Megapixels no longer matter, there are more important factors in making a great mobile camera.The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge actually has fewer megapixels (12-megapixels as opposed to 16) than the Galaxy S6,
but you wouldn’t think that looking at the results. While the actual
amount of pixels in the sensor is less, there’s a load of improvements
here.
The
biggest update is geared towards improving low-light performance,
something most phones really suffer with. Samsung’s employing a
new-fangled tech called Dual Pixels here, and it helps the auto-focus
work fantastically well. Instead of just one, each pixel in the sensor
has two ‘photobodies’ and this basically means the camera can focus much
quicker, and more accurately, than before.
Marketing speak is one
thing, but it actually lives up to the billing. This is the best
autofocus I've ever seen on a phone. It’s fast, almost instantaneous,
and moving from one focus point to another doesn’t stump the sensor and
cause jarring like on so many competing devices.
The other big improvement is low-light performance. And again the changes make a big difference.
The
aperture now sits at f.1/7, brighte r than before and this makes your
night-time shots look less murky and much more visible. There’s less
graininess in the results too and you can pick out details that you
wouldn’t have been able to before.
I wouldn’t say there’s a huge
improvement in general daylight picture quality from the Galaxy S6 Edge
to the S7 Edge, but considering it was already one of the best cameras
on any Android phone that isn’t so much of an issue.
The detail here in the flowers show the megapixel drop doesn't make a whole lot of difference.
The colours here are accurate and shows how well the sensor deals with macro shotsPictures
still look absolutely fantastic. They’re packed full of detail, colours
are vibrant yet accurate and you can get blurry background when
taking macro shots.
It captures skin tones well and there's plenty of light c oming i nto the sensorThe
sheer speed of the camera also makes taking photos a pleasure and the
fact
you can quickly access the app with a double tap of the home key is
inspired.
Low-light
shots are excellent, you can still pick out subtle details even though
the only light source in the room is the small light
This almost pitch-black room looks bright, when most phones would have turned it into a grainy messWhile
there are plenty of options, settings and modes the camera app is still
easy to navigate and far from overwhelming. A ‘Pro’ mode lets you alter
the focus points, ISO, white balance and so on while the ‘Live
Broadcast’ option lets you b eam videos straight to YouTube.
UHD
(that’s 4K) video recording is an option too, but picking this higher
resolution does restrict your use of some of the cooler video features.
If you go for 1080p there’s HDR, video effects and t racking auto-focus
that makes a real difference for quick moving footage.
Not much
has changed with the front-facing camera, but it still gets the job
done. It’s a 5-megapixel sensor, just like the majority of the
competition, but the key here is that it’s a wide-angle lens. This lets
you cram more faces into your selfies and won’t leave any left out.
There’s no front-facing flash, but, just like the iPhone 6S, it can use
the display as a makeshift flash.
