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What is portrait mode and which phones support it

In this article, we will look at the portrait mode and provide a list of modern smartphones that support this function.

Buying a cool smartphone, there is a high probability that you will use it for photography and video. Not so long ago, a new feature appeared, which was called "portrait mode", and with its proper use, it can significantly improve your skills. However, many probably do not know what portrait mode or how it is used. So what is it? Good question.

What is portrait mode?

Portrait mode is the term used to describe the effect of artificial bokeh created by smartphones. Bokeh is a photographic effect at which the image object is held in focus, and the background is not. Using portrait mode to create this effect, you can make dynamic photos that look more professionally.

Several years ago, if you wanted to do photos of professional quality, you needed to have a digital mirror or analog camera. Currently, even middle-class smartphones can give stunning results.

However, one of the largest historical restrictions of the photos of smartphones was the lack of ability to imitate depth using bokeh. Without large focal lengths, large sensors and focus control even high-class phones could not create a blurred background effect.

However, recently achievements in the field of computer photography, as well as the use of two-focus cameras on smartphones led to the fact that then the most artificial bokeh appeared on the phones. Most manufacturers call this effect by portrait mode. In addition, setting up in most camera applications, which creates bokeh, is usually called "portrait mode" or just a "portrait".

Examples

Many probably heard such a phrase: one picture costs thousands of words. Having this in mind, let's consider several examples of photos using a portrait mode to create bokeh effect. Below we place the Gallery of the pictures made using different smartphones, all using the mode.

Google Pixel 3

Google Pixel 2

Samsung Galaxy S9

iPhone 7 Plus

Since the background is blurred, your eyes natural The way to a non-blurred portion of photography. With proper use, this technique can be very powerful.

However, the above images are not "real". The bokeh effect is created not using only the lens (or lenses) of the smartphone. Instead, the processor, software and hardware of the smartphone work together to apply the effect to the image.

Since to create a portrait mode, you use a computing algorithm, the results may differ. Look at the photo below where the portrait phone mode filter is confused and cannot achieve the desired result:

For some reason, the algorithm determined that the edge edge The person in the photo was part of the background, and thus blurred it. If you did this photo using a digital mirror camera and created the bokeh effect using the lens itself, and not the software, this problem would not have arisen.

When you use a smartphone to create an image with a bokeh effect, you do not need to drag with a large digital mirror chamber, which is definitely convenient. Having this in mind, do not allow several unsuccessful photos to prevent you. Algorithms responsible for portrait mode are only improved, so there will be more problems in the future.

What smartphones support portrait mode?

We hope that now you better understand what portrait mode and how bokeh effects can make your photos better. But how to find out if your smartphone is supported?

As a rule, most phones at least with two conjugated lenses can create images in portrait mode. However, some phones can only do it with one rear lens (the most vivid examples are Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 3), and some cannot with two (for example, LG V30). However, if a new device on the rear panel is located a double chamber, it will certainly support portrait mode.

Some smartphones are now supplied with two lenses in front. This allows you to take photos in mode Self. However, there are telephones with one self-lens, which also support the function.

Below we collected a list of new smartphones that have a portrait mode, at least on the rear chamber. This list is not complete, since, most likely, there are other smartphones with support functions, but we decided to include all the most popular models.

samsung

LG

  • LG V40 THINQ
  • LG G7 Thinq
  • LG V35 Thinq
  • LG Q8

HTC

  • HTC U12 PLUS
  • HTC U12 Life

Sony

  • SONY XPERIA XZ3
  • Sony Xperia XZ2

OnePlus

Google

  • Google Pixel 3 & 3 XL
  • Goo GLE PIXEL 2 & 2 XL

Huawei

  • HUAWEI MATE 20 & MATE 20 Pro
  • Huawei P20 & P20 Pro
  • Huawei Mate 10 & Mate 10 Pro
  • Huawei P10 & P10 Plus

Honor

  • Honor View 20
  • Honor 8x
  • Honor View 10
  • Honor 7x

Xiaomi

  • Xiaomi REDMI Note 7
  • Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  • Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  • Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro
  • Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro
  • Xiaomi Mi A2
  • Xiaomi Mi A1

Vivo

  • Vivo NEX
  • Vivo V11
  • Vivo x21
  • Vivo V9 Pro

OPPO

  • OPPO FIND X
  • OPPO R17 & R17 Pro
  • OPPO F9
  • OPPO R15 PRO

Motorola

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