Infinix, with their new flagship – the Infinix Zero 5 X603 – didn’t go with a fancy new name for their mode to blur the background when taking photos. They just call it Portrait Mode like on the iPhone. And both front and back cameras support this feature of blurring the background and focusing on the subject.
You should check out my unboxing and first impression post on the Zero 5.
Front camera
On the 16MP front camera, there’s a mode Infinix has called “bokeh”. In this mode, the camera will try and focus on you as a person.
Very few smartphones can boast of having such a feature on the front camera as it is hard to implement. Infinix are trying, as you will see in the sample below even though the edges are still not good.
NB: Images have been compressed for the web.
You can see the edges aren’t perfect. The software is going hard on the edges. I believe the software should be able to learn and become better in future. Not even the iPhone X has perfected blurring the background on front cameras, but the Apple software has been learning and getting better. Hope Infinix’s does so too.
Back cameras:
Not all dual cameras are created the same. Infinix chose to go the iPhone, Samsung, and OnePlus way. Have a normal lens, the 12MP one, plus an extra zoom lens, the 13MP one. With such a system, depth can be sensed properly when focusing on an object and therefore software can blur the background when focusing on an object.
Infinix’s software is doing a pretty good job as you’ll see down below. I’ve posted a set of pictures so as to compare it with OnePlus 5’s Depth Mode.
Here’s Portrait Mode on the Infinix Zero 5:
Here’s Depth Mode on the OnePlus 5:
As you can see the Infinix Zero 5 does a pretty impressive job using the Helio P25 Processor to achieve a decent shot. Though you’ll notice the sharpness, and colour reproduction of the Zero 5 has some issues. But that will be discussed later on in the camera review.
On the Infinix Zero 5, you can adjust the background blur strength after taking the photo. Which is a feature I’ve really loved in the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. The OnePlus doesn’t allow you to do that. So I’m really impressed Infinix included this.
Infinix also allows you to even change the focus point while adjusting the blur strength so that you achieve a satisfying photo if the software had failed you. You’ll definitely play a lot with this for good portraits.
Hopefully Infinix’s software will get better with time. The colour reproduction is wanting and as the software gets updates, I hope things will get really good.
But, being able to do this, and do it decently is a big feature that I doubt any other smartphone at this price range can boast of. Check out full Infinix Zero 5 Specs down below.
What are your thoughts on this? What do you want to see in my full review?
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I am comparing both portrait photos from the Zero 5 and OnePlus 5, and there is a huge difference. To me the image captured by the Zero 5 creates a very plain bokeh effect that lacks that depth feel to it hence the image just looks flat as if someone just cutout the background on photoshop and applied a blur filter. The OnePlus 5 photo on the other hand has a great depth effect to it.
You should also get your hands on the Xiaomi Mi A1, it also features a similar camera config at the same price point and from experience with it, it’s depth effect is far more superior than that of the Zero 5 and at par with the OnePlus 5.
One plus wins