4 smartphones that do a great job at taking selfies

Like it or not the trend of selfies is here to stay Everybody wants to click a picture of every event of their lives even if it is just a regular lunch out with friends and share it with the worldAs a result the front camera which first came as a feature only on the highend phones has now found a place for itself on almost all phones From a basic VGA 640x480 to the advanced 58 megapixel cameras with wide angle lenses phone manufacturers understand the need of the hour and are making these changes Though there are several phones to choose from and argue which is the best mdash not taking in account the iPhone and the line up of phones from Sony or Samsung mdashhere is a run down of a few phones that do a great job at taking selfiesHTC DESIRE 820 Rs 24990The big boy of the selfie phones club is the brand new curvy Desire 820 featuring a 55inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels The Desire 820 runs on a Octa Core Architecture on a Snapdragon 615 that is supported by 2 Gigabytes of RAM and comes with 16GB of Storage Space which can be expanded using a microSD CardThe phone also has a dual sim capability From the selfie point of view the 820 features an 8megapixel frontfacing camera which captures some interesting pictures on a bright sunny day but leaves you wanting for more in the evening There are quirky settings in the Selfie application that comes preinstalled on HTC phones that lets you play with features like face morph face fusion as well as make a collage out of your 4 Photo Booth images while smoothing out your skin in each image and making you look good On the rearside is a 13megapixel camera that can shoot a full highdefinition video supported by an LED FlashLAVA IRIS X5 Rs 8799A 5inch display with the same resolution as the Lumia 730 at 1280x720 pixels the Iris X5 features an IPS LCD It runs on a 12GHz Quad Core processor and supports Dual Sims There is also 1 Gigabyte of RAM for the Phone to work on and 8 Gigabytes of storage You can expand the storage using a microSD card but the maximum you can use in the X5 is a 32 Gigabyte cardThe selfie camera as Lava likes to call it or the frontfacing camera is a 5megapixel camera with a BSI Sensor and an aperture of f22 which allows you to get better shots in the evening and just in case you are somewhere that is pitch dark and still want a selfie the Iris X5 features a front camera flash too Lava claims its frontcamera lens has a coverage of 84 degrees allowing you to grab more in a scene The phone also features an 8Megapixel rear camera with a Dual LED flash to ensure you get good pictures in the dark You can shoot Full High Definition movies with the X5 too What makes you think twice about the phone is that is available only in white and has a limited talk time In the test we got only between four to six hours so you need to have a charger available all the timeGIONEE ELIFE E7 MINI Rs 18999The E7 Mini is the oldest phone in the line up but requires a special mention due to a rotating camera The Mini comes with a 47inch display which has the same resolution as all our other phones at 720x1280 pixels but it uses IGZO Display that lets it optimise the battery better On the inside of the phone is a 17GHz Octa Core Media Tek MT6592 processor that ensures good battery lifeThis is supported by 1 Gigabyte of RAM and 16 Gigabytes of storage The E7 Mini stands out from the rest with its swivel camera You rotate the camera to make it a front camera and rotate it back to make it a rear camera This gives you a 13 megapixel camera for taking selfies The camera takes nice pictures both in the day and in the evening though a dark evening becomes an issue But since the flash also rotates with the camera you can also use it as a fill light It also has 12 levels of Auto Beauty that ensures that you always look your best in your pictures The various modes of photography like Gestures mode Panorama shots Eraser mode make it a delight for any immature photographerLUMIA 730 Rs 15299The brand new Lumia is slightly larger than its predecessor but 730 maintains its typical pillowshaped design with a 47inch display at a resolution of 720x1280 OLEDrsquos and Nokiarsquos ClearBlack Polarisation allow it to put up an enhanced contrast picture for better visibility on a sunny dayIt features a 5Megapixel High Definition Front Camera with a Wide Angle Lens at f24 aperture allowing you to get some great pictures in the day time and evening though in dark conditions this may not really perform as well as you want There is also a 67Megapixel rear camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and the capability to shoot a full HD Video Lumia 730 comes with the Lumia Selfie suite that guides you on how to get better expressions in your photographs The Wide angle lens active noise cancellation and a dedicated microphone with a tight integration of Skype in Windows Phone ecosystem makes this a great option for video calls tooOur verdictOverall the Lumia 730 is impressive and emerges as one of the most exciting options The Windows interface is quick and agile and the great Skype performance makes it an outright winner The Iris X5 follows closely with its userfriendly experience and an amazingly low price From a specifications point of view the Gionee E7 offers the highest megapixels but since itrsquos been around for sometime there could be a refresh coming soon Itrsquos better to wait a bit before you buy it The HTC 820 is the big new kid on the block but comes with a premium price tag