After a week of voting, it’s finally time to reveal which cell phone won in our camera comparison involving Galaxy S21 Ultra, Mi 11 Ultra, Zenfone 8 e iPhone 12 Pro Max. Can cell phones from Asus and Xiaomi compete with the most advanced phones from Samsung and Apple?
It is good to remember that our comparison had the participation of the public and also the TudoCelular team. The votes were blind, that is, no one knew which smartphone had captured each photo to ensure maximum impartiality.
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Technical specifications
| Mi 11 Ultra | Galaxy S21 Ultra | iPhone 12 Pro Max | Zenfone 8 | |
| Resolution | 50 MP + 48 MP + 48 MP | 108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP | 12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP | 64 MP + 12 MP |
| Opening | f/1.8 + f/3 + f/2.2 | f/1.8 + f/4.9 / f/2.4 + f/2.2 | f/1.6 + f/2.4 + f/2.2 | f/1.8 + f/2.2 |
| pixel size | 1/1.12 m + 1/2.0 m + 1/2.0 m | 1/1.33 µm + 1/3.24 µm + 1/3.24 µm + 1/2.55 m | 1.7 m + 1.0 m + 1.0 m | 1/1.73 m + 1/2.55 m |
| Frontal camera | 20 MP, f / 2.2 | 40 MP, f / 2.2 | 12 MP, f / 2.2 | 12 MP, f / 2.5 |
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The photos were captured with smartphones using auto mode, except for the scene in HDR (where HDR was activated manually if it didn’t happen in auto) and night mode. All in maximum resolution allowed in the 4:3 aspect ratio, which is usually where we reach the full potential of the sensor. Voting can be checked by clicking here.
Now find out the order of the smartphones used in the test:
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The results listed below are the result of the following methodology with creation of the individual and final ranking. Each smartphone received a score in each individual comparison, where the sum of all points revealed the winner. The following weights were used:
- First place: 4 points
- Second place: 3 points
- Third place: 2 points
- Fourth place: 1 point
Explained the scoring method, we move on to the results!
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Photo 1 – Portrait mode
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In our first capture we took the beautiful model Nah Monstans to take a photo with the background out of focus. Currently, everyone is looking for cell phones that have a portrait effect to stand out from the scene. At this point we had a good dispute between Apple and Samsung, but the iPhone left our model with an artificial tone. In terms of colors, the Mi 11 Ultra was the closest to reality, however it has a weak blur effect. Zenfone comes last for having the worst portrait mode of the four.
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Photo 2 – Selfie portrait
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And selfie portrait? Here the choice becomes more difficult. The iPhone and Galaxy almost tied in our vote. Both record more skin and hair details, while the Zenfone and Mi 11 Ultra soften the image too much to hide imperfections. The difference is that the iPhone generates a more professional blur, but on the other hand it gives an unnatural tan. As this can be more easily corrected in editing, then he ends up taking our victory.
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Foto 3 – HDR
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Not every cell phone can compensate well for the difference between light and dark areas of a scene. This is when having a good HDR algorithm is important and here is Zenfone 8 that does the best job. It not only helps to recover details from shadows, it also manages to make a better balance between brightness and color. Xiaomi’s registered a darker photo, but still had a more balanced result than the Galaxy. While the iPhone comes last with the worst photo.
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Photo 4 – Macro
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Macro camera phones are quite common these days, but it’s still rare to see this type of camera on advanced devices. None of the four models in our comparison has a dedicated macro camera, so we had to use the main one for that. And which registered the sharpest photo? The S21 Ultra was the best, although it doesn’t blur the background like the others. If you like the blur effect to make your macro stand out, then Zenfone 8 would be the best in this regard.
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Photo 5 – Zoom 5x
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Need to shoot from afar? That’s when having an advanced optical zoom system makes a difference and at this point the Galaxy S21 Ultra sweeps through its competitors with the sharpest 5x zoom image. As the iPhone and Zenfone don’t have such a long zoom, they ended up lagging behind in this comparison, leaving the silver medal for the Mi 11 Ultra that loses to Samsung in the details of the scenario.
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Photo 6 – Distant details
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And when distant details are important but no need to zoom to get a very tight frame? Once again it is Galaxy that records the best photo overall. Both in detail, color and contrast everything is well balanced. The Zenfone 8 and the Mi 11 Ultra fight each other over the difference between the tonality of the photos, but most ended up choosing the Asus. Finally, we have the iPhone with heavy contrast and very cool colors.
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Foto 7 – Ultra-wide
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Do you enjoy photographing wide scenes of beautiful landscapes? It’s important to have a quality ultra-wide camera and at this point Samsung has always excelled, but the competition has been chasing after. The best of our comparison was the Mi 11 Ultra, both in field of view and in colors and vegetation details. Second comes the Zenfone 8 with a tighter field and lower contrast, but it still dwarfs the iPhone by far. The Galaxy S21 Ultra recorded a great photo, but it didn’t take as much of the scenery as the others.
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Photo 8 – Macro in contrast
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In yet another macro dispute, we see that it is not always the Galaxy S21 Ultra that registers the best close-up shot. Once again, he was the only one who didn’t blur the background, but picked up fewer details from the flower than the Zenfone 8, which ends up taking the gold medal in this comparison. The iPhone had lower sharpness, while the Mi 11 Ultra had more artificial colors. As this can be easily fixed in the edition, Xiaomi’s is in second place.
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Photo 9 – Contrast
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Not every cell phone can get the contrast right when shooting. By over-controlling the colors we get details destroyed especially in darker places. The Zenfone 8 was the one that registered the photo with the best balance between light, colors and contrast. The iPhone was dimmer, but it got more sharpness right than the Mi 11 Ultra. The Galaxy S21 Ultra normally does well in this type of photo, but it was the one that presented the darkest image.
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Foto 10 – Selfie simple newspaper
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Moving on, you can get a good sense of what each cell phone can deliver with the rear cameras. But what about selfies? This time we disable portrait mode to avoid maximum processing. The Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max recorded the sharpest photos, with Samsung’s showing the most natural colors. The Zenfone 8 captured a more natural photo compared to the Mi 11 Ultra that abuses the beautifying effect. Remembering that in this scenario the Xiaomi’s rear set was used with the help of the rear screen, but unfortunately it doesn’t work for portrait or video mode.
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Photo 11 – Simple night selfie
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Night selfies is Xiaomi’s forte. The Mi 11 Ultra recorded the sharpest photo with less noise thanks to the use of the rear assembly combined with the small screen on the rear. The Galaxy S21 Ultra recorded a clearer photo, which may end up pleasing many, but when you zoom in you will see the flaws in the selfies. The iPhone was tied in the vote for following the opposite path: it registered a darker photo so as not to show loss of quality. Finally, we have the Zenfone 8 with the worst selfie of the bunch. It’s at these times that the Flip camera is missed.
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Photo 12 – Night Mode
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Taking pictures at night is a big challenge even for the most expensive cell phones. It’s no use being good at shooting if everything comes out too dark. This is where having an efficient night mode is critical and we have two distinct situations in this comparison. The iPhone was voted the most for displaying the most vivid colors, while the Mi 11 Ultra comes in second for having the clearest photo. What do you prefer? The Galaxy is in third, leaving the Zenfone with the photo with the worst colors.
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Photo 13 – Night portrait mode
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Portrait mode doesn’t always do a good job in darker places. When trying to blur the background of photos, it’s normal for the scenery to come out darker than it should and that’s what happened with the photos captured by Zenfone and Galaxy. The Mi 11 Ultra almost got the better of this comparison for having the clearest photo, but it was the one that suffered the most from noise. With that, the iPhone wins another one by having the most balanced image.
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Photo 14 – Selfie night portrait
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And selfie with portrait mode at night? This is also the kind of situation that makes a lot of advanced cameras suffer. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the one that brings the best frontal sensor and it was the one that captured the best selfie in color, brightness and sharpness. In second comes the Mi 11 Ultra, which despite lacking in sharpness, still got it right in terms of brightness and colors. The iPhone follows in third with the worst brightness, but with better colors than the Zenfone 8.
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Photo 15 – Night scene
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And to close our photo comparison, another night scene capture. The iPhone closes the last contest with another gold medal for getting colors, details and contrast right. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is second with a slightly darker image, but still with great quality. The Mi 11 Ultra gives the initial impression that it did well, but when zoomed in we see more flaws than Samsung’s rival, while the Zenfone 8 lost more sharpness.
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Result of photos
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In the first part of our comparison we saw a good dispute with each device standing out in certain situations. The Galaxy S21 Ultra was the most balanced not only for winning in several contests, but for rarely being far below its rivals. The iPhone 12 Pro Max almost tied with Xiaomi’s rival, but it still takes second place, leaving the Zenfone 8 in last in our comparison.
Order of the most voted
- Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra: 28.2% of votes
- Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max: 25,3% dos votos
- Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: 24% two votes
- Asus Zenfone 8: 22.5% of votes
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Vdeos
Who gets the better of videos? The iPhone is the only one that doesn’t record 8K video with the back, while the Mi 12 Ultra is the only one that doesn’t record 4K video with the front. Recording in 8K may not matter to many people, as not everyone has a TV with this resolution and files eat up a lot of cell phone memory.
Comparing everyone recording videos in 4K we can conclude that the iPhone has the clearest image and the most agile focus. All feature an efficient stabilization system to reduce shake, but the S21 Ultra has small flaws in fluidity. The Mi 11 Ultra was the weakest on recording and was also somewhat lost in focus. Zenfone 8 features the best audio capture with clarity and bass superior to others.
When shooting at night, it’s the Zenfone 8 that gets the better of it with the clearest, sharpest video. The iPhone has a grainy image due to excessive noise, but still captures more details than is far away compared to Xiaomi and Samsung. On the other hand, Galaxy has the most advanced zoom and can be useful in some situations.
All four capture good videos from the front, with the Mi 11 Ultra delivering the smoothest image and the worst dynamic range, but nothing that gets in the way too much. The problem is when recording in dark places. The Zenfone 8 is the one that suffers the most from excessive noise to the point of ruining the footage. The Mi 11 Ultra also suffered from noise but still managed to record with good clarity. The S21 Ultra was the clearest at night shooting and recorded cleaner image than the iPhone.
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Concluded
It was clear that the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s cameras improved after several software updates and we had more balanced results than in previous comparisons. He may not outshine the others at every point, but he won’t let you down. The iPhone comes close behind and despite its mania for turning everything yellow, it still manages to give work for more recent releases.
The Mi 11 Ultra stands out in photos, but could be better in videos. The Zenfone 8 is the opposite and does well in footage, except with the frontal in dark places, and makes the best audio capture. That’s not to say Asus’s is bad for photos, but it has a more limited set than the rest.
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(Updated September 6, 2021, at 23:16)
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