Its the 1st half of a new year and here we go w/ another flagship Android device. We now have the HTC 10 here. If we're talking about HTC, we already know the concern is the camera department. Every other smartphone company has stepped their game or at least caught up w/ the rest of the smartphone camera hierarchy.
We've spent several days getting acquainted w/ it and on our road to the full review for it, 1st stop is the camera test. This time around it has a f/1.8 12MP 2nd-generation Ultrapixel lens technology w/ OIS + laser auto-focus on the rear. And now we have a f/1.8 5MP lens also w/ OIS. Did they finally break camera curse? Let's talk about it.
On the performance side of things, HTC utilizes the same Sony sensor from the Nexus 6P. The photo results offer up accurate colors w/o too much overexposure and a decent amount of detail in every shot. At times, photos aren't as crisp as its rivals, photos are a little softer but not quite the grainy mess HTC used to offer us. You can chalk that up to HTC's software is usually heavy-handed w/ the ISO. HDR helps out in most situations to get an even better photo. Unfortunately, the laser auto-focus can be hit or miss in dark environments and up close photos.
On the front, you have a f/1.8 5MP selfie camera w/ OIS on board. So this should make for a lot better selfies at events w/ your friends. Even better for selfies videos or Snapchat w/ it as well. As far as video is concerned, you get wonderful quality in either 1080p or 4K w/ the option for high-res audio that doesn't make the video files massively bigger. Always a good thing.
The new camera software is borrowed from the latest version of Google Camera w/ slight tweaks from HTC. You got the simplistic layout w/ a menu that slides out on top to switch modes like Zoe, Panorama or Pro for photos and hyperlapse, slow motion, & 4K for video. You can activate the camera from sleep by picking up the device & swiping down twice, BTW.
The HTC 10 cameras are the best the company ever produced.
The HTC 10 performs far better than Motorola's improved shooters (Moto X Pure Edition & Turbo 2). In the placement of the best smartphone camera, I would place it in 3rd place. I give the current iPhone & Galaxy S7 a tie for 1st place w/ the Nexus 6P for second. Based on the photo samples above, has HTC won you over in the camera department or have they let you down again?
