Pocophone F1 vs OnePlus 6 camera test: a surprise underdog victory

A decisive victory

The first shot we showed you is of Jessica on our beautiful office balcony. In addition to the difficulty of backlighting, we used the portrait mode on both smartphones, including an artificial bokeh created automatically by the respective camera apps.

At 76% of the vote, the Pocophone takes home the victory effortlessly. This is probably due to the lower contrast and faded colors of the OnePlus 6 photo. Pocophone, on the other hand, managed to preserve the real colors of the scene better and to better separate the subject in the foreground from the background. I should also add that on Pocophone you can adjust the intensity of the bokeh effect later, which is impossible on OnePlus 6.

• Image 1A: Pocophone F1 - 76% | Image 1B: OnePlus 6 - 24%

The second shot is set in the same place and at the same time of the day, but we only used the automatic mode of smartphones. Here, the OnePlus 6 is able to illuminate the face better, but unfortunately the image once again looks unnatural. The Pocophone F1 keeps Jessica's summer tan intact and represents the colors with higher accuracy. This can be seen clearly when observing the blue Berlin sky.

• Image 2A: OnePlus 6 31% | Image 2B: Pocophone F1 - 69%

The third shot brings the two rivals closer together: with a 60% result, the Pocophone takes home the victory again against the 40% of users who preferred the OnePlus 6. The OnePlus 6 photo reproduces strong light and shadow areas better (forced through a more aggressive HDR mode) but Pocophone retains a more natural look through warmer white balance and a better portrayal of our office shadow on the construction site.

• Image 3A: Pocophone F1 - 60% | Image 3B: OnePlus 6 - 40%

The TV tower photo sees yet another victory for the Xiaomi smartphone. In this case 63% of you preferred the Pocophone, which shows a better dynamic range overall. The OnePlus 6 can't represent the Berlin sunset in the same precise way without burning the high light areas.

• Image 4A: Pocophone F1 - 63% | Image 4B: OnePlus 6 - 37%

In the last shot OnePlus manages to take home at least one point. The OnePlus 6 captures the details of the flower petals better, while the Pocophone F1 preferred to blunt the details giving the subject an almost 'plastic' look. It must be admitted that Pocophone once again does better in terms of color representation (the flower looks more orange, rather than yellow as in the photo of OnePlus 6) but the overall result sees the flagship killer win with 67% of the vote.

• Image 5A: OnePlus 6 - 67% | Image 5B: Pocophone F1 - 33%

How did Pocophone get such good results with its first smartphone?

Pocophone F1 demonstrates that it has a great photographic sector - it is no coincidence that it uses the same sensor and the same software as Xiaomi Mi 8 and MIX 2S, despite the excellent and so far unbeatable value for money.

At the launch event in Paris, the Chinese company team explained to us that they do not have the necessary resources to create a great photographic sector from scratch, since the Pocophone team is simply too small. Xiaomi's sub-brand has therefore gone the easy way - taking advantage of the sensors and software already available to the parent company, thus achieving excellent results with minimal effort.

No shame in OnePlus' loss, however. The OnePlus 6 smartphone still manages to be competitive by offering an elegant, premium and fast device at an affordable price. In the end it's a matter of preference: there are those who will opt for OnePlus 6, its premium feeling and almost stock Android software, while others will opt for the more Spartan but economical Pocophone F1.

Did you expect this result? What are your thoughts?