Hi all,
I'm about to buy a new phone and to me photo quality is priority #1.
The P30Pro wins most comparisons (is ranked #1 in DxO), and blows away the competition in low light. According to this review, the difference is abysmal. But the Mi9 has very similar specs. I'm wondering if P30Pro's advantage is mostly due to software and, if so, if Google Cam's port to Mi9 would close the gap between the 2 cameras in low light situations.
I have downloaded some samples but have not been able to gauge the difference between the Mi9/GCam and the P30Pro for low light. If the difference is not great I would gladly buy the Mi9 (cheaper and better support where I am).
Can anyone weigh in on this?
Thanks!
Mi 9 has a capable and decent camera for sure
I compare to xsmax and i gladly realize that mi9 is not only on par with apples flagship, its even better
P30 Pro has much more advantage than software, in Hardware it has RYYB sensor, which capture much more light than an average or flagship sensor, thereby producing a great LowLight Image. Plus it has ToF sensor, though it doesn't have a literal day to day use, but it helps AI to produce unseen objects in night by providing 3D values. So, I don't think Mi9 or any other phone can achieve such great Night Shot. Plus if you look at DxO Marks Mobile (though it's not always true), Mi9 couldn't even beat Huawei P20Pro, so P30Pro is no where near to get beaten. And it's a sad thing, that Mi flagships catch the current trend a bit late, but can't complain about the quality it's giving @ such an affordable price, plus their phones are highly customisable.
But, only Mix Series can beat the P Series, if Xiaomi upgrades their Sensors to a new height
I have found this video on YouTube that doesn't directly compare de P30 Pro to the Mi9 with GCam, but does compare the Mi9+GCam with the S10. Give a pretty good idea of what kind of low light performance we get with the Mi9+GCam
The P30 Pro is indeed in a different league.
Thanks everyone!
Check this out... Mi9 kills p30pro in video recording... even in some Photo shots IMO.
Indeed! The stuttering in the p30 is so annoying.
What's the focal length equivalent for the wide angle on the Xiaomi Mi 9 though? GSMArena says 13mm, DxO says 17mm, and I've seen 15mm mentioned somewhere too.
nomaj said:
Check this out... Mi9 kills p30pro in video recording... even in some Photo shots IMO.
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Click to collapse
Hi there!
Apologies if this is not the right place to post this.
What do people think of the two devices? I'm curious to hear if there are people who switched from OP to Mi devices or the other way around and why.
Cheers!
achalgurnani said:
Hi there!
Apologies if this is not the right place to post this.
What do people think of the two devices? I'm curious to hear if there are people who switched from OP to Mi devices or the other way around and why.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had Xiaomi 4 years ago and since then I have been on oneplus 5t, 6t and 7 pro all the time and I really wanted to have a 9 pro but as I saw the price and the fact that these cameras, apart from good marketing, do not offer anything great, I was looking for an alternative and it was mi 11 ultra. I ordered from china and the 8gb / 256 version came out cheaper for me than the op 9 pro. Chinese rom, but it will easily flash a European one after the premiere.
For me, the advantages of oneplus are:
-minimally better screen
-oxygen os
and that's all
Xiaomi:
- the best (apparently) camera on the market
-innovative appearance
-second screen (I hope it will be useful)
Thanks for sharing. The Mi 11 Ultra does look quite good even if it is a bit heavier. I think OP9Pro wins on the looks, or at least the hand feel department.
The 2nd screen is cool, but I didn't find anything in the settings when I was playing around with it in the store. So I couldn't figure out the customization and the interaction of it. It does react to touch for sure, but it was kind of useless in that situation where no notifications were coming in etc.
Wrong thread . Delete my post please.
kuba319 said:
I had Xiaomi 4 years ago and since then I have been on oneplus 5t, 6t and 7 pro all the time and I really wanted to have a 9 pro but as I saw the price and the fact that these cameras, apart from good marketing, do not offer anything great, I was looking for an alternative and it was mi 11 ultra. I ordered from china and the 8gb / 256 version came out cheaper for me than the op 9 pro. Chinese rom, but it will easily flash a European one after the premiere.
For me, the advantages of oneplus are:
-minimally better screen
-oxygen os
and that's all
Xiaomi:
- the best (apparently) camera on the market
-innovative appearance
-second screen (I hope it will be useful)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even the screen is brighter on the Mi11 ultra.
for me its a no brainer, Mi 11 ultra all the way!
OP9PRO can be compared to mi 11 pro, not ultra, and still lose
OnePlus 9 Pro's advantages:
Samsung LTPO AMOLED panel - more power efficient
Smaller, tidier and more discreet looking camera bump
Superior Ultrawide Angle lens in terms of image quality - Uses the newer and bigger 1/1.56", 1.0µm IMX766 vs Xiaomi's 1/2" 0.8µm IM586
Lighter - 197g vs 234g
Current local availability with trade-ins
Cleaner and default bloatfree OS
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra's advantages:
Brighter screen - max 1700nits
Slightly more responsive screen - up to 480hz touch sampling rate, good for gaming
Largest mains sensor on a phone since the Nokia 808 - Most reviews still pending but it's looking promising
Zoom is miles ahead in both videos and photo capture - 5x optical with a bigger sensor
Can record 1080p 60FPS on front camera and 8k on all rear sensors
Bigger battery
67w wired + 67w wireless charging that charges equally as fast due to new battery technology
Gorilla Glass Victus front as opposed to GG5 on the OnePlus
Ceramic rear back - Defintely feels and looks more premium than glass or plastic imo
IR blaster if needed
Secondary screen depending on your use cases - Notifications, clock, answer/reject incoming phone calls, personalized logos/images to show off from your gallery
WiFi 6e support - nice to have future-wise
Cheaper/identical pricing - 12GB RAM / 256GB onboard storage costs less than OnePlus' 12GB RAM / 256GB storage offering (at least from what I've seen so far)
Bottom line: I'd recommend the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra easily!
Came across your thread and wanted to share my opinion.
I bought the OnePlus 9 Pro on launch day and ended up returning it.
The North American variant of the OnePlus 9 Pro is seriously lacking compared to its variants in other markets. It doesn't come with Dual-SIM capability which was a big selling feature for me personally. The screen is nice but didn't blow me away.
Mi 11 Ultra on the other hand has 1 of the best displays in the market currently in terms of quality/resolution/brightness.
I have had the OnePlus 5T since launch and it has served me well till now. The only downside of getting the Mi 11 Ultra in North America is that we may not get full 5G support. Even the global variant doesn't have most of the 5G bands used in US/Canada.
Does anybody know if Google Pay will work with either the Chinese ROM/EU ROM? The last xiaomi phone I had was the Redmi Note 4.
I doubt it will on the Chinese but it will on the already released fastboot EU ROM. And of course, when it's released globally, it will be on the native global ROM, so you could flash that too.
Google Pay was working for me on Chinese Ron in Mi10 Ultra, so I don't think there should be an issue with Mi11 Ultra.
Google pay is working on Chinese Mi11 Ultra
jirka607 said:
Google pay is working on Chinese Mi11 Ultra
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Click to collapse
Thanks!
Hello, I've got no experience on Xiaomi phones. The (main only?) sensor on the Mi 11 Ultra is capable of recording 4K 120 fps according to the official specs. Xiaomi has not implemented this on the Mi 11 Ultra out of the box. How likely is it that Xiaomi will add that mode in to the Mi 11 Ultra? That is currently the main selling point for me, when I'm decidind which phone to buy. OnePlus 9 Pro has that capability and I'm torn because of that. OP 9 Pro has faster USB type C -connection and that would be handy too while transferring data to PC, but it caps at 256 GB of storage. So I'm gonna either buy one of these phones or wait for another year to upgrade my OP 7T Pro to solve these nitpicks/compromises they've once again made.
hey, this is exactly what is tricking me. I would like to use the 4k 120 fps mode. Also i want a good Zoom. Why the f... xiaomi did not add this feature...
Usually they dont add such things afterwards... all they do are minor fixes and regular camera improvements. So i guess i dodge the zoom and get the 4k 120fps with oneplus. Since the Picture quality differences will only be visible in pixel peeping.
best
This is just my statement and opinion.
I'm going to try and be honest here. Me as a Mi 11 Ultra owner I was impressed and a bit jealous despite the 300-400€ difference when using my father's S21 Ultra(exynos) in 2 aspects.
One is the screen brightness with direct sunlight. i thought the all 1700nits would "shine true" but i got duped. The visibility of the S21 Ultra is much better, both using max brightness sunlight. I am not sure if Xiaomi activated the already enabled direct sunlight option, i had read somewhere that the brightness reaches better results on S21U but that's another topic.
Two is the camera...
I got mind blown when i bought the mi 11 Ultra and i got mind blown again about the quality of the zoom on S21U, without even going past 10x.
The S21U with the 3x and 10x camera app smooth change between lenses and the sharpness of the zoom photos during live preview. A more Mature camera app indeed and the stabilization of the zoom camera by focusing on the object and not having to have a firm hand... wow!
I couldn't test it during nightshots cause i was with him for a brief moment, but that is what i could have "won" in a way, but Mi11U enhances the nightshots photos after the photo is taken, not that much during live preview.
Not to discourage other Xiaomi Fans out there but Xiaomi has indeed been lacking the transparency and focus of the Software.
Samsung July patch notes note said that was made some improvements to the camera performance
Another thing is that Xiaomi MIUI patches notes are the same across all the devices and not specific of the model. Like generic and uninteresting, you don't even know if they are making adjustments to the camera app on a specific model.
But i'm going to stop with all the blathering for now.
What is your goal with this post? What do you want to tell us? The camera of the Mi11 Ultra is far above the camera of the S21, regarding to DXOMark.
Rankings - DXOMARK
www.dxomark.com
In the same test you see the display of the S21u scoring higher then the Mi11 Ultra. So yes, you are right.
Everyone has his/hers own reasons to buy a specific phone. I dont like Samsung for its UI and i dont like the esthetics of the S21u. Maybe you do, so buy a S21u?
KaiseRRUby said:
What is your goal with this post? What do you want to tell us? The camera of the Mi11 Ultra is far above the camera of the S21, regarding to DXOMark.
Rankings - DXOMARK
www.dxomark.com
In the same test you see the display of the S21u scoring higher then the Mi11 Ultra. So yes, you are right.
Everyone has his/hers own reasons to buy a specific phone. I dont like Samsung for its UI and i dont like the esthetics of the S21u. Maybe you do, so buy a S21u?
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Click to collapse
You have to read the carefully the post i made mate.
I said on top, its my opinion that S21U is better at zoom, even if DXOmark biases or unbiases only grants 98 points against 131.
Benchmarks are benchmarks and DXOmark has a controversy of favoring Huawei and Xiaomi phones (you can read it in other places) and also Software improvements are not taken in consideration. The software released of S21Ultra had alot of issues but they fixed according to what i know and this topic was made now cause my father only bought it now.
Beside i don't look at one site and be done with it. You see alot of Youtubers talk about zoom pictures being better on S21Ultra
Also do you wonder why DXOmark never shares the specific version number of the software they test even if you ask them? talk about transparency...
And again with the Dxomark scores on Screen. Xiaomi talks about 1700nits against the Samsung 1500nits and yet i saw major difference with my eyes.
I bought the Mi11ultra because i love MIUI and this phone has alot of other functionally that other don't all in one.
I won't buy S21U. i already have purchase my device, this is a post to take in consideration, thats all.
I'm not in blind love of my MI11ultra.
xwonic said:
You have to read the carefully the post i made mate.
I said on top, its my opinion that S21U is better at zoom, even if DXOmark biases or unbiases only grants 98 points against 131.
Benchmarks are benchmarks and DXOmark has a controversy of favoring Huawei and Xiaomi phones (you can read it in other places) and also Software improvements are not taken in consideration. The software released of S21Ultra had alot of issues but they fixed according to what i know and this topic was made now cause my father only bought it now.
Beside i don't look at one site and be done with it. You see alot of Youtubers talk about zoom pictures being better on S21Ultra
Also do you wonder why DXOmark never shares the specific version number of the software they test even if you ask them? talk about transparency...
And again with the Dxomark scores on Screen. Xiaomi talks about 1700nits against the Samsung 1500nits and yet i saw major difference with my eyes.
I bought the Mi11ultra because i love MIUI and this phone has alot of other functionally that other don't all in one.
I won't buy S21U. i already have purchase my device, this is a post to take in consideration, thats all.
I'm not in blind love of my MI11ultra.
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Click to collapse
I'm neither in blind love of my Mi 11 ultra. But your main point is: Samsung did a better job on their software updates than Xiaomi?
Let's hope Xiaomi will release better software soon or custom roms to fix it. And well, when i have a S21U in my own hands i will compare them.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
KaiseRRUby said:
What is your goal with this post? What do you want to tell us? The camera of the Mi11 Ultra is far above the camera of the S21, regarding to DXOMark.
Rankings - DXOMARK
www.dxomark.com
In the same test you see the display of the S21u scoring higher then the Mi11 Ultra. So yes, you are right.
Everyone has his/hers own reasons to buy a specific phone. I dont like Samsung for its UI and i dont like the esthetics of the S21u. Maybe you do, so buy a S21u?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dxo score is a bought and paid for scam
How would they have had results before the phone was even on sale ?
Some versions still don't have the dxo software update 4 months later but I DO have it and it isn't the best camera in the world lol....
xwonic said:
my father's S21 Ultra(exynos)
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I would never buy a Samsung phone with that crap Exynos SOC that they don't even sell in their own country...
Maybe in the future if Exynos will become better than Snapdragon...
I don't know guys what kind of shots you need to do with a camera, Mi 11 Ultra camera to me seems incredible and that's enough, if I want better shot I buy a proper camera in my opinion
In my little and personal opinion, Xiaomi fits outstanding hardware in its phones but it clearly loses on software and optimization which I think is a more difficult task than gathering hardware. If Samsung would ship its phone with the kind of sensors Mi 11 ultra has, they might outperform Mi 11 ultra easily. Even Xiaomi's flagships such as Mi 11 ultra have outdated security updates and buggy user interface such as its dark mode; I'm living with a phone whose dark mode bugs make me change homescreen icon layout twice daily in order to get my widgets and google feed follow the device's theme. Mind it, I payed $1000 for this "luxury" and such is the experience of it. I envy S21 ultra users using their phones with the most recent Android security patch installed.
Im sorry if I hurt someone here by saying this.
I debated a lot between the two phone. Went with Xiaomi because :
1. I can use gcam (the camera will improve with time). This is not available with the Exynos S21, or very limited.
2. Better wide angle lens.
What i really miss, and in my opinion it's the biggest flaw with the Mi 11 Ultra camera: Macro. Basically doesn't exist. What is even worse is the fact that cropping from the main lens at 50MP yields much better macro results that using the dedicated macro mode. I mean...common Xiaomi.
So I bought an external 100mm macro lens, but it doesn't fit the M11U because the camera bump is too thick :/
xNAPx said:
I don't know guys what kind of shots you need to do with a camera, Mi 11 Ultra camera to me seems incredible and that's enough, if I want better shot I buy a proper camera in my opinion
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I tested it alongside an iphone 12 pro last night and the iPhone was just as good if not better taking pictures of the same view
i expected it would blow the iPhone away by miles but that just wasn't the case
Well but that Iphone in 2021 still performs at 60hz lol while the Samsung costs 1200£ without charger and giving you Exynos. So any phone has its flows
galr said:
I debated a lot between the two phone. Went with Xiaomi because :
1. I can use gcam (the camera will improve with time). This is not available with the Exynos S21, or very limited.
2. Better wide angle lens.
What i really miss, and in my opinion it's the biggest flaw with the Mi 11 Ultra camera: Macro. Basically doesn't exist. What is even worse is the fact that cropping from the main lens at 50MP yields much better macro results that using the dedicated macro mode. I mean...common Xiaomi.
So I bought an external 100mm macro lens, but it doesn't fit the M11U because the camera bump is too thick :/
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Click to collapse
There is also Samsung with snapdragon and with working GCam.
Is the Snapdragon version just a single sim? I looked myself but I'm sure only the Exynos had dual SIM but this was before it launched but still interested to know.
galr said:
I debated a lot between the two phone. Went with Xiaomi because :
1. I can use gcam (the camera will improve with time). This is not available with the Exynos S21, or very limited.
2. Better wide angle lens.
What i really miss, and in my opinion it's the biggest flaw with the Mi 11 Ultra camera: Macro. Basically doesn't exist. What is even worse is the fact that cropping from the main lens at 50MP yields much better macro results that using the dedicated macro mode. I mean...common Xiaomi.
So I bought an external 100mm macro lens, but it doesn't fit the M11U because the camera bump is too thick :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you meantion I also tried experimenting with "macro" cause the option is there and its on the Ultrawide and it can't seem to focus, i get better results with telescope lens while keeping some distance from target. but still lacks.
Xiaomi said that they didn't place a macro camera cause they found a way to use 2 lens into 1, the Ultrawide.
I wonder if gcam has a option to improve focus on the ultrawide and if it's only xiaomi camera software that it's not working properly.
xwonic said:
Now that you meantion I also tried experimenting with "macro" cause the option is there and its on the Ultrawide and it can't seem to focus, i get better results with telescope lens while keeping some distance from target. but still lacks.
Xiaomi said that they didn't place a macro camera cause they found a way to use 2 lens into 1, the Ultrawide.
I wonder if gcam has a option to improve focus on the ultrawide and if it's only xiaomi camera software that it's not working properly.
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Click to collapse
You're limited by the focal range of the lense.
A ultra wide macro would likely need an attachment ie extension tube/lense for it to work. Because you don't have access to the primary lense not sure how well that work.
blackhawk said:
You're limited by the focal range of the lense.
A ultra wide macro would likely need an attachment ie extension tube/lense for it to work. Because you don't have access to the primary lense not sure how well that work.
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Click to collapse
True, but the silly thing is that you can just take a photo with the main lens and 50MP mode and crop. You still get high res photo and the macro is FAR better than what you get with the dedicated macro mode.
They should just change the dedicated macro mode to be a crop of 50MP main camera.
galr said:
True, but the silly thing is that you can just take a photo with the main lens and 50MP mode and crop. You still get high res photo and the macro is FAR better than what you get with the dedicated macro mode.
They should just change the dedicated macro mode to be a crop of 50MP main camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it now and your right, if i zoom in on main camera without switching to the telephoto i get much better results with macro.
Btw have you guys notice that if you do close up photos the mi cam only switches to the telephoto at exactly 9.5X? i used my finger on top of the telephoto lens to check this out
xwonic said:
I tried it now and your right, if i zoom in on main camera without switching to the telephoto i get much better results with macro.
Btw have you guys notice that if you do close up photos the mi cam only switches to the telephoto at exactly 9.5X? i used my finger on top of the telephoto lens to check this out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will do that if the distance is closer than the minimum focus distance of the 5x lens, or when there is not a lot of light. You can always change to Pro mode (with auto settings); to force the 5x lens .
Sathelp said:
Is the Snapdragon version just a single sim? I looked myself but I'm sure only the Exynos had dual SIM but this was before it launched but still interested to know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get a dual sim snapdragon s21u in some markets
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Dual Sim 5G G9980
Phones and Smartphones, DESIGN. Revolutionary by design. Introducing a bold new camera design in a category of its own. It's ultra-sized
bludiode.com
It also supports e-sim so you may be able to use multiple sim cards even on the single sim variant if you're carrier has e-sim available
xNAPx said:
Well but that Iphone in 2021 still performs at 60hz lol while the Samsung costs 1200£ without charger and giving you Exynos. So any phone has its flows
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Click to collapse
I don't like apple products or iPhones in general but the camera and screen quality didn't look noticeably worse when tested side by side
Few months already I'm considering upgrade first to Xiaomi 12S Ultra and after that to the newly announced Xiaomi 13 Pro ...
I would make this EXPRESSIVE upgrade only because of the new 1" camera sensor, because I'm absolutely HAPPY with all other hardware & software capabilities of my old good Redmi Note 10 Pro ...
Today I have made a simple Camera compare between the 3 phones using the Original pictures made from the very detailed reviews made by GsmArena.com.
I read their web page and watch their YouTube channel especially when I consider a phone upgrade ...
I have made a copies in a google drive folder below of all the pictures on the same place or scene which they have made reviewing each phone.
You can examine and compare each picture using the link below:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OLcGHzF4wlWT8539NMHNQpR0Jy41oiG-
CONCLUSION:
I'll NOT change my Redmi Note 10 Pro for a 6-7 times expressive phone only because of the good Marketing and Hype!!!
I'm shooting 95% pictures during the day in GOOD light and in this conditions as you can see alone there is almost NO ANY DIFFERENCE between the pictures made with Redmi Note 10 Pro / Xiaomi 13 Pro / Xiaomi 12S Ultra ...
FACT!
Yes, I understand very well that the video capabilities and the Night picture quality with the 1" sensor and new chipset are much much better, BUT as you can see alone comparing the pictures made during the day in good light actually there is NO ANY difference!
I can't see any big difference between the pictures made in good light condition with phone with cost of $200 and $1 000+
The 1" sensor is Very Good Marketing, Xiaomi!!!
Our Camera hardware is producing very good pictures if you are shooting with Redmi Note 10 Pro using the Leica Camera Mod in RAW and export the images using Lightroom app on your phone you get almost brilliant detail and quality!!!
But have to say that the latest fine tuned Leica Camera Mod especially version LeicaCameraMod-4.7.230121.1-GLSPALR.zip
is generating JPG pictures with very good overall quality shooting in the regular Photo mode.
Below are the original camera test and review for each phone made by GsmArena.com:
Redmi Note 10 Pro:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (Max) review
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro has a quad-camera setup on the back with a familiar arrangement - there is a high-res primary camera, followed by an...
m.gsmarena.com
Xiaomi 12S Ultra:
Xiaomi 12S Ultra review
We adopted the Leica Vibrant mode with the AI toggle off as the default state for taking pictures and these are some of the nicest pictures we've seen...
m.gsmarena.com
Xiaomi 13 Pro:
Xiaomi 13 Pro review
The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a triple camera on the back that's reminiscent of the one on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The primary camera uses a 50MP 1" sensor, then we...
m.gsmarena.com
P.S. For photo compare I'm using https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.want.imagecompare