Field Test: DxO ONE, A Serious Camera for your Phone

Filling the void left by the demise of the lens-style camera, the DxO ONE is part of a new category that goes beyond being a simple smartphone accessory and yet feels right at home working side by side with your everyday devices—it's a miniaturized camera that makes the best of the iPhone screen. The reason for the DxO ONE's success is a combination of many factors, though it’s mainly the super-compact size and superb image quality. I must admit, I was not immediately won over when this camera was announced, but after a couple weeks with it I can understand the appeal.

The first victory for the DxO ONE is in image quality, which is benefited in part by a 20.2MP 1" CMOS sensor that can be found in many other high-end point-and-shoots and DxO’s own knowledge in the sector. Obviously competing with the camera built into your iPhone, the DxO ONE easily surpasses the smartphone’s image quality in a way that makes it worthwhile to carry around. And it will save raw or SuperRAW images to a microSD card, in addition to JPEGs. This means that after you take a photo and share it on Instagram or other social media platforms, you can later take some time to finesse the raw data into something more worthy of a print or online portfolio.

So, what is a SuperRAW file? Well, it uses some of DxO’s advanced photo processing knowledge to create cleaner and sharper images. DxO advises to use it in extreme low light, and I must agree. During general shooting, the files are already sharp and free of noise, but compared to bigger sensor systems, this camera isn't quite as good in the dark. SuperRAW requires the use of DxO Optics Pro software and can really work wonders for many situations in which you may not have even considered using a camera. It takes advantage of all DxO’s technical know-how to produce amazingly clean images, something extremely impressive, considering the relatively small size of the sensor compared to mirrorless and DSLR cameras.

This does bring me to one complaint I had with the DxO ONE setup: the fact that DxO does not have any mobile editing apps. Raw editing is available on iOS nowadays, and for a company attempting to position its software among the existing technological juggernauts, the lack of any editing software for its Lightning-connected camera seems like an oversight. It would've been nice to be able to access raw and SuperRAW images on my phone to do quick edits on the train before I came home. Nonetheless, you can transfer your RAW files into your iPhone and edit them using Snapseed or other apps.

The files are crisp, so this is a relatively minor complaint, and the rendering from the 32mm f/1.8 lens is impressive. It is sharp and can create some shallow depth of field effects when desired. I love the 35mm perspective and, given the more generalized use of the camera, I did appreciate that DxO went with a slightly wider perspective here. It also brings it slightly closer to the iPhone's 28mm perspective, so dedicated iPhone-ographers won't be too far from their usual field of view.

One thing I always want to do with these tiny cameras is take them out without connecting them to a phone and taking quick pictures. The DxO ONE excels here in a way that no other phone-connected camera does. This is primarily thanks to the screen on the rear of the camera. It is small, black-and-white, and extremely pixelated, but it is somehow still easy to produce the composition you want without much effort. It is also a touchscreen, letting you swipe to see settings and perform some minor tweaks but, for real changes, you are going to have to rely on the app. The stand-alone mode and its miniaturized size allow you to take pictures where no other cameras could go and give very creative angles to your street photography. 

Stealing a page from Apple's playbook, the DxO ONE is adorned with “Designed by DxO in Paris and San Francisco” at the Lightning connector. I will admit, the camera does feature a clean design, which is extremely intuitive, maybe not to the same level as Apple, but it doesn’t seem out of place sitting next to my iPhone. Simply slide open the lens cover to turn on the camera and close it to turn it off. Couldn't be easier. It also starts up quite fast, though personally, I wish it was a tad faster. I kept the camera in my pocket as I walked around the city and I wish that it could be instantaneous to just take it out, snap a photo, and then put it away, much in the way I might use my phone. I did love the camera for this purpose, as the design makes it almost impossible to tell that I am taking a picture.

When you do wish to connect it to the phone, it is extremely simple. Just pop out the connector and plug it in. It will even automatically open the app. I will say it makes the setup just a little unwieldy, but the ability to tilt the phone and camera when connected means you can see more easily what's going on. The app provides full PASM controls, as well, letting you choose the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and more just by tapping the setting and scrolling to the desired setting. I really don't have any complaints with the app—it works just as well as you want it to. This model even has built-in Wi-Fi, so you don't have to be physically connected if the situation doesn't allow it. I didn't use this feature much because it is so much easier to just plug it in, but you can take control of your DxO ONE remotely as you would with a drone.

The DxO ONE even shoots high-quality video, but only at 1080p. This isn’t a huge issue, since most smartphones and displays are limited to just Full HD, but my iPhone 7 shoots 4K video, so when it comes down to taking a quick video it would be hard to convince me to pop out the ONE for video that is a quarter the resolution of my phone. It is probably the only area where the DxO ONE loses in a head-to-head battle against the iPhone.

I see the DxO ONE as the obvious upgrade for those Instagram photographers looking to capture higher-quality images for both fast posting while on the go and maintaining a portfolio. It also makes sense for professional photographers who want something to carry around every day but don’t want to have to deal with a full-sized camera or even a point-and-shoot with larger form factors. The DxO ONE is a serious contender for its sheer pocketability; the superb image quality is the icing on the cake.

One last thing is that there are options that can seriously upgrade the potential of the ONE. Since the updated version was released last year, many more accessories have become available. My favorite would have to be the Outdoor Shell, which is waterproof to 150' and has mounting points. This means you can take it more places than you may feel comfortable taking your phone. With various other options to help you take more advanced photographs, the ONE can do a surprising number of things, effectively transforming your iPhone into a professional imaging tool without the bulk and weight of a traditional camera.