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GEAK Shows Eye and Mars: Smartphones for Photographers

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Chinese Electronics Manufacturer GEAK brings photography to smartphones.

Every time a new smartphone gets launched, a photographer (or two) somewhere always has something to say about the quality (or lack thereof) of the images. At least they appear to have an ally, as the company, GEAK, has now released a duo of smartphones with both casual and avid photographers in mind.

The duo is comprised of the 5-inch "Eye" and the 5.8-inch "Mars," which both incorporate a 13 megapixel backside illuminated rear camera. The Eye also features an 8 megapixel forward camera (for astounding selfies), while the Mars brings it down to a mere 2 megapixels. Both handsets come with 16 GB of internal storage and HSPA+ data capabilities, but the Eye features a 720p IPS display with a quad-core Mediatek MT6589 and 1 GB of RAM, while the larger Mars comes with a Full HD 1080p display and a Snapdragon 600 with 2 GB of RAM.

The prices differ between the two products, but only a little, as the Eye sells for $326 and the Mars for $490, both off contract. While the phones are still only being sold in China beginning June 25, 2013, we have had no word for expected release dates in the USA.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bmwman91
    So more phones that take the same OK pictures as every other recent phone? Megapixels are nothing more than marketing nonsense at this point, along with max ISO speed. The MAIN limiter in phones, and even pocket cameras, is sensor size. I didn't see any mention of a larger CMOS sensor array in these, so I assume that they just packed more pixels into the same small form factor, thereby reducing the signal to noise ratio for each pixel, thereby reducing the image quality of each pixel.

    For 95% of people, 6MPX is all they need, even for normal sized prints. Very few people need more than that, and they are usually professionals. Hell, I bet that 99% of digital images taken these days end up at 800x600 on some social network.
    Reply
  • phalanxes
    So what make these phones different from the other?
    Nokia EOS/pureview is granted better for sure in terms of camera
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    megapixels don't mean squat. i can make any image the size of any resolution. give me a 2x2 pixel image, i will make it into a 18 MP photo. it is not an indicator of quality.
    Reply
  • rohitbaran
    The prices differ between the two products, but only a little, as the Eye sells for $326 and the Mars for $490, both off contract.
    Well, a $164 difference is a lot given the prices. The costlier phone's price is 150% of the price of the cheaper one.
    Reply
  • p3t3or
    This is a very poor article. It has little to no information how these smartphones are for photographers. 13 megapixels can mean nothing but a big-ass ugly and noisy photograph taking up space on your device.
    Reply
  • d_kuhn
    I've got an ancient 8mp consumer camera (Canon Powershot Pro1) that takes pictures FAR superior to anything you'll see in a smartphone today. Tiny cameras with tiny lenses will never take great pics (with current technology) according to Scotty and the laws of Physics.
    Reply
  • GreaseMonkey_62
    Samsung's Galaxy S4 also has a 13mp camera. How do these phones differentiate themselves as being for aspiring photographers?
    Reply