XOLO Q1200 camera review: an exceptional macro shooter

The XOLO Q1200 (unboxing and first impressions) sports a completely redesigned user interface on top of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, and the camera app is one area which has been heavily tweaked. It offers features like HDR, Panorama, Smart Selfie mode, Scene modes, manual controls, as well as a range of special effects to spice up images. The 8MP rear camera boasts a Sony Exmor R sensor, and is accompanied by dual-LED flash, and a 2MP front camera. We’ll get into the details of what the camera app offers in our full review, but until then, here are a few sample images from the primary camera to give you a taste of what the snapper can do. 

Long Shot

From the image sample, it’s obvious that objects at the back are quite dark. All the buildings in front are visible,  but zooming in reveals a fair bit of grain and loss of detail. 

Close Up

The Q1200 takes exceptionally good macro shots, capturing detail and displaying crisp subjects with shallow depth of field. Colours are natural and vibrant, without being artificial, and the camera does a good job with keeping the subject in focus.

Close Up (Zoomed In)

On zooming in, its evident that the camera doesn’t compromise on detail. In this shot, the dew drops on the flower are closely visible, as is the furry lining on the new leaves. There’s not much pixelation either. 

HDR Off

Without HDR, it’s evident that much of the background and foliage appear darkened out, and the only clearly distinguishable object is the house with the tiled roof. 

HDR On

With HDR turned on, the background instantly comes alive, but as a result, the colours lose their richeness and appear washed out. Images also tend to look oversharpened.

Night Shot

The camera is able to pick up ambient light well at night, but has a tough time focusing. In this image, the camera has failed to focus on the plant in front, which is what we were aiming for. Grain is very evident too, although colours don’t lose their vibrance.

Low Light 

In low light, images tend to be quite noisy, and lack definition. However, the camera is still able to capture colours well. 

Low Light (with Flash)

We were afraid that the dual-LED flash would completely wash out subjects, but fortunately this isn’t the case. The flash is well distributed, with the subject highlighted well.

Overall, the Q1200’s camera seemed to be a very capable shooter, and close-up shots is clearly where it excels. It isn’t ideal for landscape shots and the HDR mode is clearly not a strong point, but isn’t too bad in low light, with the dual-LED flash being a capable alternative for emergencies. We’ll explore the front camera and performance in our review, but overall, we were quite pleased with the results.