DxO One vs. iPhone 6s Plus vs. iPhone 7 Plus: The Camera Review

iPhones come with super-advanced cameras that get better with every new generation, and Apple uses this as an essential selling point for its flagship device.

But for hardcore Apple fanboys who want the best of the best in terms of cameras, getting the latest model doesn’t equal getting the number one camera, also because there are accessories that could actually exceed the performance of the built-in shooter.

This is why we decided to put three of the most popular weapons in every true Apple fan’s arsenal to test side by side and see which one performs better in various conditions.

We’re testing the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 6s Plus, and DxO One, a camera that can be attached to any iPhone for superior shooting capabilities. All these tests are made with auto mode turned on (no manual adjustments were made), HDR on, and autofocus (though it’s worth mentioning that sometimes manual focus was needed because the automatic focus was not on the subject).  

TEST #1 - The sky tower

So let’s start with the first test, which isn’t going very well for the two iPhone models. DxO One outperforms the two iPhone models, as it offers a crisp photo without altering the original colors. As you can see in these photos, the sky itself looks very natural, and DxO perfectly controlled the white balance and offered balanced sharpness for the building.

On the other hand, both iPhones were pretty close in terms of performance, though a yellowish tint can be seen in these shots, mostly as they attempted to adjust the white balance.

As far as 100 percent cropping goes, DxO is the only one that maintains detail quality, while both the iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 6s Plus suffer from altered quality and colors. On the other hand, between the two iPhones, the iPhone 7 is the only one that got close to the natural colors of the building and the sky.

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TEST #2 - Aiming for the sky

Moving on to another building, this time all three shooters underexposed the sky in an attempt to focus on the subject. Colors are in all cases close to what you could see with the naked eye.

But once again, DxO needs to be crowned the winner of the test, thanks to much better use of the available light, while the iPhone 6s Plus was the only one that returned faded colors and substantially altered detail quality.

As for the iPhone 7 Plus, it gets pretty close to the DxO One, but the latter is without a doubt the king of the castle here, with well-balanced sharpness and high level of detail.

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TEST #3 - It’s raining colors

You probably made this test several times in real life as well, as it involves direct sunlight on the subject. DxO reduced the amount of light to preserve details, leading to a darkened sky, mostly because the focus was entirely on the shopping center banner.

On the other hand, both iPhones allowed more light to reach the sensor, which in the end affected color details, leading to substantially altered saturation and contrast as compared to DxO. The number of details on the grass is living proof that DxO is the better performer too.

When cropping to 100 percent detail level, both iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 6s Plus lack the fine details of DxO, which seems to go for less light in favor of better contrast and saturation. We’d say the iPhone 7 Plus is just as good this time, though it appears so for a different approach that involves more light and a small loss of details.

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TEST #4 - Time to play

The iPhone 7 Plus seems to go crazy when facing a strong light, while its predecessor performed amazingly well despite these conditions, managing to preserve colors and offering better quality than the newer model. DxO got it right once again, with crisp objects and balanced contrast and saturation, without impacting shadows and the amount of light on the sky.

DxO also offers the finest details when cropping, while both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 6s Plus are lagging behind. ​

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TEST #5 - The flower

This time, it’s harder to tell which one is better than the other because all three devices returned balanced performance and scored extra points where the others lost them.

As compared to iPhones, DxO offers more natural blur, while Apple’s smartphone seems to be offering more natural lights. On the other hand, iPhones are suffering from the yellow tint again, affecting the rest of the colors as well.

Other than that, iPhone 6s overexposed the flower, but otherwise performed decently, while DxO scores in terms of detail quality and colors. The iPhone 7 Plus gains bonus points for colors and brightness.

The 100 percent level crop shows that all three cameras preserved detail quality, with the blur correctly applied in all shots, with the iPhone 6s Plus the only one causing a little bit of noise mostly because of the older sensor.

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TEST #6 - Even more flowers

The focus this time is on the flower, which should allow optimal brightness, contrast, and details. At first glance, DxO was the one to create the best mix of these three, while the iPhone 7 Plus again seems to create the most natural shot, though it slightly adjusts the saturation of some of the colors, just like the iPhone 6s Plus.

High detail quality is maintained by all three cameras when it comes to cropping, though a certain amount of noise can be spotted for the iPhone 7 Plus and which is increasing in the case of its predecessor.

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TEST #7 - Brancusi all the way

The amount of yellow on the grass and on the statue were the two things iPhones struggled to deal with in this test, even though the background has clear subjects with original colors.

DxO focused on the subject and managed to capture the correct colors, though it reduced brightness for the background. The iPhone 6s Plus outperformed the iPhone 7 Plus, offering what’s pretty much the best shot of this particular test.

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TEST #8 - The stone portrait

DxO proves once again that it’s the best camera, offering the best portrait of all and keeping the correct details and colors. Using the dedicated portrait mode, the iPhone 7 Plus put the face of the statue at the center of the shot, while the incorrectly adjusted white balance affects the overall quality of the photo, a thing that seems to impact the iPhone 6s Plus.

Crisp details are offered when zooming at 100 percent level, with the amount of blur nearly perfect in the case of the iPhone 7 thanks to Apple’s dedicated portrait mode. DxO failed to maintain sky colors, most likely because it lacks an HDR mode that’s typically available on smartphones.

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TEST #9 - The tree

This time there are only minor differences in terms of brightness, with DxO offering better colors and details overall. iPhones, however, make you forget the 8-megapixel difference versus the DxO sensor thanks to better details of the subject, but lose when it comes to colors.

Cropping leads to results below expectations, with not even the DxO being able to offer a good shot. Overall, the three offer similar performance, with each of them showing their limits this time.

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TEST #10 - The blur effect

In direct sunlight, the iPhone 7 Plus provides the better-looking blur with the correct amount of this visual effect, though the color of the subject is substantially increased during software processing. The DxO One is the one that takes the more natural shot, with well-balanced colors and better accuracy when applying the blur effect to the background. A slightly increased contrast level would make it just perfect.

The iPhone 7 Plus is the one that wins the crown for cropping, mostly thanks to the high quality of details, whereas the iPhone 6s Plus lacks not only the vivid colors we’ve seen in the other two cases, but also the blur effect added to the background.

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TEST #11 - The landscape

With auto mode on and the focus on the trees in the background, the iPhone 7 Plus is the one that captures the correct colors and details, as compared to the iPhone 6s Plus which loses precious points in this regard. The F1.8 sensor on the iPhone 7 Plus makes a big difference in terms of brightness versus the F2.2 on its predecessor.

In this test, DxO One goes for a darker shot as compared to iPhones, mostly due to unexpected software tweaks that switched from F1.7 to F2.2 settings, obviously leading to reduced amount of light reaching the sensor. On the other hand, DxO scores better when it comes to detail quality, with an unexpected yellow tint in the photo that seems to come out of nowhere.

The iPhone 7 Plus offered the best results, with well-balanced colors and natural sky, while the iPhone 6s went for reduced brightness and slightly lower clarity.

DxO gains back its lost points in the cropping test thanks to detail quality, while iPhone 7 Plus and the older model provide better color saturation levels.

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TEST #12 - The bridge

DxO overexposes the photo a little bit, but on the other hand, it manages to preserve natural colors. It, however, disappoints in the case of the sky, where it’s completely off target. Overall, the iPhone 7 Plus picture is the one that’s looking more realistic, though it’s clearly not as good as the DxO shot in terms of colors, brightness, and detail quality.

Detail quality leaves plenty of room for improvement when it comes to cropping, with the iPhone 6 clearly struggling but losing precious points because of sensor performance.

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TEST #13 - The portrait

The iPhone 7 Plus performs remarkably in the portrait test, mostly thanks to the dedicated mode that was introduced by Apple a few months ago.

The problem in this case is that the subject isn’t always perfectly clear, with the blur often covering its edges. On the other hand, DxO One provides stunning shots, with the blur effect correctly applied, once again proving that native blur is the better option over the artificial one applied digitally with software processing. The iPhone 6s Plus is the ugly duckling here, as it doesn’t have a portrait mode, leading instead to a totally wrecked shot.

Overall, DxO offers the more natural shot that’s close to perfection despite the slightly darkened background, while the iPhone 7 Plus needs to improve its digital system of applying the blur effect.

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TEST #14 - The selfie

DxO accurately captures the sunlight at sunset, leading to an excellent 20-megapixel selfie with clear subject, blurry background, and vivid colors. The iPhone 6s Plus counterbalanced the light of the sun, leading instead to a toned-down skin. The iPhone 7 Plus, on the other hand, is the one that gets close to DxO One, but once again lacking the capacity of offering an advanced blur effect as it happened in the portrait mode.

When it comes to cropping, DxO doesn’t impress, but it certainly does better than both iPhones, where detail quality is very poor.

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TEST #15 - The zoom

With a 3x zoom, DxO gives up and disappoints, taking a dark shot that’s clearly below expectations. The two iPhones, with a 5x maximum zoom, take a better shot, with the new-generation iPhone obviously using the 2x optical zoom courtesy of the telephoto lens. This allows it to zoom in more, reaching a 10x zoom level. In the end, what you get is still poor quality, lots of noise, but at least you’re provided with higher zoom level than in the case of any other device.

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TEST #16 - The night shot

In low-light conditions, DxO failed to preserve natural colors and overexposed the subject. Both iPhones performed substantially better, even in the case of the cropping test.

There’s always RAW and Super RAW file format support, which gives you the option to manually edit shots and save a ruined photo, but with the automatic settings enabled, DxO certainly disappoints.

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TEST #17 - The low-light

In low-light, iPhone 6s is the one that’s getting very close to the natural colors of these mascots, though it’s worth noting that there’s a region where it overexposed the shot. iPhone 7 Plus doesn’t get the white balance correctly, while DxO has a performance similar to the one of the iPhone 6s Plus.

Surprisingly, DxO also suffered from a blue tint on the background, while iPhone 6s Plus keeps the correct colors and offers better clarity than its successor. DxO One is the one that takes the worst shot, missing the focus point and generating a ton of noise.

For cropping, the iPhone 7 Plus is the king, followed by the iPhone 6s Plus and DxO, though it’s worth noting that noise can be seen in all three cases (less for the newest iPhone, though).

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TEST #18 - The macro

In this test, both the iPhones get the colors right, while DxO fails to keep up with Apple’s devices, mostly because of its sensor which allows a minimum distance from the object of 20cm versus 8cm for the iPhone 6s Plus and the iPhone 7 Plus. If you get any inch closer, the DxO can no longer focus on the subject.

As for the blue tint in the background, this is clearly visible in the case of the iPhone 6s Plus, and a lot less noticeable in the iPhone 7 Plus shot. The DxO One photo, on the other hand, is the better one thanks to correct white balance settings, though both iPhones got the color contrast right here.

The two iPhones score better in the case of cropping for detail and color quality, while the DxO One loses points in both cases.

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THE BOTTOM LINE

After a long day of tests, here come the conclusions. All three cameras have their own pros and cons, but judging from the scores they each got in the aforementioned tests, the iPhone 7 Plus is the clear winner.

And yet, this doesn’t necessarily mean the iPhone 6s Plus or the DxO One are not worth the money. The older iPhone performed much better than expected given the single-lens camera with 12 megapixels and 1.3” sensor, while the newer model comes with dual-camera configuration with 12 megapixels and 2x zoom for the telephoto lens. The aperture makes all the difference, with the iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, and DxO featuring F2.2 and F1.8, respectively.

As far as setbacks go, the 6s Plus loses ground mostly because it lacks more “modern” features, like the portrait mode that made a huge difference versus the iPhone 7 Plus and the DxO One. On the other hand, it’s also worth mentioning that the DxO One isn’t such a terrible camera either, as the manual mode can always come to the rescue and let you adjust the exposure, ISO level, aperture, and almost everything you can usually find on a DSLR.

The DxO One is a fantastic piece of technology for taking photos of flowers, people, or any other static objects, but its full power is unleashed in the manual mode.

It’s also worth mentioning that there are no manual mode shots in this test because both iPhones lack such a feature by default. There are third-party apps that provide access to these settings, but performance will still be limited because of the camera hardware capabilities.