This second-half of 2018, smartphone brands still keeps on releasing powerful camera-focused handsets in the Philippine market. As new handsets show up, the cameras are expected to go along the upward trend. We have here the latest midrange smartphones from OPPO, Huawei, and Samsung to test out and compare their respective camera outputs. But first, the camera specs sheet:
| SPECS | OPPO F9 | Huawei Nova 3i | Samsung Galaxy J8 |
| Rear Camera | Dual 16MP (f/1.8) + 2MP (f/2.4) | 16 MP (f/2.2) + 2 MP, AI dual cameras, Autofocus, Single LED flash | 16 MP (f/1.7) + 5 MP (f/1.9) LED flash |
| Front Camera | 25MP (f/2.0) | 24 MP (f/2.0) + 2 MP, AI cameras | 16 MP (f/1.9) |
| Price (SRP) | PHP 17,990 | PHP 15,990 | PHP 15,990 |
In our first sample set, it’s easy to spot how the Samsung Galaxy J8 differs in light sourcing. The Samsung device delivered a significantly darker output compared to the other two handsets. The sky looked gray instead of blue.
The brightest and most vibrant sample shot goes to the Huawei Nova 3i. Looking closely, the Huawei photo sample has the most vibrant-colored leaves as well. Making it the best photo compared to the OPPO F9 and Samsung Galaxy J8’s shots.
The portrait mode of the OPPO and Huawei were turned on when we took these shots. Unfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy J8 didn’t have this mode. its auto mode has the capability to produce shots with a slight depth effect when the sensor is focused on a specific subject.
The OPPO F9’s shot delivered an output with the most apparent bokeh. You can see how the tree at the upper left blurred out in the background on the OPPO shot. In addition, the OPPO’s sample photo produced a more color-accurate result, whereas the Huawei resulted with a slightly strong contrast photo and the Samsung with a warmer and faded tone.
Same with the previous sample photo set, the Huawei is more saturated than the other two phones, the OPPO F9 with the most color-accurate result, and the Galaxy J8 with a faded output. Moreover, if you look at the light bulbs on the Samsung shot, the light scattered a bit from its source.
Going to the brightness level, the OPPO is last with the darkest toned result, though take note that it depicted closest to real life scenario. Second is the Huawei Nova 3i with a light and vivid shot, and finally, the Samsung Galaxy J8 with the brightest yet faded look.
The 2x zoom on, the three handsets did not disappoint. All three devices produced detailed and sharp photos even with the zoom on by 2x. Color representation, on the other hand, is quite identical to the previous sample set.
Next is a bokeh battle between the three devices. Kindly take note that the Samsung Galaxy J8 doesn’t have a depth effect or portrait mode option unlike the OPPO F9 and the Huawei Nova 3i. Although despite its lacking capability, again, it can produce photos with bokeh effect when the sensor is focused on a specific object.
Looking closely, The OPPO F9 and Huawei Nova 3i are at par when it comes to the depth effect. The Samsung Galaxy J8 also delivered a shot with nice bokeh effect despite its lack of portrait or depth effect mode.
Similar to the previous sample set, the three photos are at par in the clarity department. The brightness and saturation levels are also pretty consistent on these three handsets. What do you guys think?
We tried taking flat-lay shots and we can see how they differ in color representation and in clarity. Details are more apparent on the OPPO shot in comparison to the other two photos, just by looking at the details of the artificial plant on the upper part of the frame. As usual, the Samsung J8 produced a light and faded output, while the Huawei device captured a little-saturated photo.
At a first glance, you’d immediately notice how identical are the OPPO and Samsung shots in this sample set. Both have the same blue shade on the sky and the how it was able to not get overexposed by the lighting source located at the bottom of the tree. However, they vastly differ in clarity and detail sharpness. No grains and noises are visible on both the OPPO and Huawei shot, which is the exact opposite of the Samsung’s photo.
No need to wear your glasses to spot the difference on this one. It’s quite clear that the Samsung’s shot immensely differ compared to the OPPO and Huawei shots over-all, especially in color representation. These shots were taken around 6:30 in the evening and the OPPO and Huawei shots were able to show the real tone of that scenery, which is a bluish shade. And the Samsung device, somehow made it look like it was taken during the afternoon.
Furthermore, details were more precisely produced on the OPPO F9’s output. See for yourselves
Going to the selfies, since these were taken outdoors, we expect to get naturally bright and vibrant selfies, and on this category, Huawei won. The Nova 3i captured the most natural looking selfie out of the three. On the other hand, the OPPO’s selfie looked a bit paler than the natural look, while the Samsung looked a little dull as well.
Turning on the Beauty Mode, the OPPO F9 somehow made the face of the subject look flawless without losing much facial details. The Huawei shot provided a natural looking selfie once again. Going to the Samsung J8 selfie, it also captured a nice natural lookiing photo but with a more faded tone compared to the others.
The portrait mode or depth effect feature was used when the subject took these selfies. Out of the three, it’s safe to say that the OPPO F9 captured the best bokeh effect selfie here as it didn’t look too much or artificial at all. With the Huawei Nova 3i, the bokeh effect isn’t much visible compared to OPPO and Samsung’s. Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy J8’s selfie with depth effect looks good as well, and similar to the previous shots from this device, it looks a bit faded.
Overall, the OPPO F9 and Huawei Nova 3i produced great photo results from daylight to nighttime shots. Though the Samsung Galaxy J8 also captured decent photos, most outputs from the device looked faded and unnatural, even the first nighttime shot has visible noises.
We laid out the photo samples from each smartphone and also shared our opinion, but take note that everyone has their own creative preferences and your insights may differ from ours. Now, by looking at the sample photos, which new midrange smartphone is for you? Comment down below!
