Next year do a league format instead of knockout stage, so that every phone can be tested in every scenario. Would be more complete! Good video and idea nonetheless !
Would you consider doing double elimination in the future? That way the phones won't be disqualified if they happen to present one scene uncharacteristically worse than usual (or the other phone does uncharacteristically well.) This method introduces bias simply due to the order the pictures are in (for example, if you had done the second photo first, we would probably have different results.) Another great option would be a points system, that way you can focus on different challenging situations, and really get a sense for how well all the phones can handle those situations.
@@truthseeker6804 It's one photo....taking one picture in one circumstance, and having a few more people like one over the other does not mean Pixel 5a is better than Pixel 6. Put them head to head in a wide variety of photo opportunities, and my bet would be people would end up taking the 6 Pro over the 5A....but ultimately, they're very close. I would like to see them seeded like a real tournament, though.
Yep. Most smartphone cameras now are unbelievable for the images they manage to put out. There were really only 2 clear losers. The moto edge and legion 5.
This is a great test, but I'd also like to see a similar experiment testing the selfie cameras of these phones, and especially the video capabilities of both back camera and selfie cameras of these phones. Testing both cameras' photo, video, and portfolio/night sight/etc capabilities would be a huge undertaking, but it would incredibly informative.
Is it really unbiased when he sets the phones that have to fight? Especially Pixel 6 Pro vs Pixel 5a is SUPER unfair. No matter what happens, a Pixel will be in the next round. And Google having two phones here while every other manufacturer only has one is unfair too. No S21(+), no iPhone 13 (mini), no OnePlus Nord 2 and so on.
Love how all fanboyism and brand loyalty goes right into toilet each year on these blind tests. Just shows you how much people really know about photography and how much is just a biased fanboyism for the brand you prefer. Love these tests.
But are iPhones not optimised for social media? Shouldn't their photos be far better? I mean this is one of the major advantages og iPhone over Android but these tests all speak otherwise
"Or would you rather have a camera that just gives you 9/10, 9, 9, 9, every single time" MKBHD, after the iPhone lost the blind camera test 4 years in a row.
Is there a chance for like a double elimination format in the future? I think this might help the phones that are more consistent with their photos make it further in the competition in case they lose in the 1 style of photo they are weak in.
I think double elimination should be the absolute minimum for a showdown of this nature. One off photo and you’re fully out? That seems almost useless in any true comparison sense.
I'd like to see a points scoring system so phones like the pixel 6 aren't just knocked out straight away. this is definitely more of a hype way to run it but I think you sacrifice good results and get ultimately less useful data by eliminating phones edit: I don't mean line all 16 phones up in a line and compare them all at once. You still do the tournament, you just award 1 point to the winner instead of eliminating the phone. keep all phones for all tests. see which phone gets the most points.
You could also do different categories for different runs. Night shots, short video clips, scenery, city, etc. Then you can also figure out a points system from that as well
But that wouldn't be correct because 1. If the opponent is really bad, the points would get inflated as this is a v/s tournament 2. Also it doesn't make sense
This is one of the more eagerly anticipated segments of the year from you and your team imo. Can't wait till next years test. Thanks for all the hard work and the mindplexing results consistently! I didn't see that coming gets repeated quite a bit in these test.Thks again
The photos in daylight are so similar on most smartphones. The huge different between the smartphones is when you take a picture in dark ambient. Maybe make another test with night photos taken only.
I still miss the very early MKBHD camera blind test where it was only 5 phones, but a dozen photos with the same 5 phones, and people had to choose their own favorite across all photos. Each person could blindly find their favorite without being shoehorned into this bracket where majority dictates which cameras go forward. That blind test was far more useful to me, albeit maybe not as entertaining with surprise upsets.
Completely agreed. The current format can cause a great phone to get knocked out early due to a less complex photo creating a toss up between the two phones.
I wish more people were like you. SOOO many (for lack of a better word) normies STILL think that Android cameras are trash. So ironic as this is the first year an iphone has won a single poll.
@@cf8502 Pixels have been using the camera API for a while for all those apps... And why the hell would you post to Instagram without using the camera app lol.
As a Pixel 5a owner, I am 100% not surprised to see it do well let alone win. I expected the iPhone 13 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro to go deeper, but they were all in the same quandrant of the bracket. I would recommend seeding based on price or perceived strength.
The cameras in phones at this point in time are so universally good, that I am quite confident if you redid this test with the exact same phones but different pictures you would get a completely different winner in each bracket. They’re all good enough to handle any social media usage, which is what the vast majority of people use them for.
Indeed, the differences are marginal. Average user shouldn't care about camera anymore, when choosing a flagship phone. It is basically guaranteed to be good enough for daily use. In 2013 it was a whole different story, with cameras being all over the place in terms of quality.
This test is always so fun. If you do another one next year, the change i would personally love to see, is to switch the camera scenarios to be edge case/difficult scenarios rather than ones like the tests done so far where it's mostly been daylight scenarios that aren't that hard for the phone to capture. I would love to see more night shots in these test, take the phones to a concert or live show of some kind, take the phones to a sporting event or a family gathering with kids running around (with family permission of course). That's where you can still see the differences and where these phones fall flat or surpass each other.
Pixel 5 by a long shot has been an absolute beast for mobile photography, and its one-hand usable to boot. Honestly I wish more people were as fond of the symmetrical bezels as I am. Its the best form factor Ive seen in a phone thus far.
Ok..... This probably has to be one of the best if not the best video on this channel this year.! Great script, fantastic editing (you cropping photos, then enlarging them and putting them in a frame side by side and just the rest clean and simple edit) and really good delivery from Marques (ofc.. Smh 🤣) GOOD JOB TEAM 🔥
Love how OnePlus 9 Pro pulled out an upset after being talked shit on for the entire year because they overhyped their cameras w/ Hassleblad. All hype aside, it still takes great, finished photos that needs minimal editing due to the distinct saturation.
Man, this took me for a trip down memory lane. For 4 semesters during 2006-2008 I was an electrical engineering co-op student at Sony Ericsson (working on/off for a semester instead of going to school). I got to know the camera team pretty well, and I ended up spending most of my time working for them. I took thousands of comparison photos across tons of prototype modules and phones just like this test, and every time we asked folks outside the team what their favorite photos were in a comparison, they always chose the bright, saturated ones. Funny to see how some things don't change.
Well if you ask random professionals photographer the result be different tho(RAW + unsaturated) but ofcoz company focuses on normal people preferences bcoz of majority
@@tigerfhzl9317 At the time the company preferred us to ship the mobile phone cameras as more 'technically correct' in sharpness, saturation, etc w.r.t. a reference camera (Sony T9 or Nikon D60). I don't know how the manufacturers of today feel. As for me personally after that job, I set my Nikon D80 (lol) to 'Vivid' and tried my best to get great shots straight out of the camera.
David in his video explained these points and Marques summarized them nicely again. David mentioned how professionals would like to have less processed photos but general users may not and that highly reflects in the results.
I feel like edge cases matter way more than this test makes it to be. Sure, on well lit, good scenarios, no modern phone really messes up too bad. But what about night photos? Ultrawides? Zoom? Portrait? I think these are what makes these cameras wildly different more than anything
I agree, but I'd also like to see a point system because to me... if a phone is preferred for 4/5 photos for example, that'd be good to know. In the current format, if you don't win out the gate, you're automatically out for the rest of the challenge which defeats the point of which phone would be preferred more often.
I like how camera advancement improved over the years. This shows you don't need the most expensive flagship to get the most appealing photo. Even phones like the Realme GT and Pixel 5a are more than enough for people's needs in a camera.
Next year I’d suggest doing a completely edited picture. So like every phone, take a picture and edit it to the best of your ability. That way we can know for the pro users or the users who would edit, what phone would be the better option. Most people who care about the camera a lot would edit their pictures in someway or the other. Hope you do it!
Excited to see what you've got in store next for these. The Pixel 5 coming out on top isn't as big of an upset as last year if I'm being honest. Maybe next year, we could incorporate videos in these!
@@darthraider450 Perhaps, but with a blind test in varying scenarios especially with some smartphones now sporting AI video - it could get interesting. To improve the current format, maybe throwing in some night and portrait shots could help and make the bracket a bit more complex ie. round stages and then leading to knockouts.
@@VaibhavsTech Good point, and I just remembered that there is one phone out there that can do that and beat the iPhone in a *night mode* video situation - the Oppo Vivo X70 Pro Plus. That phone has a separate chip specifically designed for night mode photos and videos, and the results are insanely good, better than the iPhone. However if Marques does the test next year it is very likely that these companies particularly Apple will incorporate such systems into their next phones and beat the Oppo in night mode.
To be honest, sometimes I like the photos from my 3 XL more than my 6 Pro. Pixel 6 went to the extreme this year and makes the photos too bright exposing too much from the shadows and darker areas making them look unrealistic. Luckily there are the sliders to make the photo the way I want it, but it's annoying to change those every time I take a photo. I wish they would implement a way to have the settings saved permanently.
I'm pretty sure Google just took the algorithm they've used for the past years with the old sensor and slapped it on the Pixel 6. That's why sometimes it doesn't look quite right. As soon as Google adjusts the algorithm to the new sensor, we'll see the true potential.
Not gonna lie, this way the closest battle so far. I had a hard time choosing my favourite pictures this year which just shows how good smartphone cameras are getting across the board
Pixel 6 wins MrWhoseTheBoss' phone of the year. Pixel 5a wins Marques' blind camera test. Pixel 6 is $400 less than iPhone 13 Pro. I think it's becoming more and more clear that Pixel 6 is the move for the average consumer who isn't locked into the Apple ecosystem.
Please continue this series, Marques. These blind smartphone camera tests are not only fascinating to see, but does actually inform people who care about smartphone camera performance from 'ultra' and mainstream devices. 😃
It's very interesting to see the OnePlus 9 Pro make it all the way to the final. All those Hasselblad color tuning shenanigans seem to work in this test
I've been pretty satisfied with my OnePlus 9 Pro cameras, although I never felt it really lived up to the Pixel quality I was used to from my previous phone.
My OnePlus 7 is frustratingly bad. Once I saved up the funds, I might pick up the pixel 6 pro though. Maybe not the best camera but beats the hell out of my current phone
Haven't been really involved with MKBHD this year because of work but I had to watch this end of year usual content from his channel. It's the least I can do as my fav Tech reviewer 🔥🔥🔥
Please keep this a yearly video! By far my most favorite and anticipated video you make! Love the concept and love seeing the results year after year! Well done as always! Keep it up!
I really like these videos. If you were to change this test in the future I wouldn't mind if you: 1. Skipped the brackets and just let every phone compete in every round. (technically a camera that isn't great for the first photo can go out despite being excellent for the other photos) 2. Each round having a specific theme, "Selfie", "Nature", "dark" etc. 3. Rather than picking one phone as the best, let the voters rate every picture. 4. Present an overall winner and also show which phone "won" each category. I guess this might make things more difficult though, but just an idea.
I hope you guys do this again next year even if you do change the format up a bit. I love this every year. I was surprised the S21 Ultra was knocked out in the 2nd round. I've been super impressed with it since it came out. But I think lots of people focus on one or two things to decide whether or not they like a photo and it's not necessarily the best from a photography perspective every time.
This is a knockout round, there will be a bit of luck involved. A league format where every phone is tested against every other phone would be better but would take a LOT more time.
Here i am, THE ROG 5, even i was shocked, not because i thought my phone takes bad photos,no; but because everyone says s21 ultra has a very good camera. But i will say rog5 shoots good, not lying, i went for it for the performance, not for photography but when i took photos, i myself was surprised.
I suspect people are so negative about OnePlus phones' cameras because it's the "thing to do" and not because they're actually bad. OnePlus 9 basically came in 2nd place so that definitely seems to support that suspicion. Great video as always!
@@_H_A_R_S_H_I_T_ I mean alot of people like brighter photos so isn't that a good thing for one plus I think people just say whatever they hear on you tube without actually ever using it
i love the kind of photos marques takes. Interesting that he lef t out an outdoor landscape shot, but with a large majority of smartphone photos being indoors, it makes sense to have these kinds of photos. They seem VERY realistic, simple and what the mass market would want. Accurate!
Suggestion for next year: Instead of a bracket, make it as an Elo system, put two pictures side by side, a person has to click one of the two. You can probably make your own website and make it mobile friendly, but being accessible on the desktop is already a huge twist (probably should cap the resolution to have a real 'all else being equal'). The advantages are many; people can vote as many times as they want, you get a complete ranked list at the end, you can have as many samples of as many cameras as you'd like, you can throw a few control pictures as well (taken from a real camera, or from some mobile phone but through a filter), and if you really want to go the extra mile, could even ask what screen the person is using, and seeing if there are trends for colour calibrated setups vs whatever else, phones so like if iphone users are more likely to vote for iphone, etc.
Yes you are absolutely right. Bracket system is not accurate. There should be at least 100 pics of different scenarios from each phone to choose from. Then the maximum number of wins should conclude the final win and 2nd runner up and so on.
Many people voting as many times as they want Is a bad system. This is a good system. This is like real life. No second chances. Just like many sports. You get kicked out once.
C'mon guys please don't ever stop making these videos. These are one of my favorite videos that you guys make. It's always so fascinating to me how these play out. :)
Sensor has had more time to get tweaked and it was main sensor only. You'd still want the 6 Pro over the 5a if you care about hardware features the 5a just doesn't have.
I wonder to what extent its because the software has been optimised for the Pixel 5a due to it being out longer. Repeat this test in another 6 months and it could be different. The S21 Ultra got some pretty bad camera reviews when it was released but Samsung massively improved the software over the following few months.
You should keep doing the blind picture test but do 4-5 stages to each covering bright, low light, depth, zoom and then do the finally have them edited with the easy to use software on the phone
I'd still take the Pro-i if it was affordable. The fact that Xperias don't mess with the image as much as other brands and the ability to take Raw pics in Photo Pro is an absolute sell for me. Props to the Pixels!
Exactly. Two phones from the same manufacturer in the first round... But if he'd included the iPhone 13 mini and let it run against the 13 Pro, I'm sure everyone would freak out how unfair that is.
They weren’t too similar. The 5a won by 63% over the 6 at 37%. Not even close. The 5a won because it’s image looked the most realistic. The 6 changed his skin tone and over hdr the image, it looked fake. So it’s good they were in comparison against each other, hopefully google dials down the hdr over processing.
"In all cases the brighter photo won" that said it all for me. Bright doesn't mean better in my eyes and much of the losers looked more realistic than some of the winners. That being said thanks for doing this for another year. It would be awesome to include more mid rangers and ditch the bracket system.
It's interesting because there is an analogous issue with blind tests of audio where a louder test case will sound better. Thats even if the sample is identical.
It's awesome to see iPhone lose, especially after 4 years of blind testing and the people know what they want proof is on the results, you might not like brighter photos but every one else does seems like
@@abelardopascual6564 I could care less about the iPhone. I don't own one and never will. My statement was general but I do understand that people like what they like. I'm perfectly aware that I may be in the minority but it doesn't change the fact that some pics look more realistic by not being overly brightened.
@@mikemcklieve if cameras had better sensors which could capture a higher dynamic range of reds, then the brighter one would have automatically won again. Sometimes reds just become too hard to ignore. This doesn't mean winning photos are necessarily the best... I mean, the one Xperia with an actual camera sensor didn't pass second round
I love this series! If you want to step it up for 2022, make brackets by genre (portrait, landscape, low light, indoors studio setup) and pick an overall winner by numbers of victories and see who the overall winners of each category are. This would spice it up a lot! Amazed at the progress of OnePlus. Very consistent performance, very nice balanced results!
Yes! And as well take several different pictures for each of these categories. And continue to take all the pictures with all the smartphones that are participating all the way to the final, just to see if people would suddenly change their opinion regarding a phones performance. And to fit all this, he should make the test go on for a month or more on insta.
I know you have a skillshare curriculum on shooting photos with DSLRs and at the end of the video you mentioned what the majority of people look for in "good" photos. But what I'd be really interested in seeing is a video on the process you take when shooting a photo/video on a smartphone. Since the majority of people are just sharing "raw unedited" photos they take without even focusing on the object like you mentioned, are there some tips you'd recommend, like adjusting settings for color balance and white balance, filming or photographing things in motion, etc. Looking forward to the next video 😊
I actually still love the pictures from my pixel 2XL, but unfortunately the screen is more or less completely damaged. That's a pitty! I do love the pics taken from the google phones, but also was not aware of alle the pictures coming from all the other "budget" phones out there. It's great to see there is so much high quality competition when it comes to social media posts.
Please do this again next year. It is one of the most awaited videos all year. The only other that I look forward to more is the year awards. Keep it up!
And that’s only including phones released this year. Phones released last year or even the years before will outperform those these year I’m afraid. Even mid low range phones.
Awesome video. In the future, I'd suggest more real-world scenarios, such as outdoors. And Night Sight (use it all the time), and flash. Also, foggy, snowy, or rainy conditions would be really interesting. Sunset might be cool too, though you'd have to take the pics quickly as the light quickly changes.
This is really interesting. It would be interesting to see the cameras that didn't win take the same shots in the following brackets to see what they would happen with those taking the same shots. I know it complicates the brackets and voting but would be interesting to see some of the other phones and how they would handle the same shots as the winners.
@@LimitedWard I totally concur with u. A phone camera maybe graded 2/10 in a particular picture then graded 9/10 in the next one. In the end of the test, add all grades and rank them.
MKBHD: "Hey dude, the pixel won the camera test" Me: "Well, not entirely surprised, people usually like that processed kind of..." MKBHD: "The pixel 5a" Me: "wuh?"
I am pleased to say that in the first round I always picked the photo of what I consider to be a better phone with an exception of picking Motorola over iPhone because it made Marques look better instead of the window.
The problem is, you'd usually edit a DSLR image, or at least expose the digital negative before posting it anywhere. DSLRs don't invest nearly as much into rendering JPEGs as smartphone manufacturers.
This just proves that all phone really comes down to personal preference. No one is better clearly better than the other. It's more of which one you personally like.
After watching David Imel's video I do hope that companies stop with going for the brightest picture. Awesome video as always Marques! Highlight of the year for sure
Would be interesting another round with the phones from the last 3 years to see how much people really notice the difference between different generations and how worth is upgrading every 1/2 years
I'm not too surprised that one of the Pixels won as that increased its chance in winning by having two of the best camera phones available to take such pictures. Though as someone pointed, it may just that this one picture in particular just manage to do better at that particular angle and scene. I would love to have seen more pictures of the Pixel 6 Pro and 5a have more head to head to see what makes the new sensor supposedly that much better and your breakdown on it.
6:28 I feel like the Pixel 5a over-HDRd the image. It looks nice, but the guy's face on the left looks like it has dozens of HDR effects around him. I would've picked the OP9 Pro. Interesting anyway 😯
If you do tweak the format next year, I’d recommend ditching the bracket format, and just do randomized head to head pairings. Pick a winner based on who “wins” the most matchups. That’ll remove the outside chance that an otherwise good phone is removed early because of a particularly unfavorable scenario. It’ll also make your seeding less relevant.
I agree, the bracket works well if you test the same thing with every round, like a beer comparison or in this case using the same photo throughout the rounds and then repeating it with other photos. It’s a lot more fair to do pairings like you suggest.
The comments here are great. I just wanted to say, please don't end this run - I know this is hard to do but it's fun, it's involving as you root for your favorite, it's interesting, it gives some insights. Don't cancel this format, just make your mission to make it the best it can be.
Always super hyped for this video! My favourite every year! Congrats to Google for doing such amazing value photography phones! And kudos to OnePlus, seems like the Hasselblad partnership is working lol
The 5a is available on Amazon for ~50k. The 6 is available for about 10K more at many stores if you live in a major metro. Unlikely that Google will do an official launch in India. Too many Chinese phones.
@@itsalivevideo 50 k is pretty much overly priced. N we get much btr phones for that price. it was on sale in the US for 400 USD/ 30 k Rs during the black friday sale, a few weeks back. bringing in pixel 5a officially to india would definitely be an instant hit due to the lack of quality contenders in midrangers segment
@@prathwinshetty Import duty is 20%, GST is 18%. The iPhone 13 Pro is $1000 in the USA but $1600 in India. Everything is overpriced because of taxes. It's unlikely to be much cheaper officially.
Hey Marques, start the first set of rounds with outdoor photography. Because every single smartphone cameras till date struggles with indoor shoots. So if you start with those, a good chunk of capable smartphones gets kicked out right away. Or else, there should be two different competitions, one for indoor and one for outdoor. ✌🏻
I've said it once and I'll say it again. The single elimination tournament style bracket may be an entertaining way to compare smartphones, but I don't think it really tells us much about which phone is the best. It's entirely possible that a phone that lost out in the first round could have won out against phones in later rounds, especially if the camera performed better with the latter photos. I also think that unconscious (or conscious) bias could have been introduced in the selection of the initial bracket. For example pitting the two gaming phones against each other guarantees that a gaming phone will make it to the next round, even if they collectively performed the worst out of all the pairings. To really get a fair comparison with all the phones, you'd need a ranked-choice format.
Y'know what I think would be interesting? If you did a HUGE tournament with a mix of old and new phones. See if people choose phones from a few years ago over newer ones and if one of the newest phones wins, or something older has some magic to get to the top.
i always have a feeling when i decide to upgrade my phone it took better picture when i bought then the day i decided to change. maybe they downrage the cameras with updates or dunno. But i had this feeling very stong with my Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
@@danielcsongorkarnyaczki5756 updates _could_ negativity impact performance, but you might also just be used to the quality so it doesn't feel impressive after a few years. You could actually test this -- you just need a good reference to take pictures when you buy the phone and when you replace it. But it needs to be the same scene and lighting and all, even if it's 5 years later
Hey MKBHD couple of suggestions... But b4 tat..super appreciate ur effort, putting in all d effort & giving out dis spcl vdeo. 1)It will b awesome if u cud put up d uncompressed pics also so as 2 have real verdict on d best camera phone( I vud luv 2 see d original one than d SM compressed ones). 2)Also take photos of all d pics using all d phones rather than tat of d winners so tat to have a wholesome idea. This is coz ur image selection r really good and complete...once again, awesome effort bro👌
Next year do a league format instead of knockout stage, so that every phone can be tested in every scenario. Would be more complete! Good video and idea nonetheless !
THISS🙏🙏🙏
This year still has some days left. Maybe next week instead
Come on people this needs more likes
Ditto for this
Also various night photos.
Always immensely excited for these
Yep and true :)
Love your vids
eeeeee
Oeh
Love your content 💓🙌
I actually look forward to this every year, hope they don’t scrap it entirely next year.
They won't its there third most important video related to mobiles.
1. Iphone review
2. Smartphone awards
3. Blind camera
Same here!
Yes as most of us use phone camera same way and it's real test
It could be cool if they did video instead of photos
Yes, I look forward to such tests too!
Would you consider doing double elimination in the future? That way the phones won't be disqualified if they happen to present one scene uncharacteristically worse than usual (or the other phone does uncharacteristically well.) This method introduces bias simply due to the order the pictures are in (for example, if you had done the second photo first, we would probably have different results.)
Another great option would be a points system, that way you can focus on different challenging situations, and really get a sense for how well all the phones can handle those situations.
Yes but the winner would have been the same
I think pixel 6 pro winner 🤔 🏆 but sadly 5a😕
just let every phone stay in for every round and assign them each a score for each round then find the winner based on the combined scores
Please do this in a "round-robin tournament". I think that's more fair way to do it.
I would love to see this where the Pixels aren't put up against each other right away but on opposite sides of the bracket 🙂
all are different companies except pixel .
It’s a good test to prove the new pixels are over processing the images, trying to be like the Samsung and iPhones, which isn’t good.
They probably did it randomly
@@truthseeker6804 It's one photo....taking one picture in one circumstance, and having a few more people like one over the other does not mean Pixel 5a is better than Pixel 6. Put them head to head in a wide variety of photo opportunities, and my bet would be people would end up taking the 6 Pro over the 5A....but ultimately, they're very close. I would like to see them seeded like a real tournament, though.
But you don't want to see pixels agains each other at the final comparison as well 🤪
At this moment the camera of any new smartphone is just very good
Yep. Most smartphone cameras now are unbelievable for the images they manage to put out. There were really only 2 clear losers. The moto edge and legion 5.
@Mystery nope he didn't necessarily mean flagships. Pretty sure he meant any decently priced phone will have a good camera, not burners.
@@officialhideyo yeah
exactly i stopped caring about the cameras 2 years ago
man some photos that were taken by iphone 5 still slaps to this day
@Mystery pixel 5a isn't flagship
I would love to see another test like this in more low light scenarios
exactly and there should be few different nature shots 3-4 pics arent gonna be enough..this should be week long event
@@MrSeattledan Plus it should feature all photos or at least 3 different scenario photos per round
Blind night mode test or just low light?
He should do this with recording videos of each phone aswell
Oh that’s a good idea!
This is a great test, but I'd also like to see a similar experiment testing the selfie cameras of these phones, and especially the video capabilities of both back camera and selfie cameras of these phones. Testing both cameras' photo, video, and portfolio/night sight/etc capabilities would be a huge undertaking, but it would incredibly informative.
That'd be way too long imo.
5
This series is like waking up as a kid on Christmas morning! Thanks Marques!!
Honestly lol
facts
so true
Fr
It’s like watching Home Alone or Die Hard for Christmas 😄
$1300 superphones: we have the best cameras in the game
$399 pixel: hold my plastic
699$ Pixel 5: Hold my Sony IMX363
Best
hahahahahhahahah
Lol absolutely
*In a social media eye candy contest.
Appreciate your effort in trying to keep this as unbiased as possible.
Unless, how he determine the bracket each phone should go against with. I dont think its perfectly balance
Is it really unbiased when he sets the phones that have to fight? Especially Pixel 6 Pro vs Pixel 5a is SUPER unfair. No matter what happens, a Pixel will be in the next round. And Google having two phones here while every other manufacturer only has one is unfair too. No S21(+), no iPhone 13 (mini), no OnePlus Nord 2 and so on.
sarcasm?
@@uhm7521 Not to mention some camera being better at one thing vs another.
Please don't stop making this "Blind Smartphone Camera of the year" tests. It's one of the most interesting "phone" videos of the year. 💖💖👏🏼👏🏼
Please don't kill this series. I look forward to it every year! A format tweak could be cool though!
@@hemashroff3971 He said in the video that he doesn't know if he'll continue it
Love how all fanboyism and brand loyalty goes right into toilet each year on these blind tests.
Just shows you how much people really know about photography and how much is just a biased fanboyism for the brand you prefer.
Love these tests.
So truee!!
It just reinforced my fanboyism for Pixel 😁
@@djbaghdaddy and One plus
@@djbaghdaddy ikr lool
But are iPhones not optimised for social media? Shouldn't their photos be far better? I mean this is one of the major advantages og iPhone over Android but these tests all speak otherwise
this is like an end-of-the-year show for me now... if Marques ever stops doing this im gonna miss it
Is there a giveaway program ongoing?
Because I just received a message saying I won a prize
@@bryan2182 No. That's a scam, ignore it.
@@skylarkesselring6075 ok thanks
"Or would you rather have a camera that just gives you 9/10, 9, 9, 9, every single time"
MKBHD, after the iPhone lost the blind camera test 4 years in a row.
You can't beat bias, but he's talking about consistency which is true for iPhones and Samsung
There should be a million dollar prize for anyone who fills out a perfect bracket.
There is. If any company does manage to do it then millions in profits await! 😅
Chance to meet MKBHD in person would be a great prize
Its polls everyone can see which got more votes, if guessed before the everything started then okay i guess.
Or the winning phone for the winner
There is, it's called the lottery...
Is there a chance for like a double elimination format in the future? I think this might help the phones that are more consistent with their photos make it further in the competition in case they lose in the 1 style of photo they are weak in.
WEEK
I think double elimination should be the absolute minimum for a showdown of this nature. One off photo and you’re fully out? That seems almost useless in any true comparison sense.
@@michaelfrederick9585 yeah because you can basically choose who you want to win by picking specific scenarios for photos that you want to win
pixel is the most consistent in photos. so that wouldnt change the end result.
Please do this in a "round-robin tournament". I think that's more fair way to do it.
It is almost as blind as we are to dislike ratio…. Great series btw!!!
@@realinstagramuser. same
@@realinstagramuser. Who asked?
Get the extension "Return TH-cam Dislikes"
They keep their own database so the more people use the extension the better.
@@dj4rapz iPhone :(
@@dj4rapz im so glad it exist.. i couldnt even stay 1 day after they removed the dislikes i had to find something and was glad to find tht
Ever since the last one in 2020, I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this. Please keep it going Marquez I love this series.
I'd like to see a points scoring system so phones like the pixel 6 aren't just knocked out straight away. this is definitely more of a hype way to run it but I think you sacrifice good results and get ultimately less useful data by eliminating phones
edit: I don't mean line all 16 phones up in a line and compare them all at once. You still do the tournament, you just award 1 point to the winner instead of eliminating the phone. keep all phones for all tests. see which phone gets the most points.
You could also do different categories for different runs. Night shots, short video clips, scenery, city, etc. Then you can also figure out a points system from that as well
But that wouldn't be correct because
1. If the opponent is really bad, the points would get inflated as this is a v/s tournament
2. Also it doesn't make sense
points system seems like a good idea at first but people are easily overwhelmed when you give them alot of choices. A or B makes it simple for them.
BADGER
Totally agree with this. The bracket style isn't a fair fight between the phones. But how does a person comparatively rate 16 images ?
I hope that your team continues to do these blind camera tests. It's one of my favorite things you publish.
This is one of the more eagerly anticipated segments of the year from you and your team imo. Can't wait till next years test. Thanks for all the hard work and the mindplexing results consistently! I didn't see that coming gets repeated quite a bit in these test.Thks again
I wonder how much the screen that the voters are seeing the photos on impacts the outcome. That’s the uncontrollable factor in all of this.
The photos in daylight are so similar on most smartphones. The huge different between the smartphones is when you take a picture in dark ambient. Maybe make another test with night photos taken only.
In bright sunlight sometimes the color gets weird in order to get good contrast. That makes huge difference imo.
@@WigglyWings yep
Just take hard - to - take pics
That'll make a huge difference in the outcome
Damn it! We need to cook!!
Huawei P20 Pro will own them all in that test.
And the winner will be vivo x70 pro plus
I still miss the very early MKBHD camera blind test where it was only 5 phones, but a dozen photos with the same 5 phones, and people had to choose their own favorite across all photos. Each person could blindly find their favorite without being shoehorned into this bracket where majority dictates which cameras go forward. That blind test was far more useful to me, albeit maybe not as entertaining with surprise upsets.
Agree
Completely agreed. The current format can cause a great phone to get knocked out early due to a less complex photo creating a toss up between the two phones.
Absolutely!
Agreed, think including more varied shots that test the cameras' low-light performances, wide angle, zoom etc would've been nice
@@Dunnyedd y'all just butthurt, the iPhone lost 😂
Every year you always make it hard for me to say 'I buy iPhone for the camera'
I wish more people were like you. SOOO many (for lack of a better word) normies STILL think that Android cameras are trash. So ironic as this is the first year an iphone has won a single poll.
@@MadTrollGaming name another phone that can shoot videos straight from instagram/tiktok without them looking trash.
@@cf8502 Pixels have been using the camera API for a while for all those apps... And why the hell would you post to Instagram without using the camera app lol.
@@cf8502 thats fucking raw vid of course it's bad if it's shit hardware
It has the best camera for Snapchat. Android/snap is to blame for that not really the built in phone camera.
As a Pixel 5a owner, I am 100% not surprised to see it do well let alone win. I expected the iPhone 13 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro to go deeper, but they were all in the same quandrant of the bracket. I would recommend seeding based on price or perceived strength.
The cameras in phones at this point in time are so universally good, that I am quite confident if you redid this test with the exact same phones but different pictures you would get a completely different winner in each bracket. They’re all good enough to handle any social media usage, which is what the vast majority of people use them for.
Not convinced. The pixel 5a camera is still seriously underrated.
Indeed, the differences are marginal. Average user shouldn't care about camera anymore, when choosing a flagship phone. It is basically guaranteed to be good enough for daily use. In 2013 it was a whole different story, with cameras being all over the place in terms of quality.
This test is always so fun. If you do another one next year, the change i would personally love to see, is to switch the camera scenarios to be edge case/difficult scenarios rather than ones like the tests done so far where it's mostly been daylight scenarios that aren't that hard for the phone to capture. I would love to see more night shots in these test, take the phones to a concert or live show of some kind, take the phones to a sporting event or a family gathering with kids running around (with family permission of course). That's where you can still see the differences and where these phones fall flat or surpass each other.
Pixel 5 by a long shot has been an absolute beast for mobile photography, and its one-hand usable to boot. Honestly I wish more people were as fond of the symmetrical bezels as I am. Its the best form factor Ive seen in a phone thus far.
Even the pixel 3 still holds its own, shame pixel 5 ditched the wide angle selfie
If you are fond of the form factor then who cares if others are.
@@icyowens7853 mobile phone marketing departments
This!
Ok..... This probably has to be one of the best if not the best video on this channel this year.!
Great script, fantastic editing (you cropping photos, then enlarging them and putting them in a frame side by side and just the rest clean and simple edit) and really good delivery from Marques (ofc.. Smh 🤣)
GOOD JOB TEAM 🔥
Love how OnePlus 9 Pro pulled out an upset after being talked shit on for the entire year because they overhyped their cameras w/ Hassleblad. All hype aside, it still takes great, finished photos that needs minimal editing due to the distinct saturation.
Not really, If you comapre a plethora of pictures, The OnePlus gets taken out by a samsung or apple flagship 7 out of 10 times.
@@duck8997 na. Normal pictures they are neck on neck. What Samsung and iPhone excels in night photos. Otherwise OP9 camera is actually superb
@@rahulraveendran4543 watch op9 get smoked by samsung on mrwhosetheboss camera comparison
@@pranav288 there is a thing called software . OnePlus through updates just did that they used software to make the photos right
That hasselblad thing is just a gimmick on OP
Man, this took me for a trip down memory lane. For 4 semesters during 2006-2008 I was an electrical engineering co-op student at Sony Ericsson (working on/off for a semester instead of going to school). I got to know the camera team pretty well, and I ended up spending most of my time working for them. I took thousands of comparison photos across tons of prototype modules and phones just like this test, and every time we asked folks outside the team what their favorite photos were in a comparison, they always chose the bright, saturated ones. Funny to see how some things don't change.
Crazy how it takes teams of people to make a very basic and dumb conclusions and decisions in corporations. Thanks for proving it again.
@@untitled795 🤣🤣
Well if you ask random professionals photographer the result be different tho(RAW + unsaturated) but ofcoz company focuses on normal people preferences bcoz of majority
@@tigerfhzl9317 At the time the company preferred us to ship the mobile phone cameras as more 'technically correct' in sharpness, saturation, etc w.r.t. a reference camera (Sony T9 or Nikon D60). I don't know how the manufacturers of today feel. As for me personally after that job, I set my Nikon D80 (lol) to 'Vivid' and tried my best to get great shots straight out of the camera.
@@untitled795 it takes teams to establish that these conclusions are valid patterns, not mere anecdotes.
David in his video explained these points and Marques summarized them nicely again. David mentioned how professionals would like to have less processed photos but general users may not and that highly reflects in the results.
were are the Motorola
Who's David?
Like how music mixers and masterers may prefer totally flat headphones, but people listening want a bit more bass
smartphones are not for professionals
@@_ra1n David Imel, he’s part of Marques’ team
one of my all time fav mkbhd videos !! I look forward to blind camera test every year!! :D
The video we all been waiting for
True
So ja sale
@@kritikraulo5995 bhai ye video ke liye jage hue hai sab 🤣
@@yogeshwagh2849 bhai bhai 🤣🤣
I feel like edge cases matter way more than this test makes it to be.
Sure, on well lit, good scenarios, no modern phone really messes up too bad. But what about night photos? Ultrawides? Zoom? Portrait?
I think these are what makes these cameras wildly different more than anything
Most people are only using the main camera of their phones.
I agree, but I'd also like to see a point system because to me... if a phone is preferred for 4/5 photos for example, that'd be good to know.
In the current format, if you don't win out the gate, you're automatically out for the rest of the challenge which defeats the point of which phone would be preferred more often.
Regardless the IPhone still would have lost. That's one thing we know for sure.
Cuz most people won't use those modes. Unless they really need it.
Hi Iuri, I like your OH solves
I like how camera advancement improved over the years. This shows you don't need the most expensive flagship to get the most appealing photo. Even phones like the Realme GT and Pixel 5a are more than enough for people's needs in a camera.
I actually didn't expect the RealMe GT to even make it through the first round! It's supposed to be nothing more than a gaming phone!🤣
Yes. I actually surprised my galaxy s10e have better picture quality and pro feature than s21 ultra. I've already test it on my own.
Next year I’d suggest doing a completely edited picture. So like every phone, take a picture and edit it to the best of your ability. That way we can know for the pro users or the users who would edit, what phone would be the better option. Most people who care about the camera a lot would edit their pictures in someway or the other. Hope you do it!
Excited to see what you've got in store next for these. The Pixel 5 coming out on top isn't as big of an upset as last year if I'm being honest. Maybe next year, we could incorporate videos in these!
No point with video, the iPhone would destroy everything else.
@@darthraider450maybe
@@darthraider450 Perhaps, but with a blind test in varying scenarios especially with some smartphones now sporting AI video - it could get interesting. To improve the current format, maybe throwing in some night and portrait shots could help and make the bracket a bit more complex ie. round stages and then leading to knockouts.
@@VaibhavsTech Good point, and I just remembered that there is one phone out there that can do that and beat the iPhone in a *night mode* video situation - the Oppo Vivo X70 Pro Plus. That phone has a separate chip specifically designed for night mode photos and videos, and the results are insanely good, better than the iPhone.
However if Marques does the test next year it is very likely that these companies particularly Apple will incorporate such systems into their next phones and beat the Oppo in night mode.
To be honest, sometimes I like the photos from my 3 XL more than my 6 Pro. Pixel 6 went to the extreme this year and makes the photos too bright exposing too much from the shadows and darker areas making them look unrealistic. Luckily there are the sliders to make the photo the way I want it, but it's annoying to change those every time I take a photo. I wish they would implement a way to have the settings saved permanently.
I'm pretty sure Google just took the algorithm they've used for the past years with the old sensor and slapped it on the Pixel 6. That's why sometimes it doesn't look quite right. As soon as Google adjusts the algorithm to the new sensor, we'll see the true potential.
That makes sense. Pixel 3XL uses the same camera sensor as Pixel 5a
@@paddipat The algorithm is already optimized, the way the pictures end up it's a choice and they did it this way because most people prefer it.
That's sounds like a you problem.
Totally agree. I experience the same thing movie from 2XL and 5, since I have the photos from earlier I can compare and I totally agree.
Not gonna lie, this way the closest battle so far. I had a hard time choosing my favourite pictures this year which just shows how good smartphone cameras are getting across the board
As someone who never takes photos but owns a pixel 5a, I might need to get more into photography.
Pixel 6 wins MrWhoseTheBoss' phone of the year.
Pixel 5a wins Marques' blind camera test.
Pixel 6 is $400 less than iPhone 13 Pro.
I think it's becoming more and more clear that Pixel 6 is the move for the average consumer who isn't locked into the Apple ecosystem.
I dont why, but pixel 5a pic is better than pixel 6 imo
@@deadiseasy7891 probably cause gcam still hasn't been fully optimized for the higher mp camera in pixel 6
Ok, try to get it for me here in europe. Or like, anywhere else in the world...
@@ZeroSiks or it is not possible to optimise it. Pixel binning has a lot of problems
Pixel is garbage
Please continue this series, Marques. These blind smartphone camera tests are not only fascinating to see, but does actually inform people who care about smartphone camera performance from 'ultra' and mainstream devices. 😃
It's very interesting to see the OnePlus 9 Pro make it all the way to the final. All those Hasselblad color tuning shenanigans seem to work in this test
I've been pretty satisfied with my OnePlus 9 Pro cameras, although I never felt it really lived up to the Pixel quality I was used to from my previous phone.
My OnePlus 7 is frustratingly bad.
Once I saved up the funds, I might pick up the pixel 6 pro though. Maybe not the best camera but beats the hell out of my current phone
right now I have a OP5T and still in bright day the photos looks absolutly fantastic (in my opinion)
@@samulai for me the pictures on my one plus 9 pro are coming out perfect.
After all the updates I'm also really happy with my OnePlus 9 Pro camera. It does a great job in most situations.
Haven't been really involved with MKBHD this year because of work but I had to watch this end of year usual content from his channel.
It's the least I can do as my fav Tech reviewer 🔥🔥🔥
It's that time of the year again. Let's go
Please keep this a yearly video! By far my most favorite and anticipated video you make! Love the concept and love seeing the results year after year! Well done as always! Keep it up!
I really like these videos. If you were to change this test in the future I wouldn't mind if you:
1. Skipped the brackets and just let every phone compete in every round. (technically a camera that isn't great for the first photo can go out despite being excellent for the other photos)
2. Each round having a specific theme, "Selfie", "Nature", "dark" etc.
3. Rather than picking one phone as the best, let the voters rate every picture.
4. Present an overall winner and also show which phone "won" each category.
I guess this might make things more difficult though, but just an idea.
This makes me very happy to see since I just ordered the 5a instead of the 6 pro!
I hope you guys do this again next year even if you do change the format up a bit. I love this every year.
I was surprised the S21 Ultra was knocked out in the 2nd round. I've been super impressed with it since it came out. But I think lots of people focus on one or two things to decide whether or not they like a photo and it's not necessarily the best from a photography perspective every time.
Bro this guy is a fanboy of op
Is there a giveaway program ongoing?
Because I just received a message saying I won a prize
This is a knockout round, there will be a bit of luck involved. A league format where every phone is tested against every other phone would be better but would take a LOT more time.
?
Here i am, THE ROG 5, even i was shocked, not because i thought my phone takes bad photos,no; but because everyone says s21 ultra has a very good camera. But i will say rog5 shoots good, not lying, i went for it for the performance, not for photography but when i took photos, i myself was surprised.
I suspect people are so negative about OnePlus phones' cameras because it's the "thing to do" and not because they're actually bad. OnePlus 9 basically came in 2nd place so that definitely seems to support that suspicion. Great video as always!
Like Mkbhd said, OnePlus always clicks brighter photos. Brighter is not necessarily the better one!
@@_H_A_R_S_H_I_T_ I mean alot of people like brighter photos so isn't that a good thing for one plus I think people just say whatever they hear on you tube without actually ever using it
i love the kind of photos marques takes. Interesting that he lef t out an outdoor landscape shot, but with a large majority of smartphone photos being indoors,
it makes sense to have these kinds of photos. They seem VERY realistic, simple and what the mass market would want. Accurate!
Happy Holidays to you and your crew. Love watching your videos. Thanks!
Suggestion for next year: Instead of a bracket, make it as an Elo system, put two pictures side by side, a person has to click one of the two. You can probably make your own website and make it mobile friendly, but being accessible on the desktop is already a huge twist (probably should cap the resolution to have a real 'all else being equal'). The advantages are many; people can vote as many times as they want, you get a complete ranked list at the end, you can have as many samples of as many cameras as you'd like, you can throw a few control pictures as well (taken from a real camera, or from some mobile phone but through a filter), and if you really want to go the extra mile, could even ask what screen the person is using, and seeing if there are trends for colour calibrated setups vs whatever else, phones so like if iphone users are more likely to vote for iphone, etc.
Yes you are absolutely right. Bracket system is not accurate. There should be at least 100 pics of different scenarios from each phone to choose from. Then the maximum number of wins should conclude the final win and 2nd runner up and so on.
Many people voting as many times as they want Is a bad system. This is a good system. This is like real life. No second chances. Just like many sports. You get kicked out once.
@@green_life7 wow this is the best idea for sure!
C'mon guys please don't ever stop making these videos. These are one of my favorite videos that you guys make. It's always so fascinating to me how these play out. :)
Pixel 5a beats Pixel 6 pro ... wtf 🧐
Ikr, at least I can rest easy knowing I voted for the pixel 6 pro lol. It was 55% to 45% so not like it was a huge upset either
Sensor has had more time to get tweaked and it was main sensor only. You'd still want the 6 Pro over the 5a if you care about hardware features the 5a just doesn't have.
I think Google still has the camera processing more tuned to the old 12 MP sensor and it's not quite sure how to handle the new 50 MP sensor?
I wonder to what extent its because the software has been optimised for the Pixel 5a due to it being out longer. Repeat this test in another 6 months and it could be different. The S21 Ultra got some pretty bad camera reviews when it was released but Samsung massively improved the software over the following few months.
I’ve just looked at the two images and the smile is warmer on the pixel 5a image which is probably why it was preferred, not for a technical reason
You should keep doing the blind picture test but do 4-5 stages to each covering bright, low light, depth, zoom and then do the finally have them edited with the easy to use software on the phone
I'd still take the Pro-i if it was affordable. The fact that Xperias don't mess with the image as much as other brands and the ability to take Raw pics in Photo Pro is an absolute sell for me.
Props to the Pixels!
5a vs 6 pro was too similar. A shame there were against each other...
Exactly. Two phones from the same manufacturer in the first round...
But if he'd included the iPhone 13 mini and let it run against the 13 Pro, I'm sure everyone would freak out how unfair that is.
I was like whyy were they up against in the first round??? 6 Pro was good but people chose the brighter photo
They weren’t too similar. The 5a won by 63% over the 6 at 37%. Not even close. The 5a won because it’s image looked the most realistic. The 6 changed his skin tone and over hdr the image, it looked fake. So it’s good they were in comparison against each other, hopefully google dials down the hdr over processing.
@@truthseeker6804 This. I think its good BECAUSE they put the 6 vs the 5a and it almost reassures me to be proud of the camera on my Pixel 4 XL
I’m gonna miss these, I’ve been voting from the beginning. It’s always interesting to see how brands influence you’re opinions and thoughts.
every year, the results surprise me. i hope you continue doing this kind of blind cam test. stay safe! happy holidays!
"In all cases the brighter photo won" that said it all for me. Bright doesn't mean better in my eyes and much of the losers looked more realistic than some of the winners. That being said thanks for doing this for another year. It would be awesome to include more mid rangers and ditch the bracket system.
It's interesting because there is an analogous issue with blind tests of audio where a louder test case will sound better. Thats even if the sample is identical.
It's awesome to see iPhone lose, especially after 4 years of blind testing and the people know what they want proof is on the results, you might not like brighter photos but every one else does seems like
@@abelardopascual6564 I could care less about the iPhone. I don't own one and never will. My statement was general but I do understand that people like what they like. I'm perfectly aware that I may be in the minority but it doesn't change the fact that some pics look more realistic by not being overly brightened.
except on the red... because again, brighter doesn't mean better. Winner are the best out of the bunch
@@mikemcklieve if cameras had better sensors which could capture a higher dynamic range of reds, then the brighter one would have automatically won again. Sometimes reds just become too hard to ignore. This doesn't mean winning photos are necessarily the best... I mean, the one Xperia with an actual camera sensor didn't pass second round
I love this series! If you want to step it up for 2022, make brackets by genre (portrait, landscape, low light, indoors studio setup) and pick an overall winner by numbers of victories and see who the overall winners of each category are. This would spice it up a lot!
Amazed at the progress of OnePlus. Very consistent performance, very nice balanced results!
Yes! And as well take several different pictures for each of these categories. And continue to take all the pictures with all the smartphones that are participating all the way to the final, just to see if people would suddenly change their opinion regarding a phones performance. And to fit all this, he should make the test go on for a month or more on insta.
about time this is out! excited for the results :D
@Joe i literally just found out lmao this is insane
I know you have a skillshare curriculum on shooting photos with DSLRs and at the end of the video you mentioned what the majority of people look for in "good" photos.
But what I'd be really interested in seeing is a video on the process you take when shooting a photo/video on a smartphone.
Since the majority of people are just sharing "raw unedited" photos they take without even focusing on the object like you mentioned, are there some tips you'd recommend, like adjusting settings for color balance and white balance, filming or photographing things in motion, etc.
Looking forward to the next video 😊
I actually still love the pictures from my pixel 2XL, but unfortunately the screen is more or less completely damaged. That's a pitty! I do love the pics taken from the google phones, but also was not aware of alle the pictures coming from all the other "budget" phones out there. It's great to see there is so much high quality competition when it comes to social media posts.
Never going back after buying a Pixel!
Yeah, the Google Pixel 2XL camera sensor (Sony IMX362) is almost identical to Pixel 5a's (IMX 363). What a great phone
I'm still happy with my old Pixel 2XL (Cracked screen too) and thinking about upgrading for a 5a 5G or a 6.
Please do this again next year. It is one of the most awaited videos all year. The only other that I look forward to more is the year awards. Keep it up!
And that’s only including phones released this year. Phones released last year or even the years before will outperform those these year I’m afraid. Even mid low range phones.
Awesome video. In the future, I'd suggest more real-world scenarios, such as outdoors. And Night Sight (use it all the time), and flash. Also, foggy, snowy, or rainy conditions would be really interesting.
Sunset might be cool too, though you'd have to take the pics quickly as the light quickly changes.
This is really interesting. It would be interesting to see the cameras that didn't win take the same shots in the following brackets to see what they would happen with those taking the same shots. I know it complicates the brackets and voting but would be interesting to see some of the other phones and how they would handle the same shots as the winners.
The solution is to not use a bracket format at all. Something like ranked choice would be better.
@@LimitedWard I totally concur with u. A phone camera maybe graded 2/10 in a particular picture then graded 9/10 in the next one. In the end of the test, add all grades and rank them.
Thanks, Marques! I always enjoy your videos. I appreciate you taking the time to make videos for us. 😁
Okay so this review was really helpful I'll definitely watch Batman now.
You need to do a Blind Smartphone VIDEO Camera Test next year! Would be interesting!
Another highlight of the year along with LTT’s ROG Rig Reboot. I always appreciate seeing more of these.
I love your video 😍😍😍
MKBHD: "Hey dude, the pixel won the camera test"
Me: "Well, not entirely surprised, people usually like that processed kind of..."
MKBHD: "The pixel 5a"
Me: "wuh?"
@@realinstagramuser. cringe
this is the one i've been waiting for from this channel
I am pleased to say that in the first round I always picked the photo of what I consider to be a better phone with an exception of picking Motorola over iPhone because it made Marques look better instead of the window.
Adding a dslr image to every scenario as a control would be nice
The problem is, you'd usually edit a DSLR image, or at least expose the digital negative before posting it anywhere. DSLRs don't invest nearly as much into rendering JPEGs as smartphone manufacturers.
I agree that next year, every phone should compete each round! You guys should also post the results of just your crew doing the blind test as well!
Ppl just making excuses in the comments cause their holy iphone got kicked out in 2nd round itself 😭😭
This just proves that all phone really comes down to personal preference. No one is better clearly better than the other. It's more of which one you personally like.
You though you would trick us lol (look the the username)
Well some are clearly better like some of the phoned made that sky in the window totally white and this just bad
Exactly
After watching David Imel's video I do hope that companies stop with going for the brightest picture. Awesome video as always Marques! Highlight of the year for sure
I love bright pictures, they are more pleasing to me
@@earnistse4899 you can always do that after the fact
@@techtt6213 not necessarily. It’s better to have the picture come out that way from the start
Would be interesting another round with the phones from the last 3 years to see how much people really notice the difference between different generations and how worth is upgrading every 1/2 years
This is interesting. Like the last 8 generations of iphone on the left, and the last 8 google phones on the right.
Genius
This IS one of your best content every year!
I'm not too surprised that one of the Pixels won as that increased its chance in winning by having two of the best camera phones available to take such pictures. Though as someone pointed, it may just that this one picture in particular just manage to do better at that particular angle and scene. I would love to have seen more pictures of the Pixel 6 Pro and 5a have more head to head to see what makes the new sensor supposedly that much better and your breakdown on it.
6:28 I feel like the Pixel 5a over-HDRd the image. It looks nice, but the guy's face on the left looks like it has dozens of HDR effects around him. I would've picked the OP9 Pro. Interesting anyway 😯
If you do tweak the format next year, I’d recommend ditching the bracket format, and just do randomized head to head pairings. Pick a winner based on who “wins” the most matchups.
That’ll remove the outside chance that an otherwise good phone is removed early because of a particularly unfavorable scenario.
It’ll also make your seeding less relevant.
I agree, the bracket works well if you test the same thing with every round, like a beer comparison or in this case using the same photo throughout the rounds and then repeating it with other photos. It’s a lot more fair to do pairings like you suggest.
The comments here are great. I just wanted to say, please don't end this run - I know this is hard to do but it's fun, it's involving as you root for your favorite, it's interesting, it gives some insights. Don't cancel this format, just make your mission to make it the best it can be.
Always super hyped for this video! My favourite every year!
Congrats to Google for doing such amazing value photography phones! And kudos to OnePlus, seems like the Hasselblad partnership is working lol
Kudos to the Pixel line-up. Still waiting for them to arrive in India properly 😓
The 5a is available on Amazon for ~50k. The 6 is available for about 10K more at many stores if you live in a major metro. Unlikely that Google will do an official launch in India. Too many Chinese phones.
@@itsalivevideo 50 k is pretty much overly priced. N we get much btr phones for that price. it was on sale in the US for 400 USD/ 30 k Rs during the black friday sale, a few weeks back. bringing in pixel 5a officially to india would definitely be an instant hit due to the lack of quality contenders in midrangers segment
@@prathwinshetty it's 41k
@@prathwinshetty Import duty is 20%, GST is 18%. The iPhone 13 Pro is $1000 in the USA but $1600 in India. Everything is overpriced because of taxes. It's unlikely to be much cheaper officially.
@@itsalivevideo but the pixel 4a is available at around 28k.. N during the flipkart big billiob day sale it was available for 25k.. Hw was that?
I absolutely love these videos. Please keep making them? I look forward to it every year.
please continue this series and my favorite smartphone is pixel 4a.
Hey Marques, start the first set of rounds with outdoor photography. Because every single smartphone cameras till date struggles with indoor shoots. So if you start with those, a good chunk of capable smartphones gets kicked out right away. Or else, there should be two different competitions, one for indoor and one for outdoor. ✌🏻
Is there a giveaway program ongoing?
Because I just received a message saying I won a prize
I've said it once and I'll say it again. The single elimination tournament style bracket may be an entertaining way to compare smartphones, but I don't think it really tells us much about which phone is the best. It's entirely possible that a phone that lost out in the first round could have won out against phones in later rounds, especially if the camera performed better with the latter photos.
I also think that unconscious (or conscious) bias could have been introduced in the selection of the initial bracket. For example pitting the two gaming phones against each other guarantees that a gaming phone will make it to the next round, even if they collectively performed the worst out of all the pairings.
To really get a fair comparison with all the phones, you'd need a ranked-choice format.
brackets are so stupid for comparing one to all.
Y'know what I think would be interesting? If you did a HUGE tournament with a mix of old and new phones. See if people choose phones from a few years ago over newer ones and if one of the newest phones wins, or something older has some magic to get to the top.
i always have a feeling when i decide to upgrade my phone it took better picture when i bought then the day i decided to change. maybe they downrage the cameras with updates or dunno. But i had this feeling very stong with my Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
@@danielcsongorkarnyaczki5756 updates _could_ negativity impact performance, but you might also just be used to the quality so it doesn't feel impressive after a few years. You could actually test this -- you just need a good reference to take pictures when you buy the phone and when you replace it. But it needs to be the same scene and lighting and all, even if it's 5 years later
Hey MKBHD couple of suggestions... But b4 tat..super appreciate ur effort, putting in all d effort & giving out dis spcl vdeo. 1)It will b awesome
if u cud put up d uncompressed pics also so as 2 have real verdict on d best camera phone( I vud luv 2 see d original one than d SM compressed ones). 2)Also take photos of all d pics using all d phones rather than tat of d winners so tat to have a wholesome idea. This is coz ur image selection r really good and complete...once again, awesome effort bro👌