Sunshine is a rarity in the UK. When it actually arrives, us Brits are out in our numbers soaking up as much of it as we can before it gets all dreary again. A smartphone with a good camera is a must if you want to make the most of the warm spring weather.
You needn’t go to any trouble finding one; What Mobile has done the hard work and picked some of the best smartphones for photographing spring. We put these devices through their paces and tested them on picture quality, ease of use, additional features and much more.
So whether you’re a professional photographer or love posting selfies on Instagram, these are our top five smartphones for spring.
If there’s one feature that helps the Nokia Lumia 1020 stand out from other devices, it’s the 41 megapixel camera, which surpasses the megapixel count of many standalone cameras. Megapixels are used to measure the quality of a camera and the more megapixels a camera has, the higher quality the pictures it takes will be.
The tests shots we took blew us away with their exceptional quality; we were able to zoom in and see the individual lines in certain images. This demonstrates the high standard of the Lumia 1020’s camera, which is something many other smartphones will fail to match.
Serious photographers will really love the fact that you can manually focus the Lumia 1020’s camera which, if done correctly, can make the device’s photographs look like they were taken from a professional camera.
A problem many smartphones have is that they often make it difficult to frame your pictures. The amount of on-screen options can be a nuisance and actually obscure what you’re trying to snap a picture of.
The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge has provided a very simple solution to this common problem; the camera’s options are located on the phone’s spine rather than the screen. This means you have a much clearer view of what you’re trying to take a picture of.
The 16-megapixel camera is excellent for all those springtime pictures in the daylight, whilst the 3.7 megapixel camera at the front of the phone can take some high-quality selfies.
Apple’s image-processing software is part of what makes the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera great, but optical image stabilisation (OIS) helps it go one step further.
Physical components, instead of software, are used by OIS to improve an image’s overall quality and reduce the amount of noise on the image. ‘Noise’ is what often ruins the quality of photographs with a grainy, worn out appearance. Digital Image Stabilisation, software which many phones use, do not reduce noise.
The iPhone 6 Plus’ OIS should help you ensure all your spring photography doesn’t look worn out.
It’s happened to us all before. We see something that will make an amazing picture, spend ages fiddling with our phone to activate the camera and discover that the perfect picture opportunity has gone.
You needn’t miss out on a spring picture opportunity again with the HTC Desire Eye. Simply launch the device’s camera by picking it up and pressing the volume button.
The 13 megapixel camera is decent quality for a mid-range camera phone, whilst a dual-tone LED flash, noise-free shooting and accurate face detection will help your selfies stand out from others.
The LG G3 packs an impressive 13 megapixel camera, but the laser autofocus really helps it stand out. Photographs can be taken faster than the time it takes you to blink, which means fast-moving images aren’t a problem for the phone’s camera. Perfect if you want to take snap pictures of volleyball, water sports or any similar spring activities.
Because the phone’s large size makes it difficult to reach certain buttons when holding it in one hand, you can program a trigger word to activate a timer on the phone’s camera. If you’re taking a selfie, you can even clench your fist in view of the phone’s camera to activate a countdown.
