Nokia has come out all guns blazing with its latest launch as its touts the 1020 Windows Phone 8 device as the top camera on the market,
packing it with a whopping 41MP lens. We've only had a brief play with
the device but already we're confident in saying its the best snapper on
the market.
The launch of a 41MP device has been expected since the start of 2012 when Nokia revealed its PureView 808 device, running on the now defunct Symbian operating system. Over time the firm’s various launches have been building up to this point, as it seeks to dominate the market for those who want to have a great camera on their phone.
However, while Nokia clearly has something worth shouting about, there are many other devices on the market with first-rate cameras, especially for those not enamored with the Windows Phone operating system. We've rounded them up in this week’s top 10.
Honourable mention: Apple iPhone 6
Forgive
us for mentioning an Apple phone before we know what it's definitely
going to be called, let alone launched, but it's impossible to deny that
any phone hitting the market in mid-to-late summer is going to run into
the behemoth of Apple and its next iPhone.
Apple devices have always had solid camera offerings, with all devices able to hold their own on the market from the beginning. However, innovations from the likes of Nokia have left it somewhat behind, although no doubt the folks at Cupertino are working on this.
As such, expect big things from Tim Cook and co when they get on stage later this year to unveil their next top-end smartphone, with a new camera chief among some of the key updates on show.
10. Nokia Lumia 720
It’s important to note that the Lumia 720
is not one of the 10 best camera phones in the world when it comes to
actual photographic prowess. It is however the best in its price range,
costing a reasonable £300 SIM-free and boasting a 6.7MP rear camera,
complete with a Carl Zeiss lens with f/1.9 aperture.
Testing the camera we found images taken on the 720 are significantly better than those on other £300 phones. This fact is helped by the host of custom shot modes Nokia has loaded onto the 720.
These include a Panorama, Smart Shoot and Cinemagram modes. Smart Shoot takes multiple photos of the subject matter, merging them to create one "best of" photo. Cinemagraph lets you animate a small section of an image to create a gif.
9. Huawei Ascend P6
Huawei
may not be the biggest name in the smartphone industry, but for those
after a decent Android cameraphone, the Chinese firm's Ascend P6 smartphone gives Sony and Samsung a run for their money.
The Huawei Ascend P6 features an 8MP rear-facing camera, which comes paired with a bunch of image-editing tools and built-in HDR mode. However, we're more excited about the handset's front-facing camera, which weighs in at 5MP – outclassing all other Android phones on the market.
If you thought that was impressive, Huawei also claims that for those who take a lot of front-facing selfie shots, its onboard beauty mode can make you look "10 years younger", offering up airbrushing effects to get rid of any unsightly wrinkles. Whether it really works, though, is another matter.
8. HTC One
HTC
peaked our interest earlier this year when it unveiled its beautifully
built One smartphone. However, despite looking great it wasn’t the
phone’s design that caught our eye, it was its camera. This was because
rather than do what Nokia’s done with the 1020, ramping up the camera’s
megapixel count to insane levels, HTC took a different approach, adding its new "Ultrapixel" technology to the One.
Ultrapixel is a technology that HTC says makes the One's camera capture larger pixels than regular smartphone cameras. HTC claims this means the One's 4MP rear camera lens can capture up to three times more light than those of most competitors. Testing the camera we found there is some truth to this claim.
However, we also found the low 4MP did lead to a few issues when blowing photos taken on the camera up past regular photo sizes, where they could become slightly pixelated and blurry. But for those who only want to use their smartphone for the occasional snapshot the device is still a great choice.
7. Samsung Galaxy Note 2
The
Note 2 features an 8MP rear-facing camera complete with autofocus, LED
flash, Geo-Tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, and image
stabilisation features.
While the Note 2’s camera is very good, compared to more moderately priced smartphones its camera is average. But the average performance is countermanded by the addition of the Samsung S Pen stylus and graphics manipulation apps.
Also, with its large screen size, those who love staring back at their shots can do so with plenty of screen estate.
6. Sony Xperia Z
Sony made a big deal about the Xperia Z’s
13.1MP, 4128x3096 rear camera, claiming its Exmor RS for mobile sensor
would allow it to outperform even top-ranking competing smartphones'
performance.
As we noted in our full review there was some truth to this claim, with images taken on the Z looking better than average, boasting decent colour balance and brightness levels, and looking fairly sharp. However, it isn’t the Xperia Z’s image quality that’s earned it a place in this week’s top 10, it is the phone’s IP57 certification.
The certification means that the Z is dust, scratch and even water resistant. This means that for users who work in outdoor conditions and need a solid phone, able to take decent pictures, the Z is a great choice.
First 5 ---> Read the rest of this post --->
The launch of a 41MP device has been expected since the start of 2012 when Nokia revealed its PureView 808 device, running on the now defunct Symbian operating system. Over time the firm’s various launches have been building up to this point, as it seeks to dominate the market for those who want to have a great camera on their phone.
However, while Nokia clearly has something worth shouting about, there are many other devices on the market with first-rate cameras, especially for those not enamored with the Windows Phone operating system. We've rounded them up in this week’s top 10.
Honourable mention: Apple iPhone 6
Forgive
us for mentioning an Apple phone before we know what it's definitely
going to be called, let alone launched, but it's impossible to deny that
any phone hitting the market in mid-to-late summer is going to run into
the behemoth of Apple and its next iPhone.Apple devices have always had solid camera offerings, with all devices able to hold their own on the market from the beginning. However, innovations from the likes of Nokia have left it somewhat behind, although no doubt the folks at Cupertino are working on this.
As such, expect big things from Tim Cook and co when they get on stage later this year to unveil their next top-end smartphone, with a new camera chief among some of the key updates on show.
10. Nokia Lumia 720
It’s important to note that the Lumia 720
is not one of the 10 best camera phones in the world when it comes to
actual photographic prowess. It is however the best in its price range,
costing a reasonable £300 SIM-free and boasting a 6.7MP rear camera,
complete with a Carl Zeiss lens with f/1.9 aperture.Testing the camera we found images taken on the 720 are significantly better than those on other £300 phones. This fact is helped by the host of custom shot modes Nokia has loaded onto the 720.
These include a Panorama, Smart Shoot and Cinemagram modes. Smart Shoot takes multiple photos of the subject matter, merging them to create one "best of" photo. Cinemagraph lets you animate a small section of an image to create a gif.
9. Huawei Ascend P6
Huawei
may not be the biggest name in the smartphone industry, but for those
after a decent Android cameraphone, the Chinese firm's Ascend P6 smartphone gives Sony and Samsung a run for their money.The Huawei Ascend P6 features an 8MP rear-facing camera, which comes paired with a bunch of image-editing tools and built-in HDR mode. However, we're more excited about the handset's front-facing camera, which weighs in at 5MP – outclassing all other Android phones on the market.
If you thought that was impressive, Huawei also claims that for those who take a lot of front-facing selfie shots, its onboard beauty mode can make you look "10 years younger", offering up airbrushing effects to get rid of any unsightly wrinkles. Whether it really works, though, is another matter.
8. HTC One
HTC
peaked our interest earlier this year when it unveiled its beautifully
built One smartphone. However, despite looking great it wasn’t the
phone’s design that caught our eye, it was its camera. This was because
rather than do what Nokia’s done with the 1020, ramping up the camera’s
megapixel count to insane levels, HTC took a different approach, adding its new "Ultrapixel" technology to the One.Ultrapixel is a technology that HTC says makes the One's camera capture larger pixels than regular smartphone cameras. HTC claims this means the One's 4MP rear camera lens can capture up to three times more light than those of most competitors. Testing the camera we found there is some truth to this claim.
However, we also found the low 4MP did lead to a few issues when blowing photos taken on the camera up past regular photo sizes, where they could become slightly pixelated and blurry. But for those who only want to use their smartphone for the occasional snapshot the device is still a great choice.
7. Samsung Galaxy Note 2
The
Note 2 features an 8MP rear-facing camera complete with autofocus, LED
flash, Geo-Tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, and image
stabilisation features.While the Note 2’s camera is very good, compared to more moderately priced smartphones its camera is average. But the average performance is countermanded by the addition of the Samsung S Pen stylus and graphics manipulation apps.
Also, with its large screen size, those who love staring back at their shots can do so with plenty of screen estate.
6. Sony Xperia Z
Sony made a big deal about the Xperia Z’s
13.1MP, 4128x3096 rear camera, claiming its Exmor RS for mobile sensor
would allow it to outperform even top-ranking competing smartphones'
performance.As we noted in our full review there was some truth to this claim, with images taken on the Z looking better than average, boasting decent colour balance and brightness levels, and looking fairly sharp. However, it isn’t the Xperia Z’s image quality that’s earned it a place in this week’s top 10, it is the phone’s IP57 certification.
The certification means that the Z is dust, scratch and even water resistant. This means that for users who work in outdoor conditions and need a solid phone, able to take decent pictures, the Z is a great choice.
First 5 ---> Read the rest of this post --->
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