Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Beats Galaxy S9+, Ties With HTC U12+ in DxOMark Camera Rankings

Popular camera testing portal DxOMark, has published its review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. According to the review, the phablet has been given an overall score of 103, ranking it above the Galaxy S9+. To recall, Samsung had launched its latest flagship last month and it is also available for purchase in India. Meanwhile, folks at DxOMark have managed to test the Galaxy Note 9's camera performance to show pros and cons about the latest Samsung flagship in terms of optics. The overall score of the Galaxy Note 9 surpassed the marks DxOMark Image Labs gave to the Galaxy S9+ and shared the second place with the HTC U12+.

As per the result of DxOMark's benchmark tests, the Galaxy Note 9 received a photo score of 107 from the DxOMark team, while its video recording capabilities have got a score of 94. To put that in perspective, overall DxOMark ranking leader Huawei P20 Pro got 114 and 98 respectively. Meanwhile, tied with Galaxy Note 9 at the second place, the HTC U12+ got a photo score of 106 and video score of 95. Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy S9+ got 104 and 91 respectively.

Photo score of any smartphone on DxOMark is calculated by combining various sub-scores across categories like Exposure and Contrast, Color, Autofocus, Texture, Noise, Artifacts, Flash, Zoom, and Bokeh. The DxOMark review says that the Galaxy Note 9's camera is a "strong performer" for still images. It added that the camera's autofocus performance is "excellent" and it scored high for balancing detail retention and noise reduction, zoom quality, and realistic Bokeh effects.

The folks at DxOMark claim that the Galaxy Note 9 camera's performance in bright light is "among the best we've tested." The exposure seems to be good, and dynamic range was said to be "one of the widest we've seen". Additionally, images are said to be bright and vivid with mostly accurate white balance and good colour rendering. There seems to be good noise reduction with a good balance between noise and texture. However, the review claims but the camera has a tendency to smooth fine details a little more than some rivals.

Meanwhile, the secondary camera in the Galaxy Note 9 and its x2 zoom factor work well for long shots, the DxD0Mark tests show. Also, zoom images show good levels of detail, primarily because of optical image stabilisation.

On the video recording front, the DxOMark team says that the Galaxy Note 9 performs well and its strengths include stabilisation and the smartphone's ability to keep "artifacts and noise under control." Additionally, autofocus is said to be the "real highlight", as the camera reacts quickly to changing light conditions. The review states that the colours are bright and vivid and video exposure is generally accurate. Similar to still images, the videos are said to have generally good exposure accuracy, with quick adaption to changing light conditions. While the videos showed good detail and low noise levels, there were "some luminance and chroma noise visible in low-light scenes," noted DxOMark in the review.