Hi guys, it's MTG here, and today I'm going to put the $1000 iPhone X against the $1000
Note 9.
The iPhone X was released last year, but its still one of the most well rounded camera
systems out right now, and still happens to be the best iOS camera system right now.
In this video, I'll be comparing the cameras in various lighting conditions, both indoors
and outdoors, and I'll also be taking a look at the video and audio qualities of both phones.
Make sure to stick around to the end of the video to see how the Note 9's dual aperture
really allows this phone to excel in lowlight, and to see which phone's camera I actually
prefer.
Everything was set to automatic.
Let's get right into it.
The iPhone X has a dual-12 Megapixel camera system, with a wide-angle and telephoto lens
at f/1.8 and f/2.4 apertures respectively.
The telephoto lens means the X also has 2x optical zoom and can also take depth-effect
portrait pictures.
The cameras can record up to 4K at 60 fps and 1080p at up to 240 fps.
They have dual optical image stabilization.
The X's front True Depth camera is 7 Megapixels with an aperture of f/2.2.
It can take portrait mode pictures, and can record video at up to 1080p at 30 fps.
The Note 9 has a dual-12 megapixel camera setup.
Using Samsung's new Scene Optimization and Flaw Detection functionalities, the camera
can optimize for a certain scene and also instantly tell you if someone was blinking
or if the image was blurry.
The main, wide-angle camera can automatically vary between f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures, whereas
the telephoto camera is a fixed f/2.4.
The second telephoto camera allows for 2x optical zoom, and helps with the depth-effect
pictures.
The Note 9 can shoot 4K and 1080p at 60 fps, and 720p at up to 960 fps.
Both cameras have optical image stabilization.
The front camera is 8 megapixels and has an aperture of f/1.7.
It can take portrait-style pictures using software and can record video at up to 1440p
at 30 fps.
I'm first going to start off by looking at images shot in great lighting.
In this picture, we can see that both phones have terrific cameras with lots of detail.
I'd say that the iPhone X is able to maintain more of the blues in the sky by keeping the
sky better exposed, and if we look at the telephoto cameras of both phones, the same
trends hold.
The Note 9 shows a lot of detail, but the iPhone X has the more well rounded image.
Here, both phones are nicely exposed, but both phones produce very different looks.
The iPhone X's image appears to be a little too saturated for my taste, whereas the Note
9 appears to be the more natural looking image.
If we zoom into the silver portion of the sculpture, we can see that the Note 9 maintained
more detail in the subject.
In this image, both phones did pretty good jobs, and the iPhone X is able to make the
sky appear more blue, but the iPhone X also appeared to over-brighten the foreground,
and as a result, lost sharpness and detail.
We can see just what I mean when we zoom into the swan statue.
The Note 9 was simply able to maintain more detail.
Here, we can see that both images are very high quality, but both have their flaws as
well.
The iPhone X appears again to be just a little oversaturated and with good exposure whereas
the Note 9 appears to be a little overexposed but with natural colors.
The images you prefer will really come down to the type of look that you prefer.
As I show a couple more side-by-sides, try to begin to notice the trends of each smartphone's
camera system, and begin to see which smartphone produces the type of images that you prefer.
It could really vary from person to person.
People have always loved and utilized portrait mode ever since it came to the iPhone 7 Plus.
So I wanted to take a look at how the portrait mode of the iPhone X compared to the Live
Focus mode of the Note 9.
Both phones appeared to show similar levels of detail around my face, and the iPhone X
is able to maintain more of the blues in the sky behind me.
But the obvious difference is that the Note 9's image is keeps me much brighter.
The iPhone X does give it more of a dramatic look, but it just makes me really dark.
Whereas the Note 9 makes me have a slight orange tint.
The same trends held as I turned and faced a different direction.
Both phones seem to do similarly in terms of edge detection, but again, the Note 9 was
able to take the much brighter image overall.
The front cameras of both phones are also pretty good, but again they produce very different
looks.
The Note 9 has the wider-angle, so you'll be able to get more of you in frame when you
take a selfie.
Both phones are also capable of blurring the background in a selfie picture, although both
rarely seem to get my hair right.
As I shift into video, know that both phones are able to shoot 4K at up to 60 fps, but
they were set to 4K at 30 fps because that is what this video was uploaded at.
The iPhone X has great video capabilities with decently stable video, but as is the
case with a lot of phone manufacturers, Apple really makes the 4K video on the iPhone X
a bit too saturated.
Until now, Samsung has always had a similar issue with saturation, but that changed with
the Note 9.
Now with the Note 9, you get incredibly stable video, and you also get 4K video with more
true-to-life colors than on the iPhone X. Let me know your thoughts on the rear facing
video in the comments.
In terms of the front camera videos, again, the
two phones produce very different looks.
The iPhone X really tries to keep the image saturated by pulling a lot of color out of
the background and even my face, which to be honest, looks a little unnatural.
The Note 9 could've had a little bit more color, but in general I think it did the better
job of keeping my face in focus and properly exposed.
The Note 9's video is more stable, but to do this, it has to punch in and not have as
wide of an image.
Audio-wise, I feel as if the Note 9 is the clear winner.
It was no surprise that both phones performed great in great lighting conditions, so the
rest of this video will be focused on images shot in less than ideal lighting scenarios.
When I took this picture, the sun was setting, so I was losing light fast.
Right of the bat, I can see that the Note 9 has significantly less noise.
It seems like the iPhone X tried to artificially brighten the image, which makes it even more
apparent how clear and well balanced the Note 9's image is.
Here, the iPhone X is able to keep the foreground brighter than the Note 9, and as a result,
the iPhone X is able to pull out more detail that we simply can't see from some of the
darker areas in the Note 9's image.
That being said, both shots here are excellent.
This image was challenging because of all the light reflecting harshly off of the floor.
This time, the Note 9 was able to keep the foreground brighter, and actually did the
better job of maintaining detail.
Here, we can see a lot of trends from one picture.
We can see the iPhone X's warmer tones and how it chooses to saturate its images, whereas
we can see the Note 9's cooler tones and how it chooses to keep everything bright.
Up until now, the Note 9 had taken all of its images using its F/2.4 setting, so I waited
until it got dark enough for the Note 9 to switch to its F/1.5 to see how it performed
in those conditions.
Instantly we can see the advantages of the wider aperture on the Note 9.
It is able to take in more light and more information so that its software doesn't have
to work as hard.
As a result, details are maintained in the foreground, the sky has minimal noise in the
background, and the neon sign is properly exposed on the Note 9.
Still, the iPhone X took a fantastic image given the lighting scenario.
Here, the scenario is very challenging because of all of the different signs and light sources.
The Note 9 is able to properly expose every single one of the signs, and even the bulb
in the lamp.
All while still maintaining details throughout the image and having minimal noise.
In this scenario, the iPhone X again takes a pretty good image given the lighting, but
when we see what the Note 9 was able to capture, it is clear which one was the better image.
Again, the Note 9 is able to keep everything clear with minimal noise, while still managing
to properly deal with different light sources throughout the image.
This last image was just to test the limits of both cameras at night.
It was completely dark outside with some dim street lamps.
The same trends hold, and the results speak for themselves.
More information simply leads to the software working less hard to try and make things look
visually appealing.
In general, I think the images shot in great lighting could go either way based on the
type of look that you prefer, but as the lighting scenarios got more challenging and we start
to look at the video and audio quality capabilities of both phones, I think the Note 9's camera
began to separate itself from the iPhone X. I want to be clear and say that the iPhone
X was made last year, and the fact that I can even make a comparison like this to the
brand new Note 9, shows how well the iPhone X is aging.
Both of these phones have some of the most well rounded camera systems out right now,
and I will for sure be comparing the Note 9's camera to the top 2018 iPhone camera system
when those come out.
That's all I had to talk about today, thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next
video.