HTC Desire vs HTC Legend vs Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 vs Google Nexus One vs HTC Tattoo – CAMERA

The camera on your Android phone is all-important factor. We’re not just looking at the megapixel count, but also the cameras zooming skills, as well as how easy it is to share your snaps and get them online in quick sharp fashion. Chances are you won’t be carrying a compact all the time as well as your phone, so the snapper needs to be up to the task…
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
At 8.1 megapixels, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 has the biggest sensor of any of the Android phones on test. Being a Sony Ericsson phone it comes with compact-like features, including infinity focus, macro, face-detection and multiple autofocus. It has nine scene functions, auto scene adjustment and smile detection too.
Unsurprisingly, it takes beautiful, crisp, well-defined shots in good light. Sharing is easy too. Choose the pic from your camera roll at the bottom of the screen, pick the messaging icon and it’ll offer you the chance to upload immediately to Picasa and Facebook as well as emailing or Bluetoothing it to other devices.

HTC Desire
The snapper on the HTC Desire is pared back to 5 megapixels, but doesn’t come with the same high-end functionality as the X10. The filters, including sepia, polarise and grayscale are fine for social networking snaps, but not much else. The brightness adjustment dials, along with contrast, saturation and sharpness, mean you can create more individual shots though. Images look incredibly clean and sharp on the 3.7-inch screen, but that single LED light makes for grainy nighttime efforts. Uploading shots is done via the gallery, accessible in the bottom right hand corner, with swift, one button delivery to Facebook and Flickr.
Google Nexus One
The Google Nexus One’s camera has the same colour effects as those available on the Desire, as well as the same 5 megapixel sensor and LED light. It all means there’s very little to choose from between the two. Shots appear clean and clear in daylight, but again struggle to live up to expectations in low light.
Sharing is somewhat easier though: just choose your shot from the gallery icon, hit the ‘Share’ button and you’ll be able to drop it straight into Picasa or Facebook.
HTC Legend
The 5 megapixel snapper on the HTC Legend is nigh-on identical to that on its older brother, the HTC Desire. That means identical brightness and saturation controls, as well as the same uploading options. The pics are the same as well, although obviously the slightly smaller 3.2inch screen means you don’t get quite as much detail as you would on the Desire’s 3.7-inch effort.
HTC Tattoo
The budget option, the HTC Tattoo only has a 3.2 megapixel camera, but it’s more than ample considering how cheap this phone is. You can tweak the quality of pics via the menu button, letting you geotag and add Grayscale or Sepia effects. The pictures it takes are pretty average and can’t compare to the other phones on test, but as a budget phone, you’ll struggle to find one with as good a camera as this.
Verdict
The HTC Desire and Legend and Google Nexus One all have comparable, classy phone. And the Tattoo’s effort, while basic, is still good for the price. But the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is head and shoulders above the rest. It can be manipulated better and acts like a proper compact, taking stunning and very sharp pictures every time, no matter the conditions.
Winner: Sony Erisson Xperia X10