DxOMark photography results are out: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus dethrones Google Pixel 2 as the best camera phone

During the launch program of the Galaxy S9 series, Samsung officials dedicated quite a lot of time describing the flagship phone's camera features, especially the dual aperture capability. And now, DxOMark, the world's most renowned independent camera rating agency, has concurred the South Korean company's claims.

DxOMark has awarded 99 points to the Galaxy S9 Plus. Though it is the highest ever score for a smartphone camera and it is marginally ahead of Google Pixel 2 (98) which managed to beat Apple iPhone X by just one point.

However, it has to be noted DxOMark's method of calculating the camera scores is a bit complicated as it has no threshold for the highest score; don't be surprised if future phones got 100 plus benchmark score.

For instance, DxOMark rated Galaxy S9 Plus' video taking ability with 91 points, which is five points less than the Pixel 2 score (96), while for the still photos, it gave 104 points to the former and the latter got 99 points.

Nevertheless, whatever parameters DxOMark uses to come up with the final score for a phone's camera, it is concurred by other tech critics as well. We have seen it happening with Google Pixel 2 and Apple iPhone X heaping praises for their respective cameras from the consumers themselves in 2017 and similarly with the Galaxy S7 and Pixel (1st Gen) in the previous year.

"With an overall DxOMark score of 99 points, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus takes the number one spot in our Mobile ranking, edging out the Google Pixel 2 by just one point. The S9 Plus comes with a camera that hasn't got any obvious weaknesses and performs very well across all photo and video test categories. The Photo score of 104 points is the best we've seen so far. At 91 points the video score is a little lower but still among the best, making the new Samsung an ideal choice for any mobile users who want the best possible still image quality without compromising on video," said the premier camera rating agency.

Thanks to feature-rich dual-camera setup, the Galaxy S9 Plus fared pretty well in terms of capturing high-quality Bokeh blur effect, wherein the subject gets sharp focus, while the background gets blurred and was judged better than Apple iPhone X.

Prior to the Galaxy S9 series launch, Samsung carried out a huge social media campaign: 'The Camera. Reimagined' with numerous video teasers and now, the company has kind of got itself an official badge of honor from DxOMark.

Galaxy S9 series camera comes with dual aperture feature. With this option, it can shift (manual/automatic mode available) between f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures depending on the lighting environment. The former will allow the camera to absorb more light during indoor or dark conditions, while the latter can be used during bright sunny conditions.

Another praiseworthy feature of the Galaxy S9 series is the front camera. It comes packed with a feature-rich 8MP wide-angle sensor having F1.7 aperture and is complemented by several facial recognition sensors, which enables the device capture Augmented Reality photos of the user to create 3D emojis, Samsung's answer to Apple iPhone X Animoji feature, but the latter's utility is very limited, as it can only be used on iMessage app, whereas the former allows users to share them on all messaging apps and social media sites.

Having said that, it remains to be seen whether camera capability is enough for the Galaxy S9 series to get traction, as its design is almost the same as that of its predecessor and the other internal hardware such as a processor and RAM capacity received just incremental upgrades. Also, the battery capacity has been kept the same as in the Galaxy S8 series.

Key specification of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+:

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