DxOMark has tested the iPhone 12 Pro and found it to have a top-of-the-line camera system and is great for filming videos.
With a DXOMARK Camera overall score of 128, the Apple iPhone 12 Pro makes it into the top five in the ranking, improving on last year’s 11 Pro Max by four points and replacing it as the best Apple device in our database. The overall score is founded on a high Photo score of 135 and a very good Video score of 112. With a score of 66, Zoom is the area where the iPhone 12 Pro loses some points against the best in class, mainly due to its tele-lens offering only a 2x optical magnification. However, video is where the iPhone 12 Pro really shines.
“The HDR-enabled clips are exposed well and dynamic range is wide, offering a cinematic look in scenes with stronger contrasts,” says DxOMark. “Dynamic range is not quite on the same level as what can be done for still images (in very high-contrast scenes tone-mapping could be better), but for smartphone video it’s up there with the very best. Our testers also liked the color and skin tone rendering, but also observed some white balance casts. The 4K footage shows good levels of detail until light levels drop too much, and the autofocus does a good job at keeping things in focus, even in dynamic scenes. The stabilization system works very well, too, keeping things steady and smooth when walking with the camera in your hands or when standing still while recording.”
The iPhone 12 Pro features a 6.1-inch OLED HDR10 display, 6GB RAM and the A14 Bionic chipset. The camera comes with standard-wide, ultra-wide, and tele modules, distinguishing it from the lower-tier iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 MIni models that both lack the tele. The top-end iPhone 12 Pro Max also comes with a triple-camera setup, but uses a larger sensor in the standard-wide and a slightly longer tele-lens compared to the 12 Pro.
For scoring and analysis in its smartphone camera reviews, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 3,000 test images and more than 2.5 hours of video both in controlled lab environments and in natural indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera’s default settings.
