Huawei dumped LEICA for Xmage Photography technology, which was something we definitely didn’t see coming. With that new partnership, the camera performance of the new Huawei P60 Pro seemed to have jumped up several levels from the P50 Pro. Here is what we found out during the Huawei P60 Pro VS iPhone 14 Pro Max camera test.
What would be interesting to find out is if the camera on this phone can actually beat the biggest competitor on the Market. To save you time, short answer is yes, long answer is maybe. Now, if you have more time check out the tests we did against the two phones because the results are shocking.
First of all, these are the camera specs for these two phones, just so you know what to expect:
| Huawei P60 Pro | iPhone 14 Pro Max | |
| Front Camera | 48 MP, f/1.4-f/4.0, 25mm (wide), PDAF, Laser AF, OIS | 48 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.28″, 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS |
| 48 MP, f/2.1, 90mm (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom | 12 MP, f/2.8, 77mm (telephoto), 1/3.5″, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom | |
| 13 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide) | 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF | |
| TOF 3D LiDAR scanner (depth) | ||
| Rear Camera | 13 MP, f/2.4, (ultrawide) | 12 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1/3.6″, PDAF |
Quick Shots
We tested the two phones in different location to see which phone would perform better with White balance. White balance is the adjustment of colors in an image to make them appear natural and accurate under different lighting conditions.
Both phones performed really well but the Huawei provide more accurate colors tones. Pictures from the Huawei were overall better and less likely in need of any tweak to match natural color tones. Also when zoomed in the P60 Pro images retained more detail compared to the iPhone.
Wide Angle Shots
When it came to the ultra wide, the iPhone images were great but they had warmer tones. It gave the images almost an eclipse effect which was not accurate at all. On the contrary, the Huawei images were more realistic and detailed. Apart from that the shots from Huawei were wider allowing more objects to fit in the frame.
Dynamic range
We also tested some shots for Dynamic range in extremely harsh light conditions and the Huawei simply dominated this. When you zoom in closer you can see that the iPhone struggled to show details on the darker spots of the images.
Most subjects were underexposed with lack of detail and the same warm tone kicked it. It really disadvantaged the iPhone in this round especially with details and color accuracy. The Huawei P60 Pro had better and more natural color tones. Not to mention how detailed the objects look even after zooming in. The iPhone picture was also slightly darker limiting its details on the shadows.
Night shots
On the night shots, things get even more interesting as the Huawei completely obliterated the iPhone. We made both phones were not on night mode just to make sure we get the most accurate raw performance. The Huawei had way more detail than the iPhone and the textures were smooth.
The iPhone on the other produced very noisy images and most of the details got lost in the process. The Huawei had better and more detailed dark areas while the iPhone generalized and washed most of the details off. The colors on the Huawei were also on point despite the low light conditions. iPhone also failed to handle the light flares and the light beams spilled all over the place.
Optical Zoom shots
So the Optical Zoom capabilities on these phones are actually not that different from one another. The Huawei P60 Pro has a 3.5x optical zoom while the iPhone has a 3x optical zoom. You would expect that this would be the time where the iPhone redeems itself but unfortunately, H for hectic.
Although the results where actually not different by a margin, Huawei zoom shots where simply better. On the first glance, the shots almost look identical but after zooming in further, the shots on the iPhone lost more detail. They got more grainy and less sharper. Something else to note is that the iPhone pictures, in almost all scenarios, had a warmer tone which again, ruins color accuracy.
Macro Shots
How do these cameras compare close up? Well, this is all about picking tiny details that cannot be seen with the naked human eye. While both phones performed exceptionally well, the images from Huawei were simply unbeatable.
The Huawei Macro lens obtained more detail and color and the images looked more appealing. It also managed to provide a rich and blurry depth of field making the image match the exact quality and style of a DSLR.
The iPhone was also good but it looked more like a picture taken by a smartphone. We must say though that when it comes to colors in this case, the iPhone image looked more natural and realistic. The Huawei was a bit more tweaked which is good but could also be misleading. It all boils down to preference, but overall, Huawei still did a better job providing more texture and minute details.
Selfies
We have to talk about the selfie shots because these days, people use the front camera like never before. iPhone definitely nailed the selfie shots better but not on a home run. The reason why the iPhone did a better job with the selfies is mainly because of the skin details.
Selfies from the iPhone had a more natural skin texture while the Huawei has some smoothening going on. Despite no beauty filters or anything, the selfies on the Huawei almost certainly seemed to have some sort of beautification. This could be something that other people would love, but we think it would be better if it is something that is turned off by default. Apart from that, both phones delivered great hair details and pretty much had the same performance.
Portrait Mode Shots
On Portrait Mode, there was a lot of action and competition. The iPhone ended up winning the battery due to its precise edge detection compared to the Huawei P60 Pro. The portrait from the Huawei P60 Pro was definitely brighter and more vibrant. However, the sense or the software. was quite inefficient with separating the subject from the background. Notice how there is a blurry boarder line around the subject on the Huawei shots.
On the iPhone, the hair is perfectly cut out giving a precise image of the subject, just like what you would see on DSLR portrait shots. The iPhone 14 Pro Max also maintained a uniform color of the fabric contrary to the uneven color distribution on the Huawei P60 Pro.
Conclusion
The Huawei P60 Pro VS iPhone 14 Pro Max contest is a no brainer for pictures. The Huawei P60 pro is one of, if not the best smartphone out there with the best camera for pictures . It however hits and misses sometimes bit it still performs way better than most phones you can find. Its greatest strengths are macro shots, wide angle shots and night shots. The iPhone 14 Pro Max still dominates the portrait mode and video but it is still no way close to the Huawei P60 Pro when it comes to images.
