Apple’s latest flagship iPhone 16 Pro Max was launched with high expectations for camera performance. However, recent tests by DxOMark have shown that it lags behind some of its Chinese Android rivals, especially in periscope telephoto camera tests.

iPhone 16 Pro Max falls behind its rivals in DxOMark camera tests

The iPhone 16 Pro Max ranks fourth worldwide in overall camera performance. However, comparisons with Chinese rivals like the Vivo X100 Pro, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra and Xiaomi 14 Ultra have revealed some weaknesses when it comes to the telephoto camera.

In DxOMark’s tests, we know that the iPhone 16 Pro Max outperforms its predecessor in telephoto shots, but it’s still not as good as some Chinese phones. Particularly in portrait shots, the iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn’t retain enough eye and face detail, while rival devices do better.

To give a better idea of the quality of telephoto shots, DxOMark provided a chart showing how much detail is preserved at different focal lengths. In this graph, the company compares the iPhone 16 Pro Max with the Vivo X100 Pro, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra and Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

If we look closely at the curves in the graph, the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s telephoto camera is significantly inferior to its competitors. It performs comparably between 80mm and 160mm focal lengths, but falls behind elsewhere. DxOMark also shows that detail isn’t great in landscape shots.

Apple’s phones are generally known for making less use of skin-smoothing effects, which can make for a natural look for some users, but DxOMark notes that this lack of detail could make users less likely to like the shots.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s camera performance is bad overall. DxOMark says Apple’s flagship still excels in areas like video performance, dynamic range, color accuracy, image stabilization and autofocus. So, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max falls behind in terms of telephoto camera performance, it’s still a well-rounded camera.