Aukey HD Wide Angle Cell Phone Camera Lens - Review 2022

The Aukey Wide Bending Cell Phone Photographic camera Lens ($42.99) is another addition lens for smartphones that promises to enhance the functionality of the integrated camera—in this instance, by widening the field of view. It includes a dedicated example, which is a plus for keeping it aligned perfectly, and delivers images with a wider perspective and no added distortion. But image quality takes a hit, peculiarly at the edges of the frame, which makes the Aukey lens a tough sell to all but the most devoted wide-angle fans.

Design
The Broad Angle lens tin be purchased on its own—for $39.99—or forth with a case. We reviewed the version with the case for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s, but Aukey too offers information technology for iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus owners. There's a nominal price increase when buying it with a case—$42.99.

The plastic instance features a matte black finish, a hole in the rear to show off the Apple tree logo on your iPhone, and the Aukey logo printed below it in cake messages. Information technology'due south slim, and feels smooth and slightly soft to the touch, but its design doesn't add a lot of physical protection to the phone. There is one big downside—fifty-fifty without the lens screwed in, the iPhone'due south rear LED light is blocked by the case. I use my iPhone as a flashlight at least a few times a week, which makes the case a deal breaker as far equally I'm concerned. You lot also won't exist able to use the wink to capture photographs. I much adopt the case that ships with the Imvio lens kit. Information technology looks meliorate, offers more protection, and doesn't block the LED. Simply the eyes of the Imvio lenses are inferior when compared with the Aukey add together-on lens.

The lens screws into place via a threaded mount. A soft lens cap is included. If you take a different phone you tin can still employ it since there'southward an attachment clip included. It'south a bit clunky, though—it covers the summit part of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6. The other issue is that the clip makes information technology difficult to center the lens over your camera's lens. If it isn't perfectly placed, you tin end upwardly with a corner of your epitome that's noticeably dark. If you don't need to utilise the clip, it'll exercise a fine chore keeping a purse of chips or pretzels closed.

Image Quality
The lens takes the 28mm (full-frame equivalent) field of view of your iPhone's camera and broadens information technology noticeably. It's expanded to cover a 110-degree diagonal field of view, roughly equivalent to an 18mm prime on a total-frame organisation. That puts the lens squarely into the ultra-wide territory. There isn't any noticeable butt distortion added, which is a big plus. The wider field of view can make mural shots popular, and is as well handy when shooting indoors in tight spaces.

How wide is 18mm? The shot above was taken with the iPhone 6 Plus'due south camera. The 1 beneath was captured from the same vantage point using the Aukey add-on lens. And while it's not the almost exciting landscape shot you'll ever come across, it does evidence the dramatic difference that an ultra-broad lens tin can make for landscape photographers.

Aukey Wide Angle Cell Phone Camera Lens : Sample Image

But a close expect at the prototype shows some issues. Overall, the frame is softer, fifty-fifty at the eye, and the edges testify some blur. The pixel-level crop below, taken from the center of the image, shows the bare iPhone lens at the left and the Aukey at the right. It'due south not nearly equally bad as the broad-angle Imvio lens, which is why we're rating this one higher. But it's noticeable, even when viewing on the Web—so Instagrammers, take note earlier spending money on this one.

Aukey Wide Angle Cell Phone Camera Lens : Pixel-Level Comparison

Conclusions
I'm still searching for a wide-bending add-on lens for phones that knocks my socks off. The Aukey doesn't add a lot of distortion, which is an issue with the loftier-end wide-angle that's available as office of the iPro lens arrangement, but it does harm image quality in other ways. The crisp results that you lot expect to become from an iPhone shot under bright light requite fashion to an overall muddiness, and noticeable mistiness at the edge of the frame. If you're willing to alive with this in order to capture photos with an epic field of view, the Aukey Wide Angle Cell Phone Camera Lens may indeed be worth it. But almost iPhone photographers should skip this ane.