Great video comparison between the best phones so far in 2022: landslide victory for a clear winner

We have already published our great photographic comparison between the best high-end phones of 2022, as well as the great comparison of portrait mode. There was a clear winner, and the rest of the podium positions were fairly evenly distributed. As many Xatakeros asked us, we now come with the video comparison.

for this test we have chosen four scenarios, in our opinion, representative of the main uses that can be given to a video camera (they can always be extended to infinity, but it must be limited as much as possible). We will check how they record in 4K during the day, how the stabilization work is, how they record at night and how they do it with the front camera in maximum resolution.

As we explained in the photo comparison, our analysis is based on several key points. In video, it is not enough to analyze the general scene, it is also necessary to check the detail of the image, the noise generated when processing the video, the dynamic range of the scene (not only in highlights, but also in shadows), artifacts generated , color processing, etc.

This comparative show all videos in original quality, so we recommend setting the resolution to the maximum. These are the test participants.

4K daytime recording

• First: iPhone 13 Pro Max. The iPhone, at the video level, does not have too many problems to show that it is well above its rivals. At the level of dynamic range (something we observe, for example, in the information of the rescued shadows in the shadows of the trees), it is hardly rivaled. The work in colorimetry is quite precise and the amount of detail that it rescues is spectacular. In the same way, stabilization is much more natural than that of his rivals, at least in this scene.

• Segundo: OPPO Find X5 Pro. Good result for the OPPO Find X5 Pro. It also shines for dynamic range, preserves a good amount of detail and takes the white balance towards neutral.

• Third: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. More than on its own merit, the S22 Ultra wins this third place because the rest of the rivals have not done a good job. Compared to the OPPO and the iPhone, the S22 hardly rescues information in the shadows. The stabilization is correct (although very far from the iPhone) and colorimetry work is not good. The supersaturation of the sky is very present.

4K daytime recording (stabilization test)

• First: iPhone 13 Pro Max. Here it has been especially easy to give a winner. Their rivals, even though they have OIS, try to correct the micro-jitters by software. Not doing it right, aggressive corrections are generated, which we perceive as “jerks”. The iPhone does a flawless job (in this scene we were shooting while running), quite natural.

• Second: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The S22 Ultra is quite far, in this scenario, from what the iPhone offers at the stabilization level, but it has achieved a worthy shot. In color it has done much better than the iPhone, although in this scene the stabilization work itself has more weight.

• Tercero: OPPO Find X5 Pro. Here the position has been disputed between the Xiaomi 12 Pro and the OPPO. The Find X5 Pro, at the beginning of the video, makes some terrible corrections, and then ends up stabilizing quite decently. But the Xiaomi, directly, it has been frozen for a few seconds recordingso we are forced to remove him from the podium, despite the fact that when he recovers he already stabilizes well.

4K night recording

First: iPhone 13 Pro Max. More of the same when night falls. We can look at things like plants and ground to see how much sharpness the iPhone preserves. It is also the best at respecting color tonality, white balance and stabilizing.

Segundo: OPPO Find X5 Pro. Spectacular OPPO work here, bordering on the results of the iPhone. It is somewhat far from the Apple terminal when rescuing information and luminosity in the shadows, but it has done well in exposure, tonality and stabilization.

Third: Xiaomi 12 Pro. The work of the Xiaomi 12 Pro in night video has a lot of room for improvement, which is why it earns third place due to the demerit of its rivals. The S22 Ultra has done a disappointing job, with major fixes at almost every step, a blatant lack of detail, and scant information in the scene.

Selfie recording in full resolution

First: iPhone 13 Pro Max. The iPhone is often said to burn the skies on video, and it is. Exactly the same as each and every one of his rivals. Controlling HDR in video is not easy, especially when we have to expose a subject as the main object. The iPhone’s microphone has done quite well despite the wind, but the victory goes to the spectacular amount of detail it achieves in the face (records in 4K), as well as the practical perfection in colorimetry and white balance of the scene.

Second: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The work that Samsung does with the front camera is remarkable, although the video is dirtier (noisier), the tone is duller and the general quality is lower than that of the iPhone. However, one of the best frontal videos that we will have on Android. It is capable of recording in front 4K, like the iPhone.

Third: Huawei P50 Pro: The P50 Pro takes third place for how well it has worked in detail (4K, too), and how wide the front camera is. It is a great camera for recording vlogs, although in colorimetry it tends towards reddish tones.

And the winner is…

The iPhone is still unrivaled in video. There are terminals that record in 8K (with dubious stabilization work and results far from what would be expected in this resolution), but in the most common resolutions, Full HD and 4K, it is clearly superior to its competition. Stabilization, colorimetry, dynamic range, and amount of detail is very close to perfection.

OPPO has done a great job this generation, catching up with Samsung in video, and showing that during the day it can do it outstandingly. On the part of Google and Huawei, the work is worthy, but it lacks ambition.

Alternatives such as OnePlus, Xiaomi or Realme have not managed to come close to what these three high-end offer, without being able to score in any of the sections. In photography they gave the maximumbut on video they show that the bet has not been so complete.

All the videos of the comparison, in original size.