Popular YouTuber MKBHD did a massive blind smartphone over the last few days comprising of 16 different smartphones. The blind camera comparison received millions of votes on Twitter and Instagram Stories and included heavyweights like the Pixel 3, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, OnePlus 6T, iPhone XS, iPhone X, HTC U12+, and Galaxy Note 9.
The shootout also included some mid-range and budget devices like the LG V40, Pocophone F1, BlackBerry Key2, and the Palm phone. Outright, it is easy to dismiss these handsets in front of devices like the Pixel 3, iPhone XS, and Mate 20 Pro which are known for their camera performance.
However, the results of the blind camera comparison are going to surprise many. In the very first round itself, there were some major upsets with the LG V40 beating the Pixel 2, the Pocophone F1 beating the iPhone X, and the Blackberry Key2 beating the iPhone XS. In the second round, the results were again surprising. The BlackBerry Key2 got more votes than the LG V40 while the Pocophone F1 beat the Galaxy Note 9. The Key2 ultimately lost to the Mate 20 Pro but the Pocophone F1 continued its impressive run and reached the final round beating the Hydrogen One.
As for the ultimate winner? I will not ruin that for you. See the video to find the winner yourself.
Given that it is a $300 device, it is surprising to see the Pocophone F1 do so well in the blind camera comparison test. Sure, it was not a detailed camera comparison and as Marques rightfully points out in the video, people usually ended up preferring the brighter photo with more contrast and saturation. The compression from Twitter and Instagram also meant that any advantage the likes of the iPhone XS, Galaxy Note 9 or the Pixel 3 had over their competitors in terms of sharpness and details were all but washed away. The results, however, are telling with the likes of the iPhone XS, Pixel 3, and iPhone X being eliminated in the first round itself.
The video does not mean that the Pocophone F1 has a better camera than the Pixel 3 or the iPhone XS. But it does prove that the difference between them might be smaller than what we actually make it out to be.
