Best Method Installing GCAM on Non-Goggle Pixel devices

Mobile photography is increasily becoming the most essential component of smartphones. It is quite an awesome experience to be able to snap some pictures anytime and anywhere. Smartphone photography have improved immensely and flagship smartphones produce quality photos that are eye pleasing. However, majority of us smartphone users consider value for money smartphones, good performance, battery, display, chipset, connectivity and yes cameras at affordable prices.

Companies like Xiaomi, BBK Electronics, Samsung and Transsion Holdings make really good Mid-tier and Budget devices but there are always a few problems when photograghy is concerned. Imagine buying a budget smartphone, awesome photo quality but after one major software update photos don’t look like before. Even though this may not be an issue with most flagship devices, it is one of the reasons users get frustrated with software updates on budget devices because we feel less care is giving to budget devices. However, we have GCam.

Google Camera (Gcam) is a camera phone application developed by Google for Android. Gcam is originally designed for google devices. With its processing algorithm especially HDR, even inferior camera hardware produces good results.
Thanks to modders like Anorva82G , BSG , Burial , Nikita, Shamin , Wichaya and many others, Gcam can now be installed on non-pixel devices. Gcam mods are not only designed for mid-tier and budget devices. Any Android phone can use Gcam. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Xiaomi 11 Ultra users have seen a lot of improvement comparing images from stock camera vs Gcam.

How to install Gcam

To be able to install Gcam depends on compatibility.
First your device must support the Camera2 API and There are 4 levels of hardware support, Legacy, Limited, Full and Level_3 . This is the important part, for a proper working Gcam port a minimum hardware support (full) is required even though some devices with (Limited) level can still use Gcam.

Secondly your device must support RAW images . Thanks to BSG an open source application camera2 Test App can be used to check if your device meets the requirements.

Click here to download. Or here

Finally Most Gcam ports are modified to suit Qualcomm SOC’s (Snapdragon chipsets) . Even though some Mediatek, Exynos and Kirin devices may meet all the specifications, only few devices actually work with Gcam. This is why most Tecno, Infinix and Itel users complain they can’t install the App or it keeps crashing.
Also for best performance, you must be running Android Pie or above.
If your device meets the requirements, you can be sure to install the perfect Gcam for your device.
Here is a link to all known supported devices
https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/links/

And you can download Gcam apks from modders here

Installing Gcam using Gcamator

Alternatively, you can simply install Gcamator from the playstore to save yourself all the hassle. All you need to do is open Gcamator,allow it to run , check compatibility and then recommend a Gcam mod best for your device. The downside however is you could loose the opportunity to download a mod that suits your usage and also some Gcam recommendations by Gcamator doesn’t support XML CONFIGS. Click here to download Gcamator

Libpatchers

What makes Gcam ports special is the ability to set image processing values manually for your personal preference. Exposure, Shadow Details, HDR values, Saturation, Sharpness, noise moddles are a few examples of values you can adjust and it’s amazing to have that level of control. You certainly won’t be able to do that with the stock camera app.

XML CONFIGS

Gcam 7.4 and above introduced Xml configurations as a way of saving values set on specific devices. This Xml files can be shared between similar devices. You can download XML CONFIGS and install to your Gcam for even greater performance and this XML CONFIGS are barely 100kbs.

The only disadvantage of Gcam mode is actually in video, specifically Image Stabilization and Slow-motion. Image stabilization doesn’t seem to work well in most mods and some apps crash in Slow-mo. So for shooting video we recommend using the stock camera app

Recommendations
From our experience using Gcam, no Gcam mod can be considered the best however Mods from BSG seem to be more stable on most devices we have tested.
Also this list of devices are a few examples of devices that run most mods from developers flawlessly.
redmi note 7pro
Redmi note 9s/pro/pro max
Redmi note 10 pro
Poco X3 Pro / NFC
Realme 7pro
Realme 8pro
IQOO 8
Besides BSG,Nikita,Anorva82G the above devices can try mods from developers like Hasli(LMC) Tigr and MTSLcam and you won’t be disappointed.

Samples shot on Redmi Note 9s

Share your Gcam experience with us in the comments section