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I've not been impressed with CM's camera software on the OPO. In most cases I get equal or superior photos from my Nexus 5, particularly when I can use HDR+ on the N5 (HDR on the OPO looks like an instagram filter). Way too many shots with poor focus and lack of detail (though color accuracy is quite good).
Now we have Armando Ferreira 's review of the Find 7(a) camera and the gap in quality is astonishing. The Find 7 appears to wipe the floor with the OPO camera in every way. I don't know if Cyanogenmod has an ace up its sleeve in terms of an update to narrow that gap. I hope so, camera is hugely important to me and for another $150 the Find 7 might be worth it for those with similar priorities.
Here's the review.
Oppo Find 7 QHD Camera Review in 4K: http://youtu.be/5GPnFtRZB5Y
Please go here for this discussion...thanks...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2685348
Direct quote from Google:
An f2.0 lens and 13 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization capture great photos in daylight and low light. Using advanced computational photography technology and HDR+, the pre-installed Google Camera does the heavy lifting so you can effortlessly take great photos.
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Luckily it doesn't seem to be the same camera found on the Moto X (2014). Different sensor perhaps?
Moto X 2nd gen has the Sony IMX135
Nexus 6 has the Sony IMX214 (same as oneplus)
lookitzjohnny said:
Moto X 2nd gen has the Sony IMX135
Nexus 6 has the Sony IMX214 (same as oneplus)
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Which one is better?
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Free mobile app
NardVa said:
Which one is better?
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Free mobile app
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http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/new_pro/april_2014/imx214_e.html
214. The OnePlus One can take some great pictures. The N6 should be similar if not equal but I am concerned that the camera app won't take full advantage of what that sensor can do. Hopefully it will.
It's super interesting to me that the front-facing camera has 1.4um pixel size vs the 1.12um.. even smaller than the Nexus 5's. I guess they prioritized good low-lighting shots for selfies not photos.
The hardware seems to be there. Google just needs to develop the software to take advantage of the hardware. Heck, even the Nexus 5 has decent camera hardware.. The software is where it was lacking.
lookitzjohnny said:
Moto X 2nd gen has the Sony IMX135
Nexus 6 has the Sony IMX214 (same as oneplus)
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Where did you find this info? For the Nexus 6?
0.0 said:
Where did you find this info? For the Nexus 6?
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http://www.motorola.com/us/Nexus-6/nexus-6-motorola-us.html
lensgrabber said:
http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/new_pro/april_2014/imx214_e.html
214. The OnePlus One can take some great pictures. The N6 should be similar if not equal but I am concerned that the camera app won't take full advantage of what that sensor can do. Hopefully it will.
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The important thing to keep in mind here is that this is a 1/3 sensor, like all other sensors out their in flagship phones these days. There is only so much you can do with a 1/3 sensor. So it will be fine, but nothing special. 1/3 sensors first debuted in phones, in 2006 with the Nokia N93 (at the time an advance over the 1/4 sensors). So this is eight year old tehnology. And yet it is the status quo in today's phones.
The only notable exception, I know of, is the Galaxy S5 that has a 1/2.5 sensor (and also the Xperia Z3 I think). The S5 takes pretty good photos. Nothing else is going to be as good as the S5. I promise the Nexus 6 will not hold a candle to the S5. The Z3 is not so good as the S5 for somewhat inexplicable reasons; I don't know why Sony can't get their act together, despite being the supplier of sensors to so many other companies, but the cameras in their recent phones have consistently underperformed.
And of course there is the Nokia 1020 with a huge 1/1.5 sensor and the Nokia 808 with and even huger 1/1.2 sensor, that's phsically five times larger than a 1/3 sensor. Those are great camera phones. But you have to sacrifice thinness to have sensors like that. Then there's the four year old Nokia N8 with a 1/1.8 sensor that still eclipses todays best of the best. And even the five year old Nokia N86 has a 1/2.5 sensor that takes as good photos as any phone today, including the S5.
Physical sensor size (not megapixels) matters because it allows the camera to take in more light, render colors better, have less noise, and perform better in low light. Everything else is pretty much gimmicks and fiddling around the edges (except OIS is a nice feature, I think--and resolution and frame rates for video has gotten better--though 4K seems like a stupid exercise when no one has a computer screen or television that can render that level of resolution).
Anyway, so the Nexus 6 has just another medicore 1/3 sensor that will take fine snapshots. Mainly it is an advance over previous Nexus phones that had subpar cameras, but other than that it is just catching up to the mediocre pack of today's flagship pones. If you want the best camera in a normal phone, get an S5. If you want a truly great camera and can stand Windows Phone or the defunct Symbian OS, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808. Everything else is just whatever.
Isn't the Note 4 better than the S5 in terms of camera performance?
cb474 said:
The important thing to keep in mind here is that this is a 1/3 sensor, like all other sensors out their in flagship phones these days. There is only so much you can do with a 1/3 sensor. So it will be fine, but nothing special. 1/3 sensors first debuted in phones, in 2006 with the Nokia N93 (at the time an advance over the 1/4 sensors). So this is eight year old tehnology. And yet it is the status quo in today's phones.
The only notable exception, I know of, is the Galaxy S5 that has a 1/2.5 sensor (and also the Xperia Z3 I think). The S5 takes pretty good photos. Nothing else is going to be as good as the S5. I promise the Nexus 6 will not hold a candle to the S5. The Z3 is not so good as the S5 for somewhat inexplicable reasons; I don't know why Sony can't get their act together, despite being the supplier of sensors to so many other companies, but the cameras in their recent phones have consistently underperformed.
And of course there is the Nokia 1020 with a huge 1/1.5 sensor and the Nokia 808 with and even huger 1/1.2 sensor, that's phsically five times larger than a 1/3 sensor. Those are great camera phones. But you have to sacrifice thinness to have sensors like that. Then there's the four year old Nokia N8 with a 1/1.8 sensor that still eclipses todays best of the best. And even the five year old Nokia N86 has a 1/2.5 sensor that takes as good photos as any phone today, including the S5.
Physical sensor size (not megapixels) matters because it allows the camera to take in more light, render colors better, have less noise, and perform better in low light. Everything else is pretty much gimmicks and fiddling around the edges (except OIS is a nice feature, I think--and resolution and frame rates for video has gotten better--though 4K seems like a stupid exercise when no one has a computer screen or television that can render that level of resolution).
Anyway, so the Nexus 6 has just another medicore 1/3 sensor that will take fine snapshots. Mainly it is an advance over previous Nexus phones that had subpar cameras, but other than that it is just catching up to the mediocre pack of today's flagship pones. If you want the best camera in a normal phone, get an S5. If you want a truly great camera and can stand Windows Phone or the defunct Symbian OS, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808. Everything else is just whatever.
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This was very informative. This really relieves me of not being so down about not having the imx214 in the Moto X 2014
Also, hello again. I've seen you before in the Moto X 2014 forums lol
sent from my Moto X (2014)
---------- Post added at 11:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 PM ----------
msal said:
Isn't the Note 4 better than the S5 in terms of camera performance?
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It should be, if it is using the same sensor as s5. On top of that, it is using OIS. The Note 4 should be the new benchmark in terms of camera quality for Android
sent from my Moto X (2014)
What about this camera compared to the LG G3? My G3 takes the best photos I've ever had from a phone. The megapixel count is the same between the two, but it has a Sony IMX135.. and it has that laser autofocus which is pretty nice for fast shots.
Also, what about the N6 being f2.0 aperture over the typical 2.2 or 2.4?
msal said:
Isn't the Note 4 better than the S5 in terms of camera performance?
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I'm not into phablets, so I don't know much about the Note 4. It looks like it has a Sony IMX240 sesnor, with a 1/2.6 sensor, so slightly smaller than the 1/2.5 sensor in the S5. It does have OIS though, which should help with longer exposures in low light. The S5 has an "Isocell" sensor, which is supposed to have barriers between pixels that helps improve color accuracy and sharpness (see: http://connect.dpreview.com/post/0315472077/samsung-explains-the-galaxy-s5-isocell-sensor). I know the S5 has atypically good color accuracy for a phone, though part of that is a choice on Samsungs part not to favor in the post-processing the oversaturated colors that many people like (i.e. that many people mistake for better photos--people often find more accurate colors to look washed out). Anyway, since Samsung usually does a good job in their flagships, I would not be surprised if the Note 4 is comparable or slightly better than the S5. But it's going to be minor differences, I think.
0.0 said:
This was very informative. This really relieves me of not being so down about not having the imx214 in the Moto X 2014
Also, hello again. I've seen you before in the Moto X 2014 forums lol
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Yes, the new Nexus phone and the 2nd Gen. Moto X are the two phones I'm looking at to replace my Nexus 4, so I've been hanging around both forums. For the moment I'm just trying to get over my raging disappointment that the Nexus 6 really is a huge 6" phablet. Sigh. It does have some nice upgrades over the 2nd Gen. Moto X, I think. (Though if it lacks the four microphone noise cancellation in the Moto X, that's a deal killer for me--I haven't been able to confirm anything about this yet.)
I wouldn't worry about the different sensors in the phones much. They're both fine and more or less in the same ballpark of quality, as 1/3 sensors. OIS on the Nexus 6 is nice and should help with low light photography (and video), that's the biggest difference, depending how important that is to you. In good light, I doubt you'd see much difference between the cameras. For just general snapshots of friends and things like that, I think all these phones are fine.
As I said above, I think people make way too big a deal of the differences between cameras in current flagships. Handset makers try to make a big deal out of small differences, for the sake of competition, because they can't acknowledge the truth that they've all just decided the eight year old technology of 1/3 sensors is good enough and they'd rather make super thin phones. If you're the sort of person who's really going to get into the small differences between one flagship with a 1/3 sensor and another, then you're probably the sort of person that would appreciate an S5 more, because of it's 1/2.5 sensor, and you're probably the sort of person will to take the Windows Phone plunge so you can get the truly amazing Nokia 1020 with it's 1/1.5 sensor and many other advantages (mechanical shutter, OIS, Xenon flash, pixel binning for over sampling, lossless digital zooming).
Nitemare3219 said:
What about this camera compared to the LG G3? My G3 takes the best photos I've ever had from a phone. The megapixel count is the same between the two, but it has a Sony IMX135.. and it has that laser autofocus which is pretty nice for fast shots.
Also, what about the N6 being f2.0 aperture over the typical 2.2 or 2.4?
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The LG G3 has the same IMX135 sensor as the 2nd Gen Moto X, but also has OIS. It's prefectly good, but still yet another 1/3 sensor. It's the same sensor in the LG G2, the Note 3, the Galaxy S4, and a bazillion other phones, so it shouldn't be meaningfully different from any of them, except for the potential low light advantage of OIS. (Check this out to see just how many phones have Sony sensors in them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exmor).
That being said OIS is not a miracle cure for smaller sensors. Neither is the f2.0 aperature on the Nexus 6. They're nice features, but you can only do so much with a smaller 1/3 sensor. Again, these are all ways manufacturers are trying to fiddle around to make the best out of mediocre sensors. The S5 and even the five year old Nokia N86 with 1/2.5 sensors will do almost as well in low light as a phone with OIS (I think the f2.0 will make less of a difference than OIS). And, again, the huge 1/1.8, 1/1.5, 1/1.2 sensors in the Nokia N8, 1020, and 808 (respectively) are going to way out perform a 1/3 sensor with OIS in low light (as well as in every other situation)--and of course the 1020 also has OIS, on top of a huge sensor.
At this point, I don't really know why all flaghips don't have OIS. It has some benefits. And it's stupid to have to choose between a mediocre 1/3 sensor with OIS and a larger 1/2.5 sensor without OIS. It's like two different choices of how to shoot yourself in the foot.
All that to say, I still think these are all pretty minor differences between phones with more or less similar image making capabilities. I wouldn't choose between the LG G3, Moto X, or Nexus 6 for the camera. I might (might) choose the S5 for the camera, but I hate Samsung phones, so I really wouldn't ever get an S5. If the camera really was the main issue to me, I'd get a Nokia 1020 and enter the wonderful world of Windows Phone (which I think is under rated as an interface anyway). But that's really for the serious photographers.
*
A final word to the wise. Take the reviews of phone cameras you see online with a huge grain of salt. There are very few sites that do a good job and know what they are talking about. Most site reviewers are essentially amature photographers, making incredibly subjective judgments about images, with no real knowledge of how to take photos in a way that allow for good comparisons, and overplay the differences between today's phones (since they get the phones for free to review, they also have huge conflicts of interest and will mostly avoid saying anything too negative--like acknowledging that the differences between these phones a relatively minor). Dpreview.com is probably the best site I know of.
Great read dude. I've owned several Samsung's and nexus phones. None could take the quality pics my HTC DNA could. Would that be software related? I loved that damn phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
donnyp1 said:
Great read dude. I've owned several Samsung's and nexus phones. None could take the quality pics my HTC DNA could. Would that be software related? I loved that damn phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
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I'm not especially familiar with the DNA and can't find any information about its sensor, although it appears to have a decent f2.0 aperature. Seems like it had the same sensor as the HTC One X, which was a 1/3.2 backside illuminated CMOS sensor. Reviews seem to find that the HTC One, with it's ultrapixels, took better (more color accurate) photos.
Perhaps there was just something about how the DNA did post-processing on the images that you subjectively liked better.
This is a good example of how sensors have stayed in the 1/3 ballpark for a long time and an older phone can be just as good as today's "flagships," which is basically the point I've been making.
I think the Nexus 5 that your signature says you have (like the Nexus 4 before it) has as somewhat subpar camera by the current standards. So it's understandable that coming from the DNA you could be having a worse experience--though the Nexus 5 has a similar 1/3.2 sensor and OIS. The Nexus 6, if you're' in the market for one, ought to be a decent improvement over the Nexus 5 and better than the DNA. Especially since the Nexus 6 has OIS, on top of a newer and slightly larger 1/3.06 sensor. But, still, I think they are all in the same general range as cameras.
What's with the 30 fps stat listed on the google and moto specific pages... Up to 4k recording but no slow motion capture. I thought the OPO does slo mo.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
So if both the one + and the nexus 6 have the same camera, would the difference be night shots with flash?
I don't really know how software will play in, but I hope that the nexus 6 is more crisp than moto x. Hard to decide between this or an One+.
I also wonder why the people that are disappointed with the nexus 6's price and/or screen size don't get a one + instead.
Richie5767 said:
So if both the one + and the nexus 6 have the same camera, would the difference be night shots with flash?
I don't really know how software will play in, but I hope that the nexus 6 is more crisp than moto x. Hard to decide between this or an One+.
I also wonder why the people that are disappointed with the nexus 6's price and/or screen size don't get a one + instead.
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Because the stupid invite system ...you still can't get the freaking phone ....
One + is not available for Verizon as far as I know, or I would consider it.
Richie5767 said:
So if both the one + and the nexus 6 have the same camera, would the difference be night shots with flash?
I don't really know how software will play in, but I hope that the nexus 6 is more crisp than moto x. Hard to decide between this or an One+.
I also wonder why the people that are disappointed with the nexus 6's price and/or screen size don't get a one + instead.
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From a hardware point of view, the main difference will be that the Nexus 6 has OIS (optical image stabilization) and the OnePlus One does not. This should improve photography in low light, allowing for longer exposures. And it will allow for more fluid and stable video, when moving the camera and shooting at the same time. The OnePlus One does have digital image stablization, which OnePlus made a big deal about, but digital image stablization sucks and reviews of the OnePlus One demonstrated this, as if it really needed to be demonstrated yet again on another device.
There could be software differences, in terms of how the phones post-process the images. The OnePlus One, like many phones, produces over-saturated colors, because people tend to like that better (they see the bright colors and think it is a better photo, even though it is an inaccurate representation of the colors in the actual scene). I wouldn't hold my breath for Google choosing to do something different, however. Over-saturated colors are pretty much the norm, not many phones go for more realistic colors. Also, phones sometimes vary on how much sharpening they apply in post processing. Again, sharpening creates the superficial appearance of a sharper image, but actually eliminates detail in the photo, if you zoom way in. Of course, these are things that can be corrected later with image editing software, if you care.
We'll really have to wait for reviews on high quality sites, like Dpreview, before we know if the Nexus 6 and OnePlus One vary at all in how they do post-processing.
I am planning to buy the Le Pro 3 x720 and customise it to have a oneplus 3 experience.
The LEx720 and OP3 has the same camera sensor and almost same processor (snapdragon 821 for LEx720 & snapdragon 820 for OP3)
kimovilDOTcom/en/compare/leeco-le-pro-3-6gb-64gb,oneplus-3-6gb-64gb-cn
Yet the x720 camera reviews are less positive in comparison to the OP3. I guess its the processing.
1. So has someone ever tried the Oneplus camera on the LEx720?
apkmirrorDOTcom/apk/oneplus-ltd/oneplus-camera/
2. Is it possible to have some samples comparison please, especially against the google camera?
My alternative choice would be the Meizu M6 Note which boasts the same camera as the HTC U11 and it's working pretty great with its Arcsoft algorithm.
3. Based solely on camera, can the LEx720 deliver a better image quality than the Meizu M6 Note?
I would really appreciate your views.
Thank you all in advance.
I wouldn't say you're guaranteed to get a Sony sensor. Some people here are reporting that their camera isn't working on custom ROMs like Paranoid Android--which means that they have a different camera sensor (I believe custom ROMs for the Pro3 variants are built with Sony drivers, but IDK). The OnePlus 3 camera is miles better than the Pro3 camera simply because OnePlus bothers to put good camera software on their phones. Not iPhone-quality, but definitely up there. When it comes to cameras, software is a lot more important, IMO. That's why the iPhone 6's camera quality holds up today, even though the phone was released in 2014. Name a single Android phone from 2014 with good camera quality today...
You are not guaranteed good camera quality from Chinese phones. Some Chinese brands claim to make this a priority, but reviews don't lie. Now, Camera2 API may improve quality, but it really depends. Camera2 API has done wonders for variants of the Xiaomi Note 4 stuck with the inferior Omnivision sensor. It's done even more for variants with Sony and Samsung sensors. And I expect it does well for the Pro3 too, since the Pro3 has a chipset with good image processing. Do your research. Look around the forum and search for camera mods. See if you like the results or not. Camera2 API requires you to root your phone.
Sorry, but if you want a flagship-worthy camera experience, you either buy an iPhone 7, 8, or X, a Samsung S8 or Note 8, an OP3T or OP5, or a Pixel phone. Pixel phones have the best smartphone cameras in the market right now, especially the Pixel 2, since it has dedicated hardware for it. I can't think of any other phones that take excellent images no matter where you are or what you're doing. With other brands you'll have to either a) make sure there's enough lighting, b) be in the right place at the right time, or c) do a lot of manual post-processing, which ruins image quality.
I'm okay with my x722's image quality. It takes good shots in sunlight. Low-light performance is awful. Pretty typical experience. I don't know which sensor I have, though. I'd have to be rooted to find that out.
The Meizu M6 Note has a better sensor. Even if its camera software is awful, it's bound to be better. LeEco doesn't even try with its camera app, so Meizu has to be better.
sk8223 said:
I wouldn't say you're guaranteed to get a Sony sensor. Some people here are reporting that their camera isn't working on custom ROMs like Paranoid Android--which means that they have a different camera sensor (I believe custom ROMs for the Pro3 variants are built with Sony drivers, but IDK). The OnePlus 3 camera is miles better than the Pro3 camera simply because OnePlus bothers to put good camera software on their phones. Not iPhone-quality, but definitely up there. When it comes to cameras, software is a lot more important, IMO. That's why the iPhone 6's camera quality holds up today, even though the phone was released in 2014. Name a single Android phone from 2014 with good camera quality today...
You are not guaranteed good camera quality from Chinese phones. Some Chinese brands claim to make this a priority, but reviews don't lie. Now, Camera2 API may improve quality, but it really depends. Camera2 API has done wonders for variants of the Xiaomi Note 4 stuck with the inferior Omnivision sensor. It's done even more for variants with Sony and Samsung sensors. And I expect it does well for the Pro3 too, since the Pro3 has a chipset with good image processing. Do your research. Look around the forum and search for camera mods. See if you like the results or not. Camera2 API requires you to root your phone.
Sorry, but if you want a flagship-worthy camera experience, you either buy an iPhone 7, 8, or X, a Samsung S8 or Note 8, an OP3T or OP5, or a Pixel phone. Pixel phones have the best smartphone cameras in the market right now, especially the Pixel 2, since it has dedicated hardware for it. I can't think of any other phones that take excellent images no matter where you are or what you're doing. With other brands you'll have to either a) make sure there's enough lighting, b) be in the right place at the right time, or c) do a lot of manual post-processing, which ruins image quality.
I'm okay with my x722's image quality. It takes good shots in sunlight. Low-light performance is awful. Pretty typical experience. I don't know which sensor I have, though. I'd have to be rooted to find that out.
The Meizu M6 Note has a better sensor. Even if its camera software is awful, it's bound to be better. LeEco doesn't even try with its camera app, so Meizu has to be better.
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Different camera sensor? Has there been a case? Doing so would be nightmare for device maintenance and unless it is a large scale company with a model that gets sold huge quantities (Samsung and Apple), it would just be a unnecessary headache without any benefit. Camera not working on certain custom roms does not indicate different sensor. Far from it. A missing or extra line on device tree or even in build.prop would cause it.
It is true that camera sucks on most of Chinese phones. They've got the hardware but unless you're shooting RAW, end result will be very poor.
However, that was the case before Google HDR+ port. That port makes dramatic different. No reason to use OnePlus camera when OnePlus users are rooting for Google HDR+.
4K2K said:
Different camera sensor? Has there been a case? Doing so would be nightmare for device maintenance and unless it is a large scale company with a model that gets sold huge quantities (Samsung and Apple), it would just be a unnecessary headache without any benefit. Camera not working on certain custom roms does not indicate different sensor. Far from it. A missing or extra line on device tree or even in build.prop would cause it.
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Is that so? Sorry, I didn't know that. I thought it strange that the camera would work on ROMs installed on some devices but not others.
It is true that camera sucks on most of Chinese phones. They've got the hardware but unless you're shooting RAW, end result will be very poor.
However, that was the case before Google HDR+ port. That port makes dramatic different. No reason to use OnePlus camera when OnePlus users are rooting for Google HDR+.
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Yeah, Gcam changed everything. Now phones with the worst sensors get decent shots, even at night.
When the phone was released, it was in the top tier range of camera phones.
When the pixel came, i think it was worse, but still comparable.
Now we're 2/3 gens behind, but how much worse off are we really?
The most comprehensive camera review site DxO has pixel at 90 and pixel 2 at 98.
Nexus camera review was never updated, however we have this to go by.
Before the new updated test, the 6p reviews came in at 84 and the pixel came in at 89. The revised tests, pixel got a 90.
Now I know that the point system is not linear, but assuming that, the revised review score could be somewhere from 75-85.
(We can also make a correlation with their updated iphone 6/7/7+ scores at 75/85/88).
As for the software, we've been pretty lucky that the camera features are getting ported to our device, so that's the least of our worries.
What do you all think?
For me, taking photos with my 5x has been a good experience. You can really get some high quality image if you try. It seems to take better, clearer photos than the iPhone SE (same cam as 6s, also not a current flagship but I can compare them myself) but I've noticed that the camera doesn't perform well in low light conditions. Compared to today's flagships, night photos in a city aren't that good with my 5X.
The only devices that are better than our cameras are the Pixels, other cameras cant dethrone these due to our HDR+, no matter how hard they try.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Huawei Mate 30 Pro is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
I'd like to love it
But I don't know if its worth buying yet? I really would like gmail
I've had my M30P imported from China for just under a week now at the time of writing this. Before that, I was using a P30P for 6 months.
My overall experience and feelings for it is very positive. It's my most favorite Huawei smartphone to date and I don't have too many complaints about it so I'll just be honest and upfront about everything I've personally liked and disliked.
There wasn't anything wrong with my P30P from before and I loved most things about the phone (which you'll see me reference it a lot in some of the points below) but the Chinese prices on the M30P and to be first in line for the latest updates for once just tempted me too much - I paid 5800¥ (which is about $820/€736/£634. I'll be basing most of my experiences and comparisons on the P30P as a result since it's the only other, closest rival phone I can match it against and I suspect a lot of people will want to know how they both stack up anyway
Display and Build Quality:
+ Display appears slightly brighter than the P30P with very punchy colours, contrast, deep blacks and decent sunlight readability. The panel isn't quite up there with the Note 10+ but it's still really good and you won't be disappointed.
+ No bezels or even much of a chin as the gorgeous looking waterfall display that spills on to the edges.
+ IP68 rated + equipped with Gorilla Glass 6 whereas the P30P didn't have any form of Gorilla Glass Protection, and the M20P had v5 (still worth putting a screen protector on though!)
+ I am a big fan of the (innovative?) virtual volume buttons that trigger when you double tap on the top left or right edges of the display
+ Supports *AOD* after a recent software update!
- Has a notch even though it's smaller than most other notches, including the iPhone 11, Pixel 4 (if you can count its giant forehead), as well as last year's M20P
- Doesn't have 90hz refresh rate despite some of the strong rumors and leaks that had been circulating around beforehand
Camera:
+ Consistently handles noise, artifacts and retains small details better than P30P in both daylight and night shots - this is due to the newer, improved ISP on a hardware level and camera tweaks on a software level.
+ Industry-leading best in class wide angle lens. It's huge f/1.8 aperture and the sensor size of 1/1.54" that really shows its prowess in both day time and night shots that no other competitor can currently go against at the moment. Let's not forget it defaults to pixel binning since it's actually outputting 10mp shots and the new ISP further enhances it (namely in dealing with noise). All in all, you get more preserved details in both the shadows and highlights, better colour balance, nicer dynamic range and the hardware front here really delivers in all aspects of the shooting conditions. I compared it with an iPhone 11 and a Note 10+ at my local Samsung and Apple stores respectively and the M30P's wide angle is just miles ahead better and I can't see other brands having a superior wide angle lens anytime soon.
+ Sometimes, in ideal lighting and certain scenarios, I will get even BETTER daytime shots on the wide angle than the main sensor as it's not RYYB and the fact that it's got an even bigger sensor size than that actually gives it some advantages to the main lens and compared to generally most other wide angle lens from other phones.
+ Video recording seem better stabilized, with less choppiness when panning around the scene and it can finally record 4k in 60FPS too due to the newer ISP. Wide angle video capture is miles better than the P30P's one due to the significantly superior hardware, especially in low light.
+ I love its quad rear camera design and its shiny ring more than similar rivals' implementations by the iPhone 11, Pixel 4 and even the M20P - just feel like saying it as I've grown to like it now!
+ ToF sensor feels slightly better than the one found in the P30P - my portrait mode shots and bokeh effects tend to be more precise with less clipping and better edge detection around subjects
+ 7680FPS video recording isn't just a stunt as it does work and is fun to use when you want to show off something cool and playful with it. No other smartphone in the industry comes close.
+ Night Mode shots with both the primary and wide angle lens has been improved further against the P30P which was already the king of low light - it captures the smaller details better (mainly only noticed when you zoom or crop in), has less noise and better colour balance in almost every shot I took in low light.
- Occasionally renders warm, red tinges to my photos when shooting with the primary main sensor, but rarely ever happens in all circumstances when using the wide angle sensor (most likely because it's not RYYB). Hopefully resolved with future software updates.
- No periscope 5x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom capability. You now get 3x optical and 3x digital instead which isn't entirely a dealbreaker as most people won't be using this all the time but I feel it needs to be said anyway.
- I've seen some minor lens flare that I did not ever seem to get on the P30P, or on any other phone I've owned to date.
- Front selfie camera has improved a bit from the P30P but it still applies a lot of digital make-up to my face and smooths out my skin a bit too much for my liking, and that's even with the beauty level set to the lowest in the UI. It's once again still not on the same league as the iPhone 11 or Note 10's front cameras.
- No super macro-mode for close up shots of up to 2.5cm from the subject which used to be found on the P30P - I understand this is due to the new sensors that no longer allow it
- Still lacks an automatic HDR toggle - you need to enable it manually each time under "More" in the camera settings
Battery life and Charging
+ Lasts really long due to the combination of the Kirin 990 on the newest 7nm+ EUV node, a massive 4500mAh battery which Huawei claim also uses "AI" to understand your usage patterns and potentially even being based on Android 10's behind-the-scenes battery optimizations/algorithms (I got more SOT than my P30P)
+ For me, the lack of GMS/Google Play Services definitely improved my battery life too
+ 40w supercharge which tops up the battery incredibly quick without overheating my phone (about 0-70% in 30mins just like before). I've also got a 40w Huawei SuperCharge power bank which is compatible with the M30P.
+ 27w wireless charging - I don't have a wireless charger to test but this makes it vastly superior to most wired charging speeds from other brands.
- "3x faster reverse wireless charging" is still largely a gimmick as it's not that much of an improvement from the previous gen (from 2.5W to 7.5w now) in every day practical use but I can see how it can be useful in emergency situations where even a few % can be useful for a friend if he/she doesn't have a portable charger
Performance and Software
+ Android 10 + UFS 3.0 (being used for the first time by Huawei) + 8GB of RAM = an extremely fluid, snappy and responsive system all-round with no lag!
+ I can still use most of my essential daily apps without Google Play Services by sideloading them, including Brave (which I prefer over Chrome anyway), Google Maps, Google Keyboard, Gmail (via the native Huawei mail handler), Instagram and WhatsApp
+ GPS accuracy in apps such as Google Maps, Cellular strength and mobile data speeds equally as fast and reliable as my P30P or if not slightly better from what I've noticed
+ Kirin 990 chipset performs well despite not using ARM's newest Cortex A77 cores, and shines in the battery life department and in games due to the optimizations to both the CPU +GPU
+ First in line to get the latest software updates if you purchase the Chinese LIO-AL00 model - I've already had 4 in less than a week and most were at least 1GB in size so they weren't all minor patches
- No Google Play Services out of the box, so you'll need to somehow restore your phone using HiSuite with a known working backup that has it or find alternative apps that don't rely on it
- My CN LIO-AL00 had a lot of bloatware that I couldn't easily uninstall and disable under the Settings, so I had to remove a lot of them via adb on my Desktop which took up a lot of time
- I still would've preferred the Kirin 990 to feature the newest A77 cores, as the upcoming Snapdragon 865 is guaranteed to have them (nonetheless the optimized A76s for power efficiency easily match and beat the 855+ in most areas
Audio quality
+ Phone call and speaker sound quality (especially at mid to higher volumes) feels a fair bit louder, fuller, clearer, richer and better balanced than the P30P
+ Audio capture when recording videos seems to be improved by a minor amount over the P30P
- Still has a single downwards firing speaker. Where's the dual stereo nowadays?
Other final thoughts:
+ Under display fingerprint sensor is incredibly fast and responsive - definitely ahead of the one in the P30P
+ Excellent build quality which is to be expected from another Huawei flagship - the whole device feels very premium and screams quality in the hands
+ Battery life is even better than the P30P which was already the Android battery champ!
+ Great price if you can somehow import it over from China - I paid 5800¥ for the 128GB model to a friend who brought it to me (approximately $820/€736/£634)
I hope people will find my well-balanced comparison helpful between the M30P and my P30P!
thanks you for your writing. i remember huawei advirtised is 2.5 cm close shoting super macro. which is very dissappointing for me. i like macro shots. And some reviewers in my country told that night photos are very bright and it makes the sceen very unrealist. Hope they fix this.
ssregitoss said:
thanks you for your writing. i remember huawei advirtised is 2.5 cm close shoting super macro. which is very dissappointing for me. i like macro shots. And some reviewers in my country told that night photos are very bright and it makes the sceen very unrealist. Hope they fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Night mode are just amazing and not much unrealistic for me
But yeah, super macro mode is msising and it's not a good move from huawei...
Does the M30P have an improved haptic vibration motor?
This is something that Samsung improved with the Note 10 series and it definitely makes a difference to the user experience.
Excellent screen, sound, battery and performance
I never was pleased this much with any phone everything is superb specially the camera! has anyone found a way to make google assistance s default or get rid of default home launcher ?
Ggffdd
Byte_76 said:
Does the M30P have an improved haptic vibration motor?
This is something that Samsung improved with the Note 10 series and it definitely makes a difference to the user experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from the following phones I've owned in the past years, I've noticed a slight improvement over all of them. It's definitely not a weak motor.
P30 Pro
Mate 20 Pro
Pixel 2 XL
Galaxy S8
Galaxy S6
Any chance you could give me a list of the bloat you removed?? don't want to take the wrong thing out with ADB and brick it.. Only thing I miss is having to keep pressing Google to voice activate, no big issue, and Google pay, now I have to carry a bank card everywhere
Those two little niggles aside its superb!
Cheers mate!
Great article btw!!
kyero985 said:
I've had my M30P imported from China for just under a week now at the time of writing this. Before that, I was using a P30P for 6 months.
My overall experience and feelings for it is very positive. It's my most favorite Huawei smartphone to date and I don't have too many complaints about it so I'll just be honest and upfront about everything I've personally liked and disliked.
There wasn't anything wrong with my P30P from before and I loved most things about the phone (which you'll see me reference it a lot in some of the points below) but the Chinese prices on the M30P and to be first in line for the latest updates for once just tempted me too much - I paid 5800¥ (which is about $820/€736/£634. I'll be basing most of my experiences and comparisons on the P30P as a result since it's the only other, closest rival phone I can match it against and I suspect a lot of people will want to know how they both stack up anyway
Display and Build Quality:
+ Display appears slightly brighter than the P30P with very punchy colours, contrast, deep blacks and decent sunlight readability. The panel isn't quite up there with the Note 10+ but it's still really good and you won't be disappointed.
+ No bezels or even much of a chin as the gorgeous looking waterfall display that spills on to the edges.
+ IP68 rated + equipped with Gorilla Glass 6 whereas the P30P didn't have any form of Gorilla Glass Protection, and the M20P had v5 (still worth putting a screen protector on though!)
+ I am a big fan of the (innovative?) virtual volume buttons that trigger when you double tap on the top left or right edges of the display
+ Supports *AOD* after a recent software update!
- Has a notch even though it's smaller than most other notches, including the iPhone 11, Pixel 4 (if you can count its giant forehead), as well as last year's M20P
- Doesn't have 90hz refresh rate despite some of the strong rumors and leaks that had been circulating around beforehand
Camera:
+ Consistently handles noise, artifacts and retains small details better than P30P in both daylight and night shots - this is due to the newer, improved ISP on a hardware level and camera tweaks on a software level.
+ Industry-leading best in class wide angle lens. It's huge f/1.8 aperture and the sensor size of 1/1.54" that really shows its prowess in both day time and night shots that no other competitor can currently go against at the moment. Let's not forget it defaults to pixel binning since it's actually outputting 10mp shots and the new ISP further enhances it (namely in dealing with noise). All in all, you get more preserved details in both the shadows and highlights, better colour balance, nicer dynamic range and the hardware front here really delivers in all aspects of the shooting conditions. I compared it with an iPhone 11 and a Note 10+ at my local Samsung and Apple stores respectively and the M30P's wide angle is just miles ahead better and I can't see other brands having a superior wide angle lens anytime soon.
+ Sometimes, in ideal lighting and certain scenarios, I will get even BETTER daytime shots on the wide angle than the main sensor as it's not RYYB and the fact that it's got an even bigger sensor size than that actually gives it some advantages to the main lens and compared to generally most other wide angle lens from other phones.
+ Video recording seem better stabilized, with less choppiness when panning around the scene and it can finally record 4k in 60FPS too due to the newer ISP. Wide angle video capture is miles better than the P30P's one due to the significantly superior hardware, especially in low light.
+ I love its quad rear camera design and its shiny ring more than similar rivals' implementations by the iPhone 11, Pixel 4 and even the M20P - just feel like saying it as I've grown to like it now!
+ ToF sensor feels slightly better than the one found in the P30P - my portrait mode shots and bokeh effects tend to be more precise with less clipping and better edge detection around subjects
+ 7680FPS video recording isn't just a stunt as it does work and is fun to use when you want to show off something cool and playful with it. No other smartphone in the industry comes close.
+ Night Mode shots with both the primary and wide angle lens has been improved further against the P30P which was already the king of low light - it captures the smaller details better (mainly only noticed when you zoom or crop in), has less noise and better colour balance in almost every shot I took in low light.
- Occasionally renders warm, red tinges to my photos when shooting with the primary main sensor, but rarely ever happens in all circumstances when using the wide angle sensor (most likely because it's not RYYB). Hopefully resolved with future software updates.
- No periscope 5x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom capability. You now get 3x optical and 3x digital instead which isn't entirely a dealbreaker as most people won't be using this all the time but I feel it needs to be said anyway.
- I've seen some minor lens flare that I did not ever seem to get on the P30P, or on any other phone I've owned to date.
- Front selfie camera has improved a bit from the P30P but it still applies a lot of digital make-up to my face and smooths out my skin a bit too much for my liking, and that's even with the beauty level set to the lowest in the UI. It's once again still not on the same league as the iPhone 11 or Note 10's front cameras.
- No super macro-mode for close up shots of up to 2.5cm from the subject which used to be found on the P30P - I understand this is due to the new sensors that no longer allow it
- Still lacks an automatic HDR toggle - you need to enable it manually each time under "More" in the camera settings
Battery life and Charging
+ Lasts really long due to the combination of the Kirin 990 on the newest 7nm+ EUV node, a massive 4500mAh battery which Huawei claim also uses "AI" to understand your usage patterns and potentially even being based on Android 10's behind-the-scenes battery optimizations/algorithms (I got more SOT than my P30P)
+ For me, the lack of GMS/Google Play Services definitely improved my battery life too
+ 40w supercharge which tops up the battery incredibly quick without overheating my phone (about 0-70% in 30mins just like before). I've also got a 40w Huawei SuperCharge power bank which is compatible with the M30P.
+ 27w wireless charging - I don't have a wireless charger to test but this makes it vastly superior to most wired charging speeds from other brands.
- "3x faster reverse wireless charging" is still largely a gimmick as it's not that much of an improvement from the previous gen (from 2.5W to 7.5w now) in every day practical use but I can see how it can be useful in emergency situations where even a few % can be useful for a friend if he/she doesn't have a portable charger
Performance and Software
+ Android 10 + UFS 3.0 (being used for the first time by Huawei) + 8GB of RAM = an extremely fluid, snappy and responsive system all-round with no lag!
+ I can still use most of my essential daily apps without Google Play Services by sideloading them, including Brave (which I prefer over Chrome anyway), Google Maps, Google Keyboard, Gmail (via the native Huawei mail handler), Instagram and WhatsApp
+ GPS accuracy in apps such as Google Maps, Cellular strength and mobile data speeds equally as fast and reliable as my P30P or if not slightly better from what I've noticed
+ Kirin 990 chipset performs well despite not using ARM's newest Cortex A77 cores, and shines in the battery life department and in games due to the optimizations to both the CPU +GPU
+ First in line to get the latest software updates if you purchase the Chinese LIO-AL00 model - I've already had 4 in less than a week and most were at least 1GB in size so they weren't all minor patches
- No Google Play Services out of the box, so you'll need to somehow restore your phone using HiSuite with a known working backup that has it or find alternative apps that don't rely on it
- My CN LIO-AL00 had a lot of bloatware that I couldn't easily uninstall and disable under the Settings, so I had to remove a lot of them via adb on my Desktop which took up a lot of time
- I still would've preferred the Kirin 990 to feature the newest A77 cores, as the upcoming Snapdragon 865 is guaranteed to have them (nonetheless the optimized A76s for power efficiency easily match and beat the 855+ in most areas
Audio quality
+ Phone call and speaker sound quality (especially at mid to higher volumes) feels a fair bit louder, fuller, clearer, richer and better balanced than the P30P
+ Audio capture when recording videos seems to be improved by a minor amount over the P30P
- Still has a single downwards firing speaker. Where's the dual stereo nowadays?
Other final thoughts:
+ Under display fingerprint sensor is incredibly fast and responsive - definitely ahead of the one in the P30P
+ Excellent build quality which is to be expected from another Huawei flagship - the whole device feels very premium and screams quality in the hands
+ Battery life is even better than the P30P which was already the Android battery champ!
+ Great price if you can somehow import it over from China - I paid 5800¥ for the 128GB model to a friend who brought it to me (approximately $820/€736/£634)
I hope people will find my well-balanced comparison helpful between the M30P and my P30P!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ssregitoss said:
thanks you for your writing. i remember huawei advirtised is 2.5 cm close shoting super macro. which is very dissappointing for me. i like macro shots. And some reviewers in my country told that night photos are very bright and it makes the sceen very unrealist. Hope they fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MACRO mode works wonderful but it is only available for the M30
The M30 Pro lacks this feature due to different camera setup - I had both models so I can testify this from my own experience,
Pretty much best hardware best camera one of the best battery life out now, bar none
alon3232 said:
MACRO mode works wonderful but it is only available for the M30
The M30 Pro lacks this feature due to different camera setup - I had both models so I can testify this from my own experience,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gosh... Personally I would expect m30pro to support super macro. I was expecting a software update will fix this.
Sent from my LIO-L29 using Tapatalk
I bought my Mate 30 Pro on February 1th 2020, when it was launched in Romania. Since I preordered it, I received the phone bundled with the Freebuds 3, which are surprisingly good and I'm a music producer, hence I care about the sound I have, even though I'm only listening music on it occasionally. I have also received a $210 coupon discount which turned this 256 Gb version of the phone into a total no brainer. No macro shots hurts, true, but besides that, after a month of usage I can still say I'm very happy with it!
A worthy successor to the Mate 20 Pro
I like it. But what about love...I don't know. I am not quite sure about my feelings yet))
hello
have a nice day
alon3232 said:
MACRO mode works wonderful but it is only available for the M30
The M30 Pro lacks this feature due to different camera setup - I had both models so I can testify this from my own experience,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know its being a year already lol....but how much camera quality differs between the vanilla & pro version?