Cherry Mobile made a lot of noise with the new Flare S7 Plus due to its impressive design and performance. We decided to put it against the Xiaomi Mi 8.
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| Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus or Xiaomi Mi 8? |
Why? The first reason is because they practically look the same. The second one is that the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus has a dual camera setup with AI assistance of which, for us, is impressive since they are now entering that scene. Lastly, we are just simply curious on how a decently priced Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus fair against the more premium Xiaomi Mi 8.
We are comparing the AI Photography capabilities of the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus and the Xiaomi Mi 8.
Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus vs Xiaomi Mi8 AI Camera Comparison (Taglish)
Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus vs Xiaomi Mi 8 Camera Specs
| Device |
Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus | Xiaomi Mi 8 |
| Back Camera |
16MP f/2.0 OV16885 + 5MP w/ PDAF, BSI, AI and LED flash |
12MP f/1.8 Sony IMX363 sensor + 12MP f/2.4 Samsung S5K3M3 sensor w/ Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, AF, AI, and LED flash |
| Selfie Camera |
16MP f/2.0 + IR camera w/ BSI and AI face beauty |
20MP f/2.0 w/ AI portraits |
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| Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus rear camera features |
The Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus has a 16MP OV16885 f/2.0 primary sensor + 5MP secondary sensor for its dual camera setup at the back. It features AI, PDAF, BSI and LED flash. The 5MP secondary sensor is used to take depth information for the bokeh effect in photos. Up front, it has a 16MP f/2.0 sensor with an IR camera, AI Face Beauty and BSI. In total, it has an AI-assisted quad-camera setup.
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| Xiaomi Mi 8 rear camera features |
The Xiaomi Mi 8 has a dual camera setup with 12MP f/1.8 Sony IMX363 sensor + 12MP f/2.4 Samsung S5K3M3 sensor. IT features AI, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS and LED flash. For the selfie camera it has a 20MP f/2.0 sensor with AI portraits.
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| Rear Camera Sample 1 |
Both smartphones produced amazing images with great exposure and dynamic range. Although the results are not that far off, the Mi 8 came out on top with a sharper image that is evident on the details of the buildings captured. It is worth noting that the Flare S7 Plus impressed us with a performance almost similar with the Mi 8.
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| Rear Camera Sample 2 |
Most of the time, smartphones struggle on this type of scene but the camera technology and HDR has already adjusted to it. Although Mi 8's photo has more vibrant colors, the Flare S7 Plus is more detailed on some parts. Overall, the Mi 8 takes this one.
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| Rear Camera Sample 3 |
This shot of the burger is next. We noticed that all of our photos with Mi 8 came out with a wider angle. The Flare S7 Plus has more color accuracy but the Mi 8 has better details. So the Mi 8 takes this one as well. So far, it is a neck and neck battle but Mi 8 has a 3-0 lead.
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| Rear Camera Sample 4 |
Although both phones came out with photos showing great detail and sharpness, the Flare S7 Plus produced a photo with amazing and vibrant colors. The colors are closer to real colors while Mi 8's photo came out a bit overexposed. Cherry Mobile takes this point. 3-1. It proves that Cherry Mobile's R&D efforts with their camera lab is becoming fruitful.
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| Rear Camera Sample 5 |
In a scene with darker lighting, we cannot determine the winner. We decided it to be a tie, since the photos both came out impressive. Xiaomi's photo has bluer skies while the Cherry Mobile has a more purple hue.
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| Rear Camera Sample 6 |
What we noticed is that the Mi 8 flexed how wide its dynamic range is. However, the Flare S7 Plus showcased a better color reproduction and we can attest that it is really accurate. It even showed more details in the clouds. This turned out to be another tie. It is impressive that Flare S7 Plus is tying with the more higher end Mi 8.
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| Rear Camera Sample 7 |
This time it shows a bluer sky with Xiaomi's photos which is not really the sky's hue that time. A more accurate representation is with Flare S7 Plus's shot. However, the latter's photo is a bit underexposed compared to Mi 8's. For us, we choose Cherry Mobile's photo for this one due to sharper details.
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| Selfie Camera Sample 1 |
Xiaomi Mi 8 takes this one because of how detailed and sharp the image is. Cherry Mobile is not far behind though. The Flare S7 Plus has better color reproduction.
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| Selfie Camera Sample 2 |
In this scene, Cherry Mobile shows better color accuracy and better beautification. It also has sharper details. So this is a round for Flare S7 Plus. So the score stands at 5-3 in favor of Mi 8 with two ties.
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| Selfie Camera Sample 3 |
In this selfie, the Flare S7 Plus showed great exposure however it has softer details. It also has better dynamic range. However, even if the Mi 8 has a darker scene, it showed more details like in Peter's eyeglasses and face. So we think its also a tie here.
Our thoughts
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| Are you team Cherry or team Xiaomi? |
We did not expect that the battle will be this close. The Flare S7 Plus is a midrange device selling for only PHP 11,999 while the Mi 8 is around a higher price range of PHP 26K to PHP 28K.
The camera software optimizations made by Cherry Mobile are amazing and it held its own against a more premium device that scored 99 points in DxOMark.
However, do not expect a close battle in performance since this is still a mid-range device against a higher end device. In video capture, the Mi 8 also has OIS and 4K while Cherry Mobile has 1080p.
BUT, the point of this comparison is that a PHP 12K smartphone can now compete in photography against higher end smartphones. This is a big win for Cherry Mobile since they definitely held their own against Xiaomi in AI camera tech.
What do you guys think?
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