Droid X vs. Droid Incredible 8MP Camera Showdown

[Vihzel]

Introduction and Method

PLEASE READ: Welcome to a comprehensive direct comparison battle between the Motorola Droid X and HTC Droid Incredible/EVO 4G (since they use the same 8MP camera). There are 30 sample images [15 day (morning and noon) and 15 night (including dawn)] for us to look at and compare how the cameras perform in real life. This is not a "scientific" study. My method for this battle is simple: Take similar pictures of the same subject(s) with both cameras.

THERE HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY NO TAMPERING, ALTERING, SABOTAGING, or DOCTORING IN THIS STUDY. I simply turned on both cameras, focused both of them, snapped a photo, checked to see if there were any unusual errors (ex. finger covering lens), retook if necessary, and continued.

If you would like the original photos, please feel free to send me a PM with an email address I can send them to you.

Organization

There are 2 main rounds. One being the Day Round and the other being the Night Round. The Day Round will include pics from the morning and noon time. The Night Round will include pics taken in indoor lighting, outside, and at early dawn.

Droid X Setting: 8MP with Auto or Default everything
Droid Incredible Setting: 8MP with Auto or Default everything

The Top picture is the Droid X, while the Bottom picture is the HTC Incredible.

Let the battle... BEGIN!


Round 1 - Day

Day Sample #1

Day Sample #2

Day Sample #3

Day Sample #4

Day Sample #5

Note: It's supposed to look like a deep bronze.

Day Sample #6

Day Sample #7

Day Sample #8

Day Sample #9

Morning Sample #10

NOTE: It's supposed to have a warm, morning sun glow. The curtain blocks the 8AM morning sun.

Morning Sample #11

Morning Sample #12

Morning Sample #13

Morning Sample #14

Morning Sample #15

 

[Vihzel]

Round 2 - Night

Night Sample #1

Night Sample #2

Night Sample #3

Night Sample #4

Night Sample #5

Night Sample #6

Night Sample #7

Night Sample #8

Night Sample #9

Night Sample #10

Dusk Sample #11

Dusk Sample #12

Dusk Sample #13

Dusk Sample #14

Dusk Sample #15

I hope that the whole "Which camera is better?" is settled. I hope that this will be the last thread on it. The Incredible is definitely sharper snapper, but the X produces far more accurate colors and balances exposure a lot better.

 

[darreno1]

First off, the Inc has a great camera that rivals the X in sharpness, however, the X has noticeably better color reproduction. The Inc's colors seem to be a little washed out. The Inc. also seems to be applying some auto-sharpening to each of its pics.

Nice comparo!!

 

[Vihzel]

First off, the Inc has a great camera that rivals the X in sharpness, however, the X has noticeably better color reproduction. The Inc's colors seem to be a little washed out.

Nice comparo!!

Agreed. For some reason... at night, the Inc's camera has a love affair with the color blue. I don't understand why. The X was always accurate in producing the true colors. Essentially... all of the colors that you see in the X is what it is supposed to look like.

 

[jroc]

They both take good pics. It looks like the Inc did better in some pics with wide focus areas, the X did better in some with close ups.

U would have to be very particular to pick a definite better camera with these shots. Some pics the Inc looked better, some pics the X looked better.

Nice thread and pics. And to think someone suggested it wouldnt be a fair comparison cuz u just brought the X...lol

 

[iPenguin]

Really nicely done thread. I'm going against my instinct here... but I would have to say the for the majority of the pictures, the X was more accurate. I never noticed Inc pictures looked so faded before, because I always keep them viewed on my phone. Not to say the Inc isn't good, but the X just replicates colors more accurately. But I do have to say I really liked that last blue-sky picture.

And beautiful neighborhood btw.

 

[Vihzel]

Really nicely done thread. I'm going against my instinct here... but I would have to say the for the majority of the pictures, the X was more accurate. I never noticed Inc pictures looked so faded before, because I always keep them viewed on my phone. Not to say the Inc isn't good, but the X just replicates colors more accurately. But I do have to say I really liked that last blue-sky picture.

And beautiful neighborhood btw.

I completely agree with you. The colors of the photos on the Incredible look a lot better. I was shocked to see such a difference when I transferred them to my computer.

The last blue sky picture looks really nice, but it is completely inaccurate of dusk. The X's photo of the blue sky is what it really looked like. The Inc altered it so much that it doesn't look real.

 

[EKG]

The Inc seemed to make the pictures colors more faded and have a slight pink hue to them....

 

[double]

ill take the inc for night shooting and the x for daytime. can the incs settings be adjusted for better color accuracy? also, i wonder if the camera settings reflect the oversaturation of the screens colors? ie. did they set the color settings for the camera based on displaying photos on the phones display. it makes sense, displaying photos on the screen i have never noticed the color accuracy definciency.

 

[Vihzel]

ill take the inc for night shooting and the x for daytime. can the incs settings be adjusted for better color accuracy? also, i wonder if the camera settings reflect the oversaturation of the screens colors? ie. did they set the color settings for the camera based on displaying photos on the phones display. it makes sense, displaying photos on the screen i have never noticed the color accuracy definciency.

It can't be adjusted for color accuracy.

What I find odd is that the photos on the phone screen look fantastic. The colors are a lot more vivid. Once they move to a computer, that vividness disappears. I have a feeling that they made it for the phone.

 

[darreno1]

Yeah if you look at the picture with the coke can for example, to my eyes the color on the X sample is more realistic. Another example is sample #12, we have those red roofs here and on the X they're represented accurately.

I posted some pics in the other thread and the colors there are very accurate. The table cloth is the same color as well as the watch band and tomatoes. I'm really blown away by that because I've never seen such accurate colors before in a cell phone picture. I wish I had an iPhone 4 to compare them to. My bet would still be on the X.

 

[Clittzen]

The colour is just so much better on the X... the Incredible camera makes everything seem pink/red toned in just about every picture.

Good job though.

 

[HauntedHallows]

The Blacks seem to be very nice on the Dinc compared to the X.

 

[darreno1]

It can't be adjusted for color accuracy.

What I find odd is that the photos on the phone screen look fantastic. The colors are a lot more vivid. Once they move to a computer, that vividness disappears. I have a feeling that they made it for the phone.

Well the amoled screen does tend to oversaturate so that might explain why they seem better on the screen.

 

[varaonaid]

Thanks for the comparison! I found it really helpful. I also find it interesting that the DInc screen is a little more color saturated than the DX so it doesn't surprise me that they look good on the phone. I'll bet the pics look kinda similar on the phones themselves as the DX photos are more accurate colorwise and more saturated.

From the photos I've seen, I prefer the DX camera overall.

 

[Minimike]

What are the 'stock' ISO settings on each. I seem to see a different ISO setting between them. If the ISO setting is higher on one of them, then depth of field will be greater on the closeups and appear sharper. If the ISO setting is slower, then the colors would be more saturated.

 

[ucla2042]

they both are pretty good...pretty darn similar, although the Evo has better night pictures it looks. less grainy and hazy

 

[Wolfedude88]

Very nicely done.

 

[kevroc]

I've noticed the white balance in artificial light is really good on the X, at least it's much better than on my iPhone 4. Normally cameras don't account to well for that and I was really pleasantly surprised.

 

[jdk33]

Thanks for doing the comparison!

Personally I found nearly all of the X photos to have better exposure and color representation than the Incredible pics. Most of the daytime pics from the Incredible looked overexposed and sterile.

What are the 'stock' ISO settings on each. I seem to see a different ISO setting between them. If the ISO setting is higher on one of them, then depth of field will be greater on the closeups and appear sharper. If the ISO setting is slower, then the colors would be more saturated.

I am quite sure they both use auto ISO by default.

 

[evo678]

Excellent comparison that shows pros and cons of both! In one pic I think the X is better then I see the next pic and think the dinc is better. Really a toss up imho.

One other thing that might be worth mentioning is the difference in shutter speeds. The X is definitely the slower of the two in this respect. I don't think it's significantly slower but is noticeable and may make a difference when trying to snap an action shot (or for parents like myself who aren't as concerned about exact color but more interested in capturing a moment).

PC Mag did a comparison of camera speed between the X, Evo, Ip4, and Canon SD4000 (Evo's camera is basically the same thing as the dinc I believe). Be forewarned, the ip4 came out as the fastest, so anyone sensitive to comparisons where the ip4 comes out on top should probably avoid reading the review.

Smartphone Camera Speed Test

 

[jroc]

lol, thanks for the warning. And for the link.

 

[T66T]

you should put both cameras at their best settings and compare again rather than stock settings

 

[greenrolaids]

yeah great job

 

[mountainbikermark]

Thank you so much for the side by side.
I've found on my Incredible the opposite of yours, the colors are too much of a good thing. Those look like my Omnia took them.
I wonder if auto iso is defaulting to different settings on the different phones. On auto all my colors are so saturated they look clown like on the desktop.
I'd wonder if Vignette works differently on the X vs the Inc because its night/ day better on my Inc than stock but neither will replace my cyber shot
Thanks again for the side by side, the review is why I just joined this forum after google searched Inc camera reviews