The contest organized by the youtuber MKBHD shows that the most flattering photos, without editing, are generally those favored by users.
OnePlus 9 Pro photo block, one of the two finalists // Source: Arnaud Gelineau – Frandroid
Like every year, the youtubeur MKBHD organized, in this month of December, its annual competition aimed at distinguishing the best smartphone for the photo released during the course of the year. The idea of this contest is not to elect a winner as such, but to offer several blind photos to the community to have them compared between several identical photos without the voters knowing by which phone was taken such and such a photo.
These are 16 smartphones that have been selected by the youtuber, among which we find both premium models renowned for their photo quality – Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, iPhone 13 Pro or Google Pixel 6 Pro – as smartphones gaming — Asus ROG Phone 5 or Lenovo Legion Duel — and even some mid-range smartphones — Xiaomi Poco X3 GT, Realme GT or Google Pixel 5a.
From the first round, a few surprises are to be noted. This is particularly the case with the Pixel 5a which won more votes than the Pixel 6 on a particularly complex photo with HDR and a reproduction of many cold or warm hues. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is eliminated in this first round by the OnePlus 9 Pro.
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For the second round, a simpler photo was captured identically on the remaining eight smartphones. This will allow four models to qualify for the semi-finals: the Asus ROG 5 – which eliminates the Galaxy S21 Ultra – the OnePlus 9 Pro, the Google Pixel 5a – which beats the iPhone 13 Pro – and the Realme GT. In the final, the two remaining smartphones are the OnePlus 9 Pro and Pixel 5a and it is finally the American model, the Pixel 5a, which wins the tournament.
The most flattering photos more acclaimed
As usual, several interpretations can be made of this contest, starting with the organizational conditions. The photos are indeed published by the youtuber on Instagram. However, the compression operated by the social network on the photos will not necessarily make it possible to distinguish the sharpness of the images. Furthermore, these photos are not retouched and are published as is. Therefore, people do not necessarily vote for the most neutral shots, but for those offering the most flattering photos from the outset, whether with the most contrast, the most exposure or the best management of the beach. dynamic. “That doesn't mean it's necessarily the best shot, it's just a reflection of the format of the test. When you post two photos side by side, people are more attracted to the brighter one,” says MKBHD.
As a reminder, this is the fourth iteration of this contest on the American YouTube channel. The competition organized last year saw the victory of the Asus Zenfone 7 Pro. It then succeeded the Pocophone F1 in 2018 and then the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ in 2019.
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