Last edited by mail2ronit on 2017/9/2 14:13
The ASUS Zenfone AR is one of the exceptional smartphones out there with support for Google's both Tango & Daydream platforms. So with no surprises, it packs a High-res Display & a Camera sensor with High Megapixel Count. But, that's not all we need right ? No matter how high the Megapixel count is, whenever we are not using the Augmented Reality features from Google Tango, we definitely need a Good Camera for taking regular photos. It's like taking the phone right out of our pocket & capture the moment we would love to look back at.
So, in this article, we will evaluate the actual Camera performance of the Zenfone AR while keeping in mind that, this thing is not cheap. It's priced at 49999 INR that is enough to push it in the same price group of some recent flagships. So, if we buy this device, will we get a Good Photography Experience ? Let's test that out !
So, if you are familier with my Camera Review format you already know how it rolls but in case you're new here, let me give you my pattern overview. So, I'll first tell you the Tecnical details for the Cameras follwed by some Camera Samples & in the end I'll tell you my overall thoughts on this Camera. I have done a Video Capture test with this Camera so, you can get a fair idea on that as well.
The Zenfone AR Packs a 23 Megapixel Sony IMX 318 on the Back along with a f-2.0 lens. The sensor is the same one found on the Zenfone 3 Deluxe & the Zenfone 3 Ultra that I reviewed earlier this year. So, no doubt that the purpose of using this sensor was to get that High Megapixel count to some work for Tango. But, also for pure photography it's actually a quite capable sensor.
There is also, Dual-tone LED flash built in for Natural Skintones in Darkness & there is a RGB sensor for color correction. For focusing, it has a Laser Autofocusing System built in, that teams up with ASUS's Tri-tech autofocusing system. ASUS claims a 0.03 second auto focusing time on the Zenfone AR. Anyway let's roll the Camera Samples now,
Daylight Shots
Lowlight Shots
In the Front we have an 8 Megapixel sensor that also has a f-2.0 lens on top of it. So, I dont know the exact sensor name as that's mentioned nowhere. But, this seemed also a quite capable sensor. More on that in the discussion but right now, have a look at the Camera samples coming from the Front Facing shooter.
HDR
Beautification Mode
Auto Mode
Sorry, I've forgotten to click dedicated low light shots from the Front Camera for the review. But, I'll talk about the quality in the discussion part. After watching the Video Sample we'll jump right into it.
Video Recording Test With Both Front & Rear Cameras
The Rear Camera: The 23 Megapixel Rear Shooter does a pretty good job in daylight & the indoor low-light shots are kinda decent. So, yeah it's actually pretty nice camera to have. Though, it's basically the same sensor as in the Zenfone 3 Ultra, the pictures seemed to be a bit more detailed with the Zenfone AR.
In Daylight, the Colors are great, the Dynamic Range is ok and the Details & Sharpness are impressive. I really liked this Camera a lot. Also, I have to mention that digging into the Manual Mode gives greater results, so I recommend to take the time & tweak the settings in Manual Mode if possible. The Auto Shutter Speed is also really quick. It was the quickest shutter I have tested in any Zenfone. So, that was kinda impressive.
But, there are a couple of issues that I came across,
- The HDR Auto never seemed to work. So, for getting good HDR shots, I have to select the HDR Mode Manually. That worked completely fine. So, the HDR Auto Mode seemed to be a bit immature.
- Whenever I kept "Optimization" enabled, the processing seemed to be messing with the Natual Colors a bit. Turning it "Off" wiped the problem. So, go to Camera Settings & turn that "Off" in case you're getting this device.
The Low-light shots were decent. They maintained natural looking colors overall. But, the f-2.0 aperture doesn't seemed to omit the noise much. So, yeah noise was there a bit in low light. Turning the ISO down helps here, so depending on the conditions, you can adjust the ISO to wipe some of that noise away. Also, in Low Light the HDR mode helps some times. So, that can also be an option to get better Indoor shots. I don't recommend the Low Light Mode as that decreses the image quality.
The Front Camera: The 8 Megapixel Front Facing Camera is awesome. In captures a lot of details in Daylight in case you're not using the Beautification mode. Now, personally I don't recommend using the Beautification Mode as it takes away all the Sharpness for the sake of hiding imperfections. I like to keep those details so I avoid using it. But, there are some people who like that Softning in selfies so, for them it's perfectly fine.
The best mode for shooting Daylight Photos is nither the Auto nor the Beautification Mode though. Surprise surprise, the best mode is HDR. For Example have a look at the comaprison image below,
So, as you can see HDR does the perfect justice to make the colors & the details pop out. It makes the images look really good & it feels lke I'm actually using a high end Smartphone with a great selfie camera. So, good justice to my money here.
The Low-light Performance is ok. It is a bit noisy in low light but, it keeps the colors natural & preserves the details so, maybe It's not great for low light but, it's not bad either.
Overall: Overall, I liked this Camera. It has been pushed to it's limits while the testing period & the report card looks pretty good. Both the Front & Rear Cameras do a good job when it comes to Capturing Details im pictures. Just one downside seems to be the Stabilization in videos from the Rear Camera that was kinda messed up even when this device comes with OIS. Looks like the software isn't able to drive it properly right now. Otherwise it's a good Camera in the remaining segments.
So, that wraps up my Camera Evaluation for the Zenfone AR. Let me know what you guys think about this Camera in the comments section below & I'll catch you soon with the Full Review. So, stay tuned for that and hey, if this was helpful give me a Thumbs Up below & maybe share this article with people who can get benefited from it.
Anyway guys, thanks for reading and I'll talk to you guys in the next one !
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