Posted in: Android, Digital cameras, Mobile phones

Nexus 5 camera poll: did the 4.4.2 update really improve image quality?

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We received excited tips about how much the Nexus 5 camera had improved after the phone was updated to 4.4.2 (having launched with 4.4, which it introduced). We found the improvements worthwhile, but fairly minor.

Perhaps, our dear readers, your view on things will be different, so we’ve prepared some crops for you to vote on.

We used the same Nexus 5 unit for both sets of samples – first we snapped photos with the phone running 4.4.2 and then downgraded it to 4.4 and took a second round of photos. The sun shifted slightly in the minutes it took to flash the old software, but we’ve cropped areas that were virtually unaffected.

The photos taken with the old software (4.4) are on the left, the ones with the new software (4.4.2) are on the right. We covered the basic usage scenarios – daylight shooting, shooting against the sun with HDR and shooting in lowlight.

Here’s the brand new version of the poll – each time you vote, it will load the next crop. The labels in the poll hint at what’s what in case it’s not clear. Once you’ve voted on all crops (there are 6 in total), you’ll be offered to read our opinion on the changes.

Android 4.4.2 brings other improvements over 4.4 and 4.4.1, things like improved security. It’s a small update overall, but it’s definitely worth installing (if not for the camera improvements then for the security patches).

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