Well… No… But kinda? Maybe?
When I talk about camera sensor improvements, I’m mostly impressed by sensor sizes getting larger. When we increase sensor surface area, we see more dramatic improvements to photo quality. The aesthetics of a photo change with a larger sensor, and we can demonstrate things like depth of field and bokeh more easily.
That’s not to say that staying at the same sensor size, and adopting new tech at that size, can’t ALSO bring benefits. It’s just, in my time reviewing phones, I haven’t seen where the “tech” upgrade has ever been as noticeable as the “size” upgrade.
Recently, one of the few times that pattern has been challenged was while reviewing the Xiaomi 14. My expectations were REALLY low as it was another phone with a 1/1.3″ type sensor, but this time the sensor was from Omnivision.
In my experience, Omnivision made the “cheap” sensors for companies that wanted to save money on manufacturing.
With my expectations that low, it was shocking to see the Xiaomi 14 outperform the Galaxy Note 24. Had sensor tech (at comparable sizes) finally made a noticeable impact on low light performance? Did this change the whole game?
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