Update on camera performance - Essential Phone Questions & Answers

Hi,
I am currently looking how to get a PH-1 to Germany. Meanwhile, I have a question to happy users and owners: While I have read a lot about the camera and its app it is not exactly clear to me whether this is a hardware issue or a software issue. However, it seems to me that with recent updates Essential could significantly improve quality and overall performance of the camera.
All PH-1 reviews have been writte until October/November 2017. And information about updates for the camera app only have limited contents such as "improves stability and adds finctions".
So, from an experienced user's perspective: is it a software issue, and is the camera meanwhile 'comparable' to other flagship phones ragarding picture quality? I am explicitly not talking about functionality as it seems to me that the PH-1 is designed to get rid of unnecessary stuff or what may be considered so.
Simply asked: How would you rate and review the camera as of to date?
Thanks,
Eriol

Eriol said:
Hi,
I am currently looking how to get a PH-1 to Germany. Meanwhile, I have a question to happy users and owners: While I have read a lot about the camera and its app it is not exactly clear to me whether this is a hardware issue or a software issue. However, it seems to me that with recent updates Essential could significantly improve quality and overall performance of the camera.
All PH-1 reviews have been writte until October/November 2017. And information about updates for the camera app only have limited contents such as "improves stability and adds finctions".
So, from an experienced user's perspective: is it a software issue, and is the camera meanwhile 'comparable' to other flagship phones ragarding picture quality? I am explicitly not talking about functionality as it seems to me that the PH-1 is designed to get rid of unnecessary stuff or what may be considered so.
Simply asked: How would you rate and review the camera as of to date?
Thanks,
Eriol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the stock camera is good not as all other flagship like pixel 2 ?but the gcam magisk mod is really amazing and bring some extra cool stuff and really improve picture quality ??

@Eriol The camera will not win any awards, but it is sufficient when there's plenty of daylight. I also find that the portrait mode works really well. Below is an example, and lighting was not even that great. Do yourself a favor though, don't buy a Sprint version. Just pay a little more for the OPENUS unlocked version. Save yourself the hassle. Sorry, don't know why the picture rotated.

Related

Camera algorithm improvements?

So, I read from reviews that while the 6p camera is great, it does have some issues with certain images like hdr. That being said, is there a possibility a dev here will issue a flashable/installable camera improvement? I know this is a silly question to ask but I was curious nonetheless
Info
abraxo said:
So, I read from reviews that while the 6p camera is great, it does have some issues with certain images like hdr. That being said, is there a possibility a dev here will issue a flashable/installable camera improvement? I know this is a silly question to ask but I was curious nonetheless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
test camera with this app
it show and capture with NO effect on view
CameraW
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.geekstools.cameraW
there s lots of new improvement in camera
new API and so new capturing algorithm
beside software improvement thr is awesome camera lens
:good:
So what your saying is that various photography apps may or may not improve performance?
You will have to wait for Google to release software update.

Room for improvement on video/camera?

As I'm not so techy, I was wondering if the fact that the honor has OpenCL API, makes it so that not only the camera but also VIDEO can be improved with future updates?
Cause the quality of the video is really not what I'd like to see. The bad (or even lack of) autofocussing makes me cringe. This (and the better battery) is the only reason why I'm considering buying a moto x play instead.. Cause although it has the same sensor, the quality is much, much better.
Also, I know future updates CAN improve the camera, but WILL they? As far as I've heard there hasn't been any changes made to the quality of it in recent updates, or am I wrong?
Kind regards,
Mush
bump.
Why no answers?
I'll shorten my question:
Will the camera/video quality be drastically improved in the future?
(because of this OpenCL API-thingy)
thus will it be able to surpass the moto x play quality?
g0tMush said:
bump.
Why no answers?
I'll shorten my question:
Will the camera/video quality be drastically improved in the future?
(because of this OpenCL API-thingy)
thus will it be able to surpass the moto x play quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In general, wait for the MM update at least which will be out anytime soon. Huawei rom updates in China happen throughout the year so there will be improvements but cannot predict how much and how soon.
To be specific about the video, Huawei phones have all comparably poor video recording quality. So i am not too hopeful of drastic improvements on that front. I expect change only on Huawei phones with the newer Kirin 950 chip.
Dont expect miracles
warea said:
In general, wait for the MM update at least which will be out anytime soon. Huawei rom updates in China happen throughout the year so there will be improvements but cannot predict how much and how soon.
To be specific about the video, Huawei phones have all comparably poor video recording quality. So i am not too hopeful of drastic improvements on that front. I expect change only on Huawei phones with the newer Kirin 950 chip.
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Thanks for the reply!
What I understood of the review was that this phone has a unique way of dealing with photo processing. Like it hasn't got a dedicated ISP or something. And thus, the picture quality is more easily updatable than other phones.
Or did I misunderstood that?
androidauthority. com/honor-7-arm-mali-gpu-image-processing-627997/
(wasn't allowed to post an url yet cause of post count, add the www and connect the .com)
g0tMush said:
Thanks for the reply!
What I understood of the review was that this phone has a unique way of dealing with photo processing. Like it hasn't got a dedicated ISP or something. And thus, the picture quality is more easily updatable than other phones.
Or did I misunderstood that?
androidauthority. com/honor-7-arm-mali-gpu-image-processing-627997/
(wasn't allowed to post an url yet cause of post count, add the www and connect the .com)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey buddy try this maybe you can solve your video issue...
http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/get-new-moto-x-camera-app-most-android-devices-0167066/
Inviato dal mio PLK-L01 utilizzando Tapatalk

Mate 8 camera performance on nougat?

Hello everyone, I'm a hairs breadth from ordering a mate 8 as my Christmas present to myself but I have a question before I do.
Having (possibly) read all the reviews there are for this phone I can see people often grumbling about the camera quality. Now I'm sure that as it is it'll be at least as good as the one on my LG G PRO 2, but my query is this. Now that several people have nougat installed, is the camera better than it was on marshmallow? Would it be possible for people to try replicating pics from before the update but on nougat now to post their thoughts?
I'm likely to order one tonight either way, but I'm sure this would be of interest to buyers who have put it off until now.
Bearded_1 said:
Hello everyone, I'm a hairs breadth from ordering a mate 8 as my Christmas present to myself but I have a question before I do.
Having (possibly) read all the reviews there are for this phone I can see people often grumbling about the camera quality. Now I'm sure that as it is it'll be at least as good as the one on my LG G PRO 2, but my query is this. Now that several people have nougat installed, is the camera better than it was on marshmallow? Would it be possible for people to try replicating pics from before the update but on nougat now to post their thoughts?
I'm likely to order one tonight either way, but I'm sure this would be of interest to buyers who have put it off until now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been taking photos since I was a kid in the 60's. In the early 80's, I was into film SLR's. In the early 2000's, I switched to dSLR.
I'm kind of picky. Using the default camera app, it's "ok", but if you switch to Camera FV-5, you'll have a lot more control over the
sensitivity of the camera sensor.
Under normal lighting conditions, it's not a bad camera, but you have to take into consideration, the sensor is still tens of times
SMALLER than even a APS-C camera sensor, as are all phone sensors.
signal to noise ratio, crosstalk, it's just hard to get around, when you pack megapixels worth of sensors, on such a small substrate.
Great suggestion on the camera app - I think I've seen it suggested elsewhere too. I was really wondering if anyone who has updated their phone to 7 on the betas had noticed an improvement in the camera app, but as it should be with me in about ten days and the official update should be fairly close I'll be able to make comparisons myself!
Bearded_1 said:
Great suggestion on the camera app - I think I've seen it suggested elsewhere too. I was really wondering if anyone who has updated their phone to 7 on the betas had noticed an improvement in the camera app, but as it should be with me in about ten days and the official update should be fairly close I'll be able to make comparisons myself!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sort of in the same spot you were. Looking at this phone and wondering if the camera performance has improved with the update to 7 and EMUI 5.0. Did you get the phone or find out anything?
uno3122 said:
Sort of in the same spot you were. Looking at this phone and wondering if the camera performance has improved with the update to 7 and EMUI 5.0. Did you get the phone or find out anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got it, and the camera is indeed better than on my previous LG G PRO 2. I just did a shoot-out with a Pixel this morning looking through the office window and I have to say that there wasn't a huge amount of difference from what i could see on screen.. Hopefully I have managed to upload a stock Mate 8 camera shot and the same taken with the Pixel. There is more detail in the Pixel shot, but not enough to not be happy with the Mate. As to what will happen with the camera capabilities once on Nougat, I have no idea, but I'm happy with the results i'm getting at the moment! The Pixel shot is darker, but that maybe due to it having hdr+ on and the light balance difference from aiming higher into the sky.
Bearded_1 said:
I've got it, and the camera is indeed better than on my previous LG G PRO 2. I just did a shoot-out with a Pixel this morning looking through the office window and I have to say that there wasn't a huge amount of difference from what i could see on screen.. Hopefully I have managed to upload a stock Mate 8 camera shot and the same taken with the Pixel. There is more detail in the Pixel shot, but not enough to not be happy with the Mate. As to what will happen with the camera capabilities once on Nougat, I have no idea, but I'm happy with the results i'm getting at the moment! The Pixel shot is darker, but that maybe due to it having hdr+ on and the light balance difference from aiming higher into the sky.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the comparison! That's very encouraging. I'll be looking forward to any updates with the camera software with the upgrade to EMUI 5.0 and Nougat.
Maybe next update (EMUI 5.0 and Nougat) bring to us some improvements from Mate 9 camera.
"Aside from the latest security patch, the update also includes several other changes, including 10x digital zoom option in the camera as well as some performance related improvements."
http://www.gsmarena.com/december_security_update_hitting_huawei_mate_9-news-22331.php
With latest Nougat (I'm not sure whether it was there before or not), it allows to save raw pictures (in pro mode).
I know camera is 1000% much better than on emui 4.1 on 4.0 is good but on Nougat is really good
Sended from my N3 AryaMod S7 NoteUX LSS 3.6 UX

Question about IMX 398 and further optimizations/OIS

Hello all,
Now that there are so many great devs supporting our device there is a question that i would like to ask.
Is there any possibility to optimize and add OIS through custom roms in the near future?
If i am not wrong the quality on OP3,GP is better(even with google camera) due to their software during the img processing. It would be splendid to have the camera improved even by a small margin.
I also want to clarify that i am not circle jerking about the camera, i am humbly asking if such software upgrade would be possible.
Thanks!
Ois is hardware dependant. Yes, op3 has same sensor, but with ois implemented. You cant have it by some software tweaks
But there is EIS, so electronik stabilization. Maybe this helps?
Thanks for the responses. I havent really make any research regarding mobile phone sensors so i could only guess.
If OIS is out of question due to being hardware dependent, then what about the image processing?
As far as i have seen its mostly software dependent so do you think that we could get better quality ?(i.e better night shots)
manuelbvb said:
But there is EIS, so electronik stabilization. Maybe this helps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant see EIS on the stock came( i meant an enabler)
Yes it is not activ, bit maybe the devs could integrate it. It should be possible because no extra Hardware is needed.
You need sources and blobs and stuff. Its not that simple, wouldnt bet on it happening. Only realistic way is if leeco themselfes push update with improved quality
Incogn said:
You need sources and blobs and stuff. Its not that simple, wouldnt bet on it happening. Only realistic way is if leeco themselfes push update with improved quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds good, but i usw lineage OS and therefore the leeco updates are useless?

Mi A1: could it be the best choice for a budget phone?

Hi everyone.
I'm looking for a new phone that could be solid and valuable for everyday use, but I have a budget limit of 250 $. I'll certainly buy a top of the line device later but, since my needs are really basic, I prefer to have a cheaper phone along this period, and change it without too many worries once I'll have the chance.
The Mi A1 seems really promising, but I also read mixed thoughts about it. I mainly use the phone for social apps, light gaming and I like to do a lot of photos, but always intended for social use. I'll try to summarize all my doubts:
1) the update plan: A1 is an Android One device. Can I expect a reasonable amount of updates compared to other phones or other devices by Xiaomi with Miui? I'd really hate to buy a phone that will be "dead" (under the updates point of view) soon.
2) Camera: as I said before, I use the camera a lot. I read that A1 allows to take good photos for its price range. The only cons is the quality of the camera under low-light conditions. Beside this, does it have a good camera? Are its limits solvable with updates or are they hardware limits?
3) Front Camera: is it good? I watched some tests, and I noticed it can make good selfies, but I'd like some other feedbacks. Is the front camera good, even if it only is a 5 mp?
So, the final question: do you recommend this phone according to my budget? Are there better phones around with better camera and performance?
As far as I know, A1 is a best buy, since it's difficult to reach the same overall quality price ratio at that price. Other phones on the same price range have better cameras, but worse performances, or they won't get updates anymore. I'd like some other feedbacks before deciding.
Thanks in advance!
as from experience, value for money, YES the MiA1 provide that kan of leverage.. and without NFC though... just to keep that in mind
the front facing camera with 5MP sensor is horrible.. and the rear facing ones, in outdoor light it is great but in low light it doesn't count much in sattisfaction
BUT for the camera purpose, you could root the device with magisk then sideload GCam HDR+ for a better an awesome results :victory: the hardware has many potential, but the software side it's provided by xiaomi themselves and until this day no software update is present..
wait for this years release of phones including note 5, moto g6 play etc. They will have better processor, oreo out of the box( meaning they will have Project Treble). Even with Snapdragon 630 you will get bluetooth 5.0.
adfds said:
wait for this years release of phones including note 5, moto g6 play etc. They will have better processor, oreo out of the box( meaning they will have Project Treble). Even with Snapdragon 630 you will get bluetooth 5.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go with 630.
wawing_b said:
the front facing camera with 5MP sensor is horrible.. and the rear facing ones, in outdoor light it is great but in low light it doesn't count much in sattisfaction
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That's a really bad news, since the front camera is one of my priorities I was sure it was good, the quality of the shots I found online was more than average :crying:
adfds said:
wait for this years release of phones including note 5, moto g6 play etc. They will have better processor, oreo out of the box( meaning they will have Project Treble). Even with Snapdragon 630 you will get bluetooth 5.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a really good advice. Thanks. I guess I have to find a really cheap phone that allows me to survive until some interesting devices come out.
Heisenbear said:
That's a really bad news, since the front camera is one of my priorities I was sure it was good, the quality of the shots I found online was more than average :crying:
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well it might be good..
but if you wanted the best quality in front facing camera I guess you have to look elsewhere and streching your budget a bit to strive fort that quality.. at least a minimal of 8 MP or above for the front camera
and if you still wanted the MiA1, you could side load GCam HDR+ after rooting it... and another one, Portrait cam if I'm not mistaken.. on the hardware side it's plausable, but then on the software side xiaomi hasn't publish any cam app update (yet)
wawing_b said:
well it might be good..
but if you wanted the best quality in front facing camera I guess you have to look elsewhere and streching your budget a bit to strive fort that quality.. at least a minimal of 8 MP or above for the front camera
and if you still wanted the MiA1, you could side load GCam HDR+ after rooting it... and another one, Portrait cam if I'm not mistaken.. on the hardware side it's plausable, but then on the software side xiaomi hasn't publish any cam app update (yet)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, a 8 mp camera would be a sensible improvement, but my low budget limit is due to the fact that it will be only a temporary device, until the moment I'll buy a top-of-the-line smartphone later.
I just need a reliable phone for this period, capable of doing almost everything in an acceptable way.
This explains my question. Is the front camera so horrible? I was pretty satisfied with my iphone 5 front camera, which is only a 1,2 MP. I doubt the shots of a 2017 phone could be worse than those ones
It's not so much the MP that really matters, it's the processing and the sensor. In good lighting, the front camera is not bad. In lower lighting, it makes everyone look like a wax figure (bad processing + high ISO + heavy noise reduction).
goofball2k said:
It's not so much the MP that really matters, it's the processing and the sensor. In good lighting, the front camera is not bad. In lower lighting, it makes everyone look like a wax figure (bad processing + high ISO + heavy noise reduction).
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Click to collapse
That's true. It's undeniable, the pics under low-light conditions are really insufficient. I clearly noticed this watching the various samples around. I could be wrong, but it's a common problem for low budget phones, so there're not many choices within that range of price.
I have another doubt, speaking of xiaomi phones. How is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x, compared with A1 or other low budget phones? Could it be a valid alternative?
The camera is a shocker and the android one program a joke. Don't even consider it.
Wait.
Value for money.. Yes.. considering the cost to hardware ratio definitely VFM..
Updates is under Mi.. Dont fall for the android one tag.. Buggy os, poor updates.. Almost 5 months and they couldn't solve the contact linking issue..
Back camera takes good pics in good lighting condition.. Front camera module is same as that of Redmi note 4, i've read.. Only problems most pics don't look natural..
Loudspeakers actually loud.. I can hear ringtones for once..
Havent felt audio is that great.. havent experienced white noise issue..
Batterys good..
The biggest letback of the device is its os.. Very poorly developed.. Lots of bugs.. I've had more than 5 redmi devices.. The software experience was solid.. But here its pathetic & very frustrating.. U often get the feeling u r running a WIP custom rom.. So much potential in the phone & very much wasted.. This is the most frustrating device i have used till date.. So this is one device i won't recommend..
as an owner of mia1 , now i would have bought the new nokia 6 (2018) , xiomi is a total disaster with software, i got mia1 thinking google would take care of the software but that would have been to good to be true
wawing_b said:
as from experience, value for money, yes the mia1 provide that kan of leverage.. And without nfc though... Just to keep that in mind
the front facing camera with 5mp sensor is horrible.. And the rear facing ones, in outdoor light it is great but in low light it doesn't count much in sattisfaction
but for the camera purpose, you could root the device with magisk then sideload gcam hdr+ for a better an awesome results :victory: The hardware has many potential, but the software side it's provided by xiaomi themselves and until this day no software update is present..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i bought a1 in october and got about 15 updates .
Best choice?
Yes and no.
Some like it some hate it.
I bought it, because it's dirt cheap and has all I need.Clean android(with mi camera and remote), good battery, dual sim, nice design.If you like that and don't want to spend money on pixel, this is a poor man pixel.
If you don't like clean android, it's not for you.
I optimised it, have zero bugs, don't have issues with hissing or screen, or reboots or whatever is reported here.
But others here are reporting that they have bugs.So there might be quality control issues.You can end up with a good unit, or with a bad one.
Bad thing is no kernel source yet, though it's xiaomi, they always delay that for months, but there was a rumour that they will release it till the end of january.We'll see.As a user point of view, not a big deal...but as a developer, it's a crap.
So if you are a developer, it's not for you.
As for updates, they are regular, don't know what others had before, but, just like nexus/pixel line(although it gets updates days after them and it is not on 8.1 yet) it will be covered for 2 years with updates and 3 with security patches.
So...no one can help you with that, but you.If you can, check it in a store, to see if you like it or not.
Sent from my Mi A1 using Tapatalk

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