Camera head to head: Lumia 950 vs OnePlus 5T

Notes:

The OnePlus 5T's shots are at its full (and only) 16MP shooting at 4:3 (or 20MP in very low light) with the Lumia 950 also set to full resolution, 16MP in 16:9. I only spotted the latter aspect ratio when back at base, but it's irrelevant to the comparison, since I'm looking at central 1:1 detail, as usual. 

The 5T's 'second' camera is a pixel-combination affair, in theory doing a PureView-like trick to use 'super-pixels' and then it re-interpolates this back up to 20MP. Which seems a bit pointless to me, but there we go. In time, with updates, I'd expect OnePlus to refine the concept, perhaps using the output from both cameras together?

All photos were taken on full 'auto' on both phones, unless stated otherwise, and with the phones handheld. 

Let's pit the results against each other, using our Famed Interactive Comparator (FIC). All 1:1 crops are at 900x500 for comparison, but see the links for full versions.

Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! You ideally need a powerful, large-screened tablet or a proper laptop or desktop. This comparator may not work in some browsers. Sorry about that. On Windows 10 Mobile, use the 'AAWP Universal' UWP app, which handles the comparator very competently (see the tips in the app's help screens). Test 1: Sunny scene

Great lighting, trivial for any phone camera, with loads of detail on a building site. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

White balance is the main difference here, with a whiter look on the 5T and a warmer look on the Lumia 950 XL. The former is more accurate, but the sun was quite 'warm' in cast today, so the truth was somewhere in between, I suspect. The Lumia 950 XL just wins out here with better dynamic range - see the crane's cab for some quite astonishing detail, set against the sky! 

Microsoft Lumia 950: 10 pts; OnePlus 5T: 9 pts

Test 2: Sunny zoom

Shot from a slightly different angle, it's the crane again. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

As a pixel-peeping purist, to see digital zoom like this is somewhat ghastly. Just don't do this, boys and girls. Now, the 5T does have two sensors and I'd have expected a Huawei-like hybrid zoom system, but it seems that OnePlus's engineers haven't worked this out yet - maybe it'll come to the phone in an update?

In the meantime, both zoomed shots are ugly at this level and you'd do better to just crop a standard unzoomed-shot in my opinion.

Microsoft Lumia 950: 5 pts; OnePlus 5T: 5 pts

Test 3: Indoor detail

Average light, indoors, in a store, with some very detailed amplifiers to snap. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Both phone cameras are rather superb here in terms of captured detail and I can't pick a winner. Just the slightest sharpening is in evidence, but you'd expect that at the pixel level. Top notch, both phones. 

Microsoft Lumia 950: 10 pts; OnePlus 5T: 10 pts

Test 4: Near sunset skyline

With only half an hour until sunset, some detail on a restaurant roof. I'd meant to compare detail on the top sign, but the lower one will present more of a challenge to both phone cameras, so I went with that for the crops. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

A tough call here - the Lumia's shot is cleaner overall, but it mutes the colours and there's the slight yellow cast again. Meanwhile the OnePlus 5T gets the colours spot on. Don't be fooled by the bulb lighting changes, it was animating/cycling!

Microsoft Lumia 950: 9 pts; OnePlus 5T: 10 pts

Test 5: Sunset landscape

Lower light levels, but still daylight, even though the main subject was in shadow. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Great detail and dynamic range from the Lumia 950 XL here, showing again the benefits of that ZEISS lens system. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 5T camera is just starting to struggle...

Microsoft Lumia 950: 10 pts; OnePlus 5T: 8 pts

Test 6: ...and now zoomed

The same scene as above, but let's make things even more challenging and try zooming by 2x. Yes, it'll be ugly, but I just can't resist...

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

The zooms came out better than I'd feared, but the Lumia is clearly showing more detail and more texture by quite a margin. I think all the delicate detail is being smoothed out by the OnePlus 5T's noise reduction routines.

Microsoft Lumia 950: 9 pts; OnePlus 5T: 7 pts

Test 7: Suburban dusk

Ramping the light levels down again, this is after sunset but with plenty of light still left in the sky. Under these conditions, the OnePlus 5T is still using its 16MP main camera. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

The OnePlus 5T actually does pretty well here, considering that it hasn't got OIS and was using a 1/17s exposure. But it can't match the Lumia 950 XL's shot, which has more colour and detail, and less noise.

Microsoft Lumia 950: 9 pts; OnePlus 5T: 7 pts

Test 8: Night time

Dead of night, only the best camera phones survive. Here the second (<10 Lux) 20MP sensor kicks in on the OnePlus 5T, in theory doing some pixel-quadrupling to reduce noise and then interpolating back up to full resolution. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and OnePlus 5T, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Simply amazing detail with a 1/5s exposure, handheld, from the Lumia 950 XL. Look past the inevitable noise and you can even clearly see the individual blinds in the house windows! The OnePlus 5T's re-interpolation strategy simply doesn't work - at all, as hopefully your eyes can attest above.

What OnePlus should do, of course, is output the 5MP picture from the super-pixel ('four into one') capture. 5MP is still more than enough for most uses, users won't notice the drop in resolution, and the result would be quite pure. Oh well.

Microsoft Lumia 950: 9 pts; OnePlus 5T: 5 pts

Verdict

Adding up the points gives us:

Lumia 950 XL: 71/80

OnePlus 5T: 61/80

A convincing victory for the (old) Lumia then and showing how far behind the imaging cutting edge OnePlus still is. As mentioned above, there are things they can try with the two sensors, combining their data and using them to output lower resolutions when necessary, but as things stand the new 5T simply isn't delivering the goods when the going gets tough.

PS. Will any current phone defeat the Lumia 950 XL? Kind of, yes, see my head to head with the iPhone X.

Source: Camera head to head: Lumia 950 vs OnePlus 5T