Aukey HD Wide Angle Cell Phone Camera Lens

The Aukey Wide Angle Cell Phone Camera Lens ($42.99) is another add-on lens for smartphones that promises to enhance the functionality of the integrated camera—in this case, by widening the field of view. It includes a dedicated case, 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, especially at the edges of the frame, which makes the Aukey lens a tough sell to all but the most devoted wide-angle fans.
DesignThe Wide Angle lens can be purchased on its own—for $39.99—or along with a case. We reviewed the version with the case for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s, but Aukey also offers it 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 case features a matte black finish, a hole in the rear to show off the Apple logo on your iPhone, and the Aukey logo printed below it in block letters. It's 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—even without the lens screwed in, the iPhone's 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 as I'm concerned. You also won't be able to use the flash to capture photographs. I much prefer the case that ships with the Imvio lens kit. It looks better, offers more protection, and doesn't block the LED. But the optics of the Imvio lenses are inferior when compared with the Aukey add-on lens.
The lens screws into place via a threaded mount. A soft lens cap is included. If you have a different phone you can still use it since there's an attachment clip included. It's a bit clunky, though—it covers the top part of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6. The other issue is that the clip makes it difficult to center the lens over your camera's lens. If it isn't perfectly placed, you can end up with a corner of your image that's noticeably dark. If you don't need to use the clip, it'll do a fine job keeping a bag of chips or pretzels closed.
Image QualityThe lens takes the 28mm (full-frame equivalent) field of view of your iPhone's camera and broadens it noticeably. It's expanded to cover a 110-degree diagonal field of view, roughly equivalent to an 18mm prime on a full-frame system. That puts the lens squarely into the ultra-wide territory. There isn't any noticeable barrel distortion added, which is a big plus. The wider field of view can make landscape shots pop, and is also handy when shooting indoors in tight spaces.
How wide is 18mm? The shot above was taken with the iPhone 6 Plus's camera. The one below was captured from the same vantage point using the Aukey add-on lens. And while it's not the most exciting landscape shot you'll ever see, it does show the dramatic difference that an ultra-wide lens can make for landscape photographers.
But a close look at the image shows some issues. Overall, the frame is softer, even at the center, and the edges show 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's not nearly as bad as the wide-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 before spending money on this one.
ConclusionsI'm still searching for a wide-angle 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 high-end wide-angle that's available as part of the iPro lens system, but it does harm image quality in other ways. The crisp results that you expect to get from an iPhone shot under bright light give way to an overall muddiness, and noticeable blur at the edge of the frame. If you're willing to live 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 most iPhone photographers should skip this one.