The Pioneer Foldable Smartphone Camera Won: Samsung takes the Cake!

To paraphrase Otto Rehhagel, money doesn't always buy the best photos, but it is different in this case. Is that difficult to believe? The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is now $200 cheaper than its launch price of $1,799. The OnePlus Open costs $1,499 now, also receiving a $200 discount from its $1,699 MSRP. The Google Pixel Fold will begin at $1,300 (a $400 discount!) while the recently launched Honor Magic V2 would cost $2,170 if you were to import one in the USA as this foldable is not available in North America.

Camera blind test results: This foldable has the best camera!

In a nutshell, here are the final results of the camera blind test of foldable smartphones:

• 1st place: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (review)—26 points, 4,215 votes
• 2nd place: Honor Magic V2 (review)—21 points, 3,805 votes
• 3rd place: Google Pixel Fold (review)—18 points, 2,958 votes
• 4th place: OnePlus Open (review)—14 points, 2,414 votes

Scene 1: Daylight, main camera (1x)

Being colorful wins! This also applies to the first scene, where the Honor Magic V2 really pushed the colors out. The February sky in Berlin, which is actually quite gray with only slight slivers of light coming through the clouds, looked the bluest here with the wall graffiti also more colorful than the competition. It doesn't matter that the reality didn't look quite as cheerful, with over 50 percent of the votes going to Honor.

Scene 2: Daylight, 10x zoom

Blue also attracted clicks for the next scene: The photo from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 collected the most votes here. However, if you were to take a closer look at the photos, you will find more details captured by the other smartphones.

Scene 3: Daylight, portrait photo

In the portrait photo, the Honor Magic V2 wins with a clear and bright face, while the competition retained natural shadows better. The fact that the photo is a little too warm here is less of a factor. However, the other smartphones were not flawless either: Skin tones looked better on the OnePlus Open despite struggling to provide a clean crop.

Scene 4: Daylight, main camera (1x)

The most popular photo also won in the fourth scene: Here, as many as 60 percent of users voted the Honor Magic V2 to place it first, which simply colored the gray Berlin sky slightly blue and made the foreground a little more colorful. The other three smartphones were more grounded in reality with their comparatively duller images. What do you think: are the masses right and beautiful photos the goal or should smartphones depict reality accurately?

Scene 5: Daylight, 10x zoom

The second telephoto zoom photo was won by the OnePlus Open, capturing a very clear photo with clear contrasts. In second place is the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which delivered a similarly high-contrast and sharp image.

Scene 6: Daylight, indoor camera selfie

The cameras above the inner displays on all foldable smartphones are primarily intended for video calls. Therefore, most manufacturers rely on tiny image sensors in favor of a more discreet placement. The image quality of all cameras were mediocre, and the image processing delivered significantly different results. The Pixel Fold proved to be the most convincing here, delivering reasonably natural colors and contrasts. Unfortunately, the blacks were also washed out.

Scene 7: Mixed light, main camera (1x)

What stands out wins: This sentence also applies to the seventh scene. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 significantly increased the micro-contrasts here, making the photo look very detailed when viewed from a smaller scale. However, if you were to zoom in closer, you will also notice that there is not necessarily more detail in the photo. All foldable smartphones performed pretty well in terms of white balance, with Samsung leading the way here.

Scene 8: Artificial light, main camera (1x)

Only a few votes separated the OnePlus Open from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in the artificial light scene. Did Samsung's clearer grain and the purple shimmer tip the scales here? In any case, both Samsung and OnePlus managed to capture this scene in a fairly well-balanced manner. Honor's image looked a little bit too purplish, while Google's looked a little dull in comparison.

Scene 9: Mixed light, 3x zoom

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 with its greatly increased micro-contrast was also clearly visible in the next scene with a dog. 46 percent voted for Samsung, although the runner-up, the Honor Magic V2, showed a significantly better result when zoomed in. These days, photos are mainly viewed on smartphones, and the votes here show.

Scene 10: Night, ultra-wide angle

In the night scene, the Google Pixel Fold stood out with its rather muted colors. While Samsung, Oneplus, and Honor tend to drift into a more purple result, the Google Pixel Fold's shots appeared somewhat greenish. Neither is ideal, but the nextpit community voted for Google. The Pixel Fold's photo also has slightly lower contrasts than the competition, which makes the photo appear brighter overall. Perhaps that was the deciding factor?

Scene 11: Night, main camera (1x)

The Honor Magic V2 delivered the most atmospheric photo in our night scene from downtown Berlin, which comes across very pleasingly with warm colors and pleasant contrasts. OnePlus is probably closer to reality, but this simply makes the photo look darker and less eye-catching overall.

Scene 12: Night, 2x zoom

In the night photo with 2x zoom, there are again different aspects to consider. Based on the different levels of detailed reproduction to the pleasing color reproduction, the Honor Magic V2 won here by a whisker ahead of Samsung, Google, and OnePlus.

Scene 13: Night, Selfie

Finally, the selfie motif delivers very different results. The Google Pixel Fold - my personal favorite here - relies exclusively on the atmospheric ambient light. Honor, Samsung and OnePlus turn up the brightness of the display to illuminate the face - with varying degrees of success. In the end, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 delivers the top result with a Stefan that is not overexposed and a well-illuminated background.

What do you think about the final result of the camera blind test? Did you also expect Samsung to take first place? Would you have chosen a different foldable smartphone after reviewing the sample photos? I look forward to your opinion in the comments!