Beijing roundtable : How are evolving user expectations reshaping smartphone portrait photography ?

As part of the launch of its latest Camera protocol across three major cities in China, DXOMARK hosted a series of roundtable discussions with key players from the mobile imaging industry, including ecosystem partners, technology experts, and professional photographers. At the heart of the conversation was a timely and resonant question: Smartphone portrait: How are evolving user expectations reshaping smartphone portrait photography, from capture to visualization?

With portraiture now central to both consumer priorities and DXOMARK’s V6 Camera protocol, the dialogue spanned topics from skin tone fidelity to AI-driven personalization, moving well beyond traditional specifications to explore the deeper relationship between imaging technology and human expression.

Pushing the Limits of Mobile Photography

Professional photographer Juanmao Tong opened the discussion with praise for recent strides in mobile camera capabilities particularly in skin tone rendering and background blur. However, he also voiced a critical limitation: algorithms often override creative intent in complex lighting conditions. “When I want to capture the beauty of a sunset, the phone’s algorithm forces a ‘soft and fresh’ effect that robs me of my creative intent,” he explained.

This sentiment was echoed across the panel. While hardware has evolved, algorithms still lack the nuanced understanding required to support true artistic vision. Jimmy Xu of AMS-OSRAM noted that the new generation of ambient light sensors is steadily bridging this technological gap. Even in complex and variable lighting conditions, they can precisely capture subtle light details, offering users a true “what you see is what you get” experience while unlocking greater creative freedom for professional photographers.

A New Arena for Brand Differentiation

With smartphone hardware converging across brands, user experience and more specifically, visual identity, has become the next frontier. Anabelle Hourriez from Labbrand emphasized that brands are now competing not just on hardware, but on how their devices interpret and render images.

Hervé Macudzinski, image science director at DXOMARK introduced the concept of “style space” in their V6 evaluations, an approach that balances baseline image quality with room for manufacturers to tailor distinctive image aesthetics, bringing unity and diversity such as tone warmth or contrast levels.

HDR: Promise and Pitfalls

HDR technology sparked one of the more heated debates. Professor Wei Minchen criticized current implementations for sacrificing shadow detail and realism in favor of overly bright, unnatural images. “Manufacturers blindly boost brightness, causing shadow detail loss and night skies that look like flash grenades,” he said.

In response, Lin Xi from Jiigan suggested full-chain 10-bit HDR combined with intelligent transcoding as a more balanced solution. Jimmy Xu added that today’s ambient light sensing technology has undergone a comprehensive upgrade not only with higher sensitivity, better resolution, and improved signal-to-noise ratio, but also with an expanded dynamic range. It effectively filters out invisible infrared components from ambient light, allowing HDR performance to more closely align with the way the human eye perceives light and shadow.

The AI Dilemma: Enhancement or Deception?

Artificial intelligence was celebrated for its ability to simplify complex photography tasks but not without caveats. While AI aids in scene recognition and noise reduction, the panel warned against excessive manipulation. Juanmao Tong gave a telling example:

“A student used 100x zoom to photograph the Forbidden City, and three shots showed different numbers of roof ornaments this kind of ‘fabrication’ is worse than doing nothing.”

Instead of distortion, Lin Xi advocated for AI that learns from a user’s editing behavior such as 20 consistent manual adjustments to generate a personalized filter. This, he argued, is the kind of AI that truly empowers creativity.

Cultural Nuance in Image Preferences

Professor Wei Minchen shared compelling cross-cultural research showing varied aesthetic preferences across regions: Western audiences tend to prefer cooler white tones, while East Asian users lean warmer; Beijing residents favor cyan skies, whereas Shanghai leans golden.

These findings underlined a key point: imaging technology should not impose a global standard but adapt to diverse cultural tastes. An expert from AMS OSRAM summed it up succinctly: “Diversity and consistency are not mutually exclusive. Imaging systems must first ensure faithful reproduction of reality, then build upon this foundation with stylistic variations to cater to users’ diverse aesthetic preferences.”

A Future Where Everyone is an Artist

The roundtable closed on a unifying note: the future of imaging should prioritize human expression over technical perfection. The aspiration is not to automate creativity, but to support it.

As Juanmao Tong concluded: “We look forward to the day when technology allows everyone to effortlessly capture what they want to express.”

This vision where innovation liberates personal storytelling may well be the most meaningful destination for mobile imaging. In the end, it’s not just about pixels or performance. It’s about people.