Honor 4C camera review: consistently good results

“Testing the Honor 4c’s cameras”

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After launching the mid-range 4X and flagship 6 Plus, Honor is back with a new smartphone. The latest device from its stable is a budget offering, the Honor 4C (first impressions). The successor to the Honor 3C, the smartphone offers specs like a 5-inch HD display, a 1.2GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 620 processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal expandable storage, a 2,550mAh battery and Android KitKat with EMUI 3.0 on top. In the camera department, the device packs in a 13MP primary snapper with LED flash, along with a 5MP shooter up front. The camera app offers modes like Beauty, Panorama, HDR, All-focus, Best Photo and Watermark, as well as an array of live filters and effects. To give you an idea of how they perform, we’ve taken some image samples across a variety of scenes and lighting conditions.


Long Shot


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In this image sample, all the different elements are clearly visible, except for the buildings at the back which appear darkened. The camera has captured the sunlight and the cloud formation in the sky well, and while there is evidence of grain when you zoom in, the image looks sharp overall.


Close Up


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Flowers are one of our favourite test subjects, and the Honor 4C has done an admirable job in this case. The depth of field effect is stunning, to say the least, with the flower clearly standing out as the object in focus. 


Close Up (Zoomed In)


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For an even closer look at our subject, we zoomed into the image above and suffice to say, we weren’t disappointed. Not only is the flower clearly defined, but you can even see the fuzz lining the petals and the centre.


HDR Off


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Without HDR, we can’t find a major fault with this image, but there is a clear difference between the lighter and darker areas. 


HDR On 


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Although it may not look like it, the HDR mode has improved the photo, although in a subtle way. You don’t see the vast tonal changes that HDR modes usually bring about, but the contrasts in the sky are clearly visible, and the formerly dark foliage in the foreground has been brought to life without washing out or over-brightening the image.


Front Camera


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A smartphone’s selfie-taking abilities are of the utmost importance these days, and the Honor 4C doesn’t disappoint. The Beauty mode is enabled by default, but we turned it off for the purpose of this shot. Despite that, the skin tones captured are natural, and even zooming into the image you won’t find any loss of detail. 


Night Shot


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In this shot taken at night, the camera has used the ambient light to its advantage. There is some noise, but light leaks and distortion have been kept at bay. What’s even more impressive is that you can see the pink flowers and green leaves despite the poor lighting.


Low Light

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This low-light shot is quite dark, but you can still see various elements in the picture. The colour hasn’t been compromised, and even zooming into the image, you won’t find much evidence of grain.


Low Light with Flash


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Turning on the flash has greatly improved the image. The light is evenly distributed, with no washing out of the subjects. Whatever little grain we saw in the previous image seems to have disappeared, and colours appear true-to-life.

We haven’t been too impressed with the camera results on Honor’s budget smartphones so far, but the Honor 4C seem to have put our apprehensions to rest. They perform consistently well across various situations, and out-rank even some mid-range smartphones. For more information on the Honor 4C and its performance, we’ll have a full review coming up shortly.