Honor 7X vs Xiaomi Mi A1 – Camera Comparison


Honor 7X vs Xiaomi Mi A1_fonearena-08

Huawei’s  Honor brand was one of the first to introduce dual cameras in the mid-range segment with the Honor 6X that was launched earlier this year. Now with the Honor 7X  that that was launched recently, the company has improved dual camera features by adding several new enhancements aimed at photography enthusiasts who love to utilize the advanced features in the camera and to express their creativity.

We recently compared the Honor 7X with the Xiaomi Mi A1. Now let us compare the camera in both the phones to find out which one is better.

Honor 7X vs Xiaomi Mi A1_fonearena-06

Let’s get the specifications right first. The Honor 7X comes with a dual camera setup on the rear equipped with a primary 16-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture, an enhancement from the 12-megapixel camera on the Honor 6X. It also comes with a secondary 2-megapixel camera and has LED flash. With the use of secondary camera, it offers Portrait mode to achieve bokeh images by identifying  the edges of the subject in focus and blurs out everything else. On the front, it has an 8MP camera for some good quality selfies.

The Honor 7X also offers lot of modes and front camera also brings us a slew of modes including portrait and beauty effects. It also has PDAF technology and newly updated algorithm that can focus an object quickly.

The Xiaomi Mi A1 comes with a 12MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture wide-angle lens, along with a secondary 12MP camera with telephoto lens and 5MP selfie shooter.

So let’s start with landscape photos for the first comparison. Click on any of the photos for the full resolution samples. All the photos on top in this post are taken with the Honor 7X and photos at the bottom are taken with the Mi A1.

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Honor 7X
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-1_normal
Xiaomi Mi A1
Honor-7X-Sample-2_normal
Honor 7X
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-2_normal
Xiaomi Mi A1

The difference in the dynamic range between the sensors is immediately evident in the case of the above two photos. The Mi A1 has a very much underexposed photo where the details in the shadows are lost and the images are also dark. The Honor 7X however creates a shot that almost looks like it was taken in HDR mode since most other phones can replicate this shot only in HDR mode.

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Honor 7X – HDR
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-3_HDR
Xiaomi Mi A1 – HDR

The shots above have been taken in HDR mode on both the phones. Immediately you’ll notice a huge difference in the dynamic range of the Mi A1 photo. The Honor 7X shot looks more or less identical since the dynamic range of the phone is great even without the HDR mode. However on the Mi A1 photo, you’ll notice that the natural colors are lost since the shadows are bright due to over-processing  in HDR mode.

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Honor 7X – Macro
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-4_Macro
Xiaomi Mi A1 – Macro

Again when it comes to macro shots, the Honor 7X brings out the natural colors and also the details, but the Mi A1 shots have a yellowish tint and the image is not bright.

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Honor 7X – Dual Camera
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-5_Dual-Camera
Xiaomi Mi A1 – Dual Camera

Coming to the dual camera shots, when it comes to objects, the Honor 7X offers good details of the object while blurring out the background, but the Mi A1 doesn’t focus on the object clearly and also blurs out details along with the edges.

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Honor 7X – Dual Camera Portrait
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-6_Dual-Camera
Xiaomi Mi A1 – Dual Camera Portrait

When it comes to people both the phones are good to take portrait shots in well-lit conditions, but the Mi A1 takes longer to read the scene and apply the depth effect by coming the images. Since the Mi A1 has a telephoto secondary lens, it zoom in automatically in portrait shots and the image again has a tint. Due to the algorithm both miss out some details around the edges, which is an issue with the methods themselves.

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Honor 7X – Low-light
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-7_Low-light
Xiaomi Mi A1 – Low-light

When it comes to low-light shots, the Honor 7X has more details and offers natural colors, but the Mi A1 shots have more noise, are sometime blurry and also have a yellow tint.

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Honor 7X – Flash
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-8_Flash
Xiaomi Mi A1 – Flash

In images with flash the Honor 7X offers ample amount of light while the dual-tone LED flash on the Mi A1 might be suitable for people, but it is overpowering in closeup shots so the colors are washed out.

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Honor 7X – Selfie
Xiaomi-Mi-A1-Sample-9_Front-Camera
Xiaomi Mi A1 – Selfie

Finally in the selfie shots, the Honor 7X’s 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture offers more details compared to the 5-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture on Mi A1. Both the phones have face beauty, but the one on the Honor 7X is more advanced. The Honor 7X also has portrait mode for bokeh-style effects even on the front camera.

Overall, the camera is definitely one of the strongest features of the Honor 7X and offers life-like shots compared to the Mi A1 and outperforms basically in all departments.