Camera blind test: Double victory from China and the test dilemma

tl;dr: Who won?

Although some votes were extremely close and some of the winners were very clear, we have two winners this time - depending on the counting method.

If we added up all the percentage points across all of the challenges, the smartphones that outshone the rest of the competition in individual situations happen to have an advantage. In this case, a large advantage is included in the overall result. The result would then look like this:

Blind test winner by percentage points

Rank	Smartphone	Cumulative percentage points
1	Huawei P40 Pro+	197 percent
2	Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro	175 percent
3	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra	146 percent
4	OnePlus 8 Pro	104 percent
5	Real X3 Superzoom	78 percent

Note: The survey ran on the French, German and English domains. We have averaged the results out for the evaluation.

But if we were to determine a winner over every challenge and reward the placement with points in every scenario, then we will arrive at a slightly different result. In this case, the first-placed handset receives five points, the second four, the third three, and so on. If there is a tie, the next placement is omitted. The results would then look like this:

Blind test winner by points

Rank	Smartphone	Total points
1	Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro	27
2	Huawei P40 Pro+	25
3	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra	24
4	OnePlus 8 Pro	16
5	Real X3 Superzoom	14

To cut a long story short: There is no "best camera smartphone", there is only the best device for you. Have a look at the pictures, and best in direct comparison to your other options. Which particular image do you like the best? Compose your own picture and find out.

In addition, the above evaluation of the blind test depicts a problem that plagues any other test which require a score: If you count differently, the order within the high score list changes as well. Bear this in mind when you look at test reports in the future, regardless of which publication runs it.

In the following, you can see all photos with the respective devices in the subtext.

1. Indoor shots under artificial light

In the first scenario, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra was the runaway winner with one-third of the total votes. The dynamic range is wide, but the photo still looks natural. The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro and the Huawei P40 Pro+ follow in second place.

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Comparison pictures: Indoor shot under artificial light

Real X3 Superzoom	Huawei P40 Pro+
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra	OnePlus 8 Pro
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

2. Portrait under daylight, 2x zoom

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra also wins the portrait comparison. This may have been due to the good reproduction of skin tones, but it may also have been due to the very strong bokeh which is standard - do you like very soft backgrounds?

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Comparison pictures: Portrait under daylight, 2x zoom

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra	Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
Real X3 Superzoom	OnePlus 8 Pro
Huawei P40 Pro+

3. 10x zoom, daylight

A powerful zoom does help a lot. Accordingly, the Huawei P40 Pro+ was able to assert itself here, which is not surprising in view of the image quality, especially when viewed at a higher magnification. A small surprise, on the other hand, is the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, which some of you voted to place it in second place before the Realme X3 Superzoom Galaxy S20 Ultra. My personal ballot would have looked different.

• Read on: The 100x zoom fairy tale: smartphone focal lengths and optical zoom explained

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Comparison pictures: Blackberries under daylight, 10x zoom

Huawei P40 Pro+	OnePlus 8 Pro
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro	Real X3 Superzoom
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

4. Night shots with Night Mode

Huawei is well-known for their Night Mode - and could perhaps convince you as well. Correspondingly, the Huawei P40 Pro+ racked up more than 50 percent of the votes. In second place is the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro with only 23 percent. Ouch.

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Comparison pictures: Night shot with Night Mode

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Huawei P40 Pro+	Image Realme X3 Superzoom
OnePlus 8 Pro

5. Night shot without Night Mode

Without Night Mode, with several seconds of exposure, the tide turns quickly: In this scenario, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro achieved close to 50 percent of the votes, while the Huawei P40 Pro+ has to be content with second place at 29 percent.

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Comparison pictures: Night scene without Night Mode

OnePlus 8 Pro	Huawei P40 Pro+
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra	Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
Real X3 Superzoom

6. Ultra-wide-angle, daylight

In ultra-wide-angle, all of the smartphones delivered decent results overall. Nevertheless, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro remains at the top of the podium in the end, followed by the OnePlus 8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.

• Read more: Exmor, Isocell & Co: Why smartphone image sensors are so important!

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Comparison pictures: Ultra-wide-angle, daylight

Huawei P40 Pro+	Real X3 Superzoom
OnePlus 8 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

7. Selfie, daylight

OnePlus was able to catch up quite well when it came to selfies - but it was still not enough to catch up with the top. With 36 percent, the OnePlus 8 Pro prevailed here against the Huawei P40 Pro+ (32 percent).

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Comparison pictures: Selfie, Daylight

OnePlus 8 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Real X3 Superzoom	Huawei P40 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

What do you think of the results? Does your personal perception agree with the majority of NextPit users? We look forward to your comments!