US$300 segment is one of the fastest growing segments for smartphones, which is also seeing a very aggressive boost in specs. And the camera has been one of the most in-demand areas of improvement on smartphones in US$300 price segment. UMIDIGI S3 Pro, the latest flagship of UMIDIGI with 48MP Sony IM586 camera and 5150mAh. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro, an upgraded version of Xiaomi’s hot-selling Redmi Note 7 with the same Sony camera. Both prices are under US$300, but whose camera performance is better? Let’s see the comparison.
We take a look first at the difference of design. On the front, both UMIDIGI S3 Pro and Redmi Note 7 Pro feature the 6.3’’ FHD+ waterdrop display, but we can clearly see the UMIDIGI S3 Pro got a smaller chin. And the S3 Pro sports a ceramic body while the Note 7 Pro has the glass one. About the frame, UMIDIGI S3 Pro’s frame is glossy metal but Redmi Note 7 Pro’s is just plastic.
Then, we see the camera performance comparison in three parts, default mode(12MP mode), 48MP mode and zoom. Both UMIDIGI S3 Pro and Redmi Note 7 Pro use 48MP Sony IMX586 as the main image sensor when in 12MP mode, the sensor can combine 4 pixels into 1 to get 1.6-micron large pixels so as to make the photo brighter. And both devices utilize 12MP mode as default mode, then let’s see the difference below.
It turns out a better dynamic range and contrast on UMIDIGI S3 Pro, also a more natural image color. Redmi Note 7 Pro’s photo is also decent but we note a slight bias towards the red side of the white balance spectrum on the Redmi Note 7 Pro. Also, the contrast between shadows and highlights is not that obvious on the Note 7 Pro.
In the 48MP mode, the photo is brighter on UMIDIGI S3 Pro with less noise when in dim light. In terms of sharpness, when zooming in the photo, the details are a bit blurred on Redmi Note 7 Pro while we can see more details on UMIDIGI S3 Pro and the sharpness is more consistent across the frame.
Left: Redmi Note 7 Pro Right: UMIDIGI S3 Pro
UMIDIGI S3 Pro and Redmi Note 7 Pro both obtain dual camera setup. Besides the 48MP Sony IMX586 primary lens, UMIDIGI S3 Pro sports a 12MP telephoto lens offering 2x optical zoom and bokeh effect, while Redmi Note 7 Pro has a 5MP depth lens only providing bokeh effect.
CONCLUSION
The UMIDIGI S3 Pro has a better camera performance than Redmi Note 7 Pro in the US$270 price range due to its excellent image quality and great image details. And the UMIDIGI S3 Pro will receive an important update at the end of May or the start of June. The update will include camera performance optimized and new features added like night mode and beauty mode, so we can expect a further optimized performance on UMIDIGI S3 Pro. Plus the overall design like high screen-to-body ratio and ceramic body, UMIDIGI S3 Pro is no doubt a good mid-range camera phone under US$300.