The iPhone 16 Pro Max has recently undergone camera evaluations by DxOMark following its release in September. Currently, it ranks fourth in the global DxOMark smartphone camera ratings. This time, the benchmarking company has focused on comparing the Apple flagship with its Chinese counterparts, specifically regarding the performance of its telephoto camera.
Performance Comparison
According to DxOMark, the iPhone 16 Pro Max does provide improved telephoto images compared to its earlier models. However, the firm notes that the Apple device still cannot "catch up" to leading Chinese smartphones. In their comparison of portrait images, the iPhone shows less detail in the eyes and lower smoothness of facial skin compared to its rivals.
iPhones are not typically recognized for their aggressive skin smoothing in photos, which is a common feature found in many Chinese Android devices. Nevertheless, as DxOMark suggests, users might be less inclined to favor the images produced by the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Telephoto Quality Insights
To illustrate the quality of its telephoto images, DxOMark has included a chart that displays detail preservation across various focal lengths. This chart contrasts the iPhone 16 Pro Max with models like the Vivo X100 Pro, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, and Xiaomi 14 Ultra.
The data indicates that the telephoto camera of the iPhone 16 Pro Max retains noticeably less detail than its competitors. While it performs comparably at 80 mm and 160 mm focal lengths, it lags behind in other areas. DxOMark also highlights that the details in landscape photos are not impressive either.
Conclusion on Overall Performance
In contrast, Chinese Android competitors excel at producing more refined images. However, as DxOMark mentioned in its earlier analysis, the iPhone 16 Pro Max excels in video mode, dynamic range throughout the zoom spectrum, color accuracy, stabilization, and autofocus. Thus, the only aspect holding it back from being a versatile camera phone is its periscope telephoto performance.
DxOMark shared this information on Weibo (translated from Chinese).
