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Apple iPhone 14 Selfie test

OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

We put the Apple iPhone 14 through our rigorous DXOMARK Selfie test suite to measure its performance in photo and video from an end-user perspective. This article breaks down how the device fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases and is intended to highlight the most important results of our testing with an extract of the captured data.

Overview

Key front camera specifications:

  • 12MP sensor
  • f/1.9-aperture lens
  • Autofocus
  • 4K video at 24/25/30/60fps, 1080p at 25/30/60fps (4K at 30fps tested)

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.


Apple iPhone 14
144
selfie
138
Photo
92

97

90

106

96

105

75

79

67

94

84

91

77

93

80

Best

153
Video
86

87

90

Best

91

92

83

97

67

83

85

92

82

Best

Pros

  • Good exposure for photo and video
  • Accurate autofocus and wide depth of field
  • High level of detail
  • Pleasant white balance and nice skin tones in bright light and indoor conditions
  • Natural foreground blur and well-rendered spotlights in bokeh shots

Cons

  • Noise in photo and video
  • Sharpness differences between frames often visible in walking videos
  • Occasionally inaccurate skin tones in challenging conditions, such as low-light or high-contrast scenes

The Apple iPhone 14 delivered excellent results in our DXOMARK Selfie tests, establishing itself among the very best smartphones for front camera performance. It’s also ranked right behind its more powerful sister model Apple iPhone 14 Pro. Overall, the basic model’s image quality and camera performance were very similar to the Pro model, with accurate target exposure on faces, nice skin tones, and a particularly high quality for front camera video recording. Our testers only noticed some minor differences between the two models in terms of texture and noise, in both photo and video modes.

When compared to one of its main rivals in the Android world, the Google Pixel 7 Pro, the Apple iPhone 14 offers a wider depth of field and keeps more subjects in focus, making it a better choice for capturing group selfie shots.

Apple iPhone 14 Selfie Scores vs Premium
This graph compares overall photo and video DXOMARK Selfie scores between tested devices and references. Average and maximum scores of the price segment are also indicated. Average and maximum scores for each price segment are computed based on the DXOMARK database of devices.

Test summary

About DXOMARK Selfie tests: For scoring and analysis, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 1,500 test images both in controlled lab environments and in outdoor, indoor and low-light natural scenes, using the front camera’s default settings. The photo protocol is designed to take into account the user’s needs and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as close-up and group selfies. The evaluation is performed by visually inspecting images against a reference of natural scenes, and by running objective measurements on images of charts captured in the lab under different lighting conditions from 1 to 1,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K. For more information about the DXOMARK Selfie test protocol, click here. More details on how we score smartphone cameras are available here. The following section gathers key elements of DXOMARK’s exhaustive tests and analyses.Full performance evaluations are available upon request. Please contact us on how to receive a full report.

Photo

138

Apple iPhone 14

149

Honor Magic6 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Photo scores vs Premium
The photo tests analyze image quality attributes such as exposure, color, texture, and noise in various light conditions. Range of focus and the presence of artifacts on all images captured in controlled lab conditions and in real-life images are also evaluated. All these attributes have a significant impact on the final quality of the images captured with the tested device and can help to understand the camera's main strengths and weaknesses.

Exposure

92

Apple iPhone 14

97

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

Color

90

Apple iPhone 14

106

Google Pixel 8 Pro

Exposure and color are the key attributes for technically good pictures. For exposure, the main attribute evaluated is the brightness of the face(s) in various use cases and light conditions. Other factors evaluated are the contrast and the dynamic range, eg. the ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas of the image. Repeatability is also important because it demonstrates the camera's ability to provide the same rendering when shooting consecutive images in a row.
For color, the image quality attributes analyzed are skin-tone rendering, white balance, color shading, and repeatability.

Apple iPhone 14 – Cold color cast affects skin tone rendering
Apple iPhone 14 Pro – Cold color cast affects skin tone rendering
Google Pixel 7 Pro – Natural skin tones

Focus

96

Apple iPhone 14

105

Honor Magic6 Pro

Autofocus tests evaluate the accuracy of the focus on the subject’s face, the repeatability of an accurate focus, and the depth of field. While a shallow depth of field can be pleasant for a single-subject selfie or close-up shot, it can be problematic in specific conditions such as group selfies; both situations are tested. Focus accuracy is also evaluated in all the real-life images taken, from 30cm to 150cm, and in low light to outdoor conditions.

Apple iPhone 14 - Depth of field
Apple iPhone 14 - All subjects in focus
Apple iPhone 14 Pro - Depth of field
Apple iPhone 14 Pro - All subjects in focus
Google Pixel 7 Pro - Depth of field
Google Pixel 7 Pro - Subjects in the back are rendered soft

Texture

75

Apple iPhone 14

79

Asus ZenFone 7 Pro

Texture tests analyze the level of details and the texture of subjects in the images taken in the lab as well as in real-life scenarios. For natural shots, particular attention is paid to the level of details in facial features, such as the eyes. Objective measurements are performed on chart images taken in various lighting conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different kinds of dynamic range conditions. The charts used are the proprietary DXOMARK chart (DMC) and the Dead Leaves chart.

Texture acutance evolution with the illuminance level
This graph shows the evolution of texture acutance with the level of lux for two holding conditions. The texture acutance is measured on the Dead Leaves chart in the Close-up Dead Leaves setup.

Noise

67

Apple iPhone 14

94

Huawei Mate 50 Pro

Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, and structure on real-life images as well as images of charts taken in the lab. For natural images, particular attention is paid to the noise on faces, but also on dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Objective measurements are performed on images of charts taken in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different kinds of dynamic range conditions. The chart used is the DXOMARK Dead Leaves chart and the standardized measurement such as Visual Noise derived from ISO 15739.

Visual noise evolution with illuminance levels in handheld condition
This graph shows the evolution of visual noise metric with the level of lux in handheld condition. The visual noise metric is the mean of visual noise measurement on all patches of the Dead Leaves chart in the Close-up Dead Leaves setup. DXOMARK visual noise measurement is derived from ISO15739 standard.

Artifacts

84

Apple iPhone 14

91

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

The artifacts evaluation looks at lens shading, chromatic aberrations, distortion measurement on the Dot chart and MTF, and ringing measurements on the SFR chart in the lab. Particular attention is paid to ghosting, quantization, halos, and hue shifts on the face among others. The more severe and the more frequent the artifact, the higher the point deduction on the score. The main artifacts observed and corresponding point loss are listed below.

Main photo artifacts penalties

Bokeh

80

Apple iPhone 14

Best

Bokeh is tested in one dedicated mode, usually portrait or aperture mode, and analyzed by visually inspecting all the images captured in the lab and in natural conditions. The goal is to reproduce portrait photography comparable to one taken with a DSLR and a wide aperture. The main image quality attributes paid attention to are depth estimation, artifacts, blur gradient, and the shape of the bokeh blur spotlights. Portrait image quality attributes (exposure, color, texture) are also taken into account.

Apple iPhone 14 – Accurate blur gradient, including on the foreground
Apple iPhone 14 Pro – Accurate blur gradient, including on the foreground
Google Pixel 7 Pro – No foreground blur

Video

153

Apple iPhone 14

156

Apple iPhone 15 Pro
About DXOMARK Selfie Video tests

DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2 hours of video in controlled lab environments and in natural low-light, indoor and outdoor scenes, using the front camera’s default settings. The evaluation consists of visually inspecting natural videos taken in various conditions and running objective measurements on videos of charts recorded in the lab under different conditions from 1 to 1000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.

Apple iPhone 14 Video scores vs Premium
Video tests analyze the same image quality attributes as for still images, such as exposure, color, texture, or noise, in addition to temporal aspects such as speed, smoothness, and stability of exposure, white balance, and autofocus transitions.

Exposure

86

Apple iPhone 14

87

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

Color

90

Apple iPhone 14

Best

Exposure tests evaluate the brightness of the face and the dynamic range, eg. the ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas of the image. Stability and temporal adaption of the exposure are also analyzed. Image-quality color analysis looks at skin-tone rendering, white balance, color shading, stability of the white balance and its adaption when light is changing.

Apple iPhone 14 – Stable face exposure and colors

Apple iPhone 14 Pro – Stable face exposure and colors

Google Pixel 7 Pro – Instabilities during transitions

Texture

83

Apple iPhone 14

97

Asus ZenFone 6

Texture tests analyze the level of details and texture of the real-life videos as well as the videos of charts recorded in the lab. Natural video recordings are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the level of detail on the facial features. Objective measurements are performed of images of charts taken in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The chart used is the Dead Leaves chart.

Texture acutance evolution with the illuminance level
This graph shows the evolution of texture acutance with the level of lux for two holding conditions. The texture acutance is measured on the Dead Leaves chart in the Close-up Dead Leaves setup.

Noise

67

Apple iPhone 14

83

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra

Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, structure, temporal aspects on real-life video recording as well as videos of charts taken in the lab. Natural videos are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the noise on faces. Objective measurements are performed on the videos of charts recorded in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The chart used is the DXOMARK visual noise chart.

Spatial visual noise evolution with the illuminance level
This graph shows the evolution of spatial visual noise with the level of lux. Spatial visual noise is measured on the visual noise chart in the video noise setup. DXOMARK visual noise measurement is derived from ISO15739 standard.
Temporal visual noise evolution with the illuminance level
This graph shows the evolution of temporal visual noise with the level of lux. Temporal visual noise is measured on the visual noise chart in the video noise setup.

Artifacts

85

Apple iPhone 14

92

Apple iPhone 12 mini

Artifacts are evaluated with MTF and ringing measurements on the SFR chart in the lab as well as frame-rate measurements using the LED Universal Timer. Natural videos are visually evaluated by paying particular attention to artifacts such as quantization, hue shift, and face-rendering artifacts among others. The more severe and the more frequent the artifact, the higher the point deduction from the score. The main artifacts and corresponding point loss are listed below

Main video artifacts penalties

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