Undeniably, the Huawei G8 is one of the most stylish yet well built midrange handset that's readily available in the country today. Having this device for more than 2 months now, we're used to it and satisfied so far. In addition to that, we also noticed its good camera prowess for a midrange phone.
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| Puerto Princesa, Palawan thru the lens of Huawei G8! |
Disclaimer: This seed unit is provided by Huawei Philippines for an honest review
Related: Samsung Galaxy A8 Vs Huawei G8 Full Comparison! Who Wins?
We decided to further test what it more it can do. So even if it's a risk, we ditched our big camera (DSLR) in our recent trip to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan to take photos and videos.
Camera specs and features
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| Huawei G8 camera at the back |
In terms of rear camera, the G8 is using a good type of 13 MP rear camera. It has a fast type of autofocus, optical image stabilization great for videos and a dual tone LED flash to make your photos in the dark looks more natural. Rated at f/2.0 aperture, it's also designed to let more light in compared with other smartphones with higher f/2.2 or f/2.4 lens that looks dull in taking photos in challenging conditions.
In front you'll get a decent wide angled 5 MP camera that can take sharp photos in daylight or well lit places.
The camera software found in Huawei's EMUI is one of easiest to use around. While it doesn't have a full manual mode and grids for your rule of thirds, it makes up by loading features such as Time lapse, Panorama, Beautify (both rear and selfie cams), Food Modes (adds warmness to color tone to make it looks better for food), Burst shot (Take multiple photos in one click) and All Focus that enables refocus.
As expected, navigation was easy, as all you need to do is swipe up or down to choose the next mode. However, reaching the HDR, Panorama, All focus and burst mode may take a little more effort as you have to click the icons options first.
Anyway, it also has another trick on its sleeve as for easy brightness adjustment whenever you focus on a subject. Aside from that there's also a very handy spot metering mode to let you adjust exposure in challenging conditions.
In the Selfie department, the Beautify mode isn't overly done and has 10 different levels. There's also a make-up mode, but I really won't suggest using it as it will only make you look funny. In the dark, you can use your screen as a flash to take acceptable shots.
Camera Performance
Most of the things that Huawei advertised with this unit is correct. The rear camera was able to provide us with sharp and crisp photos with close to natural colors even if there's slight saturation.
In daylight, the results were fantastic there's hardly noticeable noise even when you view the photos in max 13 MP resolution. It takes wonderful macros with not that artificial looking background blur even if you're an inch close to your subject already.
The HDR mode of this device also works wonderfully well especially for against the light shots. It brings more details and corrects the photo without ruining image quality. I also loved its shooting speed that's around 1 second compared to slow HDR shutters of the past. Maximize it wisely and don't use it on well lit places to avoid overexposure.
In the dark, it can slmake not that visible things a little more visible. However, expect that there will be a lot of noise at times. The flash on the other hand won't also help that much if you're on subjects that's away. For best results, use it with objects with at a meter distance at max.
The selfie camera on the other hand proved to be formidable as well. Even if there are inconsistencies in colors (there are times that you'll look reddish), G8's selfie camera proved to be a vibrant good one especially with its beautify mode. In lowlight you can always use the screen flash to improve the quality a bit. It will be grainy, at least you'll be visible enough.
The G8 is also designed to take good videos using its main camera. Thanks to its OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) we were able to take not that shaky 1080p videos nicely. It can't compete yet with the new higher end flagships, but for the price its one of the best.
What surprised us here is the Selfie video of this phone. Even at just 720p it looks decently sharp even if there's a good amount of saturation. The best part about it is our shot falling down the Sabang Zipline didn't look shaky at all.
Rear Camera Samples
Verdict
The Huawei G8 proved to be a worthy buddy if you just want to bring a phone with capable cameras that rivals some more expensive handsets. To be honest, it won't really beat the quality of your high end DSLRs or Mirrorless cams, but if you just want something casual, handy, slim and light, this is would be a great alternative.
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