Over the last couple of years, smartphone manufacturers have started working enough on the camera specs of their offerings; making them tough competitor in their price segment. Last year, we have seen some of the top performing camera phones in the mid-range segment including Xiaomi Mi A1.
We have done several comparisons using those phones and today we are back again with another comprehensive camera comparison where we are putting three smartphones against one another. The first phone among them is Redmi Note 4 (bestselling smartphone in India last year), second is Honor 6X (one of the finest camera phones under 15k price segment) and the last one is Redmi 5 (yet-to-be-launched in India).
Before we start the Redmi 5 vs Redmi Note 4 vs Honor 6X camera comparison in detail, have a look on their camera specs.
| Rear | Front | |
| Redmi 5 | 12MP (f/2.2, PDAF, LED flash) | 5MP |
| Redmi Note 4 | 13MP (f/2.0, PDAF, dual LED dual-tone flash) | 5MP |
| Huawei Honor 6X | Dual: 12MP + 2MP (PDAF, LED flash) | 8MP |
DAYLIGHT IMAGES
Daylight images taken from these three smartphones have differences which I found out after zooming them to 100 percent. Have look on the samples (non-HDR) below:
Images taken by Redmi 5 appear to be better than the Redmi Note 4 and Honor 6X. Pictures are sharp with details and vibrant colors. Color accuracy is very close to the actual color. The Honor 6X and Redmi Note 4 also produce decent daylight images with Redmi Note 4 taking a lead in terms of color and sharpness.
Winner: Redmi 5
Runner: Redmi Note 4
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE or HDR
Turning on the HDR mode completely changes what I talked in the previous section. Have a look on HDR images below:
As you can see, HDR mode brings a lot of changes in these images. From details to colors, everything is different compared to non-HDR images. In this section, the Redmi Note 4 takes a lead with capturing realistic colors, good sharpness and enough details.
Following the Redmi Note 4, the Honor 6X is close to the actual color. Sharpness and details in its samples are good. And finally the Redmi 5, it has overexposed the images. Its sample don’t have details and colors are overexposed.
Winner: Redmi Note 4
Runner:Honor 6X
DEPTH OF FIELD or BOKEH
All three smartphones have different aperture as well as different pixel size and camera lens. So how do they perform when it comes to bokeh mode? Have a look on the samples below:
As you can see, the trio has effectively blurred the background while keeping the primary object in focus. All of the samples look same and I couldn’t find any difference. So I zoomed them to 100 percent where I found that Honor 6X is better than the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 5 in terms of capturing details and actual colors.
Winner: Honor 6X
Runner:Redmi Note 4
PANORAMA
Panorama mode is really useful when you want to capture a larger area. This mode captures several images and then stich them together in order to produce a wider images. Let’s have a look on the samples below:
As you can see, the difference between these images is clearly visible, though light part of the image is a bit overexposed on all three images. Starting with Honor 6X, its panorama photo is far better than the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 5. Pictures are bright and sharp with accurate colors. Its AI also removes the fast moving objects from the photo. The handset manages to maintain the image quality and details even after 100 percent zoom in.
The Redmi Note 4, on the other hand, also produces decent Panorama images but when I zoomed in, I found lack of details and picture gets distorted at 100 percent. And finally the Redmi 5, its panorama mode is not at all good. It has lack of sharpness, inaccurate colors and no details. The picture gets distorted even after only 10 percent of zooming.
Winner: Honor 6X
Runner: Redmi Note 4
LOWLIGHT or NIGHT
This is the most challenging section for any smartphone, whether it is a flagship or mid-range. Have a look on the samples (non-HDR) below:
As you can see, non-HDR lowlight images appear to be good on Honor 6X which is closely followed by Redmi Note 4. In fact, at some point, I couldn’t find difference between them. Though the picture is dark but details are good with minimal noise.
The lowlight performance of Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 5 are more or less similar. Both produce brighter images but details aren’t better than the Honor 6X. Plus both have noise. Then I turned on the HDR mode and that’s where I found surprising result. Have a look on the samples first.
As you can see, turning on HDR mode makes a lot of difference on the Honor 6X and Redmi Note 4. While Redmi 5’s HDR Mode left me wondering that it is even working or not. One thing I would like to mention that HDR mode of all three smartphones brings noise in the photo. Though it is very less in Redmi Note 4, moderate in Honor 6X and very much in Redmi 5.
HDR mode also brings color accuracy and details, especially on the Honor 6X. Images taken from Honor 6X are bright, full of details and good color accuracy. The Redmi Note 4, on the other hand, follows Honor 6X. HDR mode does bring improvements but that’s not better than or as good as Honor 6X.
Talking about the Redmi 5, I think its non-HDR images are better than the HDR ones. Its HDR mode doesn’t bring any changes. Images look duller with much noise and no details.
Winner: Honor 6X
Runner: Redmi Note 4
SELFIE
While the Redmi 5 and Redmi Note 4 have 5 megapixels camera, the Honor 6X comes with an 8 megapixels one. Besides, all three smartphones come with dedicated beauty mode. Have a look on the samples below:
As you can see, Redmi 5 and Redmi Note 4 produce more or less similar selfies. They have some kind of whitish layer in both normal and beauty mode. Whereas there is no such kind of layer in the selfies of Honor 6X.
Color accuracy and details are also better on the Honor 6X as compared to Redmi 5 and Redmi Note 4. Selfies taken from Honor 6X look sharp and bright.
Winner: Honor 6X
Runner: Both
OUR VERDICT
While the Honor 6X has been dominating in most of the sections, the Redmi Note 4 managed to followed it closely. The Redmi 5, on the other hand, was struggling there. Its HDR mode doesn’t seem to be working in the night.
Declaring the winner, our vote goes with Honor 6X. The handset is very good for lowlight photography. Its HDR as well as panorama mode left me surprised. So if you are looking for a good camera phone but you have a tight budget, this is your best choice. The price of this handset has been slashed to Rs. 9,999.
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