Xiaomi Mi 5's camera shines in international test (pictures)

My test of Xiaomi's Mi 5 camera began in London's Camden Town. It captured vivid colours, though I had to try a few times to get the scene accurate, as my first few shots turned out oversaturated.

The Mi 5's camera performs admirably in this low-light shot taken at the musical "Matilda" in London. I liked how you could still see the letters from the backlit boxes.

With HDR turned on, you get an excellent picture of grand old Westminster Abbey, with plenty of detail.

Here it is again without HDR. The Auto HDR mode didn't always snap on when it should have -- I had to manually turn it on to avoid an overexposed background or an underexposed foreground. Apple's HDR is much more sensitive.

In Iceland, the Mi 5 was faster and easier to use than my dSLR, which meant my bare fingers froze less often. The optical image stabilization worked wonders for my shivering hands.

Sometimes though, the Mi 5 didn't quite get the exposure right, as you can see in this outdoor shot. The caves are a little too dark.

This shot taken in Barcelona really showed off the camera's low-light prowess. I couldn't quite get the iPhone 6S Plus I had with me to properly adjust for the darker scene. There's still noise, but you don't lose out on much detail, and you can still clearly see people in the far background.

Taking panoramic shots with the Mi 5 was quite a breeze, and you'll want to do so when you have scenery as beautiful as Iceland's.

Selfies taken with the front 4-megapixel camera don't have the highest resolution, but you'll end up looking good, thanks to Xiaomi's Beautify modes that help hide blemishes (hey, no jokes about it working overtime on me).

I took this indoor shot at the market in Camden Town, and was impressed with how well the Mi 5's camera managed to capture the details and colours without too much trouble. Like what you see? Read more on the excellent Xiaomi Mi 5 in our full review here.