Camera shootout: Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One

How does the self proclaimed “2014 Flagship Killer”, aka the OnePlus One compare when put up against the Vivo Xshot in a camera shoot out? Lets see.

The Vivo Xshot and the OnePlus One are two of the flagship phones that many of us want to get our hands on. The OnePlus One is desirable as it gets amazing hardware at a crazy low price, and the Vivo Xshot because it gets equally amazing hardware, a smaller design and class leading front and rear cameras!

If you were to look at the specs the Vivo Xshot and the OnePlus One are almost equal in terms of most of their hardware (Snapdragon 801, 3GB RAM, 1080 display etc), but in usage, especially the camera, they are worlds apart.

Vivo Xshot Vs. OnePlus One camera hardware

OnePlus One – camera specifications

Let’s start with the OnePlus One and for this test I used the global version of the OnePlus One which we bought with an invite through the official OnePlus store. So this is the phone international users will be getting if they get an invite, and these are the types of photos you can hope to take.

Camera specs on the OnePlus One are very impressive, and so they should be as the hardware is the same as the Oppo Find 7. Sony provide the rear sensor on the OnePlus One. It’s the 13 mega-pixel Sony Exmor IMX214 with an F2.0 aperture. Not only is the sensor top-notch but the design uses 6 lenses to avoid distortion.

Vivo Xshot – camera specifications

The Vivo Xshot was designed to be a camera centric device, but looking at the hardware alone we should expect similar performance between the Xshot and the OPO.

Sony again supply the Sony IMX214 sensor for the Vivo Xshot, but this time the phone has optical image stabilisation and also an aperture of f1.8. There is also a dual tone LED flash on the rear, but for this shoot out we are going do without.

Camera shootout: Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One

Some of you might think that comparing the camera centric Vivo Xshot with the OnePlus One is a little unfair, but seeing as they use same sensor and that the OPO is the “2014 Flagship Killer”, with “Never Settle” specs we though readers would be interested to see the results.

How we tested the cameras

To keep things simple we tested both phones at the same time in the same locations. We also used the ‘Normal’ mode on Vivo Xshot and ‘Auto’ mode on the OnePlus One for most conditions, but there are also some HDR images in there too (clearly marked as HDR). We also let the phones find their own focus point and then shot away.

All photos were taken with the flash off so you can get a good idea of how they perform in low light conditions.

So basically imagine you simply took either of these phones out of your pocket and took a picture without going through the settings. These are the images you would capture on the spot.

Below are photos taken directly from each phone. I have not edited them in anyway. See what you think.

Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One photo samples – Sunny conditions

The Vivo Xshot and OnePlus One both performed very well in bright sunny conditions (as expected). Either phone can produce great quality images, but the Xshot takes the lead as the images it records have better colour reproduction and are sharper than those taken with the OnePlus One. Images on the OPO also tended to look dull even when the sun was turned to ’11’.

Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One photo samples – During Sunset (some HDR)

HDR is hit or miss for me. I’ve found some companies do it well and others are terrible. For example ColorOS is awful (in my opinion) for HDR photos. The good news is that the Cyanogenmod team have done better than Oppo and HDR images are good on the OPO. I still prefer HDR from the Vivo’s Funtouch system though, it creates more natural looking photos and faster too. We can also see from these lower light images that the OPO is starting to get a little grainy.

Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One photo samples – night (no flash)

When the light is almost gone noise creeps in to the images on both phones. The F1.8 aperture on the Vivo Xshot means it sucks up more light and performs better though. Interestingly the night images from the OnePlus One look much better when viewed on a computer than on the phones screen, where they are appear terrible in comparison to the Vivo. In reality the images taken with the OPO are noisier than the Vivo, but they aren’t as bad as I thought they would be once I got them on my computer.

Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One photo samples – Panoramic

The Vivo Xshot is the clear winner here. The Panoramic photo has better colour and is much shaper. The Xshot also allows you to take full 360 photos and there is simply not time taken when saving.

Camera shootout: Vivo Xshot vs OnePlus One – Conclusion

The way we set up the test shows what the phones are capable of when taking photos in their basic settings. Basically these are the worst photos both phones are capable of, and in this case both perform well. But it’s the Vivo Xshot that is our overall champion.

When looking at the images above you will have noted that the images from the Vivo Xshot are nearly double the memory of the OnePlus One images. Despite the huge amount of data though, the Xshot can capture and save images considerably faster than the OnePlus One can manage (with the same amount of RAM and processor). Auto focus on the Xshot is also faster and more accurate, plus it is quicker to navigate to the setting you want in the Vivo’s camera app. The CM11S camera app UI means you have to flick through all the filters to get to the one you want.

Part of the fun of using a phone as a camera is the ease and speed of use, and the Vivo Xshot excels here. Obviously it is a camera centric phone so should be better, and it is by many miles.

Taking photos with the OnePlus One isn’t as enjoyable as I hoped it would. Photos are captured slower than the Xshot, the focus is slower and for some reason the images appear extremely noisy on the phone’s screen, to the point that you might simply delete it before viewing on a computer.

I’m happy to have tested the Vivo Xshot alongside the OnePlus One. I now know I made the right decision for my personal phone. Not only do I love the phone, and ROM but the camera is amazing too. If I had chosen the OnePlus One I would feel I had settled for second best.

What do you think of the photo samples from both phones? Let us know in the comments below.

If you are interested to buy any of these phones you can order the Vivo Xshot from TopResellerStore.it, the Global OnePlus One (with invitation) from the OnePlus store, or the Chinese OnePlus One from Lenteen.fr.