The Honor 6X is one of the very few smartphones that seems to pack in quite an impressive set of camera features and specifications. The new entrant in the Honor family is the first offering to provide a dual camera setup at this price range. However, specifications are not necessarily any guarantee for a great outcome. Let’s examine the smartphone in detail to see just how good it is.
Let us run you through its specifications. The Honor 6X has a dual lens camera system on its back with the primary sensor having a 12 Megapixel resolution. The sensor size is 1/2.9″ with a 1.25 micron pixel size which means that it definitely has the potential to take some good quality photos.
The secondary camera has a 2 Megapixel sensor, whose primary job is to provide information relating to depth. This means that you can achieve depth of field effects that is only usually available on high end cameras and DSLRs.
We tested the device thoroughly and in our experience, the Honor 6X is easily one of the best in its price segment when it comes to the image quality. The 12 MP sensor is capable of taking photos with a great amount of detail with excellent colour reproduction and good low light performance.
The only slight gripe that we had with the camera is the dynamic range which isn’t that great! This can be mitigated to a certain extent using the HDR mode.
Coming back to the camera’s depth sensor performance. The depth of field effects are really great thanks to the algorithm and the dedicated depth sensing camera. Take a look at some of the samples for yourself. You can even choose the aperture from f0.95 all the way down to f16 to replicate the kind of depth of field you want for the photo.
The most beneficial and cool aspect about this feature is the ability to refocus and adjust the aperture effects after the fact. So you can take the photo in whatever setting you want and use the built in gallery and photo editor to adjust the depth of field and focus!
Being a budget smartphone does not give it an excuse to shy away from catering to the photography enthusiasts. This is why Honor has bundled “Manual modes” for both photography and videography works to let users get full access over the scene. You can adjust the ISO, shutter speed, focus, white balance, exposure and even the exposure compensation.
We would advise the use of dedicated modes such as panorama, good food, light painting, time lapse etc. They come in handy in case you prefer to let the phone handle the settings instead of taking control for yourself.
The 6X also offers object tracking, timer, camera grid, smile capture and several other options that help elevate your photography experience.
Video recording is possible at Full 1080p HD at 30 fps and the videos have good amount of detail resolved. The stabilisation isn’t that great however and you will have to keep your hands pretty sturdy when capturing videos. However, it is still one of the best in its league.
The front facing 8 Megapixel camera does well at capturing quality self portraits even in low light and it also offers beauty mode with various levels of beautification.
Overall, the camera is definitely one of the strongest features of the Honor 6X and it definitely does punch above its weight. The low light performance and the depth of field effects in particular deserve praise and helps the Honor 6X stand out amongst the crowd of phones under Rs 13,000.
With inputs from Sandeep and Srivatsan.