Since receiving the OnePlus 2 a few days ago I have been using the device daily and captured a fair few photos to share with you. Let’s see just how good the 13 mega-pixel OnePlus 2 camera really is.
Looking and the specs alone the rear camera of the OnePlus 2 isn’t the most impressive we have seen. In fact with just a 13 mega-pixel sensor and F2.0 aperture some of you waiting for the OP2 to arrive were actually quite disappointed with those specs.
If you look more closely though you will learn that the OV 13 mega-pixel sensor is one of the best out there, the camera has a 6 lens stack, there is a fast laser auto focus that is even accurate in low light and of course OIS to keep the shakes out of you photos.
As a complete package the OnePlus 2 camera starts to sound much better, but how does it actually perform?
When I first received the OP2 it was running the Chinese Hydrogen ROM. It’s a pretty ROM but it’s not as well optimised as Oxygen OS. After switching to the international ROM I’ve seen a real improvement in performance and also in the speed of the camera.
In normal mode, or full auto, photos are captured and saved almost instantly. Using HDR or Clear Image though and images take a few seconds to save to the internal memory. This is the same for most phones, but it is slower than the LeTV Le 1 or Xiaomi Mi Note. The good news is that the image quality is very good.
The photos above were taken in auto, HDR and Clear Image (from left to right). Other than showing just how dirty my keyboard is you can’t really make out much difference in the photos. HDR is a little brighter with more glow and Clear Motion adds more detail, but in this artificial light all images look pretty good.
Gizchina News of the week
OnePlus 2 camera samples daylight
Take the OnePlus 2 outdoors and you can grab some really lovely looking images. The photos above were taken in bright sunny conditions with nice blue skies.
OnePlus 2 camera samples night
Even when the light dies away and the night draws in the photos on the OnePlus 2 continue to impress.
I’m also really enjoying the laser focus of the OnePlus 2. In good bright conditions you can pretty much trust the camera to get in focus and be ready to take a photo as soon as the camera app launches. It is that fast. Of course you can still choose to touch to focus when needed, and found that during night shoots this manual option proved a little more accurate than the laser.
OnePlus 2 Camera so far
When I reviewed the OnePlus One I was very disappointed with the camera, and its poor performance was one of the reasons I ended up getting rid of it, but the OnePlus 2 camera is a whole different story. At this point I am not sure if I prefer the OP2 camera or one of the excellent cameras on the LeTV or Xiaomi Mi Note, but having used them all I can say I would be more than happy using any and be confident that I would be getting splendid results with each press of the shutter.
With the excellent camera and the smooth operating Oxygen OS I really am quite impressed with the OnePlus 2 so far.
I will have the full OnePlus 2 review up and ready as soon as possible so keep your eyes open for that. Also thanks to our sponsors for sending us review phones, shop.gizchina.com, Giztop, UUonline, and Chigon, who are all selling the OnePlus 2 with no need for an invitation.
Impressive. Really nice shots. However, there is the “Andy effect”.
damn, i’m craving beer now!
Ah, it was alcohol free 😉
yeah, right. 😉
I am really looking to buy the OP2 or the XIAOMI MI NOTE PRO the only point that i would really to know better how really is the audio wearing earphones …. I hold 6 months the Xiaomi MI NOTE and the hi fi audio it is really strong and amazing …. I hope in your final review you will give information about audio chip and amplifier on the OP2 i know there is on board MAXX AUDIO but anyway it is a software and not an hardware improvement… Waiting for your info
I’m not sure if MAXX AUDIO is hardware related, but I would bet my money that it’s purely a software effect, especially on a “budget” phone like OP2. I also have a Mi Note, and I agree with you: the Hi-Fi quality is very good. From my knowledge, Mi Note Pro has the same audio hardware, so you’d know what to expect 🙂
Meh, I guess the shots are “ok” but still not nearly as impressive as say the S6’s F1.9 or G4’s F1.8 camera.
And someone to counter with a price comparison in 3, 2…
you get…. oops!
i agree with you with the camera quality of the S6 (I have no experience about the G4 yet) especially with the sunlight, but i think this OP2 camera makes pretty decent pics in a low light situation while the S6 is just average.
S6 does have an amazing camera, but as you said it is quite a lot more. Just to be clear I’m not defending the “Flagship Killer” rubbish, OP2 is a good phone but there are better out there (at a cost).
I won’t counter with a price comparison but I will say the S6’s camera is amazing with plenty of light, but the smallest shadow cripples it, my wife has one and I have used it extensively. I’ve only used the G4 in plenty of light so can’t comment on that.
Impressive. Really nice shots. However, there is the “Andy effect”.
damn, i’m craving beer now!
Ah, it was alcohol free 😉
yeah, right. 😉
I am really looking to buy the OP2 or the XIAOMI MI NOTE PRO the only point that i would really to know better how really is the audio wearing earphones …. I hold 6 months the Xiaomi MI NOTE and the hi fi audio it is really strong and amazing …. I hope in your final review you will give information about audio chip and amplifier on the OP2 i know there is on board MAXX AUDIO but anyway it is a software and not an hardware improvement… Waiting for your info
I’m not sure if MAXX AUDIO is hardware related, but I would bet my money that it’s purely a software effect, especially on a “budget” phone like OP2. I also have a Mi Note, and I agree with you: the Hi-Fi quality is very good. From my knowledge, Mi Note Pro has the same audio hardware, so you’d know what to expect 🙂
Impressive night shots..
mi note and letv le 1 and le1 pro all use imx214 sensor from sony lol
you can just install the google stock camera app und the One and it should be the same as on the 2….
? yes they all have the IMX214 but the OnePlus 2 doesn’t
I doubt that installing a 3rd party app on any phone would change too much on image quality. A camera app should rely on the phone’s hardware and drivers when capturing a photo, otherwise the capturing time would take some good seconds, for the phone to do software postprocessing. On all phones I had, installing a third party app usually resulted in the same photo quality, plus some (minor) tweaks / improvements. I’m not saying that all camera apps do this, but if you want lighting speed in capturing photos I can’t see too many alternatives (maybe optimizing for every kind of SOC available would be another solution).
Installing other ROM is a different story…
Hi Andi,
Is this better than Night mode on Vivo Xshot?
Yes, the Xshot is still very capable but when compared to the new range of phones (letv, mi note, OP2) it starts to loose its edge in the camera dept.
Tks for info, Andi 😀
And what about MX5, did you get yours yet?
I’m waiting imaptiently for you to drop a line, or two about the camera dept there.
Nope still waiting, starting to think it will never come…
Replying to posts so early in the morning? Cannot sleep, or you’re in a different time zone right now?
Replying to posts so early in the morning? Cannot sleep, or you’re in a different time zone right now?
Nope still waiting, starting to think it will never come…
Meh, I guess the shots are “ok” but still not nearly as impressive as say the S6’s F1.9 or G4’s F1.8 camera.
And someone to counter with a price comparison in 3, 2…
you get…. oops!
i agree with you with the camera quality of the S6 (I have no experience about the G4 yet) especially with the sunlight, but i think this OP2 camera makes pretty decent pics in a low light situation while the S6 is just average.
S6 does have an amazing camera, but as you said it is quite a lot more. Just to be clear I’m not defending the “Flagship Killer” rubbish, OP2 is a good phone but there are better out there (at a cost).
I won’t counter with a price comparison but I will say the S6’s camera is amazing with plenty of light, but the smallest shadow cripples it, my wife has one and I have used it extensively. I’ve only used the G4 in plenty of light so can’t comment on that.
Looks really good tbh. The more I read about the OPT the more I start to like it even though I’m still not a fan of the design. It does however seem to perform very well and has a very attractive price. After reading what the European prices will be for the new Motorola phones (399$ = 499€ wtf) I’m starting to lean towards the OPT.
Looking forward to the full review.
Impressive night shots..
mi note and letv le 1 and le1 pro all use imx214 sensor from sony lol
you can just install the google stock camera app und the One and it should be the same as on the 2….
? yes they all have the IMX214 but the OnePlus 2 doesn’t
I doubt that installing a 3rd party app on any phone would change too much on image quality. A camera app should rely on the phone’s hardware and drivers when capturing a photo, otherwise the capturing time would take some good seconds, for the phone to do software postprocessing. On all phones I had, installing a third party app usually resulted in the same photo quality, plus some (minor) tweaks / improvements. I’m not saying that all camera apps do this, but if you want lighting speed in capturing photos I can’t see too many alternatives (maybe optimizing for every kind of SOC available would be another solution).
Installing other ROM is a different story…
Hi Andi,
Is this better than Night mode on Vivo Xshot?
Yes, the Xshot is still very capable but when compared to the new range of phones (letv, mi note, OP2) it starts to loose its edge in the camera dept.
Tks for info, Andi 😀
And what about MX5, did you get yours yet?
I’m waiting imaptiently for you to drop a line, or two about the camera dept there.
Nope still waiting, starting to think it will never come…
Replying to posts so early in the morning? Cannot sleep, or you’re in a different time zone right now?
Good photos overall, but as I noticed before: could someone talk to OnePlus engineers and ask them to remove that horrible “oil painting” effect? Just look at trees and foliage in general, and / or at low light photos and explain to me why do they have to look so over post-processed? Personally I accept some noise in the photos, if that saves me a lot of fine details, and the OP2 is totally in the other direction, removing all noise if possible, and making the photos look way to post-processed and artificial (oil-painting effect included).
So sorry Andi, I never had an OPO, but from what I saw on the net OPO was much more careful with fine details, even with the cost of some extra noise. The night photos on OP2 are better though, larger pixels and laser autofocus doing their job properly.
would like to know how this and other recent camera centric phones stack up against the Iuni U2/Gionee E7, the Largon lens on those is stellar, shame it wasn’t further developed in later models.
I have always been a huge fan of OV sensors. These images are pretty good but nowhere near some of the flagships on the market today.
Which phone has the best camera/software optimization at the moment in your opinion?
Looks really good tbh. The more I read about the OPT the more I start to like it even though I’m still not a fan of the design. It does however seem to perform very well and has a very attractive price. After reading what the European prices will be for the new Motorola phones (399$ = 499€ wtf) I’m starting to lean towards the OPT.
Looking forward to the full review.
Good photos overall, but as I noticed before: could someone talk to OnePlus engineers and ask them to remove that horrible “oil painting” effect? Just look at trees and foliage in general, and / or at low light photos and explain to me why do they have to look so over post-processed? Personally I accept some noise in the photos, if that saves me a lot of fine details, and the OP2 is totally in the other direction, removing all noise if possible, and making the photos look way to post-processed and artificial (oil-painting effect included).
So sorry Andi, I never had an OPO, but from what I saw on the net OPO was much more careful with fine details, even with the cost of some extra noise. The night photos on OP2 are better though, larger pixels and laser autofocus doing their job properly.
would like to know how this and other recent camera centric phones stack up against the Iuni U2/Gionee E7, the Largon lens on those is stellar, shame it wasn’t further developed in later models.
able to perform such an image? op2 ? s6 ? 6s ? nop ?… still with my L1020 (2013 / 2015).
I have always been a huge fan of OV sensors. These images are pretty good but nowhere near some of the flagships on the market today.
Which phone has the best camera/software optimization at the moment in your opinion?
able to perform such an image? op2 ? s6 ? 6s ? nop ?… still with my L1020 (2013 / 2015).
Looking forward for the review Andy!
When a comparison between OP2 and Honor 7?
Will have to get an Honor 7 first
Will have to get an Honor 7 first
Looking forward for the review Andy!
When a comparison between OP2 and Honor 7?
Will have to get an Honor 7 first
Hey Andi.
Can you check if your China OnePlus 2 with OxygenOS has 2 IMEI numbers. OnePlus say the China versions only have 1 IMEI so Dual SIM won’t work outside of China. But I have a feeling they are chatting BS just to stop import sales from resellers.
Thanks.
No it only has one
No it only has one
Hey Andi.
Can you check if your China OnePlus 2 with OxygenOS has 2 IMEI numbers. OnePlus say the China versions only have 1 IMEI so Dual SIM won’t work outside of China. But I have a feeling they are chatting BS just to stop import sales from resellers.
Thanks.
I am missing some video comparisons (especially regarding OIS).
4K, 1080p, 1080p@60FPS, etc… (with both OIS on and off)
Can you make some, Andi?
Hey Andi.
Can you check if your China OnePlus 2 with OxygenOS has 2 IMEI numbers. OnePlus say the China versions only have 1 IMEI so Dual SIM won’t work outside of China. But I have a feeling they are chatting BS just to stop import sales from resellers.
Thanks.
No it only has one
I am missing some video comparisons (especially regarding OIS).
4K, 1080p, 1080p@60FPS, etc… (with both OIS on and off)
Can you make some, Andi?
Only F2.0 Camera ? – also photo does not look sharp- Also heard the OP2 is melting down when play heavy games- Think the Elephone helios X10 is much better choise
Only F2.0 Camera ? – also photo does not look sharp- Also heard the OP2 is melting down when play heavy games- Think the Elephone helios X10 is much better choise