iPhone 18 Pro takes second place in DXOMARK camera rankings

Apple iPhone 18 Pro scored 172 points and took second place in the DXOMARK ranking, behind Huawei Pura 80 Ultra with 175 points. The new iPhone set DXOMARK’s best results in two key scenarios: video recording and low-light photography.

The variable aperture actually works

The main camera of the iPhone 18 Pro features a 48-MP sensor and a lens with a physically variable aperture ranging from f/1.48 to f/4.0. Also installed at the rear are a 48-MP ultra-wide camera with a 13 mm lens and an f/2.2 aperture, and a 48-MP telephoto lens with a 100 mm focal length and an f/2.8 aperture.

The variable aperture became one of the most noticeable improvements in tests. The camera automatically reduces the lens opening when multiple people at different distances are in the frame, increasing depth of field. Users can also control the aperture manually.

DXOMARK separately compared group shots of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro. In last year’s model, a person in the background noticeably lost detail due to shallow depth of field. The iPhone 18 Pro kept both people’s faces in focus. This directly addresses one of the iPhone 17 Pro’s shortcomings that DXOMARK itself noted a year ago.

Experts also praised the accurate exposure, wide dynamic range, and natural contrast. Even in complex scenes, the camera typically preserves details simultaneously in both bright and dark areas of the image. At the same time, fine detail processing produces fewer noticeable AI artifacts than some competitors.

The iPhone 18 Pro has become DXOMARK’s best smartphone for video

The iPhone 18 Pro scored 176 points for video – at the time of testing, this was the best result in the DXOMARK ranking. For comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro scored 172 points. Experts particularly praised the stabilization: the footage remains smooth even when shooting while running, and recording at 60 frames per second helps convey motion more naturally.

The main camera scored 189 points for video, the ultra-wide lens scored 152 points, and the telephoto lens scored 127 points. DXOMARK also noted a wide dynamic range and improved skin tone rendering in low light.

In low-light tests, the iPhone 18 Pro scored 150 points, also achieving DXOMARK’s best result. The camera retains fine details, controls digital noise, and typically sets exposure correctly. In very dark scenes, some fine details may still be lost, and white balance can occasionally shift.

Zoom still lags behind Android flagships

The main weakness of the iPhone 18 Pro remains its high-magnification photography. The telephoto lens scored 143 points, and the overall Zoom scenario score was 138 points. At low and medium magnifications, detail remains high, but at longer distances, fine elements become noticeably softer.

For comparison, the best DXOMARK score specifically for a telephoto lens is currently 173 points from the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, while in the overall Zoom category, the Vivo X300 Ultra scored 161 points. However, during video recording, DXOMARK separately noted very smooth transitions between zoom levels.

There are other drawbacks as well. In some scenes, experts detected color tints and unstable white balance, underexposed faces in strong backlighting, flares, and aliasing. With the aperture closed, flares can become more noticeable. Additionally, image brightness in the preview sometimes differs when switching between photo and video modes. The night portrait mode does not apply background blur in certain situations.

iPhone 18 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro

Compared to the previous generation, growth is noticeable in almost all major DXOMARK categories:

As a result, the overall score increased by four points. The most noticeable changes occurred with the main camera in video and group portrait shooting, where the physical variable aperture solved the issue of insufficient depth of field from last year’s model.

The iPhone 18 Pro did not take the top spot in the DXOMARK camera ranking. Its score of 172 points is three points below the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra. However, for video and low-light photography, the Apple model currently leads in the lab’s tests.