thing other we’ve seen connected a phone, but it’s not a diagnostic you’ll conscionable leap successful and use. It needs signifier and photographic cognition to usage effectively. However, successful the close hands, it has the imaginable to impress. This class is going to beryllium a draw.

Winner: Draw

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Mate 50 Pro selfie camera

The Mate 50 Pro has a quality mode, but this is not progressive by default. Despite this, the camera does look to creaseless retired skin, and the iPhone 14 Pro’s selfie camera has a acold much earthy look. The modular blur effect is besides stronger connected the iPhone than it is with the Mate 50 Pro, but this tin beryllium adjusted manually erstwhile taking the photo.

Selfie taken with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Selfie taken with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.

I similar the iPhone 14 Pro’s selfie camera, with its much earthy colors, higher level of detail, and effectual inheritance blur. It tin lavation faces retired successful the sunlight, though, astatine which clip the Mate 50 Pro boosts colors and smooths tegument adjacent more, taking a worse photo. The iPhone 14 Pro takes this class win.

Winner: Apple iPhone 14 Pro

A adjacent conflict ends successful a draw

The Huawei Mate 50 Pro and Apple iPhone 14 Pro camera modules.

The Huawei Mate 50 Pro won 2 categories, the iPhone 14 Pro won 2 categories, and they some scored a gully successful 2 categories. This makes the trial wide a draw, but it’s an absorbing result. The Mate 50 Pro bushed the iPhone successful what are arguably the 2 astir important categories — the main camera and the wide-angle camera. These are the 2 we each usage astir often, and the Mate 50 Pro’s superiority volition marque a much noticeable quality successful regular camera use.

It’s inactive a adjacent thing, though. The Mate 50 Pro’s caller Physical Aperture mode is clever, but yet astir apt won’t get utilized each that often, and the iPhone 14 Pro’s Night mode takes much earthy photos than the Huawei phone. The last takeaway present is that the extremity of Huawei’s concern with Leica doesn’t look to person affected the brilliance of its cameras, and whitethorn adjacent person freed the marque to beforehand things adjacent further. You can’t bargain the Mate 50 Pro successful the U.S., but successful the U.K., it costs 1,200 British pounds (about $1,450), portion the iPhone 14 Pro starts astatine 1,000 pounds / $1,000.