Camera and Photography
One of the most important function that people are looking for in a smartphone is the camera. Please, don’t deny it. In the current era of social media, you would love to share every moment in your life on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Especially Instagram. Not forgetting Snapchat, which is now gaining popularity among Malaysians. And to use that, you’ll need a good camera.
The front facing camera is located at the top left side of the phone. If you’re wondering what’s that black dot above the earpiece, that is the ambiance sensor. And above you can see the rear camera in close up.
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Opening the native camera app will show you the standard Auto Mode (first thumbnail). On the left side of the camera app, there is an option to switch to Pro Mode (in pink). So if you have itchy fingers that wants to fiddle with the manual setting, go ahead and use the Pro Mode.
In the Auto Mode (second thumbnail), you can see the standard settings and also the auto picture settings. It is pretty straightforward here. Just select the type of effect that you want and voila.
And in the Pro Mode (third thumbnail), you can customize the settings to your liking. You can manually set the ISO, white balance, “shutter” speed, exposure and many others. You will definitely enjoy fiddling with the settings. But, it may be a waste of time if you’re in a hurry.
The video mode (fourth thumbnail) is pretty standard. Select the video quality that you want to shoot in and go. The V7 Max video quality is not bad.
Now that I have the camera app settled, let’s show some results. Good thing that it was a beautiful day when I was out taking pictures with the Blade V7 Max. You can see that in the photos below and I’ll let the photos do all the talking. I did not edit any of the photos other than resizing them.
(Click on the photos to enlarge)
Now the photos below is to show how detailed it can be when we zoom the image 100%.
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The photo on the left is the image of an elliptical machine at the park. The expose is just nice and colours are punchy. Details of the machine itself is impressive. Now click the photo on the right. I zoomed in 100% in photoshop and look further. We can clearly see the type of car that is parked far away. Of course the details are blurry because hey, it’s far. But we can still identify the car model. Actually I didn’t even realised it’s there until I zoomed in. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Now let’s check out the HDR function.
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Okay. That’s a little too overexposed on the dynamic range. Perhaps it can only be used when the sun is low or something.
How about shooting at night? Check it out then.
Okay. Now here’s a little selfie with the front camera.
So much white hair. Not bad for a front camera to capture that little detail, such as my white hair. Although the background is a little overexposed but it’s okay by me. And no, I didn’t use the Beauty feature so yeah, my face is smooth like that.
I am really happy with the Blade V7 Max camera. The level of details in the landscape and close-up shots are commendable. Even the bokeh looks good. Shooting in low light is also equally impressive but more can be improved. It got the exposure right most of the time. White balance can be a little bit off especially during close-ups. But that is forgivable.
And last but not least, here’s a sample video taken by the Blade V7 Max.
All I can say about the video quality is that it’s good, but just slightly above par. So yes, I’d say that this phone can be suitable for Snapchat or Instagram Moments.
Conclusion
What do I think about the Blade V7 Max? Well, I think that it has a potential to be a good mid-range phone. Large RAM and 8-core Helios P10 SoC really helped in making the V7 Max perform well. The fingerprint sensor is really quick to respond upon touch. Call and voice quality is good. Screen is beautiful and bright. Colours are punchy. Not forgetting that the phone looks good too.
For a mid-range phone, I think the Blade V7 Max can easily outmatch most of its rivals. Game play is smooth. But those games that require heavy GPU usage may not perform that well. After all, the Blade V7 Max is targeted towards the mid-range users. Price for the new ZTE Blade V7 Max will be retailed at RM999 when it hits the market.
Thanks for reviewing the phone, it really helped me decide on this phone. You mentioned that the fingerprint scanner can be used for scrolling web pages, but I wasn’t able to do it. Is there something that I need to turn on?
Nope. It should be able to scroll automatically.
P/S: Sorry for the late reply. Honestly I didn’t realise there was a comment here. 😛
Such a great review coming from a regular Malaysian guy haha I was quite shocked actually seeing how good your grammar is. Now I dont have any doubts on the phone anymore. Going to grab one soon!
That’s good to know. And…err…thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.
Oh wow. I thought you were Nigerian. Your article sounded friendly and call through just like my Nigerian brother would write……No wonder it’s called a global village.