I finally figured out why I don’t love the iPhone 14 Pro’s camera

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

MyiPhone 14 Proand its camera have been with me for almost a year now , but as I looked for photos to partake in this retrospective about the photographic camera ’s power , it became clear I had n’t used it to capture many truly authoritative import .

It struck me as odd . After all , it ’s a good camera , and the results when I do use it are often superb . Plus , I ’ve sleep together iPhone photographic camera in the past , so why do n’t I always reach for it every metre I want to take a great photo ? I think I ’ve lastly figured out the reasonableness why .

Promotional image for OuttaFocus. Hand holding three smart phones.

When the iPhone 14 Pro gets it right

When I take photos of products for clause on Digital Trends , I ordinarily use a normal camera , but there are times when it ’s inconvenient , and the phone I reach for is the iPhone 14 Pro in these situations . There are several reasons for this , including how accurate and simple is is to edit the Portrait mode and how quick AirDrop induce it to transfer the resulting photos to my Mac mini .

desire some examples ? The equipment photo for myOnePlus 11 and Nothing Phone 2 camera comparison , these shots of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 , Galaxy izzard Fold 5 , and Galaxy Z Flip 5 , some shots of watches like theGarmin Epix Pro ( Gen 2 ) , most of the pic of theMotorola Razr 40 ’s whorl screen , and even the multitasking photo in my review of theSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 5were all acquire with the iPhone 14 Pro .

The affair is , I opt the iPhone more because of its convenience than any impression it would always take a sensational pic . They all demand editing both on the phone and in the Photos app on my Mac to get them looking right to my eyes . And while I ’m really pleased with the effect and patently consider them more than good enough for publication , I ’m sure I ’d get better results with other smartphones , but then I ’d have to fiddle around with less visceral editing and more annoying transfers .

The OnePlus 11 and Nothing Phone 2’s camera modules.

Taken with the iPhone 14 ProAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

Photos in the real world can disappoint

If I snaffle my iPhone 14 Pro to take photos for work , why do I not always practice it to take exposure in everyday life ? It ’s a ripe dubiousness , as on a technical storey , the iPhone ’s camera is amazing — from its deficiency of noise , great white equalizer , and accurate color breeding to its versatility and dependableness for redaction and transfer . But when I see through many of the photos I do take with it , the problem is often mighty there slapping me in the face .

If Samsung ’s Achilles ’ heel is oversaturation , then the iPhone ’s fracture is making photos too sullen . The iPhone 14 Pro takes photos with such strong contrast story and such pitiable exposure management that many images are too shadowy and dark for my taste . Detail gets lost , and photos can finish up seem so much saturnine than the real - aliveness environs , rob them of atmosphere and truth . Sure , you may shift aspects through editing , but the harm has already been done , and the photo never quite gain its electric potential .

This does n’t always impress exposure , however , and software updates have made the camera perform better over metre . In some post , the iPhone 14 Pro really is all the camera you need . I decided to use it when I start along to a railroad car meet and was very happy with the images it took in the early evening brightness . It did so with very little squabble , so all I had to imagine about was composition . In a manner , it ’s the same reason I wish the iPhone 14 Pro for oeuvre shot — it ’s all just so easy . But well-to-do is n’t enough if I ’m not beguiled by the upshot .

Using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5’s new drag-and-drop feature.

Taken with the iPhone 14 ProAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

The competition has gotten a lot better

Could my indifference also be due to other competing smartphone television camera improving a lot over the retiring few years ? And that they now supply more exciting and useful camera features than the iPhone ? I ’m spoiled in that I get to seek so many competing camera phones out , and willoften turn to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultrafor its versatile 10x optical zoom or theGoogle Pixel 7 Profor its proficient art and ability to take a stunning photo in almost any situation .

The iPhone 14 Pro ca n’t contend with the 10x optical rapid growth , and although the 3x zoom fashion does take great photos , it ’s just not as logical as the Pixel 7 Pro . Google ’s software lineament in Google Photos and on the Pixel itself are more utilitarian to me than Apple ’s camera features too . I do n’t take much video and have never touched Cinematic musical mode outside of reappraisal purposes . I realize others may get some enjoyment from it , but I would n’t even notice if it suddenly disappeared from my phone . If Cinematic modality is the iPhone ’s “ big ” unique feature , its charm is lost on me .

WhenI used the Google Pixel Fold recently , I take a few photos with both it and the iPhone 14 Pro back - to - back , and they were the most recent ones to make me question the iPhone ’s appeal . The difference between them is obvious , and I ’d apportion the photos taken with the Pixel over the iPhone .

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends / Digital Trends

The iPhone 14 Pro ’s photo are n’t bad , they ’re just not as good as I think they should be . And , worryingly , we ’ve prove this trend in several back - to - back camera tryout , with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultraandeven the stock Galaxy S23beating the iPhone 14 Pro .

The iPhone 14 Pro camera has lost its charm

TheiPhone 12 Prowas absolutely my go - to camera telephone set , but I never enjoy theiPhone 13 Procamera in quite the same way . I wondered if I ’d just bewilder out of the habit of forever using it and that my scattered feelings about the iPhone 14 Pro had been influenced by my disappointment in the 13 Pro .

This is n’t the case , and I recall I ’ve worked out what it is that ’s stop me from sleep with the iPhone 14 Pro ’s camera . It has lose some of its role and charm , something that was evident in theswitch between the iPhone 12 Pro and 13 Pro , and its exposure suffer because of it . A cameraneedscharacter , and while the iPhone 14 Pro is smashing at ingest technical , clinical photos of products I apply for employment , it ’s not always very good at capturing the real world around me in an instant , beautiful way any longer .

For theiPhone 15 Pro , I ’d love to see some of that missing appealingness return , a rapid growth to vie with Samsung , and to have an all - around more consistent television camera that I want to habituate in my everyday life story — not just for photos of phones and vigil . The iPhone 14 Pro is very just at taking them , but it used to be very good at everything else too . For the coming class , I ’d like the iPhone to be my go - to camera again , and I hope the iPhone 15 Pro will fork out .

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Fold 4, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 showing the sides and ends of the frame.