After releasing their verdict on the iPhone 12 Pro, DxOMark published their review on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Armed with a 12-megapixel f/1.6 main camera with bigger 1.7um pixels and a 12-megpixel f/2.2 telephoto camera with 2.5x optical zoom and OIS, DxOMark gave the iPhone 12 Pro a score of 130. That’s two points higher than the iPhone 12 Pro, officially making the iPhone 12 Pro Max the 4th best-performing smartphone in DxOMark.
While it failed to beat the P40 Pro, Mi 10 Ultra, and Mate 40 Pro, it is impressive to see the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s 12-megapixel to give phones with high-megapixel sensors a run for their money. Breaking down the scores, its impressive 138 photo score is credited on its accurate exposure especially on portraits even in low-light conditions. However, DxOMark notes that the iPhone 12 Pro Max tends to clip highlights and shadows when dealing with scenes that have a high brightness range. The same goes for high dynamic range scenes, where colors tend to get clipped.
The new sensor benefits from improved depth of field, and Apple’s Focus Pixel tech gives the iPhone 12 Pro Max an edge when it comes to autofocus. Compared to the iPhone 12 Pro, the iPhone 12 Pro Max does a better job in balancing texture and noise. With its 2.5x telephoto camera, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is substantially better than its non-Max sibling in the Zoom scores—though it can’t compete with the high zoom range of its rivals.
As for video, the iPhone 12 Pro Max ties with the P40 Pro for second place, and native support for Dolby Vision HDR helps it deliver a high dynamic range and good tone mapping when footage is viewed on a compatible display.
