Almost half a year after it launched in 2013, the HTC One was still the best Android phone in the world, pound for pound. In fact, some might say that even today there is no better Android option on the market, all things considered. It’s a tricky claim when factoring in the value afforded by Google’s Nexus 5, but even then, HTC’s One design is leaps and bounds above anything offered by other big Android vendors. One of the biggest complaints surrounding an otherwise spectacular smartphone was the handset’s camera, but is the One’s shooter really as bad as many people claim? According to one photographer, that’s not the case at all.
Photographer Mahmoud Mfinanga took to his blog this week to share his thoughts on the HTC One’s camera. The device uses unconventional “UltraPixel” technology and while results can be impressive at times, the resulting 4-megapixel photos don’t stack up on paper to newer 8-megapixel, 20-megapixel and even 41-megapixel cameras found on rival devices.
But how does the HTC One’s camera stack up in the real world?
“The HTC One’s camera is remarkably amazing,” Mfinanga wrote on his blog, Emmazed Photog. “The f/2.0 aperture size really becomes useful in situations where your environment may lack a good amount of light. The only problem with the phones [sic] camera is the lack of a simple camera interface. The camera implementation is crappy – same goes for other Android devices. Your main controls are hidden, and once you notice where they are, it’s hard to select your desired settings without accidentally swiping to another function.”
He continued, “Nevertheless, it’s something I’ve learned to deal with. Once you disregard the flaws of the camera interface, the rest becomes harmonically beautiful. Pairing the phones [sic] camera with VSCO Cam yields remarkable results.”
Mfinanga shared a collection of his favorite photos captured with the HTC One to show how great he thinks its camera is. A few of the photos can be seen below (click to enlarge) and the rest can be found on his blog, which is linked down in the source section.
