How good/bad is the camera on the M8 and in general?

[-Mike-]

Hey all,

I was looking at getting a Z3 compact but still have an interest in the Nexus 5 (non existent stock so far) and the one M8. The m8 interests me for its speakers and the last HTC I had was pretty bomb proof and lasted a long time.

However, the 4mp camera is a concern as I do like to take opportunist photos when out with my little lad. I do have a SLR so I suppose I shouldn't worry about the camera on a phone so much?

For those who have the phone, have you regretted your purchase at all?

Thanks

 

[Orcvader]

Everything is great about the M8 except for the "ultrapixel" camera. It performs great in low light but quality could be better. It's perfectly fine for normal pictures if you don't need extreme quality. If you don't plan to use the phone camera much though then it's not too much of a worry.

 

[-Mike-]

Everything is great about the M8 except for the "ultrapixel" camera. It performs great in low light but quality could be better. It's perfectly fine for normal pictures if you don't need extreme quality. If you don't plan to use the phone camera much though then it's not too much of a worry.

Thanks for your reply! I just went on ye olde google and rumours suggest a m9 in march.... I think it might be a sensible move to wait and see what that brings to the table? If rumours are true then the camera on it should be pretty good?

 

[Orcvader]

If you can wait then yes, the M9 is sounding like a beast at the moment. It looks like it's using the 20.7MP Sony camera which performs great on the current Sony phones, and should be interesting with HTC's features which I do prefer over Sony.

Currently the M9/Hima sounds like the most sensible upcoming flagship (sticking with 1080p 5"), which I'm tempted to jump to as well.

EDIT: Better hope this leak is real :

https://twitter.com/x/status/549533823482875904

Spoiler

 

[-Mike-]

If you can wait then yes, the M9 is sounding like a beast at the moment. It looks like it's using the 20.7MP Sony camera which performs great on the current Sony phones, and should be interesting with HTC's features which I do prefer over Sony.

Currently the M9/Hima sounds like the most sensible upcoming flagship (sticking with 1080p 5"), which I'm tempted to jump to as well.

If the latest nexus wasn't so big I'd have been all over that, but I think you're right - I'll sit it out. It sounds too perfect to be true so something will have to be messed up going by their previous releases however my HTC desire when I got that 'back in the day' was ace.. apart from awful internal memory!

 

[mame]

For those who have the phone, have you regretted your purchase at all?

Thanks

well, seeing as you said at all... I've had an M8 for 2 months and here's what I think overall.

The camera is OK, the main problem is that you can't really zoom in on a photo that much afterwards.

The button placement at the top rather than the side is more of a quirk than a problem.

the software is really good. very smooth and much more polished than a samsung. It never lags.

The battery life is good. I often get to the end of the day still around the 50% mark although I have noticed that playing music through the speakers (screen off) has quite a drain on the battery, but to be fair, I've never used a phone for that before because the speaker was never good enough so nothing to compare it to really.

There's only issue I have with the phone is that one of its main selling points for many, the metal body (very nice it is too) is far too slippery to use. For me anyway, it's just not practical. I have to use a cover so I end up with a heavy rubber/plastic phone.

That said, I still don't think I'd swap it for anything else out just now if I had the chance.

 

[-Mike-]

Thanks for your reply Mame! You make it a difficult choice for me now! Wait and pay 2x the cost of the M8 for something which quite possibly will have a great camera or pay the £280 and get a M8 with an... OK camera!

Temptation is to wait and pay more as I do use my phone camera a fair bit when out and about or where the SLR is just too big to carry!

 

[mattyfez]

The M8 is a fantastic phone in every aspect apart from the cam. the cam is good for snap shots, but it doesn't stand up to its competition in that department.

 

[Smeghead]

I'm very happy with mine. Good software (though I'm running Viper ROM), relatively easy to unlock the bootloader and root, fantastic battery life (get to around 30% at the end of the day), great screen and speakers. The camera is pretty average, but it's adequete for my uses.

Right now I'm mostly interested in the Z4 as I think the Z3 hardware is 90% as good as the M8, and actually has a few improvements (side power button, better camera lens position, camera button!!). However the only things that would swing it and actually make me make the leap is if had a much better camera (better new sensor, much better low light, OIS etc.), and the whole difficulty with unlocking the bootloader on Sonys is still very annoying.