Samsung Galaxy S9 Has "World's Best Smartphone Camera", Better Than iPhone X Or Google Pixel 2

The iPhone X and Google Pixel 2 XL have had some of the best smartphone cameras to date, but there’s a new winner launching soon.

According to French imaging expert DxOMark, the Samsung Galaxy S9 now has the "best smartphone camera" ever.

DxOMark awarded the new flagship a score of 99 on its scale, where the Pixel 2 previously held the highest score of 98. Essentially, it’s all set to be the ultimate mobile imaging tool you can buy this year.

According to the review, the S9 proves very capable in controlling noise in various scenarios, while still keeping details sharp and its autofocus speedy. The addition of a variable-aperture lens gives the phone more flexibility in low-light shoots, especially for the few users that shoot on manual mode. DxOMark says that, while the Pixel 2 retains prioritizes highlights over shadows, the Galaxy S9 instead preserves shadowy details at the expense of highlights.

Even the 2x optical zoom at hand appears to be lossless, while “resolution and detail are quite impressive up to a 4x zoom.” The group says noise at that level is even less than with the iPhone X. 

With video, the Galaxy S9 has fast exposure transitions and a smooth autofocus while still delivering noiseless photos. In addition, both lenses have optical image stabilization, meaning your shaky hands shouldn’t be a problem.

The only major weakness DxOMark found in the Galaxy S9 is slight exposure changes when taking multiple shots of the same scene, something that the Pixel 2 is still better at. Technically, however, they say this could be fixed with a future software update, even before the device launches later this month.