DxOMark is not only dedicated to testing the rear cameras of the most popular smartphones on the market. Its team of experts also analyze various technical sections such as the front cameras of emblematic mobiles and the audio and sound quality of some others.
In a recent development we described what DxOMark detailed about the cameras of Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip, which obtained excellent performance scores, but did not stand out as the best. Now the one chosen for a review is the Honor V30 Pro, a high-performance terminal that has been tested on the double front sensor that it uses, which is 32 MP (f / 2.0) + 8 MP (f / 2.2).
V30 Pro: Honor was able to add better selfie shooters to it
Honor V30 Pro front camera in DxOMark
With an overall score of 76 on the DxOMark benchmark, the Honor V30 Pro occupies a position in the lower third of the ranking in the middle of the table, which is a bit disappointing for a device in its class and price, which is around 500 euros on average. The photography mode in particular leaves some improvement, as the V70 Pro's still-image score of 30 places it among the lowest-performing front-facing cameras the tech team has tested so far.
Exposure to the target on the face is usually accurate in all conditionsBut faces also tend to show abnormally low contrast, and limited dynamic range can result in highlight clipping in challenging high-contrast scenes. DxOMark testers also observed some exposure instabilities when firing a series of shots.
Front photo in light conditions with the Honor V30 Pro | DxOMark
Furthermore, front camera images tend to have some color issues. Saturation is generally quite low and the V30 Pro makes skin tones a bit unnatural. Outdoors, the automatic white balance system can be unstable, producing color casts, and the team also found some noticeable color shading in low-light shots.
The fixed focus lens, in combination with a relatively large image sensor means, means that depth of focus is also limited. Sharpness is best at a shooting distance of about 55cm, but is reduced for subjects that are closer to or further from the camera. This means that the V30 Pro is not the ideal device for users who like to shoot with a selfie stick. Subjects in the back of group selfies are also usually slightly out of focus in most shots.
At an optimal shooting distance, the V30 Pro preserves the textures quite well, but a fairly strong beautification effect can contribute to the loss of fine details. Image noise is well controlled in bright light, but becomes more noticeable indoors and when shooting in low light. The device's screen flash function can come in handy when shooting in the dark, producing good exposure on faces and pleasant skin tones. However, when tungsten low light flash is mixed, an orange hue becomes visible.
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- Low performance | DxOMark
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- Slightly yellow hue and low saturation | DxOMark
The camera also offers a bokeh mode that blurs the background, but the effect can be unstable in some circumstances, with noticeable exposure and white balance jitters. Depth estimation artifacts around the subject can also be quite intrusive, states DxOMark in their report.
How about you doing with video recording?
While it is quite difficult to recommend the V30 Pro for self-photos, its video mode is surprisingly quite better. The high-performance terminal is not yet among the best in this category, but it occupies a better place at the table.
Thanks to 4K recording, Video clips show good detail when the subject is in the focus plane. Exposure to the lens on faces tends to be accurate, and in contrast to photography mode, the white balance is stable when shooting in outdoor conditions or under typical indoor lighting. The stabilization system also does a pretty good job of keeping things smooth and stable in bright light.
On the downside, highlight clipping can be visible on faces or in the background in high-contrast scenes, and color reproduction is quite poor, with low saturation in skin tones, especially in low light. DxOMark testers also observed pitch changes and sound artifacts in video clips. Also, the narrow depth of field has the same effect as in photography mode, with subjects very close to or further away from the camera out of focus.
