Camera Tests for iPhone 4 And Other Devices

When the iPhone 4 was introduced at the WWDC, Apple especially noted the capabilities of the device, putting emphasis on its camera. The company said that, even though the iPhone 4 had only 5 megapixels, while 8 megapixels was beginning to be the norm for the latest smartphones, the iPhone 4 would have a far superior performance thanks to some special features that go far beyond the simple megapixel count.

Now the iPhone 4 is finally on the market, and so are samples of the new Droid X from Motoralla introduced on Wednesday. This made camera tests possible and this is what Macworld did in their series of tests aimed to compare 4 devices: the iPhone 4, it’s predecessor 3GS, the Droid X, the HTC EVO 4G, Samsung HZ35W and Galaxy, as well as basic Sony and Samsung point-and-shoot cameras. For the video test, the devices were also compared to the Flip Video M2120.

In the testing of still images, it was the point-and-shoot cameras that took the first places, and the iPhone 4 is going right behind, in the lead of the other smartphones. The fact definitely supports Apple’s statement that simple count of megapixels is not enough to determine the image quality.

Out of all the smartphones and even the point-and-shoot cameras, the iPhone 4 certainly has the best color scores and exposure. However, the trouble occurred with the distortion and sharpness categories, which made it lose the first place to the pocket cameras.

As for the quality of the video, the iPhone 4 once again led with the smarphones and even the point-and-shoot cameras. It only lost to the dedicated Flip Video M2120.

Even though the image qualities of the iPhone 4 are really impressive, it’s difficult to compare their performance when it comes to the video capabilities of the device. Even in low-light, the iPhone 4 just barely lost to the Flip, which is a dedicated video camera, not a smartphone.

The iPhone 4 audio capabilities are somewhat less impressive and they only match the Droid X, while the leaders are the Samsung Galaxy and the Flip camera.

Thanks to Boy Genius Report, we now also have an HD video test comparing the iPhone 4 and the Droid X. Due to its superior framerate (30 fps and 24 fps for the iPhone 4 and the Droid X respectively), Apple’s device easily won the first place.