DxOMark’s New Selfie Score Ranks Front-Facing Smartphone Cameras

If the endless number of lists on the Internet is any indication, we humans love ranking things.

From top-10s to best-ofs, people want to know what’s the number 1 whatever out there – or want reaffirmation that they’ve made the right decision already.

DxOMark has a reputation in the photography and videography world for having reliable rankings and they tend to be watched by industry insiders as well as optics manufacturers.

That’s why it should come as no surprise that DxOMark is launching a new “selfie score” to help rank the front-facing cameras on smartphones.

As PetaPixel notes, prior to this DxOMark focused on a smartphone’s rear-facing cameras. Now consumers will get some idea of the relative quality of the front-facing cameras as well.

In a statement describing the new scores, DxOMark says: “We have designed this protocol to do the same for front cameras as our well-established DxOMark Mobile protocol does for main cameras: offer neutral and reliable test data about smartphone front camera performance and image quality to consumers and other interested parties.”

Updates to the website reflect the addition of the new score. This change also reflects some general disparities between the phone overall and the “selfie” score, as evidenced by the Huawei Mate 20 Pro’s mobile score of 109 and its selfie score of 75. Compare this to the lower-ranked Google Pixel 3 with a mobile score of 101 and a selfie score of 92.

The overall selfie score for the Google Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 are both 92, tying them for the top position.

Explaining the methodology, DxOMark writes, “The Google Pixel 3 has the edge in terms of focus system, but the Note 9 achieves better results for exposure and color…Images captured with the Google device show slightly stronger contrast and a cooler white balance. The Samsung is a little better at exposing for faces and applies a little less contrast to faces, making for a slightly more natural look.”