Despite its powerful performance, a reliable assessment website ranked the iPhone 13 Pro camera 12th in its global rating. The iPhone 13 Pro added big improvements to its images but still showed problems with its brightness and color temperature. Overall, it gets an okay-but-not-spectacular review.
DxOMark is a popular assessment website that tests smartphone performance with camera, display, audio and battery. Although some people doubt its authenticity and rating, DxOMark often presents viable results and arguments during its evaluations. Earlier this week, their experts finally tested the iPhone 13 Pro selfie camera and performances.
The results revealed a few surprises.
iPhone 13 Pro Camera Specs and Features
DxOMark officially scored iPhone 13 Pro with 99 points on its camera. The score puts it below the Huawei P50 Pro (106), Asus ZenFone 7 Pro (103), and even Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (100).
For reference, iPhone 13 Pro is the second model from the Apple 2021 smartphone lineup. Its main features include a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display, A15 Bionic chipset and 1TB internal storage.
It is also worth noting that its primary camera features larger sensors, faster aperture, improved sensor shift OIS (optical image stabilizer), and PDAF (phase-detection autofocus). Key camera specifications are:
- Primary: 12 MP sensor, 1.9µm pixels, 26 mm equivalent f/1.5-aperture lens, sensor shift OIS, Dual Pixel AF
- Ultra-wide: 12MP sensor, 13mm equivalent f/1.8-aperture lens, PDAF, 2cm macro
- Tele: 12 MP sensor, 77mm equivalent f/2.8-aperture lens, OIS
iPhone 13 Pro Selfie Camera: Scores and Ratings
During the test, DxOMark gave the iPhone 13 Pro selfie camera the following scores:
- Photo: 102
- Video: 95
Gizchina noticed that scores of the iPhone 13 Pro selfie camera ranked close to last year's iPhone 12 series. The higher scores indicate some level of improvement but only on a minor scale. The changes are emphasized on selfie camera subject focus.
In terms of improvements, the iPhone 13 Pro selfie camera presented accurate and repeatable target exposure. It also has fast autofocus, a wide depth of field, accurate depth estimation and meticulous detail to highlights. Note that wide focus means a lot more subject or people can fit in one selfie shot.
Unfortunately, the camera retained a lot of its traditional weaknesses. Luminance noise is evident, especially on indoor scenes. Objects also appear slightly distorted, especially on the subject's face and skin tone. Some photos have residual movements in motion video settings. Almost all details are lost in low-light scenarios.
Comparisons are now being made between iPhone 13 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 5G. According to DxOMark, Samsung Galaxy S21 is the more capable selfie shooter than iPhone 13 Pro. Although Samsung shares the same noise problems with iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung's performance is a lot more satisfying. Its images retain more details than iPhone 13 Pro.
As previously mentioned, some of these ratings are questionable to smartphone fans. Apple fans might have to wait a little longer for other comparisons, which could be released by different sources later this year.
