EE Harrier Review - Camera Review
Camera
A budget 4G smartphone offering oodles of value
Sections
- Page 1 EE Harrier Review
- Page 2 Software and Performance Review
- Page 3 Camera Review
- Page 4 Battery Life and Verdict Review
EE Harrier – Camera
The rear-facing sensor offers a 13-megapixel image resolution, which is high for a budget smartphone. A high megapixel count doesn’t necessarily translate to good photos – as we found out – but it means the Harrier is at least capable of producing high-resolution shots. That makes it a good day-to-day shooter.
The main camera is also backside illuminated, which allows more light to be captured, thus improving low-light photography. We weren’t impressed with low-light shots, however. The Harrier’s also got autofocus and a flash LED, marking this as a versatile camera for a budget device.
That all sounds great on paper, but how does the EE Harrier camera actually perform in real life? It’s about what we expect at this price. In well-lit settings – outdoors, for example – the Harrier performs very well. Colours are vivid and accurate, and there’s plenty of detail.
As light decreases, however, the photos quickly become underwhelming. Noise ramps up, and colours dull. There is a single rear flash to help compensate for lack of light, however, and the Harrier is quick to focus, even in darker settings.
We also found issue with shooting moving targets, with blur commonly an issue, even with slow-moving subjects. The Harrier also struggles with highlight over-exposure in high-range shots – a shadowy foreground below a bright sky, for example – despite having an HDR mode that should help with such things. We’d say that the photos will be good enough for sharing on social media, but you won’t want to take this as your main holiday camera.
The 2-megapixel front-facing camera is equally average. Such a low-end sensor is not atypical when you consider this is a mid-to-low-end smartphone, however. The real question is whether it’s good enough for its two main purposes, namely taking selfies and video calling.
The former is where real issues lie; the low resolution makes it difficult to take self-shots of any real worth. It’s good enough for making video calls, however. The front camera is arguably the Harrier’s most lacklustre feature, but users looking for an otherwise great-value phone will learn to get along with it.
How we test phones
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
