OK, so this editorial isn’t as much about Vic Gundotra and his recent comments as it is about the elusive iPhone 7 Plus DxOMark score. There’s plenty of opinions and articles surrounding what Vic Gundotra said about Android photography but since we’ve referenced him, here are a few of his words.
“I would NEVER buy an Android phone again if I cared about photography.”
“If you truly care about great photography, you own an iPhone. If you don’t mind being a few years behind, buy an Android.”
This comment alone has raised a fury, especially among the Android faithful. We’re not here to focus on what Vic Gundotra thinks about Android, iPhones, or photography. We’re here to ask once again. Where is the DxOMark score for the iPhone 7 Plus?
Vic Gundotra brought this question back to light with his comment. You see, many of the articles and social media posts railing against Gundotra’s iPhone comments are referring Mr. Gundotra to the excellent DxOMark scores Android phones have been receiving lately.
Back in November, our own Android using Jason Bouwmeester observed that DxOMark had yet to score the 7 Plus and wondered why. In his own editorial, he noted how quickly DxOMark had turned around mobile phone camera reviews yet the 7 Plus was still missing. DxOMark did respond by telling us they do not reveal the roadmaps for reviewed devices. So we waited.
In an April follow up editorial, I again questioned why the 7 Plus review had not been posted. I followed up with both Apple and DxOMark on the matter but neither wanted to comment. We’ve also been confused as to why we seem to be the only website covering the absence of a camera review of this magnitude.
If a DxOMark score holds that much weight in the world of photography, how could there still not be a score for one of the most popular mobile cameras on the market? The iPhone 8 family of phones is set to be introduced in September. That’s less than 60 days until the new flagship from Apple. At this point it’s safe to wonder which phone will see its DxOMark rating first: the iPhone 7 Plus or the yet-to-be-announced iPhone 8.
I feel like we’re beating a dead horse here and no one else, aside from users on Twitter, is asking DxOMark why they haven’t scored a major flagship phone. Does a DxOMark score even matter anymore? Did it ever matter? Unless DxOMark responds with an official statement, or unless users ask for it… I guess this dead horse has had enough beatings.
What do you think of DxOMark still not scoring the iPhone 7 Plus? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
