Ever since HTC released the original HTC One back in 2013, the firm has been known for focusing in on a quality camera experience for their customers. Since then, the Taiwanese name has gone back and forth with their different technologies using a DuoCamera setup in 2014’s HTC One M8 and last year’s One M9 shipped with a “standard” 20-megapixel camera. Now, the UltraPixel is back with the 12-megapixel “UltraPixel 2” sensor inside the new HTC 10 announced earlier today, but just what are HTC promising for avid photographers this time around?
Straight away, the UltraPixel 2 branding will need some explanation, and unlike the original HTC One, there’s not too much different from say a Nexus 6P or Galaxy S7 Edge this time around. HTC uses the UltraPixel branding to denote a camera sensor that’s capable of taking in more light and more detail, without worrying itself with the resolution of an image. A 12-megapixel camera might sound like a “downgrade” but with a full-size image being 4000 x 3000 wide or so there’s still plenty of pixels to play with. The sensor size here is 1.55μm pixel and this will help to create more natural images that look more like photographs and less like digital images. Add-in an aperture of f/1.8 and the HTC 10 can suck in light like few other cameras out there and it’s no wonder HTC is calling it “the world’s first optically stabilized, larger aperture f/1.8 lens” on a smartphone. Around the front, the story is much the same, but HTC is giving it a wider-angle and a 5-megapixel resolution as well as a screen flash for clear selfie shots. HTC has thrown in a Dual LED flash around the back to meet that second-generation laser autofocus that they say is now faster than ever, and altogether the hardware certainly seems to be here.
As for software, HTC has loaded the HTC 10 with the ability to launch in just 0.6 seconds and the usual array of HTC features like Zoe and Live Makeup make a return here. Interestingly however, the 4K video recording also includes the ability to record 24-bit Hi-Res audio along with it and the 10 features the ability to record hyperlapses as well as 120fps slow-motion footage at 720p. There’s a nice listing of “Video Pic” here as well, which weren’t assuming is similar to the iPhone’s Live Photos and the same feature found in the new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. With a quick and easy to use camera interface as well, the HTC 10 and its new UltraPixel 2 setup seem set to become one of the better camera offerings this year, and we’ll hopefully have more to share with you in a full review in the next week or so. We have plenty of the content on the HTC 10 hitting the site all time, so be sure to keep checking back, and see what makes the HTC 10 ticks you can check out the full specs here.
