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HamdiR HTC One Semi Review, vs HTC One X - extras: Double Flip Cover & Media Link HD

HamdiR HTC One Semi Review, vs HTC One X - extras: Double Flip Cover & Media Link HD
This is my semi review for the HTC One
Batch Date: HT33W, Made in Taiwan 28th of March
Firmware: 1.28.401.7
Region: EMEA, French unlocked unit
update: HTC just issued a statement about an upcoming update dealing with few camera issues mentioned in the review
HTC One updated with camera enhancement suite and more in Europe (1.29.401.13)
• Noise reduction in slow motion movie capture
• Improved color reproduction and dynamic range (reduced over-exposure in non-HDR images) in certain conditions
• Fix to display correct ISO in EXIF information when ISO settings are manually changed by the user
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This device is still not widely available in my country, given that we still don't have official HTC presence in Lebanon it's up to sub dealers to import HTC devices, some of which are registered with HTC, the device can be purchased for around 1100$ which is a crazy price at the moment, my cousin bought the device along with the media link and double flip cover accessories and i was able to spend some quality time with the device.
Design and Build quality: Pristine and Flawless
The device finish is exquisite, the metal parts are laser cut to perfection and the injected plastic bands are completely flush with the device, both the plastic parts and metallic back plate are "one" piece they are cut and molded together hence a zero gap uni-body shell, the independent frontal metallic speaker covers are perfectly flush as well, unlike some reported early cases of misalignment or gaps, this more recent unit had an almost zero gap speakers covers, you can visually identify its not as microscopic zero gap as the unibody shell but both covers are so rigid and tightly fit there are no gaps, no overhangs, the screen and its metallic protection sides are also perfectly fit and finished
Curiously it has a French warning sticker about speakers' loudness
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The white plastic band had no imperfections to the USB or earphone ports however you can detect some micro imperfections to the interior of the earphone port and the SIM tray hole, i have to say without close inspection this can not be seen from any distance and returning such a device on this account is just being bitter
The volume button looks and feel like a brushed metal but i actually suspect its plastic with metallic finish
Unlike what you would assume from online photos, the device physically looks very different than the iPhone, it looks much slimmer due to the tapered sides, the mixture of black screen glass and metallic sides plus silver metal plates and white plastic inserts gives a very polarizing effect, it actually feels more male than you would imagine, the aluminum parts project a more premium metal feel, in other words the device has a machinery stainless steel feel due to the beveled machined metal parts, combine all this with the slim profile and the resulting look is a very sleek yet bold and edgy
In terms of ergonomics the moment you hold the device you are surprised by how well it slips into the palm of your hand, it holds very well, I commend them for not going with a bigger screen since due to the extra speakers space the device lost a little percentage of it's one hand usability coming from the One X, the screen is very comfortable to use however and i found it still manageable with one hand, the device is just barely bigger than the One X as I was able to fit it in the same tight pouch I use for my One X
I found reports of a slippery finish surprising since the device was really easy to juggle around even when rotating it constantly for the different tests I've done, perhaps it's a different story for sweaty hands or black finish?
Speaking of black finish, I recommend going with the genuinely colored silver version, I can see the One is clearly not itself in any other color
In terms of durability, we have to remember this is not really rugged device, with such pristine metallic finish, it's not hard to imagine how easy it would be ruined with one drop, I am not talking about breaking the device but actually dents to the fit and finish will clearly go less easy than it does on the single piece single colored One X, any sort of protection is highly recommend, I would go with a transparent slim cover or simply a pouch so i can both enjoy the design while protecting the device.
Screen: 4.7" 1080p 468ppi screen Laminated and Bright as the One X
The screen like the One X before it is laminated to the glass, there is no air between the glass and LCD, hence it appears floating on the surface, a laminated screen would not suffer from the old dust under screen concerns
Within the first few moments of use you realize the famed 720p screen on the One X is now outdated, its hard to describe, the difference isn't so obvious but for me I was always able to detect density when reading in low light, not anymore! pixel density eye detection on a phone is now history, the screen is sharp and pristine, a perfect reflection of the sleek device design and build material
I actually found the color accuracy on the One a little better than the One X, yes it's clearly a cooler calibration but in actual use it was obviously whiter than the warm saturated One X screen (again perhaps due to my low light environment), it was also a little less saturated which is a good thing in terms of Apple like accuracy but might disappoint saturation lovers
The full brightness on both devices was surprisingly a match, i couldn't tell any difference between brightness, blacks and view angles as you can see in this photo taken by a Desire SV
One thing was clear however especially in view angles, the One screen had little more glass reflections, this is why it appears to have darker view angles in some photos which is not the real case, I assume it would perform slightly less in outdoor visibility than the One X
A reminder: As reported by Anandtech, OEMs are known to use different panel sources which can differ in calibration, it's also worth noting the HTC One is using a sort of dynamic contrast which might influence white point tests.
Audio Quality: "BoomSound" Stereo speakers and HDR sound recording
This part will not take a long write to describe, the speakers on the HTC One are beyond anything you have experienced on a mobile device, it's not the loudness or actual deep bass but the quality of the output, its crystal clear you simply can not fail to notice how clear and crisp it sounds whenever an audio plays even the tiniest of notifications tons or how clean it remains with the loudest of music, one thing to note however is that Beats audio is enabled by default, when disabled the sound quality is significantly worse, it's good know HTC finally made real use of it's Beats deal, whether its by HW alone or SW as well is not clear (it might still be a counter trick just to emphasis the importance of beats branding)
What's even more impressive is audio recording quality, just phenomenal, I tried two tests:
- First is recording straight from TV, the results were excellent, crisp but not very loud due to the distance from TV
- The second is re-recording the audio captured by the One from this video while playing on my One X! very impressive, it played back almost as crisp as we have it on youtube (I will upload this test once i get the chance)
There was some kind of low a frequency hiss with these video in their playback on the One but not nearly as audible when those same videos played back on the One X, my guess is that this noise was being exaggerated by the BoomSound speakers, I didn't get the chance to try disabling Beats during playback which might resolve this issue
Unfortunately I also had no chance to test earphones performance, this will have to go till my my next time with the device
Video Recording: 1080p at 20MB per second
The default video quality was excellent, it recorded 1080p video at constant 20Mbps, Anandtech noted this is the maximum ability of the s600 SOC, the resulting one minute H264 mp4 file was 150MB, and as reviews has stated optical stability during video recording is impressive as well, I was doing tests in indoor low light and colors were an accurate reflection of the real scene, much better than the redness of the One X during low light, the video runs at locked 30fps which is very impressive considering the One X video lag in low light
Unfortunately the same can not be said about both slow motion and 60fps modes while both modes functioned probably in terms of frame rate the image quality was very bad, HDR however was a mixed bag it actually works, dynamic range and especially colors are much improved but in my low light environment there was some strange flickers, I expect this mode to work better during daylight, the good news encoding in HDR mode is as good as the standard mode, the following screenshots will tell the story:
Standard mode, 30fps(indoor low light), 1920x1080, 20Mbps
HDR mode, 29fps(indoor low light), 1920x1080, 19Mbps
Slow motion mode, 24fps(indoor low light), 768x432, 2.5Mbps
60fps mode, 43fps(indoor low light), 1280x720, 8.5Mbps
Download full size screenshots
Ultrapixel Camera: 4MP 4µm F2.0 wide angle, aka Advanced Night Vision Goggles
As we've observed in the photo thread, the default camera settings had two slight issues: aggressive digital sharpness and lack of contrast due to the brightness loving (2.0µm x 2.0µm) sensor, thankfully both are within our control due to the honestly deep options in the camera UI, sharpness can be reduced by setting it to -1 or -2 for disabled while contrast can be boosted in few ways like setting contrast to +1, exposure to -1, apply auto enhance from gallery > edit > effects (you can also drag the preset to customize it) or third party apps
Again my environment was low light indoor, so i was only able to test it within this context and compare it with the 8MP (1.0µm x 1.0µm) F2.0 One X, in general I still found results to be only missing a little contrast punch and naturally based on my own recommendation I reduced sharpness to -1 on all the shots
Here I found all the tweaked results better than the default settings, low light color capture was a lot better than the redness on the One X, in terms of 1:1 detail the 4MP results were clearly better than the noisy One X results:
There are four One vs two One X samples in this comparison
The One X is weak in it's low light default capture, but it's still F2.0, there is a special mode on the One X allowing for great low light capability and that is HDR + Auto flash, the same mode can be used on the One, it captures three shots along with two quick flashes for combined HDR exposures without tinting the colors, the One HDR capture is dramatically faster than the One X, sometimes you don't even see the "processing" notification, this means HDR results form the One have a tremendously less chance of blurring than the One X, as you can see it's almost night vision:
There are three One vs three One X samples in this comparison
There are four One vs two One X samples in this comparison
There is something very odd about the first standard results, first in this dark white scene the automatic camera settings struggled, I could clearly see it in the view finder as it's struggling to setup, the first shot is the one above (exposure 1/7 ISO 1922) the second capture (not displayed above) was weirder it used exposure 1/30 ISO 235, the results were noise free but curiously low ISO seems to apply more aggressive detail smudging, more about this later
In the following I attempt again to tweak camera settings in order to boost contrast:
It seems contrast +1 and auto enhance can often achieve similar results, sadly it sometime feels too harsh, a middle ground would be more ideal like auto enhance from perfectly clear app, examples here
In conclusion contrast + 0.5 would have been ideal
Comparing 1:1 Detail:
HTC One, ISO-193, 4MP 1:1
HTC One X, ISO-800, 8MP downscaled
iPad 4, ISO-250, 5MP 1:1
HTC One, exposure 1/60 ISO-104, 1:1
HTC One X, exposure 1/20 ISO-125, 1:1
If a good light source is nearby, the camera will choose a very low ISO + extreme shutter speed and those noise free slightly smudgy results will appear again, colors are way off on the One X meanwhile it's a perfect shot from the HTC One
HTC One, exposure 1/60 ISO-104
HTC One X, exposure 1/20 ISO-125
One last time, macro, light source away, resulting in noisy high ISO
HTC One, exposure 1/10 ISO-1027
HTC One X, exposure 1/20 ISO-1000
Download full size HTC One samples
Download full size HTC One X samples
In general I found the camera an amazing performer in low light, especially when it comes to color accuracy, shutter speed and most important power, those settings are empowering but as a side effect it definitely has a learning curve, those expecting point and shoot awe inspiring results might struggle
For the average user much of this photographic power might remain unseen
Last thing to note the camera view finder, shutter, UI and processing speed is absurdly fast, it totally out-dates the already fast One X camera
The front camera is similar to the "full frontal" ultra wide angle camera as the HTC 8x. Shutter speed and viewfinder fps is a lot better than on the 8x, but after reinspecting indoor photos i previously took with my 8x i noticed the quality is indeed reduced on the One.
HTC Zoe:
This is the most fun feature of the HTC camera, lets get to the negatives first, the Zoe trigger is actually just an icon without any label, this alone might keep this feature unseen to many! once you click the icon the shutter button will have a Zoe label over it and it starts caching images, when you click it collects few pre frames and the remaining captures until the red bar runs out.
Once you have a Zoe you can do great things but yet again those abilities are a little hidden, in order to apply sequence shot for example you have to go to edit > enhance,Ii struggled few times to find it since it only appears if it's a Zoe and sometimes I confused its location with edit > effects, either way "sequence shot" and all Zoe abilities like "always smile" are the perfect party camera features, tons of fun if you are using these abilities with a couple of friends or your family
In Zoe capture many options including sharpness controls are actually disabled, I also noticed captured quality can be different than normal capture, for example all my Zoe still shots appear to be the most in lacking contrast
Now for the best Zoe part "highlights" again it's confusing at first since you see those moving zoe thumbnails and a still thumbnail with a play icon, once you press play you realize it's a highlight reel being generated in realtime, I was spending the whole evening with my cousin and wife trying out this phone, when we finally arrived to the highlights part it caught us by surprise, it was video recap of the entire evening with the neat default "vega" theme, it was hilarious seeing all our tests, videos, zoes, expressions and beer photos come together, there couldn't be a more perfect "memory capture" of the evening
A word of warning a highlight is not automatically saved and they will change once you capture more content, so if you see something you like hit menu and save in order to keep it as a video, you can also share it to HTC Zoe website, it's wise to clean up your zoe's once your done, if you don't want to overwhelm your camera folder
Sense 5.0, Blinkfeed and Buttons layout:
The new UI is all about less is more, there is much less UI and a lot more functionality, from the get go I changed the app drawer grid from the default 3 columns and i've a set a normal homescreen as my default, although there were few accounts loaded like Facebook, I was not fuzzed by blinkfeed it was left there to the left and harmless, if those feeds have ugly or low res photos expect the phone to greet you with them, so it does what it does and that is providing feeds but it should not be the default homscreen
As for the rest of the UI its just minimalist, clean and a lot more AOSP in terms of cursor and buttons etc, most importantly its so fast and locked triple buffered 60fps JB smooth, so smooth you really don't care about it anymore, you can be busy multitasking, jumping back and forth and the UI will never break a sweat, it's never in your way, after this my One X feels a little "old fashioned"
Not once did I confuse the HTC logo for a button, I was perfectly adapted to the new home button location and double tapping for multi view, in fact I have enjoyed the change
If I was to be picky, I can say I have noticed some fps drops in folders' animation inside the app drawer, otherwise the OS is scorching fast and liquid smooth
Gaming:
update: check the following 3D games reports
3D Games Performance Report Part II>>
3D Games Performance Report Part I>>
As a recap here is the current HTC One GPU situation:
http://gfxbench.com/device.jsp?benchmark=gfx27&D=HTC+One
in T-Rex offscreen 1080p:
Tegra4 project shield @18fps
554MP4 iPad 4 @16.8fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.2.2) GPU 450mhz OC @18fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.1.2) GPU 450mhz OC @17fps
Adreno320 s600 SGS4 (4.2.2) GPU 450mhz stock @17ps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.2.2) GPU 400mhz stock @15fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.1.2) GPU 400mhz stock @14.8fps
544MP3 Octa SGS4 @12.5fps
Tegra3 HTC One X @4.1fps
in Egypt HD 2.5 offscreen 1080p:
Tegra4 project shield @54.5fps
554MP4 iPad4 @54.4fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.2.2) GPU 450mhz OC @45fps
544MP3 Octa SGS4 @43fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.2.2) GPU 400mhz stock @41fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.1.2) GPU 450mhz OC @40.4fps
Adreno320 s600 SGS4 (4.2.2) GPU 450mhz stock @40fps
Adreno320 s600 HTC One (4.1.2) GPU 400mhz stock @37fps
Tegra3 HTC One X @12.5fps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also the T-Rex results are reflected in the 3D mark tests
The HTC One is currently lacking the latest Adreno 320 drivers with Open GL ES3.0 support, these drivers require Android 4.2.2. Thankfully HTC and Qualcomm demonstrated then promised these drivers in an upcoming update, which is good sign since few other Adreno 320 s600 devices running on 4.2.2 are achieving better GPU performance
Be sure to check my gameplay videos analysis, the HTC One runs Modern Combat 4 smoothly in native 1080p with full effects engaged
Finally with S600 you need to be aware of thermal throttling so check my [GUIDE] How to easily unleash your HTC One gaming powers ★ root>>
Battery and Temperature:
Throughout my time with the device, I had the brightness cranked up to full, I tested the device heavily for four hours, it was connected to wifi but not mobile networks, there was few accounts in Blinkfeed and most of my tests revolved around the camera, impressively in those non stop full brightness four hours the battery only fell from around 90% to 50%, coming for the One X limited screen on time this is a significant leap
The HTC One metal back plate did get warm, but never hot, it was clearly getting warm but quickly dissipating the heat
IR Remote: Who would say no!
I tried this quickly on my Sony bravia and LG LCD TVs, it worked perfectly, there was only one negative is that it requires you to setup the TV mode first by choosing a limited list of countries and your cable provider, needless to say non of this is supported in my country and all i wanted is to access the remote function, once i skipped through the setup, i chose my TV brands, it quickly downloaded the profiles, worked instantly (and yes I did try a practical joke with this)
Conclusion:
I was left speechless, it's not that the HTC One masters one specific element but it is the global quality of this device as a whole that is mouth watering, there is not one area left out or neglected, the entire abilities of this device combined working in harmony to give you a truly unique, sleek and "next level" experience, it continues the work started by the HTC One X and in the same time renders it obsolete, compared to the early life of the One X where many areas were still unfinished, taking a while to reach it's promise (through both hw and sw revisions), the HTC One is a fully refined out of box experience
After HTC's track record of software improvements on it's flagships of 2012 (X/S/XL) from which the One X was remade, I can only imagine where the One will be a year from now
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Accessories: Official Double Flip Cover, pretty but flimsy
I am angry at this cover, first I never expected to like the color combination but as you can see, it is actually pretty neat
The kickstand concept works perfectly as well, sadly so sadly there is one jarring omission and that is a lock mechanism when the cover is closed, you would imagine with all this metal at the front HTC would have used a magnet to snap the cover to the body once it's closed (like the iPad kickstand cover), sadly it's not the case, the flip is left clumsy and loose
In terms of quality, the clipping parts have a matt finish, these are rigid but have a tender finish meaning they slide easily out and can not do damage to the device, meanwhile the bendable parts have a fake leather finish, the texture is good quality but i found the HTC engraving a little cheap as well as the uneven back side
All in all a great concept, great design especially when it's in kickstand position but for a device with the quality of the HTC One, an "official" cover should do better
Accessories: HTC Media Link HD, an excellent tool but not as sleek
Note I wasn't able to confirm which model but the best part is that it is so easy to setup, just plug it to TV and charger, it will instantly appear on screen, all it takes is a swipe gesture and your UI is onscreen (if you disabled the gesture for multitouch reasons you can immediately enable media link from the settings or notifications menu)
The moment you connect to wifi the device will also alert you about Media Link's presence
I tried it on both the One and One X, Videos and photos are easily played back on your TV in 1080p24, the One was clearly faster than the One X which had a laggier UI due to the 3D launcher and had to pre load 1080p films before they play, the One never had to pre load those videos, they played from the moment you press play, you can also keep playing the video while you continue using your UI
In conclusion it's neat tool however there is a main issue and that is performance, the liquid smooth UI is not reflected on screen, its running at lesser frame rate, so eventually I found it hard to enjoy photo viewing for example and preferred to simply stream them through my PS3
You can also play any game through your media link, i tried RipeTide on both the One X and One but both performed badly even if the resolution was reduced in-game, the game was running liquid smooth on both phones but not on the screen there was also evident compression, I guess it has to do with wifi streaming speed
I'm not sure if this version supports the faster wifi on the HTC One but it's not hard to imagine an updated model will be released sooner or later
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you find my work helpful in some of your unanswered questions please hit the thanks button
Don't forget, a lot more info here:
HTC Flagship 2013 - HTC One - Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 600 - Mega Information Thread>>

Great review hamdir and as detailed as I expected it to be.
Glad to see that you like it and to see the detail on the camera (which is something I don't generally know much about apart from taking standard photos).
Will be adding this to post #2 of the review thread later today

Dude, you are allmost at same level with Brian.
Thank you so much! I'm hoping to get mine in next few weeks (Finland).

review
Good review...thx

Thanks a lot. Awesome review. Only sad thing is how cheap flip case looks. I mean seriously, nillkin and other chinese brands are much cheaper but much better in terms of quality. This should have been better.

Great comparison review, Hamdir. Do you still intend to keep the One X until the launch of One + or your will got weaker with these few hours with the One?

myself11 said:
Great comparison review, Hamdir. Do you still intend to keep the One X until the launch of One + or your will got weaker with these few hours with the One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already weaker

Just a note I will soon be uploading full scale photos samples from this review as well as my audio recording test

Great review, i wish the buttons weren't visible when the screen is off

DynamicRam said:
Great review, i wish the buttons weren't visible when the screen is off
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Click to collapse
This is an incredibly minor nitpick. But I agree with you - that would have been nice.

Great work hamdir, a priviledge to read your post. Now I see why you are a reference across many worldwide technology forums when the subject is HTC
(...) the HTC One is a fully refined out of box experience
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This is something very dear to me, thankfully you pointed it out.

Thanks guys
I have added fill size video screenshots and photo samples to the review

Wow. That's one hell of a review! :thumbup:
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

updated this part
The front camera is similar to the "full frontal" ultra wide angle camera as the HTC 8x. Shutter speed and viewfinder fps is a lot better than on the 8x, but after reinspecting indoor photos i previously took with my 8x i noticed the quality is indeed reduced on the One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'd totally forgot about adding the IR Remote to mine until I read it in here.
Our reviews are a bit too big I think
Sent from my HTC One via XDA Premium

KidCarter93 said:
I'd totally forgot about adding the IR Remote to mine until I read it in here.
Our reviews are a bit too big I think
Sent from my HTC One via XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like Brian said there is just so much to cover with this device

hamdir said:
like Brian said there is just so much to cover with this device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more. When I originally wrote mine, it was much longer than it is now but knew I had to cut it down a bit otherwise I'd use up the 30,000 character limit.
Sent from my HTC One via XDA Premium

KidCarter93 said:
Couldn't agree more. When I originally wrote mine, it was much longer than it is now but knew I had to cut it down a bit otherwise I'd use up the 30,000 character limit.
Sent from my HTC One via XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you forget to add your review and mine to the second post?

hamdir said:
did you forget to add your review and mine to the second post?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not forgot, I just haven't got around to doing it yet
I'm too lazy at the moment but will defo get it done soon-ish
Sent from my HTC One via XDA Premium

Excellent write-up! You touched on a few things I was wondering about. Thank you and cheers!!

[PHOTOS] Post your Z2 shots here - My review is up!

This is the Sony Xperia Z2 user and reviewer camera thread
Xperia Z2 camera specifications
1/2,3"m 20.7MP Sony Exmor RS BSI sensor
5248x3936 pixel resolution at full size, 3840x2160 in Superior Auto Mode
F2.0 G-lens, 27mm wide angle
BiONZ image signal processor
HDR photo and video
4k video recording, [email protected]
My quick camera review
All my shots are available on my flickr page, full size with EXIF info here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/
Sony mobile sensors are a hit nowadays, from iPhones to LG, Oppo, OnePlus or last year's Samsung flagships, Sony's backside-illuminated (BSI) camera tech is wildly popular for it's excellent per pixel sharpness, good dynamic range and small physical size. Sony struggled however in the past to make it's Exmors work for their own Xperia smartphones, the Z had quite soft images and the Z1, while upped sensor size to 1/2.3" and megapixel count to 20, suffered from over-processing and minor lens inconsistencies. Have Sony got rid of these issues to give it's excellent sensor justice? The answer is a definitive yes, the Xperia Z2 offers fine amount of details with toned back software sharpening and snappier performance, I also didn't experience lens soft spots or distortions.
There's one interesting thing Sony introduced last year: while the large 1/2.3" sensor offers 20MPs, it's new automatic mode, Superior Auto only shoots in 8MP at 16:9 aspect ratio, and even in manual mode HDR or scenes can only be activated at 8MP (either at 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio). Why have a 20MP sensor then if 8 is where you get the most options, good question, but at least the 20 comes handy when zooming, otherwise 8 is good enough for print quality images and processing is faster at that resolution. Speaking of speed, Sony also uses two image signal processors (ISP), so camera speed definitely improved over it's predecessors.
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This is the viewfinder you see when opening an app, and by default the 3840x2160 resolution Superior Auto runs which will choose the preferred camera mode (incl. HDR or night mode), adding some saturation and sharpening after downsampling. Tap to focus, flash settings, timer, burst, and smile shutter are available here. The camera records 1080p videos in this mode.
Moving on to Manual mode, you may choose the maximum 20MPs here (5248x3936) and set up flash, ISO, WB, focus metering, timer and stabilizer, or shoot at 8MP and able to choose HDR, Soft skin, Soft snap, Landscape, Night portrait, High sensitivity, Anti-motion blur, Blacklight HDR, Hand-held twilight, Gourmet, Pet, Beach, Snow, Party, Sports, Document or Fireworks scene modes. You may choose 1080p at 60FPS or 720p at 120FPS in Manual Mode.
The other modes are 4k video recording at 3840x2160, play around slow motion in Timeshift video, blur defocused areas in Background defocus, add 3D objects to the picture like dinosaurs in AR effect, add artistic filters in Creative effect, shoot a 6-second stylish video for Vine, choose best photo out of a burst in Timeshift mode or shoot a 2D Panorama by sweeping the camera. A couple of mode examples:
Image quality in good lights is stellar, details are fine even at 20MPs but especially at 8 which I recommend to use in Manual mode to be able to use HDR and scenes. Focus, white balance and exposure are quite consistent, although under certain conditions like facing directly into lights these can be a little troubled. Overall, images are natural on the slightly cooler side, and Manual mode is less saturated than Superior Auto. Dynamic range is good, and HDR helps in high contrast situations. There are no HDR inconsistencies, though the effect could be stronger. Tap to focus is fast as well as tap-to-snap speeds, and if you need to capture really fast movement you can go for high ISO or choose Sports mode. Overall, you'll shoot many quality images in daylight.
Normal vs. HDR:
Macro and closeups are very good too, there's no need for special modes just move close to the target and either let the camera shoot or tap to focus - the latter does not always hold for the shot, sometimes the camera refocuses before shooting even though you set it up perfectly. Depth of field is good in these situations, and if you prefer softer backgrounds, you can always choose Background defocus.
Low light and night shooting, as always, is where things get tough for small mobile sensors, the Z2 is no exception. The strengths of the new Xperia is dealing with higher ISO with tolerable loss of details and having a strong LED flash to light up small dark areas, so you'll be able to shoot at least usable, but with some tweaks some pretty decent low light shots. What's lacking is of course optical image stabilization, which makes avoiding handshake blur harder, especially at 1/7s exposure, which is the slowest shutter speed I saw. White balance suffers more inconsistencies during the night, there's a slight yellowish tinting, but nothing too bad. High ISO (manually available to choose up to ISO3200, the phone can go up to ISO6400 automatically) can brighten up some really dark places, Night scene and Night portrait scene modes - which requires a longer hold to operate - can also bring out dark details at a heavy loss of details, but you really need to be really steady here. HDR works in low light too. Overall, the Z2 does a decent job in low light.
ISO100 vs. ISO 3200
ISO100 vs. ISO800 + HDR
Video quality is top notch with clean, artifact-free and highly detailed, especially at 4k, and audio is nice and crisp. Steady shot can compensate some of the handshake with surprisingly good results, though OIS would be even better. Tap-to-focus and shooting a photo while recording are both available, as well as using the LED flash as torch light. While moving or with movement in the background sometimes causes refocusing, more visibly during the night - night videos are cool BTW just not as fully detailed as day ones, with some yellowish tinting. 4k is so good that you can choose to print single frames, I uploaded some at full 8MP res., while 60FPS at 1080p gives smoother motion, also uploaded 2 samples. Just note that a single minute of 4k video will take up about 400MB at 56MBit/s + 158kb/s audio, and camera shuts down after a few minutes due to overheating. No such issues at any 1080p mode, and you can shoot in HDR at that resolution.
(any artifact you see on these videos are due to YouTube recompressing)
60FPS video sample #1 (download)
60FPS video sample #2 (download)
4k frame captures via VLC Media Player:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2915/14095570711_b063d9da46_o.png
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2931/14095565711_dd1e27d982_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7396/13912143277_ac4e88ddbf_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7405/14095685952_b126b09fb5_o.png
About that overheating issue... one of the negative surprises I had with the Z2 was the phone overheating and shutting down when I really stressed the camera under the sunlight. Many face the 4k overheating problem which is understandable, it needs exceptional resources and other rivals limit this capture to 5 minutes, but under the warm Spring sun I had camera crashes when taking photos too. We're not yet know how wide-spread this issue is, but I suspect that with ISP and SoC working hard and the sun's heat and 100% screen brightness giving extra heat, things get a bit too hot and the phone chooses safety shutdown. Since the Z2 never got too hot while shutdown, I suspect that Sony set the camera app heat policy a little too conservative, so SW update could get rid of this, or maybe you'll never face this at all.
Overall the Z2's camera is an important step forward for Sony. Faster operation with more details and less post-processing results in higher rate of quality images, and short 4k clips give stellar videos as well let is be 4k, 60FPS or HDR. Low light performance could be improved with white balance and OIS, and some autofocus inconsistencies is video need to be addressed too, but I didn't find any of this too distracting. I would prefer to use all 20MPs for all manual settings and scenes, and video zooming should use the megapixels too and not just zoom into the 1080p or 4k image. But let's be clear: the Z2 produces some of the finest images and videos on mobile and the modes and settings give a lot of options to play with. And if Sony isolates and gets rid of the heat problems, which only come out in special situations, the Z2 and it's camera definitely comes recommended for some serious mobile snapping.
I'd like to thank XXLGSM for the test device, hope you enjoyed my short bit, please look up all my photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/

Thankyou, excellent find :good:
The translated version of the page makes interesting reading , this bodes well for the Xperia Z2 especially as this is a test version and there is still room for improvement from Sony engineers to make even more improvements
Here's the translated version of the page:-
http://translate.google.com/transla...8&u=http://www.ringhk.com/report2.php?id=8273

Those night pictures look pretty bad :crying: my nexus with HDR+ on takes better night photos

Chad_Petree said:
Those night pictures look pretty bad :crying: my nexus with HDR+ on takes better night photos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They look pretty good to me - if your shots are this good, you can post them for comparison so we can look at the 100% crops.

Some indoors from the same Hong Kong article
http://www.ringhk.com/report2.php?id=8273

Xperia Z1 vs. Z2 at night from Eprice.com.hk
Source, full size: http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4551/170008/1/rv/sony-xperia-z2-review/
First shot Z1 manual mode, 2nd shot Z2 manual mode, 3rd shot Z2 Superior Auto Mode. The Z1 shot is slightly darker but more detailed with heavy sharpening artifacts (white dots). The Z2 while a bit softer on detail has no over-processing artifacts, though white balance is a bit on the red side. WB is fair on the 3rd shot, Z2 superior auto. Click on images for full resolution.

The 3rd shot is just amazing!

Some MWC shots from two Asian sites
Sources, full size: http://www.sogi.com.tw/mobile/articles/6225507-攝錄、功能再進化！索尼Xperia+Z2實測【MWC+2014】
http://www.ringhk.com/news2.php?id=8238

z1 vs z2 pics
other pics here :
z1 vs z2
http://www.ringhk.com/news2.php?id=8285

testnumero said:
other pics here :
z1 vs z2
http://www.ringhk.com/news2.php?id=8285
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
z1 pics are a lot sharper

more z2, and z1 vs z2 pics :
http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4551/170031/1/rv/sony-xperia-z2-review/

progosu said:
z1 pics are a lot sharper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe the z2 has a stronger algorithm to smooth out/blur the noise, although noise shouldn't be a problem at low iso as seen in the first image.
still the photos are on the newer f200 fimware which has great noise performance at higher isos so that shouldn't be the issue.
just looked at the night shots and the z2 has a 1/13s exp at iso1250 vs 1/16s exp at iso1000, wonder if this slight difference would make such a big difference in 2 photos. Regardless it seems the white balance is better on the z2 at night vs the z1.
For the 3rd night photo, it seems superior auto has opted for the night scene, since it is 0.77s and iso200, the noise level is quite low vs what I am used to on my z1 using night scene.

progosu said:
z1 pics are a lot sharper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the Z1 does have sharper pictures, but mostly due to the severe overprocessing leaving a lot of artifacts. In the end, neither system can have true 20 million pixels of detail, so it's a bit pointless to pack so many MPs in.

95% same pic z2 in macro semms more details

Hmm..
So What Sony did with the Bionz is, pull the image from sensor, send to Bionz for image processing with sharpening and noise reduction.
Seems quite evident that Sony over sharpen with the algorithm and hence the black crisscross artifact -|-|-| with the Z1 camera which mistaken as noise. The Z2 has less sharpening effect hence the blur at pixel peeping level. I might be wrong though.

We'll see good results in first few firmwares then after that it will be a disaster and a disappointment just like the Z1.
Both phones have the same camera module and I hope they fix this issue.

I just don't think 20MP is justified at such a sensor size, either the lens or the sensor pixel size is causing noise and softness that needs to be processed and it's just more work for the ISP. A 12MP sensor would be more adequate. Anyways, here's a Z1 vs. Z2 comparison, both a bit yellowish in WB, any my edit of what a Lumia would produce. I notice that some of the previous indoors shots are a bit tight on color depth too.

chesterr said:
We'll see good results in first few firmwares then after that it will be a disaster and a disappointment just like the Z1.
Both phones have the same camera module and I hope they fix this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bone I would like u to conclude what do u think of z2 camera when compared to other ANDROID cameras
Sent from my ST18i using xda app-developers app

faraaz3 said:
Bone I would like u to conclude what do u think of z2 camera when compared to other ANDROID cameras
Sent from my ST18i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No conclusion until extensive reviews, or if and when I can test it myself.
Whoever gets the Z2 early, should kindly test speed and reliability of autofocus, white balance and exposure (like how many shots come out good out of 10 snaps). Posting superior auto, full 20MP manual and HDR samples should also give us a clue about overall picture quality, level of post-processing, lens issues if there's any, SW preference of shutter speed and ISO, picture-to-picture performance and so on. Right now we must wait patiently, and share whatever we find online.

A few more from Eprice
Source, full resolution: http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4551/170031/

Overall love

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 Nokia 9 PureView, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Nokia 9 PureView is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

I wanted to love this phone. The design and screen are super solid. Taking it out of the $7 clear case that I got just to make sure I didn't scratch it in the first week, to appreciate how solid and smooth the phone felt, was a real joy. The clarity and color of the screen are quite impressive. I was constantly looking for the camera to impress me, and once I finally had come to the conclusion that every photo was good enough that I could tweak in editing to make it how good I wanted it to be initially, I was really happy to have it. But then with the constant frustration of the fingerprint scanner and the terrible sounding speaker, I decided that the camera was not good enough to keep me holding on to this one, even for the very good $599 price. Packed the phone up and thinking hard about bringing it back today.

I love the fact that this phone produces raw DNG files that i can actually use.
My P20 Pro on the other hand spits out useless raw files that suffer from vignetting in both brightness and color cast. And the jpg files are horrible overprocessed , The P20 Pro, photo wise, was a bit of a disappointment for me. It still baffles me how it was able to achieve such high scores.
From the few pic's i already took with the Nokia , i can say that i finally have a phone again that can take normal looking pictures.

I love this phone. Ofc i could be bias, since im coming from a Windows phone. However since my first nokia, i've always liked their phones on a unconscious level. After owning the 920, 1020 & 950, moving from windows to Android was so much better. 7 was my favorite but im starting to feel like Pie is my new fav now. So maybe i am loving the android one experience more than the phone itself.
There are a couple annoyances, as with any phone, luckily most of the Nokia 9's can be fixed via software.
Here are my two little annoyances:
-Finger Printer reader...need i say more...check my post under 'Can anyone get the fingerprint scanner to work most of the time' for a possible workaround.
-Can't remove Google assistant or date on home screen without 3rd party launcher or rooting; this is because of Android One experience.
Other than that, i love the phone because i've been on a deprecated pos that was Balmer's ugly-headed step-child.

I really love this phone. Mine came yesterday morning so these views are based on this short time with the phone.
Keep in mind that I was coming from a Galaxy Note 4 which I bought on release day. I thought this was a great phone and it has served me well, but nothing since has really given me the push to replace it. I saw the Nokia 9 when it was announced at MWC and pre-ordered the next day.
Highlights so far:
Android One - After coming from a Samsung experience this is a breath of fresh air.
Design - I think notches and hole punches (the new Samsung method) are ridiculous. I have a real hate of them because they are unnecessary and this phone proves it. I've seen reviewers mention the top and bottom bezel as a negative but I'm yet to find an actual person who has actually identified them as a problem. I've wrapped this phone in a TPU case and fitted a glass screen protector to protect it against my kids and my active lifestyle and it still feels amazing in the hand. It looks stunning as well. Yes, I'm aware of its similarity to the Note 4.
Camera - My experience of the camera so far has been fantastic. I've taken a number of photos in different conditions and it has performed excellently. Processing times haven't gotten in my way. I've taken a few snaps, put it in my pocket and come back to it later. I've had loads of fun with the post shot depth adjustment which is very impressive. And the monochrome sensors on their own give you something special.
Battery life - Battery life has been excellent. My day starts at 6am which is when I unplug my phone from where it is charging. I'm sat here typing it 17 hours later and its still on 67%. During this time I have used GPS for about an hour to track my ride to and from work, its been paired with my smart watch all day so the radios have been running for that. And beyond that its just been general browsing and messaging.
GPS - When I opened Strava it locks on instantly.
Negatives:
Fingerprint reader - It needs work. I hope they can fix this with software. It works most of the time with my forefinger. And sometimes with my thumb. For something like this. If it doesn't work first time, most of the time then it doesn't work.
Switching between camera modes - Seems to be a bit of lag switching between modes.
I'm really looking forward to spending more time using this phone, Ill post photos in the photo thread when I have a decent selection.

Not recommending
Touch sensitivity is very poor, often requiring 2 or 3 touches to register. Feels like a low end phone with resistive screen from 6 years ago. Not a flagship. Not even a mid-ranger. I had cranked up the pointer speed to maximum in the keyboard and language section of Settings but that made no difference. My typing accuracy has also plummeted from my previous Nexus 6p. Seems like a recurring problem across Nokia phones. Come to think about it my touch screen percentage echoes my fingerprint success. Perhaps the issue is not the reader but the overall touch registration.
Using Snapseed instead of Lightroom to edit Raw but there is a real eye opener on the web where the camera is compared to previous generations of Nokia Pure Views. Not pretty. And unlike others, I do not expect improvement with the camera. Light and HMD Global have worked on this camera array for years. What is 6 months more going to achieve except for better stability and less aggressive sharpening? The low light is truly horrendous.
Not recommending to friends. Still, I will keep because I dislike returning and not too many Android One offerings.
---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 AM ----------
Besides well documented issues with fingerprint reader and camera, phone suffers from awful touch sensitivity. One fallout is wildly inaccurate keyboard accuracy. Unpleasant to use for surfing or social media.
Choice of cases is limited. For example, I have not been able to find a real leather wallet case; just PU cases with magnetic closures. This seems to be an issue for any phone that is not an Apple or a Samsung Galaxy.
On the other hand, voice quality is fine. So at the end if the day, it's a phone.

Left17 said:
Touch sensitivity is very poor, often requiring 2 or 3 touches to register.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That almost sounds like you have a hardware problem that most don't have. I have no sensitivity issues on the screen itself. It's been very accurate for me, and I've had it for a month now with no complaints on that end. The fingerprint reader sucks, but the sensitivity of the screen itself has been flawless.

Likes:
Image quality, very nice useable raw files
Look and feel
Screen
Speed
Battery (if you don't use the camera to much)
Dislikes:
Unprotected lenses , yes it looks cool flush to the body. But it also means scratch prone. Now I need to use a ugly case. Normally I never use a case as it's at bulk and looks not very nice.
Updates, Android one suppose to be secure by giving you monthly updates. It's April, still has the February security update. Both Sony xz3 and note 9 got the March update at the beginning of March both are not Android one. So at the moment I'm not impressed at all by Android one
Camera crashes sometimes. Suppose to be fixed in an upcoming update (whenever it may arrive)
All in all it is better in my view than the xz3 or mate 9 . Especially considering the price, but I'm a bit pissed about the update situation (you might have noticed it )

Really have tried with the phone, and wanted to like it, but to me it just seems un finished to me, the finger print sensor is just hopeless, even with the recent update and re enrolling, it really doesn't seem to work, even with wet or dry hands, Whilst an impressive camera, I've missed many moments waiting for it to load, or process (wanted the phone for a new New born baby we've had) even though shes not moving much yet, I've missed various photos. Sadly its now in a draw, and I've purchased a p30 pro from ebay, its like a breath of fresh air, the camera is astonishing, nice to see how an optical finger print sensor should work too!

Got it for 230$ used ... Can't complain ?
But it's unfinished product.
Back to the stone age and using pin code to unlock.
Camera takes too long
Speaker is bad
In another word ... I would never buy it for 600 or 500 dollars nor count on it as main device

I bought the Nokia 9 (single SIM) two weeks ago as a portable replacement for my Canon 80d and it does not fail me a bit. Here is my reflection on the two cameras:
Disclaimer: I am an architecture student with an interest in photography, not an expert photographer.
First I would like to acknowledge that it is always problematic comparing a DSLR and a camera phone due to the built-in mechanical difference which is always more robust on the former. That's why people buy DSLR in the first place. However, one can appreciate the Nokia 9 camera because it offers a very unique photographic rendition and experience (plus other perks of smartphone cameras).
Favorite settings: both camera at 100 ISO, on tripod for night photography. For Nokia, Snapsneed for JPEG, Lightroom mobile for RAW. For Canon, RAW in Lightroom Desktop.
Price: I got my 80d brand new with lens kit for 990 CAD in 2019 and Nokia 9 for 375 CAD 2 weeks ago.
Pixel size (similar): Canon 80d is 24 MP at 3.7μm pixel. Nokia is 12 MP at 1.4μm. If you downsize the 80d to 12 MP, the pixel size becomes 1.8μm which is quite close to the Nokia's. Larger pixels equal less noise and a brighter image.
LCD preview (Nokia): The Canon 80d's photos look great on the camera LCD screen (due to the added color tint) but when you view the actual JPEG on PC, the quality tapers out. The Nokia 9 is polar opposite, the resultant jpeg usually much better and brighter than the image shown in the viewfinder.
Video recording (Canon): the Canon 80d is fine-tuned for video recording whereas the Nokia 9 is for taking photos so there's no surprise that its video recording is really really bad, nuff said )
Audio recording (Nokia): Nokia's OZO system is much better than the Canon built-in audio recorder. To take full advantage of this feature on Nokia, use a tripod when you record your video. For audio recording, I would recommend the recording app on XDA which enables the OZO when you record audio (intended for Nokia 7.2 but should work on the Nokia 9). Link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-7-plus/themes/mod-nokia-recorder-ozo-support-t3917232
Shooting mode and speed (Subjective): Manual on the 80d is equal to Pro Mode in Nokia 9 (manual shutter speed and ISO, auto exposure compensation). Most of the time, I leave the white balance on both to auto. While the interface on the Nokia is very basic, it is faster to adjust and preview for quick manual snaps.
Manual focus (Canon): Due to its fixed lenses, in Pro mode, Nokia 9 sometimes keep the background out of focus when there's a much closer subject. Refocusing in Pro mode, however, messes up your settings. There's a very simple workaround: just enable flash in Auto mode, switch to Pro mode, refocus, you will see the flash light up, snap your photo and all the ISO & . It is that simple. Or you can refocus later using Blur in Gphotos. Ofcourse, the Canon is better at manual focus. You can tap on the screen to focus and take the picture at the same time which is very convenient.
Color science (subjective): Famed for its beautiful color science, I expect the Canon 80d to excel the Nokia all the time but to my surprise, in many instances (30%), the colors produced by the Nokia 9 are more interesting and cinematic than those snapped by Canon 80d (probably due to its fusion of B&W + color sensors). For JPEG, Canon has a warmer and buttery color than Nokia which is understandable. For unedited RAW, Nokia produces a cooler image than Canon. But again, all RAW's temperature and color channel can be adjusted in post.
Dynamic range (similar): Canon 80d has 13.2 stops at base ISO (theoretical) and 12.8 at ISO 100 (usable). Nokia 9 has 12.4 stops at ISO 100. What is incredible is that at ISO 100, the Nokia 9 produces a much brighter image than the 80d. Its dynamic range is comparable to the Canon Mark series(refer to photos by Tuomas Harjumaaskola for more info). Most of the details in the overexposed objects can be salvaged in RAW. If you don't want to touch RAW, increase the shutter speed until the brightest spot in the picture is well-exposed. Then, increase the scene brightness later in Snapsneed.
Tonal range & Texture (Nokia): Nokia is better than Canon on this one due to its fusion technology between B&W + RGB channel. Subtle textures and curves on clothing 10-15 meters away are visible on the Nokia's JPEG. Incredible! Imagine layering B&W + RBG photos of the same scene in Photoshop. That is how the Nokia 9 do.
Sharpness (subjective): Canon 80d's sharpness is medium - high depending on the lenses you use. Many people complain about the Nokia 9's overshapened look which I can understand. However, for me personally, the sharper the better since architectural photography on Nokia is amazing. High-end dslr lenses are expensive because they produce sharper image (+ less distortion + let in more light). At first glance, the Nokia 9 looks sharper than the 80d. However, when you zoom up full scale the Nokia's sharpness degrades much faster than the 80d. This is because Nokia uses its tonal range to compensate for the lack of sharpness far away while the Canon relies on its sensors and lenses.Tip: if you don't like the Nokia 9 jpeg's sharpness, use the RAW file.
Noise (Canon): Canon 80d has minimal noise due to the built-in noise reduction which also means you sacrifice some of the sharpness. However, since I always use a prime lenses, this is not noticeable. For JPEG, Nokia 9 has more noise on reflective surface far away. Nokia 9 noise at 100 ISO is similar to 80d noise around 500 ISO. For RAW, noise level on Nokia is similar to the 80d but it has less sharpness. For best quality JPEG and RAW on Nokia, always shoot in Pro mode at 100 ISO.
B&W photography (Nokia): Canon 80d is converted B&W whereas Nokia 9 has B&W sensors (not true monochrome) but is nonetheless on par or even better than 80d's B&W at times.
Night photography (Subjective): This is probably area where most people trash the Nokia 9. I think after an update some time this year, the camera has been able to take 5 or more snaps per lenses. I was able to get a RAW at around 30-40 MB for each night shot. Previously, it only takes 1-2 snaps which from my research, produces abysmal results. In my experiment, I set the ISO to 100 and the shutter speed to 8 seconds on a tripod and the amount of detail it captures is astonishingly good. Noise and RAW quality are similar to day shots although JPEGs does a bad job at capturing the nuances of direct street light. In comparison, Canon 80d at 100 ISO and 8 seconds shows a pitch black scene. A good result is achieved on a tripod at 20 - 25s shutter speed. However, there's no denying that the picture produced looks fantastic. Both cameras complement each other in a way.
Special effects (personal): Canon has a lot more customized modes for specific scenes built in but I think the Color Pop/Blur effect by the Nokia is more useful (enabled by the incredible depth map). The 1200 layers are not a gimmick, you just need to keep the camera sight line parallel to the ground. Since the ToF sensor travels straight, whatever object it hits first is the foreground.
RAW post-edit support in Lightroom (similar): similar but Canon has a slight edge.
Processing time (personal): Images on Canon 80d takes a larger learning curve + longer to edit but it produces a very good final result. Nokia 9 images take less editing time and consistently produces nice looking images for social media.

I really wanted to love this phone, the hardware is impressive, the display in particular is the nicest!
But it's the software that's a disappointment, every now and then I have to restart my device to have the notifications to play sound again, and frequently after plugging my phone in to charge the display stops working and I have to soft reset.
The camera software is slow, kills battery, over heats, and the torch/flash rarely functions giving the error message "can't use torch, camera is in use"
GCam is not an option unfortunately
Have been thinking about switching phones but HMD hasn't offered a proper replacement yet, my patience is almost over!

OPPO Find X5 Review: Part 2 - Camera, Battery

Intro​Welcome to Part 2 of my OPPO Find X5 review! In this part I will be covering the camera performance and battery of the device.
Table of contents​
Part 1: Build Quality & Design, Performance & Gaming, Display
Part 2: Camera, Battery (Currently reading)
Part 3: ColorOS Features
At the end of each part I will also include the conclusion of the part and the index for navigation.
Camera review​
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Using the Find X5’s camera has been a great time, especially with a wide array of features, Hasselblad co-development and the MariSilicon Neural Processing Unit.
Wide and ultrawide both have a 50MP sensor, while the Tele lens has 13MP. The front facing camera has a 32MP sensor.
View all of my sample photos: ​
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UmkNFFEq3G5QYY6S7
Over 100 photos!
​Selfie camera​Starting with the selfie front facing camera: built into the bionic display as a small holepunch in the top left corner.
The camera has been quite impressive with high resolution selfies that capture a lot of light and natural colours, thanks to the hasselblad tuning.
I did enjoy using portrait mode with the selfie cam a lot more than usual this time around. It has also been fun, and is pretty convincing with its bokeh effect. The corner detection did work well in my testing, even in low light, without using the night mode. What’s nice is that you can adjust the aperture, the amount of blur, directly while shooting.
If the light is too low, you can switch over to night mode, which is also available for selfies.
Main and ultrawide camera​Shooting with both wide and ultrawide has been a solid camera experience. Both lenses are sharp and allow for huge 50MP photos, when enabled. These are around 10-20Mb saved to the device and retain a lot of detail. While I wish the photos were a tad bit punchier without the AI scene detect, I do appreciate the more realistic colours, which can always be adjusted in editing later on.
Example of portrait mode:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QvsuLMrSxGjtudVw7
The main shooter also has a great amount of natural bokeh, thanks to its large sensor. This can be great for more dramatic close ups, food photography or pets. If you need more bokeh, you can switch the camera over to portrait mode and use the aperture slider to increase the blur. Getting things into focus was also always very solid, the camera generally always identified what I would have wanted in focus. There were only a very few times I had to tap a couple times to get the subject in focus.
Switching things over to the ultrawide camera, it has a 0.6x view, and what I really enjoy about the lens is that it keeps lines straight, where some cameras tend to warp the image. This allows for a quite unique ultrawide look and makes the lens much more versatile.
I did notice the colours were a bit different than the main shooter, being a bit more on the cool side but also sometimes warmer colour temperature. You can see this quite noticeable when comparing the photos I took of the same scene with the different lenses. Needless to say the photos did turn out still very good when looking at them individually.
The only downside of the camera I could find while testing some more difficult scenes such as backlit or fast moving was that the processing sometimes did encounter a sort of edge ghosting effect.
Although it only happens very rarely in some exceptional cases (I checked with the other ambassadors and they did not experience it yet) I found it still important to highlight, and hope it can be fixed in a future software update. Examples: Ghosting, Edge 1, Edge 2
Comparison against OnePlus 9 Pro:​My main phone of the last year was between the OnePlus 9 Pro and an iPhone. So I made sure to capture some comparisons between both the 9 Pro and the X5 as they both feature the hasselblad codevelopment.
What I could notice was that the OnePlus did brighten up the image more and did produce a more “punchy” looking photo. But also it generally turned out to be a bit more blurry on the OnePlus, especially when zooming in on text for example.
The X5 did a better job at retaining details, such as fabrics and text was very sharp. Especially when shooting in darker environments you could see much sharper details on text and a less grainy image but at the cost of less highlights.
The colours were a bit more natural, capturing the scene a bit better like I saw it in real life. I had a feeling the processing was toned down a bit.
Another thing that I noticed was that the X5 handled edge fringing much better than the 9 Pro, where things could easily get out of focus on the 9 Pro around the edge of subjects.
Samples (9 Pro vs. X5):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mymu2gMureRDYt3C6
Night mode​The dedicated night mode utilises the NPU to process the image, retain highlights and reduce noise. The duration of how long a night mode photo takes to capture can vary from a second, all the way to 7s in my testing depending on the lighting situation. The results are really worth it and do speak for themselves.
What I really liked is how colours are kept, with a low noise and clear blacks. Also lights do have a good amount of brightness without being overpowering. Another favourite feature of mine is the long exposure, which takes some great shots without the need of a tripod.
Example long exposure
Video mode​Coming to the video aspect of the camera, which has always been a difficult part for most Android devices. In my opinion the main camera produces the best video footage, which is clear, has good stabilisation and only a small amount of crop factor. It allows for 4K capture up to 60fps.
If you need a large amount of stabilisation the camera app also has a mode called “Ultra-steady-mode”. This makes the video feel buttery smooth, and in some situations where you want that gimbal style footage this can be great, but does come with the downside of having quite a lot of crop factor.
Another feature is the video portrait mode, which allows for bokeh style video in 1080p. In my testing this effect has worked pretty well and has been able to track subjects well even in low light situations.
Example of portrait mode in video during low light:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/e6QoXVtJdrB3C5FBA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HzGt5dntHz8B2ARo7
Battery review​
Battery life in a day​The battery life has been very solid! After about a week of usage the battery has adapted to my usage and on average has always given me a full day of battery life lasting into the noon of the next day. The X5 also features reverse wireless charging, which can be great to top up wireless earbuds if they have a case that supports it.
After a day of photography, playing some games casually and watching youtube with general usage my screen on time resulted in 4:25h and 4% battery remaining. This is for me quite good, considering I had always enabled the full 120hz of the display and did keep it at a relatively high brightness setting.
Also thanks to the included SuperVOOC 80W charger, I never had to worry about needing to wait a long time during charges. Usually it was enough to top up my Find X5 within 15 min for an entire day if I was worried it might not last.
Charging speed​With the 80W charging speeds being insane (I never experienced a phone charge this fast other than the OnePlus 9 Pro) I went from 4% to 100% in just 30 min!
Conclusion Part 2​And with this I would like to conclude my second part of the review. Overall my camera tests have been really solid, I especially loved the colours the camera captured, and the large sensor allows for some really nice natural bokeh. Having a wide and ultra wide lens as primary sensors is a good combination, as they are super versatile. The zoom was lacking a bit, producing images that were still viewable but for my taste too blurry or processed. Battery life has been also quite solid. Especially considering I used the device always in 120Hz mode it easily did manage around 4.5h screen on time.
Continue reading​
Part 1: Build Quality & Design, Performance & Gaming, Display
Part 2: Currently reading
Part 3: ColorOS Features

Update: I have posted further photo samples for two photo-series, you can find them linked here:
Save the night: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/savethenight-night-photos-with-the-find-x5.4434553/
Stories from varied perspectives: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/stories-from-varied-perspectives-photos-with-the-find-x5.4438663/
Both series go a bit more in depth of specific camera modes, such as night mode photography or using different lenses. Hope you enjoy!

Oppo "brand ambassador"....jeez, you and 3 million others. Such neutral and unbiased reviews.

murrayalex said:
Oppo "brand ambassador"....jeez, you and 3 million others. Such neutral and unbiased reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if this is a criticism of my review or the programme, if there is anything I am more than happy to hear constructive feedback to also improve my reviews for the future. So please do let me know!
Also, I would like to mention again that this review is entirely my own opinion and with everything I have tested I am comparing it as if I purchased it as my own device. As an iPhone and OP9 Pro user, I had a very good baseline of flagships to compare to and also point out differences. Check my first part of the review for instance, especially in the speaker department.
When there are issues I am more than happy to bring them further to OPPO, as I have already done with bugs and camera issues I have encountered, to name a few.
After all the review should help you guys decide and get a better idea what the device is capable of Hope this clears things up.

OPPO Find X5 Product Review | OPPO Ambassador

This is my review of the OPPO Find X5 black colour that I received. The body of the device is crafted beautifully yet it performs like a beast. My expectation is, this OPPO Find X5 would sacrifice its performance due to the thickness of its body which is really slim and curvy at both sides of the device. Yet, the design did not compromise anything and I did not find any major issues when I am using the device as my daily driver.
Let’s talk about the build quality and the design of the OPPO Find X5 that captured my attention for the first time I unboxed it. There are only two colours that are available for OPPO Find X5, white and black. The colour I received is my favourite colour, black. But this is not like the boring same old black. It is matte black which does not leave any fingerprints at the back of the phone. The streamlined curve is possible with the frosting matte glass, creating a silky glass which feels amazing to touch. The height of the device is about 160.3 mm and the width is about 72.6 mm which feels just right when it is in my grip and pockets. Not only that, the thickness of the phone is just about 8.7 mm and the weight is about 196 g which can be considered lighter than other flagship smartphones from other brands. Even though it is lighter, it did not compromise from the performance perspective and still deliver the same or better performance like any other flagship smartphones. The smartphone also comes with a unique camera design like no other phone where the camera bump or camera cut out was fused together with the body creating a smooth and nicer look and feel. From the aesthetic side, the curved screen display somehow indicates whether the phone is a flagship or not and yes, OPPO Find X5 comes with a curved display at both sides.
Let’s move on to the display of this flagship smartphone. The size of the screen is 6.55” which can be a bit tall but does not disturb your watching experience. The screen ratio is about 92.70% which covers almost the entire screen. The resolution is FHD+ (2400 x 1080) where you can utilize it to the fullest while watching movies or tv series that support the FHD+ function. The refresh rate for this beautiful-designed phone comes with 60Hz which can be turned on at the settings to save your battery and another one is 120 Hz which can be switched on for you to enjoy the smoother experience with the smartphone. The volume button and power button feels premium with the chrome colour and without clicky sound which is really cool and comfortable to click.
PERFORMANCE/GAMING
For the past one month with the phone, I have already played some demanding graphic games which push the performance to its peak. I have tried playing Mobile Legends Bang Bang using ultra settings and overall the experience was magnificent without any hiccup or lag. The graphic looks stunning and the game fps just sitting at 60 fps and no hot issues found. After that I tried to download and play Pokemon Unite which is super smooth and has no lag and no fps drop during my gaming session. The games launch speed was superb as it did not take too long and just took a few seconds to load the games. The colorOS performance setting just do the justice for this device as it pushes the device to its limit without compromising any performance which I think should be praised. During my gaming session, the 120 Hz really made a difference and it was so smooth and gave the best gaming experience during the session. The display of the phone is the main attraction where the colour and the detail of the icon really stands out/pop up and give a nice vibrant colour. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G embedded into this monster, my daily usage of the device feels as smooth as silk and switching between apps and tabs just gives another level of satisfaction.
BEST COLOROS FEATURES
Some of the colorOS features that are really helpful and I like the best is the Always On Display. The features actually come with a lot of customization such as you can select the option of information that you want to display over the phone while the phone is in a lock mode. You can select the time, date, battery and notification to appear on the Always Display Mode and you do not have to unlock the phone to check on these information. You can just lift up your phone and all the selected information will appear on the screen. Not only that, you may choose the Omoji to appear on the screen during Always On Display, portrait silhouette, text and images, text only and custom patterns which give you freedom to customize the display. This is so cool because OPPO gives the users freedom on how the phone looks to our heart's content. The system also provides with selection of digital clock, analogue clock and also images. Wow! There are so much more that you can do with these features.
Another feature that I found useful for me is O Relax. It is an application pre-installed in the phone where it offers various types of comforting natural sound to relax the body and mind. It helps users to sleep better, breathe better and stay alert and focused. There are tons of music and ambient sounds that you can choose from. It can be used to meditate and it comes with Dolby Atmos which provides better sound and crystal clear music. In my experience, I already use this application to help me to get through the nights whenever I have sleeping difficulties. Enjoying the soothing music really gives me a better and quality sleep.
OPPO Omoji is surreal where you can customize your Omoji with tons of options from the colour of the skins to the selection of accessories. It can be used to send messages with selfie emoji to your family or friends. The application needs to be downloaded first and you may start to customize your own Omoji and share it with others.
At the settings, you can find personalizations where you can choose wallpapers. Always On Display, Icons, Quick Setting and other user interfaces. For me, I customize my wallpaper using colours from any pictures and it will automatically give options to a lot of patterns based on the colour itself. You can choose live wallpapers which is really exciting because whenever you unlock your screen, the live wallpaper will move on its own. I also choose to customize the icons based on my preference. You can choose the material style, pebble or you may customize it yourself. The quick setting also can be customizable where you can choose the window, rhombus, square, squircle 1 or 2. You can always change the colours, font and display size, fingerprint animations and the edge lighting where every time you receive notification, the edge lighting will glow that indicates there is a new notification coming in.
CAMERA OVERVIEW
For photography, the OPPO Find X5 comes with 50MP Wide-Angle Camera that utilize the Sony IMX 766 sensor, 1/1.56” sensor size, f/1.7 aperture and All-Pixel Omni Directional PDAF which give you the best camera to capture moments in any light situation. The second camera is 50MP Ultra-Wide-Angle Camera that utilize the Sony IMX 766 sensor, 1/1.56” sensor size, f/2.2 aperture, Native 110.3 degree field of view and All-Pixel Omni Directional PDAF where you can shoot and focused on more subject in one picture. The third camera is a 13MP Telephoto Camera that comes with f/2.4 aperture, 5x hybrid zoom and 20x digital zoom where you can zoom and focus on long distance subjects but still maintaining the detail of the subject.
Another new addition to the OPPO Find X5 is the MariSilicon X. It is NPU Powered Elite Imaging where you can shoot night videography without any worries. You can capture videos at night that are bright, rich in detail and awash in captivating colours. The 4K Ultra Night Video really pop ups the subject at night with their natural colours, clear and realistic image processing and without overexposing the entire scene.
With MariSilicon X, you can shoot the Ultra Dark Mode without turning on the lights. You can still see the subject detail and colour by just lighting up a candle and shooting the video of the subject without losing all the detail and colours. OPPO also co-develop Hasselblad Camera for Mobile. The camera comes with iconic leaf shutted sound and XPan mode in the camera setting to give the DSLR feel and quality into the flagship phone. Hasselblad Natural Colour Calibration provides more natural and accurate colours. For the XPan, you can capture panoramas and vintage-style photos in this format.
BATTERY REVIEW
The OPPO Find X5 also comes with an 80W SuperVOOC charger where it can charge the phone from 0-100% in just 34 minutes. That is super cool because in my experience, I play a lot of mobile games and watch videos using the phone but with this SuperVOOC, I need not to worry about draining my battery. This is something that I am looking forward to for OPPO in their upcoming smartphone. The phone also comes with a customized cooling system where the heat-dissipation system with a super-large vapor chamber and 3D graphene films ensures that the phone stays cool during my gaming experience or heavy usage tasks.
At the battery setting, you can find the percentage of the battery left and the estimation time until the battery drains out powered by Battery Booster. Not only that, there are recommended optimisations where you can turn off certain apps that can drain the battery. There are also power saving mode and super power saving mode options where you can turn it on or off to maximize the battery longevity and usage.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the OPPO Find X5 really is a beast inside but a beauty on the outside. The overall design is not too strange or weird but still acceptable with an excellent performance pushed to its boundaries powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, MariSilicon X, 80W SuperVOOC also comes with 4,800 mAh battery that can runs through all day without any hiccup or compromising its performance. It is packed with new technology from OPPO and collaborates with a prominent brand Hasselblad which gives users the premium feels and quality. It is truly a smartphone that checks all the boxes for your needs in the latest addition of your preferred smartphone.