Today we are with a camera comparison between Mi 11 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Both these phones are the latest editions of their brand and have a very dominating camera quality compared to their previous versions. So, comparing cameras of these two massive devices, i.e., the Mi 11 Ultra and iPhone 12 max, seems interesting as it will be an Android vs. IOS camera comparison. It is going to be the best vs. best in terms of Camera comparison.
Optical Zoom comparison
iPhone 12 Pro Max comes with a 2.5x telephoto lens tagged with a 12 Megapixel sensor. On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi Ultra comes with a flagship-class sensor, 48 Megapixel Sony IMX 586, and there is a 5x periscope lens on the top of it. Both of these devices got Optical Image Stabilization, so stabilization shouldn’t be an issue. This is hardware power vs. premium optimized software. Yes, as expected, iPhone 12 Pro Max has failed to put any fight against Mi 11 Ultra when it’s beyond its native zoom capabilities.
We have seen many pictures at 5x, 10x, 15x, and most of the time, Xiaomi Mi 11 ultra reproduced images with more details with sharpness and well-processed textures. Noise removing algorithm also worked amazingly fine on Mi 11 Ultra, but whenever we try to take zoomed photos of objects, Mi 11 Ultra fails to process exposure, and autofocus becomes aimless. The Zoom photos at night go down to personal preference. Xiaomi got better hardware, and Apple got better software. Overall, Mi 11 Ultra is better for 5x or above zoom photos, but if you have a moving object, it is pretty challenging to get a good picture at 5x or 10x.
Ultra-Wide Camera Comparison
Mi 11 Ultra with a flagship-class sensor and 48 megapixels Sony IMX 586 underneath the ultrawide lens should have won by a mile, but Apple is the king of software optimization. iPhone 12 Pro Max has better exposure and better colour grading, but they both stand head to head in terms of details and textures. Even if there is heavy processing with artificial colour grading, we cannot ignore that the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a more comprehensive dynamic range.
Camera modes and Sensors
Stock photography is an essential thing for almost all average users. People open smartphone cameras and start taking photos, but iPhone 12 Pro Max doesn’t have a dedicated pro mode, but you can still change some settings in photo mode. Mi 11 Ultra offers a pro mode where you can change settings, select different options and take a perfect shot of your choice. But, indeed, average users usually take a photo in auto mode. AI or scene detection on Mi 11 Ultra, most of the time process photos with the artificial flavor but on iPhone 12 Pro Max, you cannot enable or disable the scene optimizer.
iPhone 12 shows a fake dynamic range, whereas the overall image is much sharper in Mi 11 Ultra. This year Apple has aggressive processing, and all the photos are more like social media ready than anything close to reality. Once we enable AI on Mi 11 Ultra, and once there is a human subject, Mi 11 Ultra also becomes a social media beast. Colours are a bit saturated with very high mid-tones, and vibrance along with cold colour temperature makes things even more lucrative than iPhone 12 Pro Max. But you lose a bit of texture, and your skin tone is a bit more fair than usual.
4k 60FPS Video Recording
Both of these Mi 11 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max can record amazing 4k videos using main camera. Super crisp videos full of details, but Mi 11 Ultra-processed more details in the shadows, and the overall video quality on Mi 11 Ultra is better. But it doesn’t mean that Mi 11 Ultra videos are lucrative. As mentioned earlier, iPhone 12 Pro Max with heavy processing and added colour grading reproduced video clips that are eye-pleasing.
Portrait mode
iPhone 12 Pro Max uses its 2.5x telephoto by default for portrait shots, but on the other hand, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra uses its primary sensor. Still, it applies a 2x digital zoom for portrait shots to give portrait photos that 50 mm portrait look. iPhone 12 Pro Max has won this segment from edge detection to bokeh effect, edge separation line blend, edge cut-outs, skin tone colour rendering, texture, and ambiance. Almost everything looks perfect on iPhone 12 Pro Max. Selfie portraits taken with the selfie camera are way better on iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Night mode
Some people will argue that if the night modes are not bright enough if it’s not visible, why do we need night mode. But I believe four factors define a good night mode photo, i.e., details, exposure, noise removal, and shadows. If any smartphone gets these four correct in night mode photos, I will surely go with that. After considering these four categories, we can say that Mi 11 Ultra is still not on par with iPhone 12 Pro Max. Maybe this is because Mi 11 Ultra is still on its primary software, but this will get better after updates.
Considering the price, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is an excellent smartphone with a perfect camera setup. It just requires a bit of polished stock camera software. On the other hand, iPhone 12 Pro Max was released last year, and it already got some updates, and I think it’s already at its peak. Anyway, both the phones hold their grounds and have different camera specializations in other conditions.
