DxOMark's Best Smartphone Is One You Might Want To Skip

Smartphones have become pretty impressive especially in performance and photography. It's quite telling when even the likes of Xiaomi and OPPO find their way to the top of DxOMark's list. Of course, there will still be the best of the best in any list and DxOMark has one, too. Unfortunately, that praise might be lost on many consumers who might not be able to even get their hands on the site's top-rated smartphone camera.

Let's not beat around the bush. For DxOMark, the Huawei P40 Pro is the best smartphone camera all around. That's true for both the main rear cameras as well as the front-facing ones. The P40 Pro grabs most of the top scores in almost all departments and DxOMark praises its exposure, dynamic range, and accuracy in all lighting conditions. It also out-zooms Samsung despite the latter's 100X Space Zoom hype.

To be fair, Huawei has indeed steadily and consistently risen to the top of photography benchmarks thanks to its heavy investment in that area. Some might even be tempted to say that Huawei's flagship phones are largely defined by its cameras and everything else comes second. That, unfortunately, might be coming back to bite it now that it will be struggling to find alternate sources for its smartphone parts.

The problem with the Huawei P40 Pro isn't its performance or even its price, even if that is super high. Its availability in markets has always been an issue but now Huawei's biggest problem is convincing buyers that they will be able to survive with an expensive phone without Google's apps or even the Google Play Store. That alone could already be a huge deterrent for users who don't want to navigate unfamiliar territory just to get the best photo.

Fortunately, there are others on DxOMark's list that can be an option. It even concedes some awards to two of Samsung's latest flagships. Unfortunately for iPhone fans, Apple's smartphone doesn't even get an honorable mention in this round.