A manufacturer certainly much more confidential than Samsung, Apple or Xiaomi, Fairphone has continued its journey for a little over ten years, and aims to make the world of telephony more virtuous, by focusing on the best sourced components. s possible and on a generous update policy. This is all the more important as the modularity of its smartphones guarantees increased software durability.
Aware of the weakness of its terminals in the field of image capture, the brand announces the deployment of an update dedicated to the photo component of its Fairphone 4. A device launched in September 2021 , which had struggled to convince in this area during the testing of the device. More than a simple upgrade, this is an overhaul of the shooting application, the ergonomics of which have been redesigned, but also an improvement in the speed of autofocus, up 50% according to the brand’s calculations. Above all, Fairphone announces that it has improved photo quality: the company promises “more contrast and details than before” in low light, but also better in the area of digital noise reduction and colorimetry management. The opportunity for us to take this Fairphone 4 into the laboratory to get to the bottom of it.
Focus on color
Our tests report differences that are especially visible in terms of colorimetry and contrast management. While the images, with the Fairphone 4 before update, presented faded tones and compensated with a clear accentuation of micro-contrasts, the smartphone today prefers greater saturation. It’s not really natural, but the result is more flattering to the eye. We perceive, on other elements of our scene (portraits in particular) that this softening of contrasts does more justice to the faces. On the other hand, the Fairphone 4 struggles more to distinguish nearby colors, undoubtedly due to this exacerbated saturation.
In low light, we also note the work done by the brand in terms of color management. They are more vivid, and necessarily more flattering to the eye, the exposure is better controlled, the contrast slightly increased, and the sharpness is a little higher © on the periphery of the image. On the other hand, we note that the noise is more visible, and takes precedence over the smoothing favored by the smartphone previously.
Ultra-wide-angle photos are also improving. Images benefit from softer processing when the light is right, thus gaining a natural feel. And in low light, the sharpness increases significantly. In short, if it does not claim to compete with specialized photophones and remains far from the best products of its kind, the Fairphone 4 is improving and does not fail in its promise to improve its performance .
Finally, let us point out that if it gains an upgrade dedicated to its photo component, the Fairphone 4 still runs Android 13. The brand, however, promises to deploy Android 14 on the device by end of the year. The Dutchman is certainly not the quickest to deploy his updates, but he has the merit of supporting his products in the long term, such as the Fairphone 2, upgraded for seven years.