In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 930 and HTC One M9, click the links to download. In suburbia, during a rare sunny moment (this week). Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. I've deliberately put in an emphasis on tricky subjects or conditions, to push the camera phones to the limit. This whole feature is in the context of both the controversial image processing changes made by Microsoft for Lumia Camera 5 and of the criticism of the M9's camera as having poor image processing - my impression is that the former is validated and the latter is disproved - quality here is certainly up with the other Android flagships I've tested like the Z3 and OnePlus One. Note that most camera reviews of the M9 on other sites were using inferior/earlier firmware. For the HTC One M9, I used the very latest firmware and application updates. For the Lumia 930, I used the new Lumia Camera 5 capture software, which proves almost as fast as HTC's offering and with more after-the-fact bells and whistles, especially if you turn on the Rich Capture. Yes, having more megapixels does give room for cropping, but given the choice, I think more people would say yes to the PureView idea of using all that data to produce a cleaner, 'purer' low megapixel version, and 5MP seems about right.Īnyway, on with the tests. It does surprise me that few other manufacturers have attempted oversampling from these high megapixel sensors - what IS the point in 16 or 20MP images? Most people will be viewing the photos on something at 1080p, or perhaps at the VERY most, a 4K video display, and even that can't get close to reproducing every pixel in a 16/20MP photo. For the comparison here, I've eschewed this and looked at the bare 16MP output, so that I can compare 'like with like' in the AAWP interactive comparator. It should be noted, in fact, that the Lumia 9 output from their main camera sensor, by default, at 5MP, using oversampling to reduce noise and improve quality. The sensor sizes are similar, 1/2.5' versus 1/2.3', but the former does have OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation), which is a significant advantage.

Download ultrapixel camera