With the number of selfie-centric smartphones that are available today, a handful few can actually make you look better naturally. Enter the OPPO F5, Vivo V7, Samsung Galaxy J7+, and Huawei Nova 2i – all of which are not necessarily the best in terms of taking selfies but has proven their salt in a lot of our videos. Out of the four, what phone actually does the best in terms of beautification without sacrificing details?
What’s up, Manila? This is Caesar of ManilaShaker about to give you a blow-by-blow account of this 4-way beautification comparison.
Specs
OPPO F5 |
Vivo V7 |
Samsung Galaxy J7 Plus |
Huawei Nova 2i |
| 20MP,
f/2.0, 1/2.8″ |
24MP,
f/2.0 |
16MP,
f/1.9 |
Dual 13MP, f/2.0 + 2MP |
| 1080p@30FPS video recording | 1080p@30FPS video recording | 1080p@30FPS video recording | 1080p@30FPS video recording |
| P15,990 | P14,990 | P19,990 | P14,990 |
Going by the numbers game is never going to be enough to determine which is the best. Only the Nova 2i or Mate 10 Lite comes with dual cameras for Bokeh effect which we will not tackle for this comparison. Also, no low-light samples since we have to see how well each of these phones can beautify the user at favorable lighting conditions. Now, let’s get to the lowdown.
Unfiltered Shot
First is a daylight-assisted unfiltered shot. All beautification and enhancement options are off for all 4, and yet, the Nova 2i seems to be a bit boosted in terms of color and sharpness. The F5’s output pales compared to the rest by trying to equalize the exposure on both the face and the wall behind. As for the V7 and J7+, not much can be said down to fine details. Pores are visible on all four and hairs can be made out along with the roots on the scalp.
Beautification Settings
Before we move on to the beautified samples, the settings are as follows:
OPPO F5
- Auto
Vivo V7
- Buffing – ~50%
- Skin Tone – ~58%
- Whitening – Lowest
Samsung Galaxy J7+
- Skin Tone – 5
- Slim Face – 6
- Large Eyes – 5
Huawei Nova 2i
- Beauty Level – 8
Now, what would be the criteria? Simple – the one with the most-improved look without being too unnatural wins.
Beautified Shot #1
Moving on to the first beautified shot, the Nova 2i stands out the most – and not in a good way. Not only is it oversaturated, the buffing effect applied becomes too unnatural, making contours on the faces near-invisible. Let’s talk about the Vivo V7’s shot next. The buffing effect is not as much as the Nova 2i’s and the colors are well-preserved. Still, the details are still less compared to what the J7+ and F5 have. With only the F5 and J7+ remaining, the major difference is the skin tone. The J7+ leans to the warmer side with the F5 trying to remain as much neutral as possible. With this, since preference is factored in greatly when it comes to skin tone, the F5 and J7+ are at a tie for this round.
Beautified Shot #2
Onwards to the second beautified picture, the V7 and Nova 2i fell apart again for having softened edges, producing less details compared to the F5’s and the J7+. However, compared to the first beautified image, the limits of the J7+ is made prominent here due to said poor beautification. Details may be on the plus side, but the poor exposure and contrast held it back against the F5’s more superior but less-detailed shot. The F5 takes this round.
Beautified Shot #3
And in the last one, which is another indoor shot but with more balanced lighting, the fight for supremacy continues. The V7 and Nova 2i did not remove as much detail as it did for the previous shots, but the Nova 2i’s softening can be clearly seen with the Bokeh in effect. Also, the skin tones are still similar between the two, being darker than the F5’s and J7+’s. Not only are the skin tones darker to match the background, details are lost in translation, automatically removing them from the competition. As for the remaining two, both did admirably in both coloring and beautifying without compromising much of their respective details. With that in mind, the J7+ is the softer of the two while being able to preserve more details. The F5 did better in that regard due to its sharper and more vibrant output, as seen on the lips.
Verdict
This may not be as extensive as you initially thought, but three samples out of each of these four phones definitely tell a lot which has a solid foothold on the beautification feature – the OPPO F5. Their AI Beauty Technology sounded a little bit pretentious for me at its launch, but this definitely made me change my mind when it comes to making selfies the best that they can be. For P15,990, it is a well-rounded smartphone on its own, as seen in our review here.
This has been Caesar of Manila Shaker, and see you ‘til the next one! Happy Holidays, everyone!
