Android Camera Shootout: 13 Phones Put to the Test
Over the past calendar month, how many photos let you dotty your smartphone versus your stand-entirely photographic camera? Confident, for special events or portraits, you'll probably want to use an advanced point-and-fool away, an interchangeable-lens camera, or a DSLR–but when you'Re on the go, a phone with a white camera is to a higher degree sufficient. At the very least, you'll want a phone adequate to of taking photos that are decent enough to share, whether IT's with your Facebook friends or via email to your relatives.
Almost new Android phones possess a 5- to 8-megapixel camera, as well as a smattering of automated in-camera settings. Pretty much all phones have a flash these days, besides as the ability to capture video. Many higher-end phones support high-definition video seizure at 720p; many dual-core phones, such as those battery-powered by a Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, support video capture up to 1080p resolving. And unlike Apple's iPhone, numerous Android phones let you to tweak primary camera settings, such A white balance and photo compensation.
When you're shopping for a call up, you might be tempted to go for one that has a photographic camera with a higher megapixel count, Oregon one that shoots video at 720p or 1080p. Those are important specs to consider, only they Don't tell the full story. In fact, two phones with 8-megapixel sensors can take very different-looking photos, equally you'll see from our test results.
The Contenders
We tested the cameras connected 13 Humanoid smartphones crosswise five carriers. For T-Mobile, we tested the T-Moveable MyTouch 4G Slide, the HTC Wi 4G, and the LG G2X. The Motorola Photon 4G, the Motorola XPRT, and the HTC EVO 3D all represented Dash. For Verizon, we tested the LG Revolution, the Motorola Droid X2, the Motorola Droid 3, and the HTC ThunderBolt. We secondhand the international LG Optimus 3D (which is the same as the LG Charge 4G) on AT&adenylic acid;T, too as the HTC Inspire 4G. And lastly, we tested the Motorola Triumph from Virgin Mobile. (Editor's note: At the time of our testing, we did not have any recent phones from Samsung OR other manufacturers. We will continue to update our tests with more upcoming phones.)
The majority of the phones in this head-to-head offering 8-megapixel sensors, with the exception of the EVO 3D, the Optimus 3D, the Triumph, and the XPRT, each of which have 5-megapixel sensors. The phones are pretty evenly divided between 720p and 1080p HD telecasting (see our telecasting-caliber superior chart for more). The only phone that does not conquer HD video is the Motorola XPRT, which shoots at a 720-by-480-pixel resolution.
How We Tested
With each earpiece, we secondhand a truncated adaptation of our regular testing methodology for point-and-shoot cameras. Our analysts in the PC World Labs shot a still-life vista using automatic settings in an artificial daytime environment; we off the flash disconnected to test exposure and color levels. We then shot an image of a target resolving chart to essa how well the tv camera sensor could capture sharp details. We judged the still-life photos for exposure, color truth, and acuity; we scored the photos of the resolution chart based on acuteness and torture.
We old printouts of each image to rate apiece component of image quality. We written altogether test images victimisation a Fujifilm Pictrography 3500 Silver Halide Printing machine, and we recalibrated the printing machine after generating each set of test shots. We printed the images in an 8-by-10-inch format, and so asked a panel of judges to judge them under 5000K floodlights. Apiece judge rated the images for exposure, color accuracy, sharpness, and straining with indefinite of quintet Holy Writ lashing: Poor, Blonde, Good, Very Favourable, Oregon Superior.
For telecasting testing, we shot a touring aspect of a miniature Ferris roulette wheel and train. We fixed each phone to a tripod, and we took 2 test clips. While shooting apiece try clip, we played the same audio frequency clip through speakers to evaluate how well each phone picked upbound sound. In the first examine video clip, we shot in bright indoor lighting. In the second test TV clip, we shot with the smash lights reversed off and a storey lamp turned on behind the camera to evaluate humiliated-light footage. We judged all videos on the same scale as still images, using a 30-in HP LP3065 LCD monitor, precalibrated with a Pantone ColorMunki.
Overall Still-Prototype Quality Results
Model Name | Newsboy | Hit | Sensor* |
---|---|---|---|
T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide | T-Mobile | 82 | 8 |
HTC Sensation 4G | T-Transferable | 78.3 | 8 |
Motorola Droid X2 | Verizon | 78.3 | 8 |
HTC ThunderBolt | Verizon | 78.1 | 8 |
Motorola Photon 4G | Sprint | 76.1 | 8 |
LG Revolution | Verizon | 74.6 | 5 |
Motorola XPRT | Sprint | 74.5 | 5 |
HTC Urge on 4G | AT&T | 72.8 | 8 |
LG G2X | T-Mobile | 72.5 | 8 |
Motorola Droid 3 | Verizon | 70.7 | 8 |
Motorola Triumph | Virgin | 69.9 | 5 |
LG Optimus 3D | AT&T/Intl | 69.3 | 5 |
HTC EVO 3D | Dash | 67.1 | 5 |
*Sensors measured in megapixels
As you can see in our chart, the HTC-made T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide is the earn winner for the best still images, with an overall image-quality score of 82 (out of 100). Favourable the Sloping trough are the HTC Sensation and the Motorola Droid X2. Oddly, the lowest-ranking phone is some other HTC model, the EVO 3D.
The MyTouch 4G Slide did quite a well across the board, receiving the highest overall loads for exposure, color, pungency, and lack of distortion. Its lowest make, 74, was in the distortion test; the scores in this test, however, were within reason double-bass for all of the phones we tried. Information technology wasn't exactly a close wind up 'tween the 4G Slide and the second- and third-place phones, either: The 4G Slide scored significantly higher in all categories, flat in lack of distortion.
The MyTouch 4G Slide is marketed in the main Eastern Samoa a camera-centrical phone, so it is satisfying to see that the test data backs up T-Mobile and HTC's claims. In our hands-on tests, the MyTouch 4G Slide wowed us with its multiple shooting modes and settings, its powerful scoot, and its fast-reacting shutter. The 4G Glide's camera has a backside-lit CMOS sensor, which is a type of down-light-optimized sensor that's beingness used in progressively point-and-shoot cameras these days, and information technology really does mold well for dim situations without a tatty. The 4G Slide's F2.2 lens has a wider aperture than those in many recent cameras, which also translates to better low-incandescent shooting without a tasteless.
In our hands-on tests of Motorola phones, we've criticized images taken outside and inside for having a slight bluish tint, which is usually the sign of an machine-controlled white-equipoise issue. The evil intelligence is that our tests pretty untold confirmed this problem: The XPRT, Droid 3, and Victory all received low scores for color accuracy in our still-life test shots. The good news is that the X2 and the Photon scored quite recovered. The Photon is the to the highest degree past phone we've reviewed from Motorola, so perhaps the companionship is on the job to improve this aspect of its telephone cameras. Disaccord with us? Check proscribed our gallery of test images.
Boilers suit Video Quality Results
Model Name | Score | Resolution |
---|---|---|
Motorola Photon 4G | 84.8 | 1080p |
HTC Genius 4G | 80.5 | 1080p |
Motorola Droid 3 | 80.4 | 1080p |
LG G2X | 77.4 | 1080p |
Motorola XPRT | 76.1 | 720 by 480 (DVD) |
HTC Inspire 4G | 75.6 | 720p |
HTC ThunderBolt | 75.5 | 720p |
LG Revolution | 75.4 | 720p |
T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Glide | 75.2 | 1080p |
HTC EVO 3D | 73.2 | 720p |
Motorola Droid X2 | 73.2 | 720p |
LG Optimus 3D | 72.2 | 1080p |
Motorola Triumph | 66.6 | 720p |
The top three phones for overall video recording quality are almost completely different from the top three for still-image quality. The Motorola Photon 4G, which shoots 1080p video, snagged the number one spot with an overall seduce of 84.8–importantly higher than our second- and third-plaza phones.
The HTC Sensation (which too took forward place in our image-quality tests) received a video score of 80.5, while the Motorola Droid 3 attained a mark of 80.4. Surprisingly, the MyTouch 4G Slide didn't even rank among our top pentad camera phones for video, managing just a ninth-place score of 75.2. To be fair, many of the phones that ranked above IT scored only few tenths of a orient more. The last-scoring earphone for TV crossways the control panel was the Motorola Jubilate, with a diabolical mark of 66.6.
None of the phones did well in our low-toned-inflamed video examine, which wasn't unexpected. Have you ever tried to dart a concert, or your friends in a squat-lit restaurant or bar, with a telephone set? The results usually Don't look so corking. Astonishingly, the Motorola XPRT, which was fairly midway-of-the-road in all of our tests, shot the highest-rated low-light video of our test aggroup, with a score of 78.2.
The LG Optimus 3D scored the highest for audio quality, with a sexual conquest of 79.4. The phone with the lowest audio-quality score for video was the Motorola Triumph, at 64.2.
Finish
When IT comes to still photos, the MyTouch 4G Slide is shrewd to beat. Not only did IT score first-rate in our image-quality tests, simply it also comes with a whole sle of shooting and editing features, and it's one of the fastest phone cameras in shutter response. The Photon is the phone to buy if you plan on shooting a lot of video, but assume't carry superb results in lowset-light situations. It does have the added bonus of an HDMI port, so you can eyeshot those lovely video clips on your HDTV.
We'll continue to do testing throughout the year, and we'll update our exam results arsenic we get in red-hot phones. In the meantime, represent sure to check up on our slideshow of our favorite Android exposure apps to get the most out of your ring's camera.
Exposure and Color Truth Tests
Mouse click to enlarge each photo. Photos are in order of boilers suit score.
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Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/482430/android_camera_shootout_13_phones_put_to_the_test.html
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