iPhone X beats Pixel 2’s DxO Mark photo score, but loses overall

The iPhone X didn’t quite manage to dethrone the Pixel 2’s record DxOMark score, but it got awfully close. The iPhone X scored a 97 overall compared to the Pixel 2’s 98, but emerged victorious on the photography subscore, managing a 101 to the Pixel 2’s 99. The iPhone’s overall score ties with the Huawei Mate 10 Pro .

DxOmark does some of the most technically thorough camera tests out there, even if some of its scoring ends up being subjective. That, said, it’s worth mentioning each score can be broken down further, and it’s worth looking at the full picture to compare how the devices perform in the categories you most care about.

For example, although the Pixel 2 loses in the overall photo subscore, it ‘wins’ the exposure, contrast, and color. Meanwhile, the iPhone X emerges victorious in the noise, zoom, and bokeh categories. It makes sense; after all, the iPhone X beats the iPhone 8 (which scored a 94), despite having the same primary camera. The former simply has a better telephoto lens.

Of course, much of these scores are subjective anyway. As always, your impression of the final images themselves matter far more than any numerical score, but if there’s one thing DxOMark tells us, it’s that the smartphone camera race is closer than over.