Published by Steve Litchfield at 9:37 UTC, February 24th 2017

The 'Alcatel IDOL 4S with Windows 10' is the latest W10M flagship on the scene - and it's fair to say that its strengths lie in materials and in audio . Imaging isn't its strongest suit, but as Anthony Fear and I show below, in most light conditions, it's not too bad. Putting it against the Lumia 950 XL, here's our interactive head-to-head.





The IDOL 4S with Windows 10, reviewed here recently, has a 21MP f/2.2 camera that's par for the course for anything in 2017 that isn't trying to have a world beating camera. There's Phase Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF) but precious little else. Windows 10 Camera does supply a HDR mode and stabilisation for video capture, but otherwise there's little to make the IDOL 4S stand out on the imaging side. But that doesn't mean it can't produce some great shots as long as there's enough light.

Notes:

Both smartphone cameras shoot at 16MP in a 16:9 aspect ratio, so I can crop down to 1:1 and there should be no issues with framing, other than minor differences caused by the optics. [The 950 XL also shoots in 'pure'/oversampled 8MP mode, which I personally use, though it's not appropriate here.) All shots were on full 'auto'. In each case, the overall scene is shown as the Lumia 950 XL sees it - it's a known starting point, if nothing else. Even if, as you'll see, the 950 gets the colour balance wrong occasionally!

Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! You ideally need a powerful, large-screened tablet or a proper laptop or desktop. This comparator may not work in IE or Edge on Windows phones. Sorry about that.

Test 1: Sunny scene

Anthony's out and about in the sun in Canada, with a scene of a sign against a sunny sky. Here's the overall scene, as shot by the Lumia 950 (and it's obviously a vertical shot, but presented here horizontally for ease of context on the page):





In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and IDOL 4S, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

This is a tough comparison, the results are very different, even though the Camera software was identical! It looks like the IDOL 4S picked a slightly different focus point at the bottom of the banner, though in such good lighting the depth of field should have been more than enough to take in the whole banner. It seems as though the IDOL 4S mis-managed the focus somehow, anyway. There's also less sharpening all round - this is something that's partly firmware dependent and so within Alcatel's control. I'm normally against over-sharpening, so I'm going to cut the IDOL 4S some slack here. But I have to give a slight win to the Lumia, based on the crops above.

Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; IDOL 4S: 7 pts

Test 2: Sunny close-up

Anthony snapped some detail on a tractor. Here's the overall scene, as shot by the Lumia 950:





In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and IDOL 4S, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

It's hard to judge the colour accuracy here, since I wasn't there, but an Internet search for this tractor shows that the green of the body is much more accurately captured by the IDOL 4S. Which is disappointing given that the Lumia 950 XL normally gets colours spot on. Anyway, full marks to the new kid on the block here.

Lumia 950 XL: 7 pts; IDOL 4S: 9 pts

Test 3: Low light, sunset

Anthony snapped an arty sunset, with silhouetted trees. Here's the overall scene, as shot by the Lumia 950:





In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and IDOL 4S, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

The Lumia 950 image is obviously better - and I suspect the difference is mainly down to the quality of the optics - in this case ZEISS versus some no-name plastic lens, as used in the IDOL 4S. However, do remember that I'm cropped right in here - plus fine tree detail like this can be made or broken by sharpening algorithms. The 950 XL gets things about right in this case, but it does overdo sharpening at other times.

Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; IDOL 4S: 7 pts

Test 4: Low light, indoors

Anthony snapped part of his chill-out room. Here's the overall scene, as shot by the Lumia 950:





In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and IDOL 4S, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

As light levels drop, the Lumia 950 XL's larger aperture, the OIS, the higher quality optics, the larger sensor, all come into their own, as you can see. Meanwhile the IDOL 4S manages something that's over-exposed, noisy and with artefacts.

Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; IDOL 4S: 6 pts

Test 5: Very low light

Anthony snapped a car, outside his home(?) at night. Here's the overall scene, as shot by the Lumia 950:





In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and IDOL 4S, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central crops (not at 1:1 this time, since there's no point), just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Curiously, the exposures weren't that different, around 1/10s, but look at the difference in terms of what the Lumia's more heavyweight camera/optics managed to extract. And, I suspect, with manual control over shutter speed, e.g. to 0.3s, with the OIS then the Lumia 950 XL could have shot an even better lit photo, with much more detail. With no OIS, smaller aperture and smaller sensor (1/2.8"), the IDOL 4S is very limited in its options, so you'd have to put it on a tripod and take manual control to get anything better.

Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts; IDOL 4S: 4 pts

Verdict

For the record, from this somewhat small (five) pool of test photos, the score was:

Lumia 950: 40/50pts IDOL 4S with Windows 10: 33/50pts

Which tells the story pretty well, though it does depend on what you like taking photos of. As long as there's enough natural light, the 'IDOL 4S with Windows 10' does a good job, certainly up with the likes of the Elite x3 and most generic mid-range Android device or iPhones. But the lack of OIS is disappointing and it does seem as though Alcatel has skimped somewhat on sensor and optics quality.

Still, with the hugely flexible Windows Camera application used and especially if you have a tripod or grip of some kind handy, then I think you could still get some good shots, even in low light. I'll try and do so when the IDOL 4S with Windows 10 arrives in Europe.