Ads don't have to be paid. Promo-for-product is still an ad - sometimes called an advertorial.
It's unprofessional at best and dishonest at worst to pretend that this isn't just corporate PR.
And ironically, the image quality really isn't all that amazing. It's +/- other phone cams - better in some conditions, not as good in others. And in absolute terms, these photos are nowhere close to the sharpness, dynamic range, and saturation of professional equipment. Night mode is good, but the daylight shots are okay but not awesome.
You could argue it's unfair to expect anything better from a (relatively) cheap phone cam - but it's a (relatively) cheap phone cam with a "pro" tag being marketed as a "pro" product.
In photographic terms, it simply isn't - except maybe for the fairly forgiving social media photo niche.
It's unprofessional at best and dishonest at worst to pretend that this isn't just corporate PR.
And ironically, the image quality really isn't all that amazing. It's +/- other phone cams - better in some conditions, not as good in others. And in absolute terms, these photos are nowhere close to the sharpness, dynamic range, and saturation of professional equipment. Night mode is good, but the daylight shots are okay but not awesome.
You could argue it's unfair to expect anything better from a (relatively) cheap phone cam - but it's a (relatively) cheap phone cam with a "pro" tag being marketed as a "pro" product.
In photographic terms, it simply isn't - except maybe for the fairly forgiving social media photo niche.