HTC U11 now has the highest DxOMark score, outranking Pixel and Galaxy S8

HTC’s latest flagship is the first mobile device to receive a 90 from DxO while the Galaxy S8 gets the same score of 88 as the Galaxy S7 edge.

For some people, DxOMark ratings are like what God is to religious people: they are the absolute and the ultimate guideline for smartphone (and DSLR) cameras. Others, on the other hand, tend to be a bit more skeptical, pointing out that DxO Labs is actually a for-profit company that gets paid by electronics manufacturers to review their products. Whichever category you belong in, DxO has announced a new champion today: HTC’s brand-new flagship, the U11.

Despite the disappointing design, the HTCU11 offers quite a lot: an innovative way of interacting with your device, dual hotword support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, 360-degree sound recording, and an-all new 12-megapixel camera on the back. Well, it seems that 12-megapixel camera isn’t just any 12-megapixel camera – it’s one of the best out there, if not the best.

According to DxO, who gave the HTCU11 an unprecedented score of 90, the device performs remarkably well “in a wide variety of shooting conditions, making it a great camera for most situations. In addition to excellent technical scores, its images tend to have a pleasing look, with good color rendering.” It praises U11’s Dual-Pixel PDAF and image processing, stating that not only does the camera focus extremely fast, but images have very low noise even in dark conditions.

On the other hand, DxO gave the Galaxy S8 a score of 88, the same score that last year’s Galaxy S7 edge received. It explains that while the Galaxy S8 offers excellent autofocus (thanks to the same Dual-Pixel technology), accurate white balance, and very effective noise reduction, it has trouble producing sharp images in low light conditions when compared to its competitors. I imagine they would give the same score to the Galaxy S8 Plus, given that these two devices use the same sensor.

Of course, no camera test can be completely objective and accurate, and even if DxOMark ratings were, phones like the HTCU11, Google Pixel, and Galaxy S8 are within one or two points from one another. In the end, it’s best to try it out yourself and see which “look” you prefer. In the meantime, you can have a look at our most recent blind camera comparison, featuring the Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel among others.