Camera Shootout: iPhone X Vs. Huawei Mate 10 Pro Vs. Galaxy Note 8 Vs. LG V30

Camera Shootout: iPhone X Vs. Huawei Mate 10 Pro Vs. Galaxy Note 8 Vs. LG V30

Ben Sin , Contributor

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Ben Sin

From left: The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, the iPhone X, the LG V30 and the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

I've been using my iPhone X for almost a day now, and even though many, many reviewers have given their take already, here are some quick thoughts before I dive into my usual camera comparisons.

• the iPhone X's OLED display with a bezel-less design looks great, but by November 2017 it's not anything unique. Put the iPhone X side by side with the LG V30 (which I did plenty) and it's not even clear Apple's device is more cutting-edge looking. This is not meant to be a knock -- I'm merely saying there are plenty of stunning looking devices on the market already. The iPhone X doesn't look inferior to any of them, but I don't think it's necessarily superior either. I mean, look at the photo below with my iPhone X next to the LG V30 and Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

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From left: the Huawei Mate 10 Pro; iPhone X; LG V30

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The iPhone X's camera bump is noticeably more pronounced than the other three phones.

• Face ID is very accurate. It works in the dark, even when I have glasses or a hat on. It's also very, very fast for a face scanner ... but still ultimately slower than using a fingerprint unlock (a well-located one anyway, not Samsung's absurd version). The difference in speed is less than half a second, which doesn't sound like much ... but then we unlock our phones hundreds of times a day.
• The "swipe up from the bottom to exit and app and go home" gesture is very well implemented, and paired with the iPhone X's higher-than-other-phones 120Hz touch input rate, the result is a super smooth, pleasing animation that sees the app glide away along with my thumb. I personally prefer Android over iOS, but it's little things like this that makes iOS special, and why Apple fans are so devoted.

So without further ado, let's move on to the tests. I pitted the iPhone X against the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the LG V30, almost inarguably three of the four best Android shooters right now (Pixel 2 is probably at the top of the list ... but I haven't had a chance to test that phone yet). I took all photos in point-and-shoot situations, without trying to adjust lighting and all that. All photos are unfortunately shrunk down on this website, but I'll put a link at the end to check out full resolution samples if you want a further look.
Let's start with a general day shot, of the Bing Thom's Xiqu Centre right across from my apartment.

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IPhone X

And here's the same iPhone X shot zoomed in to 100% and cropped.

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iPhone X, cropped.

Next up is the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. Same set-up: a normal shot, then a zoomed in crop.

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Shot with Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

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Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

Moving on to the Galaxy Note 8.

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Galaxy Note 8.

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Galaxy Note 8, cropped.

Last but not least, the LG V30.

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Shot with the LG V30.

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LG V30, cropped.

In the full shot, the iPhone X, LG V30 and Note 8 all produced well-balanced, detailed shots. The Mate 10 Pro surprisingly under-performed, notice how dark the cars and road below look. But zooming in, we can see that LG and Apple's shots turned out the best, as Samsung's shot is filled with grain.
But you know what, any phone can capture a good shot in direct sunlight. Let's hit the streets at night.

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iPhone X.

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Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

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LG V30.

All four shooters captured a great low light photo, but zooming in on my monitor, LG's f/1.6 aperture comes into play, as the shot is just a bit more dynamic with superior details. The iPhone X's 12-megapixel, f/1.8 shot didn't fare so well when zoomed in on the sign above the tram stop.
Let's look at another set of night shots:

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iPhone X.

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LG V30.

Next up, macro shots.

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iPhone X.

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Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

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Galaxy Note 8.

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LG V30.

The LG V30 suffers from a usual LG camera problem -- overexposure. Otherwise, the other three images look great, and comes down matter of preference. I think I'd go with either Huawei's or Apple's shot.
Here are some more iPhone X photo samples:

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iPhone X.

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iPhone X.

Video recording on the iPhone X seems very good too. Check out the sample below.

The iPhone X's camera is overall excellent as expected, but in terms of general photos of scenery and buildings and cats and stuff, it isn't necessarily better than, again, the three big Android phones on me right now. In fact, Huawei's Mate 10 Pro beats the iPhone X in various shots I took.
But where the iPhone X shines is shooting photos of people, particularly portraits. Over the years I’ve grown used to Samsung and Huawei approacing selfies and portraits like a photo editor at a fashion magazine -- meaning the blemishes on my skin and bags under my eyes get wiped away, and I end up looking like a plastic surgery’ed out wanna-be K-Popper. Apple’s portrait mode offers something the opposite direction, a “studio” lighting that turns selfies and portraits shot with the main lens into gritty headshots.

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My girlfriend and I, shot with iPhone X's portrait mode in studio lighting set-up.

Check out the photo above, of two portraits stitched together. Sure, the iPhone X's lighting showed my bad, acne scarred skin and eye wrinkles in full, but I think it's a shot with character. I usually dislike selfies, but even I'm digging it. I mean, compare this to the plasticky look that Chinese phones turn me into...

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Mate 10 Pro selfies...

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I'm on the left, if you can't tell.

That's it for now with this iPhone X first look. I'll be back with a full review and more tests.