LONDON: The 16-megapixel HTC RE has a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor by Sony. The sensor inside the RE is larger than almost all Smartphones cameras. However, the f/2.8 aperture size is much smaller in comparison. The lens can go as wide as 146-degree in Ultra-Wide mode and in default mode it captures 100-degree wide-angle pictures.
The camera can also shoot 1080p videos at 30fps and 4x slow motion video at 720p. There is no optical image stabilisation but HTC compensates for it by providing electronic image stabilisation, which can be switched on from the companion app. HTC also provides an option for time-lapse video capture a la hyper lapse by Instagram.
The HTC RE is also IP57 compliant which means that it can be submerged up to 1m inside water for a maximum 30 minutes. One can also pick up a waterproof cap which increases the rating to IP58 and keeps the RE protected under up to 3m of water for 120 minutes. Additionally, there are many other accessories for the RE, including a bike mount.
In the future, HTC promises that the RE will get the ability to directly stream videos to YouTube.
The quality of the 1080p video captured by the RE is passable at best. However, the microphone does a fairly decent job of capturing the sounds. But, what’s worse is the quality of the 720p slow-motion video – it is choppy and unusable. So is the time-lapse capture. Overall, we aren’t satisfied by the video performance of the RE.
HTC rates the 820mAh battery inside the RE to last 1 hour and 50 minutes of continuous FHD video recording. In any case, HTC claims that RE can capture close to 1200 images.
The industrial design of the RE is a perfect blend of good looks and supreme ergonomics. However, there are a few of flaws that HTC needs to address by going back to the drawing board. HTC should include OIS in the next version and improve the quality of video capture. The fact that there is virtually no direct competition at the moment for HTC could be a boon and bane at the same time. Also, the price tag of Rs. 9,999 might be a bit too much for HTC to attract first time buyers.
