We subjected the Honor Magic4 Ultimate to our rigorous SBMARK Selfie test suite to measure its performance in photos and videos from an end-user perspective. This article analyzes how the device performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases and aims to highlight the most important results of our tests with an excerpt of the data captured.
Overview
Main specifications of the front camera:
- 12MP sensor
- Lens with f/2.4 aperture
- Video: 4K/30fps, 1080p/30fps (4K/30fps tested)
Pros
- Generally accurate target exposure in photos and videos
- Wide enough depth of field
- Natural white balance in indoor and outdoor conditions
- Good level of texture in the video
- Pleasant color rendering
Versus
- Dynamic range is sometimes limited, clipping may be visible
- Skin tone rendering is not always accurate
- Artifacts, including anamorphosis or pitch shift
- Local noise and local texture loss
With a SBMARK Selfie Score of 122, the Honor Magic4 Ultimate offers a capable front-facing camera for everyday front-facing photo and video capture, but it wasn’t among the best selfie shooters in our tests. Selfie enthusiasts with cash to spare will find better alternatives in the Ultra-Premium segment. Both stills and video showed good exposure and fairly accurate white balance. A large depth of field helped keep more subjects in focus. However, our testers encountered skin-tone issues in some scenes, and the lack of dynamic range meant that highlight clipping was noticeable on some images.
Honor Magic4 Ultimate Selfie Scores vs Ultra-Premium
This graph compares overall SBMARK Selfie photo and video scores between tested and referenced devices. The average and maximum scores of the price segment are also indicated. The average and maximum scores for each price segment are calculated based on the SBMARK device database.
Trial summary
Learn about SBMARK Selfie Tests: For scoring and analysis, SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 1,500 test images in both controlled laboratory environments as well as outdoor, indoor, and low-light natural scenes using default camera settings front. The photo protocol is designed with the user in mind and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as close-ups and group selfies. Evaluation is performed by visually inspecting images Cons a natural scene reference and by performing objective measurements on laboratory-acquired graph images under various lighting conditions from 1 to 1,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300 K to 6,500 K. For more information about SBMARK Selfie test protocol, please click here. More details on how we rate smartphone cameras can be found here. The following section compiles the key elements of SBMARK’s exhaustive testing and analysis. Full performance evaluations are available upon request. Please contact us on how to receive a full report.
Photo
116
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Honor Magic4 Ultimate Photo scores vs Ultra-Premium
Honor Magic4 Ultimate – good target exposure and accurate white balance
Photo tests analyze image quality attributes such as exposure, color, texture and noise under various lighting conditions. Focus range and the presence of artifacts are also evaluated on all images acquired under controlled laboratory conditions and on real-life images. All of these attributes have a significant impact on the final quality of the images captured with the tested device and can help you understand the main strengths and weaknesses of the camera.
Exposure
88
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
In Photo mode, the camera produced accurate target exposure and fairly accurate white balance. However, dynamic range was limited, resulting in slight clipping of highlights on faces and overexposed backgrounds. Skin tones were an area for improvement, as color rendition was inaccurate in some shots. Detail was below the level of many competitors, with local texture loss and local noise evident in many of our test scenes. Our testers also noticed some image artifacts, including anamorphosis (perspective distortion of faces near the edge of the frame).
Honor Magic4 Ultimate – slight cutout on the forehead
Huawei Mate 50 Pro – no cutout
Apple iPhone 14 Pro – very light clipping, mostly hue shift
Color
85
Google Pixel 7 Pro
Google Pixel 7 Pro
Honor Magic4 Ultimate: Slightly inaccurate skin tone rendering
Huawei Mate 50 Pro: acceptable skin tone rendering
Apple iPhone 14 Pro: Accurate skin tone rendering
Exposure and color are key attributes for technically good images. For exposure, the main attribute evaluated is how bright faces are in various use cases and lighting conditions. Other factors evaluated are contrast and dynamic range, e.g. the ability to make details visible in light and dark areas of the image. Repeatability is also important because it demonstrates the camera’s ability to provide the same rendering when shooting consecutive images.
For color, the image quality attributes analyzed are skin tone rendering, white balance, color shading, and repeatability.
Focus
90
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Autofocus tests evaluate the accuracy of focusing on the subject’s face, repeatability of accurate focus, and depth of field. While a shallow depth of field can be nice for a single-subject selfie or close-up shot, it can be problematic in specific conditions like group selfies; both situations are tested. Focus accuracy is also evaluated in all real-life images taken, from 30cm to 150cm, and in low-light or outdoor conditions.
Honor Magic4 Ultimate – depth of field
Huawei Mate 50 Pro – depth of field
Apple iPhone 14 Pro – depth of field
Framework
52
Asus ZenFone 7 Pro
Asus ZenFone 7 Pro
Honor Magic4 Ultimate – detail
Huawei Mate 50 Pro – detail
Apple iPhone 14 Pro – detail
Texture tests analyze the level of detail and texture of subjects in images taken in the lab as well as real-life scenarios. For natural shots, particular attention is paid to the level of detail of facial features, such as the eyes. Objective measurements are performed on map images taken under various lighting conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different types of dynamic range conditions. The charts used are the proprietary SBMARK (DMC) chart and the Dead Leaves chart.
Evolution of the acuity of the texture with the level of illuminance
This graph shows the evolution of texture acuity with lux level for two holding conditions. The sharpness of the texture is measured on the Dead Leaves graph in the Close-up Dead Leaves configuration.
Noise
65
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Noise tests analyze various noise attributes such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, and structure on real-life images as well as graph images captured in the lab. For natural images, special attention is paid to noise on faces, but also to dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Objective measurements are performed on chart images captured under various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different types of dynamic range conditions. The graph used is the SBMARK Dead Leaves graph and standardized measurement as Visual Noise derived from ISO 15739.
Evolution of visual noise with illuminance levels in portable conditions
This graph shows the evolution of the visual noise metric with lux level under palmar conditions. The Visual Noise metric is the average of the Visual Noise measurement across all patches of the Dead Leaves graph in the Close-up Dead Leaves configuration. The SBMARK visual noise measurement is derived from the ISO15739 standard.
Artifacts
67
Google Pixel 7 Pro
Google Pixel 7 Pro
Artifact assessment examines lens shading, chromatic aberrations, distortion measurement on the Dot and MTF graph, and ringing measurements on the SFR graph in the lab. Particular attention is paid to ghosting, quantization, halos and hue variations on the face, among others. The more serious and frequent the artifact, the greater the deduction of points from the score. The main artifacts observed and the corresponding loss of points are listed below.
Major penalties for photographic artifacts
video
130
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
About SBMARK Selfie Video Tests
SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2 hours of video in controlled lab environments and low natural light scenes, indoors and out, using the default front camera settings. Evaluation consists of visually inspecting natural video taken under various conditions and performing objective measurements on lab-recorded graph video under various conditions from 1 to 1000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.
Honor Magic4 Ultimate Video scores compared to Ultra-Premium
Video tests analyze the same image quality attributes as still images, such as exposure, color, texture or noise, as well as temporal aspects such as speed, exposure uniformity and stability, white balance and autofocus transitions.
When shooting selfie video, target exposure and white balance were good, just like for stills. The device was able to render a good level of video texture, but our testers also observed quite high noise levels. Video stabilization was only able to counteract camera shake to a certain extent, but a large depth of field meant that the camera was able to get good focus on different planes of the scene.
Exposure
75
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Color
82
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Exposure tests evaluate facial brightness and dynamic range, e.g. the ability to make details visible in light and dark areas of the image. The stability and temporal adaptation of the exposure are also analysed. Image quality color analysis examines the rendering of skin tone, white balance, color shading, white balance stability and its adaptation when the light changes.
Honor Magic4 Ultimate: Exposure clipping and exposure jitter in the sky but accurate face exposure
Huawei Mate 50 Pro: Wide dynamic range but slight tone compression
Apple iPhone 14 Pro: wide dynamic range and pleasant contrast
Framework
78
Asus ZenFone 6
Asus ZenFone 6
Texture tests analyze the level of detail and texture of real-life videos as well as graphics videos recorded in the lab. Natural video recordings are evaluated visually, with particular attention to the level of detail of facial features. Objective measurements of card images taken under various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux are performed. The chart used is the Dead Leaves chart.
Evolution of the acuity of the texture with the level of illuminance
This graph shows the evolution of texture acuity with lux level for two holding conditions. The sharpness of the texture is measured on the Dead Leaves graph in the Close-up Dead Leaves configuration.
Noise
43
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
Noise tests analyze various noise attributes such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, texture, temporal aspects on real-life video recording, as well as graph videos taken in the lab. Natural videos are evaluated visually, with particular attention to noise on faces. Objective measurements are performed on graph videos recorded under various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The graph used is the SBMARK visual noise graph.
Evolution of spatial visual noise with level of illumination
This graph shows the evolution of spatial visual noise with lux level. Spatial visual noise is measured on the visual noise table in the video noise setup. The SBMARK visual noise measurement is derived from the ISO15739 standard.
Time evolution of visual noise with level of illumination
This graph shows the evolution of visual noise over time with lux level. Temporal visual noise is measured on the visual noise table in the video noise setup.
Stabilization
77
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
The stabilization rating tests the device’s ability to stabilize footage using software or hardware technologies such as OIS, EIS, or any other means. The evaluation examines overall residual face and background motion, smoothness, and yellow artifacts, during walking and panning use cases under various lighting conditions. The video below is an excerpt from one of the tested scenes.
Honor Magic4 Ultimate – differences in sharpness between frames while walking, unstabilized background.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro – stabilized wallpaper
Apple iPhone 14 Pro – stabilized wallpaper
Artifacts
83
Apple iPhone 12 mini
Apple iPhone 12 mini
Artifacts are evaluated with MTF and ringing measurements on the SFR graph in the lab, as well as frame rate measurements using the Universal Timer LED. Natural videos are visually evaluated by paying close attention to artifacts such as quantization, hue shift, and face rendering artifacts, among others. The more severe and frequent the artifact, the more points will be deducted from the score. The main artifacts and the corresponding point loss are listed below
Top penalties for video artifacts
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