Flashbacks: the phones that revolutionized mobile cameras, part 1

28 February 2021
We look at the phones that were the first to reach important milestones in the history of mobile phone cameras.

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Nexus 5 is still one helluva a phone. I understand why it's most people's favorite Nexus. I would only get 2 to 3 SOT but the beauty of a degraded battery like that? Faster to charge. It might even charge faster than my Pixel 3. And since I use a huge power bank, it doesn't use so much from it figuring that it's capacity is far lower than the 2300 mAh.

I prefer the Nexus One and 4 designs more. The Nexus 4 feels much nicer to hold and to touch with the softer edges. But my Nexus 5 officially has Marshmallow which means it can get most apps I need. Such a great size too. About the same size as the One M7 or even iPhone 6 / 6S / 7 / 8 / SE2. If 2016 was the best year, I think 2013 was the last great year for size.

I thought 2013 had many great releases as well but I would rather go back to 2016 for the more modern specs. Anything before 2016 is not worth it except for maybe a iPhone 6S. I wouldn't rebuy an HTC One M7 or M8 though. The cost to replace a battery on M8 from uBreakiFixIt is $129.99. I only got my M8 for $35 on OfferUp.

No way in hell will I spend that money to replace a battery on a 7-year-old device. Which is why ease of repairability is important. Which is why my LG G5 is my personal favorite even though I know I can get them for $20 these days. This is why more of us who hate iOS needs to give more props to Apple. The iPhones are really the only ones I see where people used them for 4-5+ years. They age the best. They get software support for a minimum of 5 years.

The older iPhones prior to the X were easier to repair. I read the 6 & 6S are the easiest. The 7 is a little harder due tk its waterproofing. Their parts are common like a Honda and Toyota because so many people have them.

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    • Shui8
    • KZK
    • 28 Feb 2021

    Kingslayer, 28 Feb 20212016: Greatest Year In Mobile Samsung Galaxy S7 / S7 edg... moreSorry, you've been spamming around about phone specs, features, instead more about camera when this article are related to.

    On the specific camera related post, you can go on. But the rest of it? Calm down boy.

      2016: Greatest Year In Mobile

      Samsung Galaxy S7 / S7 edge / RIP Note7
      Apple iPhone SE / 7 / 7 Plus
      LG G5 / V20
      HTC 10
      Google Pixel / Pixel XL
      OnePlus 3 / 3T
      ZTE Axon 7
      Xiaomi Mi 5

      I owned 6 phones released that year -
      G5, Pixel, S7 edge, V20, iPhone SE & 7

      Did have the HTC 10 for a day but returned it. Sent me the wrong color. I also think the M7 and M8 are so much nicer. Still have my G5 but it's my second one. Gave away my first because it was on dreaded Sprint. Rebought the SE this year.

      Best Years
      2016
      2013
      2014
      2011
      2012
      2015

      The year where phones can remain fast is late-2012 when phones like the Note 2 and Nexus 4 got 2 GB RAM. My Xiaomi Mi 3 has only 2 and it's still pretty fast for 7 years. Even the Nexus 4. Don't get an old phone with less than 2 GB. Actually these days, don't get any with less than 4. That became common by 2015-2016.

      Hence, why 2016 is the best year in mobile ever. Last to offer metal backs and most still had headphone jack. Last we got removable battery on a flagship thanks to LG. Introduced us to wide-angle and telephoto. And even the size wasn't that big yet. The iPhone SE & 7, Galaxy S7, and smaller Pixel are all manageable. The LG G5 and Galaxy S7 edge were tall like a iPhone XR and 11 but still very manageable.

        Quality article! Now I'm eager to see what phones will be nominated in part 2.

          Kingslayer, 28 Feb 2021I'm thinking getting a Galaxy S7 for dirt cheap on Off... moreApple handle less than 20% of the world market, much higher in America, but that's because their stupid,greedy and lazy in lah lah land, they built apple into what it is, now live with the consequences, what a "choice" apple or Samsung..tried both, their both crap.
          HTC still in business, still making good, quality phones, still over-priced though..

            Anonymous, 28 Feb 2021Huawei crops the photos to eliminated corners (where qualit... moreThe crop is not mandatory, zooming out will get rid of it.

              Anonymous, 28 Feb 2021- galaxy gran prime has night mode, quality is poor but it ... more1. Are you seriously comparing a simple multi-frame noise reduction mode of Galaxy Gran Prime to P20 Pro's pseudo long exposure HDR and saying that they are the same?
              2. I agree.
              3. XZ2 Premium definitely won out in sheer light gathering ability, but the image fusion also disabled HDR entirely, introduced blur/softness to the image and was not activated when shooting at a close subject so it wasn't really "better" in a practical sense. It did work well in a video though, so I give you that part.
              4. The original statement is true to some extent. Can you name a single smartphone from a major OEM (apart from LG) that had come with a decent quality UWA camera before the release of Mate 20 Pro?
              5. So could Nexus phones, but both Sony and Google's implementations of single camera bokeh mode were hilarious and borderline unusable even at a small size (The resolution was severely limited and the edge detection was simply a joke).

                Of course I forgot to add, 1. mobile photography wouldn't be like today without AI AR features and stacking, in that regard there are multiple phones that made a change.
                2. Thermal photography with likes of Elephone and Cat added feature used until now on pricy and bulky equipment.
                3. OnePlus, Doogee,... brought IR cameras, though OnePlus disabled feature out of pure paranoia, IR cameras or even full spectrum cameras are part of professional photography used to shoot stars or objects/animals/plants is a light invisible to human eye. Basically can be light divided here as 40% visible, 50% IR, 10% UV. Besides practical features like taking in more light, it got multiple professional and artistic reasons why to use such lens.
                Thermal and IR photography is another lvl to just more detail or quality, not every brand is capable of introducing and embracing new tech instead of competing in warm and cozy place of popular features, but those who do will see visible gains in their sales.

                  And using your own argument, any half decent 5 year old small camera can take much better pictures than even the best state of the art device can manage today.
                  If decent pictures are that important to you, then buy a second hand pocket camera, something like a little Lieca vux 40,cost £80 from ebay, smaller and lighter than lots of power banks that folk carry no problem, so no reason to not carry all the time, can do "real" macros and telephoto shots, and will get shots that tiny little phone Camera modules and lenses cannot..

                    I'm thinking getting a Galaxy S7 for dirt cheap on OfferUp because I miss having Samsung Pay. I owned the S7 edge and hated the curved display. I should've got the regular S7 because it's actually quite compact at 142.4 mm in height which is actually shorter than the One M8 by 4 mm.

                    I still have my Gear VR for it and while I think the VR experience kinda sucks most of the time with constant updates, I do miss pretending I'm inside a movie theater. I rotate between four phones daily; Pixel 3, Essential Phone, iPhone 7, and Nexus 5. The Nexus 5 is used mostly for torrents and watching WandaVision or The Boys on it.

                    Would be great to have Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay altogether. Never need to reach for my ATM card which I've constantly lost for the past year. Just grab one of my phones to pay for things and S7 still has MST which the S21 doesn't.

                    It really is quite depressing to know that Sony, HTC, and LG are no longer mobile players. It's a duopoly in the States. It's either Apple or Samsung. For the rest of the world, it's one of the many Chinese brands vs Samsung vs Apple.

                    No matter how many people hate Apple, they already won in mobile. They make the most money. Their models sell the most every year. Haters have to accept it already. They won. You don't have to buy their stuff but they won.

                      It's cool that two of my phones are getting mentioned here; LG G5 and the HTC One (M8). I just barely got the HTC only 6 days ago. I need to sell it though. Something is wrong with the charging port and the lady failed to mention it to me.

                      I can still charge it but have to hold the USB cord a certain way. I really do want to keep the M8 as it's certainly better than the M7 which I owned twice. But HTC has only given me problems. All Taiwanese products have. Even Asus.

                      Getting back to camera phones, why no mention of the Sony Ericsson K900? I wanted that phone for Xenon flash. It eventually came to Nokia with the N82 which became my first smartphone. I would get the Nokia N8 if it had modern specs. That was the spiritual successor to the N82.

                      Nokia N8, Nexus One, and HTC One M7 deserves a modern reboot. Also props to the N93 for it's cool form factor.

                      My first camera phone? Sony Ericsson T616
                      My first camera phone with video recorder? Sanyo SCP-5500
                      My first phone with a front camera? Nokia N82

                      The first iPhone and Nexus were nearly the same dimensions except the Nexus One was slightly narrower. Both had another thing in common; no front cam. The iPhone didn't get one until the 4 and video recorder until the 3GS.

                      Props to my current daily driver; Google Pixel 3. I said wide-angle has become less practical than telephoto. But for the front, it's been very useful for group selfies.

                      One thing I miss from my N82? A lens cover. I love the ability to slide my finger to open the camera. The K900 had it as well. Hard to do that these days with the protruding lens.

                        Anonymous, 28 Feb 2021Huawei crops the photos to eliminated corners (where qualit... moreBut you take shots with that crop, it's that crop which is compared to others also in details, end result matters.

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                          • Ellen dale
                          • U{W
                          • 28 Feb 2021

                          The smartphone cameras have developed so much over the years thanks to the high end algorithms
                          Lest we don't need to buy total high end flagships for better photos
                          Just buy a mid range smartphone with a capable Snapdragon processor
                          Then use gcam boom! You get better photos than most high end stock cameras

                            YUKI93, 28 Feb 2021The Nokia 808 may well be the first phone ever to use pixel... moreI love that my favorite smartphone of all-time is getting mentioned here; the LG G5. It's myl favorite because of two words; removable battery. I know it has its issues like GPS and was quite maligned when released. I owned the V20 as well which was the last to offer removable battery with flagship specs but I just preferred the smaller size and rounded edges of the G5 more.

                            I actually played with my G5 last night. Just listened to my favorite playlists. The speaker might be bottom-firing but it's LOUD. As loud as my HTC One (M8). I usually play around with my G5 once every week or two but it's usually turned off. I do think over the years, the wide-angle is kinda overrated and that telephoto has become more practical feature.

                            For years, compact digital cameras had optical zoom. Wide-angle is only useful if say you're in a room or perhaps traveling and want to take photo of a skyline or mountains. For most cases, people want the shot to be closer. Not further. So kudos to LG for giving us wide-angle which the iPhone 11s and 12s added. But kudos to the iPhone 7 Plus for giving us 2X optical zoom.

                            The year of 2016 was bad because of so many celebrity deaths and perhaps you cried when Trump won and ranted it on your Facebook. But 2016 was also the greatest year in smartphone history.

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                              • Shui8
                              • KZK
                              • 28 Feb 2021

                              Anonymous, 28 Feb 2021- galaxy gran prime has night mode, quality is poor but it ... more'galaxy gran prime has night mode, quality is poor but it has the function'
                              - When we talking about current trend Night Mode, its the hand stabilized one, which first introduced in P20.

                              'Asus used periscope years ago, real zoom with variable focal length'
                              - No comment

                              'XZ2 Premium night performance was much better than P20 Pro because of real time fusion for photos/videos using monochrome'
                              - No comments, both got it pros & cons

                              'huawei made ultra wide popular? LOL ....'
                              - It is, after Mate 20 applies it, the rest brand flooded with it later on (eventhough first in LG)

                              'Sony Z series can do bokeh with single camera'
                              - The background defocus? Oohhhh please, I own bunch of Z series back then, the implementation are fail on the highest degree. Abysmal.

                                You can still get film for that Ricoh TLR in a format introduced 125 years ago. Somehow I don't think anyone in the future will be able to use a 70 year old phone camera.

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                                  • Shui8
                                  • KZK
                                  • 28 Feb 2021

                                  Kangal, 28 Feb 2021True. Although they weren't the same camera. The Noki... moreTo be honest, in today's smartphone camera standard, I'll pick Mate 40 Pro+ over Lumix CM1 or any older Lumia's.

                                  Cant beat the focal length versatility, which I do care more, while still getting great image quality both daylight & lowlight. That is of course until IMX800 will be used (+ other focal length).

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                                    • Shui8
                                    • KZK
                                    • 28 Feb 2021

                                    Anonymous, 28 Feb 2021Huawei crops the photos to eliminated corners (where qualit... more'where quality always lower'.

                                    Yet its still the best in terms of intermediate zoom quality, ranging from 1x to 4.9x. Unbeaten so far. You also forgot that one can use the 23mm, by toggling down the zoom to 0.8x.

                                    Next?
                                    *Please keep it between smartphone camera only*

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • LkB
                                      • 28 Feb 2021

                                      vrvly, 28 Feb 2021First brand that made me interested in phone cameras was So... moreHuawei crops the photos to eliminated corners (where quality is always lower).
                                      23mm camera outputs 27mm equiv photos.

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • LkB
                                        • 28 Feb 2021

                                        Anonymous, 28 Feb 2021what happened to Mi CC and Redmi Note Pro series?? and M... moreXiaomi bring so many variants of mi series that mi note series no longer exists.
                                        Mi note 11 was supposed to show up in 2020.

                                        Mi Mix (copied design from Sharp) is no longer necessary. Mi11 has 1 bezel.