Best Mid-Range Camera Battle: Xperia M5, C5, Galaxy A8, Zenfone Selfie

best mid range android camera sony xperia m5 c5 ultra samsung galaxy a8 asus zenfone selfie

We put the top mid-range Android camera phones into a camera battle. Which between Sony Xperia M5 with 4K video and the 21MP sensor, Sony Xperia C5 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy A8, and Asus Zenfone Selfie will stand out as the best mid-range camera for the year 2015-2016?

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Basic of camera comparison

We used automatic mode in all phones when shooting in daylight, the night with flash, low light, and full HD 1080p video recording. The selfie shots from the front-camera have smoothening or beautification turned-on but on an average level.

Camera Specs (in-depth) Sony Xperia M5 Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Asus Zenfone Selfie Samsung Galaxy A8
Main Sensor 21MP f/2.2 13MP f/2.0 13MP f/2.0 16MP f/1.9
Video up to 4K UHD video @30fps up to 1080p FHD @30fps up to 1080p FHD @30fps up to 1080p FHD @30fps
Front facing 13MP f/2.0 13MP f/2.2 13MP f/2.2 8MP f/1.9
Flash LED flash Both cameras Both cameras LED flash
Extra features or sensors Phase detection N/A laser focus N/A

Daylight shooting

Now looking side-by-side, M5 has the finest detail preservation and somewhat most pleasing white balance. Xperia C5 is on par with M5 in color reproduction. Zenfone Selfie is doing good in sharpness. The Galaxy A8 managed to produce bright shots but loses some saturation.

HDR (high dynamic range) control on other phones was automatically detected when shooting under bright sunlight with blinding background except for the Galaxy A8.

Night with flash, low light shooting

In night shooting, both Xperia M5 and C5 showed bright low light images. There is, however, some bluish tint appearing on the sides of the shots of two Xperia in extremely low light scenarios. Zenfone has very pleasing night shots too though details get a little blurry. The Galaxy A8 has the worst automatic mode, but images remain sharp.

Video in full HD 1080p

The video comparison showed that the Xperia M5 has one of the fastest focusing speed. Both colors on Xperia C5 Ultra and Asus Zenfone Selfie appear pleasing in the eyes. There is a bit of warmer white balance on Selfie. The Galaxy A8 has sharp video quality but the color is bland and lacks saturation.

Watch the video below.

full hd 1080p video battle mid-range android xperia m5 sony samsung galaxy a8 asus zenfone selfie

Selfie from front-facing camera

All selfie snappers are equipped with 13MP front-camera sensors except for the Galaxy A8 with 5MP. Looking at the side-by-side selfie shots, the Xperia C5 has clear and sharp shot similar to Zenfone Selfie. The color on Selfie is warmer and a little bit vivid than the rest. The blandest shot was from Galaxy A8, the tone became pale. Coming close with A8 is the Xperia M5.

Verdict: Which is the best mid-ranger Android camera?

mid-range camera battle xperia m5 c5 galaxy a8 zenfone selfie (1 of 1)

The battleĀ produced a close fight between Sony Xperia M5, Xperia C5 Ultra, Asus Zenfone Selfie, and the Samsung Galaxy A8.Ā Overall, we think the Xperia M5 is the most capable shooter followed by Xperia C5 Ultra (night video was exposed) and Asus Zenfone Selfie with decent night shooting too. We put the Galaxy A8 on the last position due to its mediocre automatic mode performance.

For selfie shooting, the Xperia C5 Ultra and Asus Zenfone Selfie have both the best image quality and color reproduction.

Basing from this battle, which doĀ you think is the best shooter? Let’s know in the comments.

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Hi! I'm Jade, an Electronics and Communications Engineer and tech enthusiast. I am the editor-in-chief here at ManilaShaker and on our YouTube channel. If you have questions, suggestions or anything we could talk about you can find me Instagram and Twitter @jadejardinico.