Above: iPhone 12 Pro Max in Silver, Huawei Mate 40 Pro in Black, and (bottom row) Samsung Galaxy Z FOLD2

Smartphones today can cost far more than computers, and three of the most expensive ones now include the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max ($1,799 for 128GB, $1,969 for 256GB, and $2,299 for 512GB), Huawei’s Mate 40 Pro (price TBC soon, but it’ll be around $1,600), and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 ($2,888). They are each intelligent and gorgeous in their own way, but it’s the camera capability on the device that everyone is interested in. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the photos taken with the three phones.

Disclaimer: All photos featured are taken straight out of the phones, without any edits made to their quality. some photos have been cropped for clearer comparison. these are our personal thoughts on the quality of the photos, and this article is not sponsored by any of the brands featured here.

Cloudy Day Outdoor Shot:

Above: Photos taken with (from left to right) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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Above: Photos taken with (from top to bottom) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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The above photos were taken on a cloudy afternoon. The colours on the Huawei are warmer (more yellow), and the picture was the largest in size — not surprising, considering its primary Leica lens on the device is 50MP (both Apple and Samsung phones sport 12MP lenses). The Samsung picture was the brightest and “crispiest”, while the iPhone produced deeper shadows in the clouds and trees, and hence, an overall moodier shot.

Indoor Product Photography With Ceiling Light:

Above: Photos taken with (from left to right) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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This was taken indoors. The iPhone and Mate 40 Pro focused on Grendizer in the background, while the Galaxy Z Fold2 immediately focused on the LEGO Walker in the foreground, blurring out Grendizer and the Storm Trooper behind.

Above: Photos taken with (from top to bottom) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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Look at the cut on Grendizer’s leg at 100%; the iPhone photo picked up the rough texture of the toy and wall, while I can see some smoothing on the Huawei photo at the same area. The Samsung photo, on the other hand, shows evident grain and fuzziness.

Indoor Product Photography With Natural Light:

Above: Photos taken with (from top to bottom) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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This is a mess of beauty products shot using “portrait” mode on the three devices. With so many things in the frame, it took the iPhone some time to focus on a single product (I was aiming for the large, white Sulwhasoo bottle in the front), but it still didn’t end up as clear as I would have liked. Also, the picture was too dark. The Mate 40 Pro captured colours that were most true to the actual product, and the photo had a good balance of sharp objects (those in the foreground) and blurred objects (items in the background and further away). The photo taken with the Galaxy Z Fold2 has an unnatural sharpness to the text on the bottles, and everything is in focus, meaning there’s less depth to this picture compared to the other two.

Night Mode Outdoors:

Above: Photos taken with (from left to right) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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Here’s where the iPhone excels: Night Mode; it intelligently blocks out the light from the lamp to the right (not shown in the pictures). You can see some light reflection on both the photos taken with the other two phones. The colours and lighting are also the most balanced on the iPhone photo; it doesn’t have a forced “brightness” to the leaves at the front, nor does it try to artificially brighten the dark trees in the background, but it still retains the tree’s texture and detail well.

Above: Photos taken with (from left to right) iPhone 12 Pro Max, HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.
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At 100% zoom, it becomes evident that the Galaxy Z Fold2 loses out on detail (in the leaves, the building in the background and the trees); while the iPhone and Mate do a good job at preserving details all around.

Final thoughts: Photographs are like art and they are subjective, and so are the smartphones that take these photos. How we like our final photos turning out are really a personal preference, so there really are no losers here.

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max: The iPhone 12 Pro Max — at just 12MP (compared to the 50MP on the Mate 40 Pro) — puts up a good fight with photos that turn out balanced, and very pleasing to look at. If you live in the Apple eco-system, you will love the improvements they’ve made to this camera. Night mode is intelligent and impressive with photos turning out natural and less artificially-altered than the others featured here. Check out this article on CNET for some pretty amazing photos taken with the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro: If you like smoother, larger-sized photos (eg. for printing out), the Huawei Mate 40 Pro will give that to you. The camera system also smooths out areas intelligently so you get both sharper, smoother photos with little grain. If you’re getting a phone mainly for its camera, the Mate 40 Pro is as good as you can get. Check out the DXOMARK rankings here; the Huawei Mate 40 Pro unsurprisingly comes out on top.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2: The Galaxy Z Fold2 as a smartphone is a workhorse; the photos aren’t the best, but they aren’t bad; and the phone has the most incredible functions. If you want to live off your smartphone and use it like a computer, and can live with just decent, above average photos — the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 is the one to invest in.

The Apple IPHONE 12 PRO MAX is AVAILABLE IN 128GB, 256GB, AND 512GB MODELS IN GRAPHITE, SILVER, GOLD, AND PACIFIC BLUE STARTING AT $1,799, available at APPLE.COM.

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro will be available in Black and Mystic Silver. Pricing and availability coming soon.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 has a RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE OF $2,888 (INCLUDING GST), available at SAMSUNG.COM.