Mobile Photography: Top 5 Camera Phones (Autumn 2016)
Detailed technical characteristics of models from the TOP 5 are given in the comparative table of camera phones. Using the following link, you can open a catalog with mobile phones available for purchase on the modern market.
On the back of the smartphone from Huawei proudly flaunts the logo of the famous manufacturer of photographic equipment Leica — German engineers participated in the development of optics for the dual main camera of the phone.
Both camera modules have a resolution of 12 MP and are equipped with Summarit 27mm f/2.2 ASPH objects. Only one sensor captures information about colour, and the second one captures information about light, giving out a black-and-white picture. According to the manufacturer's assurances, the software combination of data from two cameras allows you to get an image with a wider dynamic range at the output. But in fact, the difference between images with an open and forcibly closed monochrome camera with a finger is almost invisible. But if you shoot immediately in black and white mode, the result will undoubtedly please you — the difference between a photo from the camera and a colour image forcibly converted to b / w is visible to the naked eye in favor of the first option.
The focal length of the main camera is perfectly suited for shooting in the genre of street photography. The user is offered an abundance of automatic presets and manual settings with the possibility of obtaining the final result in uncompressed RAW format. Considering the capabilities of the camera, the more surprising it looks is the absence of an optical image stabilization system on board, which is particularly lacking during video recording. And the now fashionable 4K resolution is not supported when shooting videos with a smartphone.
The camera phone is running Android 6.0 OS with an EMUI shell rolled on top. With a FullHD-resolution screen covered with a slightly rounded 2.5D glass at the edges, an 8-core processor of Kirin 955's own design in a duet with 3 GB of RAM shows excellent performance in games. What can we say for less demanding applications that run without any lags and slowdowns. The high performance of the smartphone is confirmed by the results of synthetic tests: more than 90K points in AnTuTu and about 6K in Geekbench 3.
To protect data from unauthorized access, a fast fingerprint scanner is provided on the back of the smartphone case. The duration of the battery life of the mobile gadget is exactly one day of not too active use — that's how much the charge of its 3000 mAh battery is enough.
Things are not going as well for the Taiwanese company HTC as at the dawn of the formation of Android smartphones. However, it should not be written off ahead of time — the flagship of 2016 HTC 10 is ready to compete with sharks in the modern smartphone industry.
Adherents of the brand will like the conservative design of the phone, which retains for several generations a distinctive feature in the form of two stripes on the back of the case. There is also a controversial aesthetic element in the general style — the Home key, combined with a fingerprint sensor, and two touch control buttons have an uncentered position and are slightly shifted towards the lower edge of the front panel of the device.
The smartphone is packed with the most advanced hardware: a proven Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4 GB of RAM turn over everything that comes to hand without significant problems. Any games and applications will run at the maximum graphics parameters with a high frame rate (about 60fps). In the AnTuTu synthetic test, the hardware platform of the model puts the arrow of the performance level far beyond the mark of 100K points.
It is impossible to make any claims to the 5.2-inch screen of a mobile gadget with a resolution of 140x1440 pixels. Its Super LCD matrix consumes less energy when displaying white pixels (compared to AMOLED solutions), providing the user with rich colour reproduction and wide viewing angles. To a large extent, it is thanks to the low power consumption that the built-in battery of the smartphone with a capacity of 3000 mAh provides a longer battery life of the gadget, which is able to live without recharging for one and a half to two days of full operation.
Being one of the pioneers in the introduction of dual cameras into smartphones, HTC has moved away from such a configuration, betting on the main and front-facing photo modules. Both cameras of the device have a high aperture (f/1.8) and are equipped with an optical image stabilization system designed to come to the rescue when shooting in low light conditions, as well as when recording videos in resolutions up to 4K. The resulting photographs delight the owners of the model with high detail, the absence of serious distortions at the edges of the frame and accurate white balance, for which HTC 10 was honored to be among the most popular camera phones for mobile photographers.
The flagship representative of the model range of smartphones of the South Korean brand Samsung is good at absolutely everything — its power reserve, high-speed cameras and an all-protective case make the phone one of the most desirable models for users from all over the world.
The smartphone screen is not curved, as it is implemented in the design of the older brother of the model (Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge 32 GB ). But it has an optimal diagonal for a comfortable grip in the hand (5.1"), and also has a high pixel density (576 ppi with a display resolution of 140x1440 pixels). The matrix of the smartphone is built on the basis of SuperAMOLED technology — it practically does not consume a charge when displaying black pixels and stands out among peers with natural colour reproduction with wide viewing angles.
The strongest side of the Samsung Galaxy S7 is a photo shoot. A 12-megapixel main camera with an increased pixel size to absorb more light and a maximum aperture of f/1.7 allows you to get a high-quality and highly detailed result even in low-light conditions. A fast phase autofocus, a catchy shooting object in just 0.2 seconds, an optical image stabilization system and a lot of manual settings come to the aid in the implementation of all creative ideas. An important point is the support for shooting in RAW format, which makes it possible to expand more widely during post-processing of the footage. The wide-angle front module is also not far behind the main camera. In general, it is very difficult for the South Korean flagship to compete in terms of photo capabilities.
Heavy games and applications, the smartphone clicks like seeds — a powerful "filling" with a significant margin of performance for the future is gaining a record 135K in the AnTuTu synthetic test. "points". 32 GB of internal memory space is allocated for data storage, and it is also possible to install microSD cards with a maximum capacity of up to 200 GB in the phone. However, for this you will have to sacrifice a slot for a second SIM card.
An innovation in the software part of the Galaxy S7 family was the implementation of the output to the locked screen of the smartphone of a watch that consumes only 1% of the battery charge per hour. But the full dust and water protection of the gadget case according to the IP68 standard looks more attractive and advantageous — when diving to a depth of up to one and a half metres, the smartphone is guaranteed to remain operational for half an hour.
During the first days after the announcement, which took place in mid-autumn 2016, the brainchild of Google deserved the most flattering reviews regarding photo capabilities and high performance. But about everything in order.
According to the authoritative DxOMark resource, the smartphone camera was named the best among mobile gadgets as of the second half of 2016. During testing, it earned a score of 89 points out of 100 possible, surpassing Samsung Galaxy S7 by 1 mark and Apple iPhone 7 Plus by 3 points at once, paired with a modular LG G5 32 GB / 4 GB . Such outstanding indicators were obtained even despite the absence of an optical image stabilization system in the design of the photomodule, which is replaced by a highly efficient digital stub with software binding to the built-in gyroscope.
The main camera module does not bulge out of the smartphone case at all. Its launch takes place in a matter of fractions of a second, which allows you not to lose sight of an important frame. In terms of the maximum aperture (f/2.0), the camera matrix is slightly behind its closest competitors in class, ahead of them in terms of the size of a single pixel (1.55 µm) — in low-light conditions, each pixel absorbs more light, thereby achieving high image detail with less noise. And the HDR+ function will help to expand the dynamic range of images.
The model has a top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, working in conjunction with the Adreno 530 graphics accelerator and 4 GB of RAM. The management of such a powerful hardware is given to the Android 7.0 operating system, the distinctive feature of which is the round shape of the application icons. In heavy games (World of Tanks or GTA San Andreas), the frame rate rarely drops below the value of 60fps. That's just with prolonged intense loads, the smartphone case may heat up slightly.
Google generously provides all mobile phone owners with unlimited space in the cloud to store photos and videos in their original quality. And users will practically not have to worry about a suddenly dead battery — support for Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology allows you to partially replenish the battery's energy reserve with a capacity of 2750 mAh in just 15 minutes, which is enough to ensure 7-hour activity of the gadget.
The epithets "the most-the most" and "the best" strive to stick to the flagship representative of the Cupertino Apple company. And it is quite difficult to challenge them, because the smartphone, without exaggeration, dictates the fashion of the entire industry.
Following the latest trends, the main emphasis in the design of the iPhone 7 was placed on mobile photography, for which the gadget was equipped with a dual main camera module. The differences between the cameras lie in their focal length and the optical aperture: the first takes pictures at a distance of 28 mm (35 mm equivalent) with a maximum aperture of f/ 1.8, and the second increases the distance to 56 mm, but is darker (f/ 2.8).
Since the 7th series, a photo shoot in the "raw" RAW format has become available to users, which makes it possible to expand more widely when processing the footage in a photo editor. It should also be noted that there is optical image stabilization for the main camera, which reduces the likelihood of blurring the photo and makes the video sequence smoother, and digital stabilization for the front module (with a resolution of up to 7 MP).
The smartphone case has gained dust and water protection according to the IP67 standard — it can be immersed to a depth of 1 m for half an hour without any consequences for the internal "filling". Most likely, it is because of this that the 3.5mm headphone port has disappeared from the set of interface ports of the phone. Users are invited to use headphones Apple AirPods , pay attention to other wireless solutions or buy a special adapter.
The new generation got a 4-core Apple A10 Fusion processor with two high-performance and two energy-efficient cores. The power reserve of the smartphone will be enough even for the long term. There should be enough memory, especially since Apple has raised the bar for the minimum volume of the built-in data storage to 32 GB. But there is still no support for memory cards.
The full list of advantages of the model would be incomplete without mentioning the proprietary technology for recognizing the force of pressing the 3D Touch screen. Moreover, it has spread to the "Home" key with a built-in fingerprint sensor. More information about the principles of its implementation in Apple smartphones is described in the material at the following link.
Which video cards are more powerful: AMD Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce? How many gigabytes of video memory do you really need?
Are gamepads from Xbox and PlayStation consoles suitable for PC, or do you need a specialized solution?
Photo processing and video editing require the most accurate colour rendering.
The top five media players that can significantly boost the capabilities of the TV.
The large capacity of the battery allows you to forget about the need to charge your smartphone every day.
Articles, reviews, useful tips
All materials
