I recently watched a commercial for Windows Phone that impressed me. Customers in the Microsoft store went head to head with the Windows phone rep and tested out how fast their phones were. Of course the Windows phone beat them every time (it IS a Windows phone commercial – watch it HERE). Being a video geek this got me wondering – just how good is their camera? I am really impressed with the iphone camera and video capabilities - I rarely take my DSLR on family outings anymore. But my brother has a Windows phone and always brags about the camera and video quality - could the Windows phone actually be better? The specs on the Windows phone are impressive – the HTC Titan II has a 16 MP, 2.6f 28mm wide-angle lens and records video at 720p HD . In comparison, The iphone 4S has only 8MP but has a lower f-stop with a 2.4f lens (those little f stops are a big deal), and shoots in higher-quality 1080HD video. They seemed to run neck and neck. I needed to see for myself – so I headed down the street to the Microsoft Store in Seattle, and took some test shots and video. I got the friendly sales associates to take a picture and video of me with each phone, then email them to me. I took the original photos and videos and made a little video – the originals are at 100% resolution, and they have NOT been re-touched, compressed (before uploading) or altered (which is slightly embarrassing being that I’m the subject and just came from a run and don’t look…ahem…my best). You can see the photos and video at 200% to see how the image quality performs when it’s blown up. Here are the results:
As you can see, The Windows phone outperforms the iphone in the camera test hands down. The resolution, pixels, color depth and clarity are all stronger on the Windows phone. My hair looks redder, the color temperature’s a little warmer, and the resolution is simply better. Video was a closer call but I say Windows Phone won there too – again, the colors are richer, the image is clearer and it wins hands-down in resolution when the video is blown up to 200%. I’m impressed and need to concede to my brother that he has a better camera on his phone.
Guess what else I got to test drive at the Microsoft Store? The not-yet-released Windows 8! I saw the ads, but experiencing it yourself is a totally different experience. As you can see, it’s a tablet…yeah I know….we’ve all seen those before. But guess what? With this tablet, you can do all the ipad-type stuff, then turn around and plug in your keyboard to the USB drive and actually do WORK on it. It’s got a quad Intel processor that can run your office docs and Adobe programs – pretty sweet. It’s twice the price of an ipad, but my first thought was “wow, my almost 11-year old wants an ipad for Christmas, but what he really needs is a computer for school – done!” It’s fun and easy to use and I can’t wait to get one when it comes out!
