iPhone 17 Pro's innovative front camera beats all competitors in DxOMark review
The iPhone 17 Pro front camera is based on a square 18MP sensor (Image source: Apple)
The entire Apple iPhone 17 series, from the base model to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, uses a brand-new 18MP selfie camera with a square sensor. This unusual approach is paying off because the iPhone 17 Pro is able to surpass all competitors in DxOMark’s latest analysis.
In a detailed analysis from DxOMark, this upgrade clearly paid off, as the iPhone 17 Pro scores 154 points in the selfie camera review and takes the top position on the leaderboard. Apple's new flagship is ahead of the iPhone 16 Pro and Honor Magic6 Pro, both of which got 151 points and are now in second place, followed by the iPhone 15 Pro with 149 points and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL with 148 points.
The front camera scores points for consistently accurate exposure, a wide dynamic range and accurate color reproduction, although skin tones often appear slightly too warm. The 20mm focal length makes it easier to capture entire groups in one shot compared to the 23mm of the predecessor. The depth of field is sufficient, even without a variable aperture, to catch people in both the foreground and background with equal sharpness.
Apple also surpasses the competition with a highly accurate bokeh effect, which the iPhone 17 Pro probably owes to the Face ID module. However, the relatively small sensor still shows visible image noise in low light, while the image stabilization is not entirely convincing, as the video embedded below illustrates
