Database Users

Camera Discussion

Direct quote from Google:
An f2.0 lens and 13 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization capture great photos in daylight and low light. Using advanced computational photography technology and HDR+, the pre-installed Google Camera does the heavy lifting so you can effortlessly take great photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily it doesn't seem to be the same camera found on the Moto X (2014). Different sensor perhaps?

Moto X 2nd gen has the Sony IMX135
Nexus 6 has the Sony IMX214 (same as oneplus)

lookitzjohnny said:
Moto X 2nd gen has the Sony IMX135
Nexus 6 has the Sony IMX214 (same as oneplus)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one is better?
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Free mobile app

NardVa said:
Which one is better?
Sent from my LG-E980 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/new_pro/april_2014/imx214_e.html
214. The OnePlus One can take some great pictures. The N6 should be similar if not equal but I am concerned that the camera app won't take full advantage of what that sensor can do. Hopefully it will.

It's super interesting to me that the front-facing camera has 1.4um pixel size vs the 1.12um.. even smaller than the Nexus 5's. I guess they prioritized good low-lighting shots for selfies not photos.

The hardware seems to be there. Google just needs to develop the software to take advantage of the hardware. Heck, even the Nexus 5 has decent camera hardware.. The software is where it was lacking.

lookitzjohnny said:
Moto X 2nd gen has the Sony IMX135
Nexus 6 has the Sony IMX214 (same as oneplus)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you find this info? For the Nexus 6?

0.0 said:
Where did you find this info? For the Nexus 6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.motorola.com/us/Nexus-6/nexus-6-motorola-us.html

lensgrabber said:
http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/new_pro/april_2014/imx214_e.html
214. The OnePlus One can take some great pictures. The N6 should be similar if not equal but I am concerned that the camera app won't take full advantage of what that sensor can do. Hopefully it will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The important thing to keep in mind here is that this is a 1/3 sensor, like all other sensors out their in flagship phones these days. There is only so much you can do with a 1/3 sensor. So it will be fine, but nothing special. 1/3 sensors first debuted in phones, in 2006 with the Nokia N93 (at the time an advance over the 1/4 sensors). So this is eight year old tehnology. And yet it is the status quo in today's phones.
The only notable exception, I know of, is the Galaxy S5 that has a 1/2.5 sensor (and also the Xperia Z3 I think). The S5 takes pretty good photos. Nothing else is going to be as good as the S5. I promise the Nexus 6 will not hold a candle to the S5. The Z3 is not so good as the S5 for somewhat inexplicable reasons; I don't know why Sony can't get their act together, despite being the supplier of sensors to so many other companies, but the cameras in their recent phones have consistently underperformed.
And of course there is the Nokia 1020 with a huge 1/1.5 sensor and the Nokia 808 with and even huger 1/1.2 sensor, that's phsically five times larger than a 1/3 sensor. Those are great camera phones. But you have to sacrifice thinness to have sensors like that. Then there's the four year old Nokia N8 with a 1/1.8 sensor that still eclipses todays best of the best. And even the five year old Nokia N86 has a 1/2.5 sensor that takes as good photos as any phone today, including the S5.
Physical sensor size (not megapixels) matters because it allows the camera to take in more light, render colors better, have less noise, and perform better in low light. Everything else is pretty much gimmicks and fiddling around the edges (except OIS is a nice feature, I think--and resolution and frame rates for video has gotten better--though 4K seems like a stupid exercise when no one has a computer screen or television that can render that level of resolution).
Anyway, so the Nexus 6 has just another medicore 1/3 sensor that will take fine snapshots. Mainly it is an advance over previous Nexus phones that had subpar cameras, but other than that it is just catching up to the mediocre pack of today's flagship pones. If you want the best camera in a normal phone, get an S5. If you want a truly great camera and can stand Windows Phone or the defunct Symbian OS, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808. Everything else is just whatever.

Isn't the Note 4 better than the S5 in terms of camera performance?

cb474 said:
The important thing to keep in mind here is that this is a 1/3 sensor, like all other sensors out their in flagship phones these days. There is only so much you can do with a 1/3 sensor. So it will be fine, but nothing special. 1/3 sensors first debuted in phones, in 2006 with the Nokia N93 (at the time an advance over the 1/4 sensors). So this is eight year old tehnology. And yet it is the status quo in today's phones.
The only notable exception, I know of, is the Galaxy S5 that has a 1/2.5 sensor (and also the Xperia Z3 I think). The S5 takes pretty good photos. Nothing else is going to be as good as the S5. I promise the Nexus 6 will not hold a candle to the S5. The Z3 is not so good as the S5 for somewhat inexplicable reasons; I don't know why Sony can't get their act together, despite being the supplier of sensors to so many other companies, but the cameras in their recent phones have consistently underperformed.
And of course there is the Nokia 1020 with a huge 1/1.5 sensor and the Nokia 808 with and even huger 1/1.2 sensor, that's phsically five times larger than a 1/3 sensor. Those are great camera phones. But you have to sacrifice thinness to have sensors like that. Then there's the four year old Nokia N8 with a 1/1.8 sensor that still eclipses todays best of the best. And even the five year old Nokia N86 has a 1/2.5 sensor that takes as good photos as any phone today, including the S5.
Physical sensor size (not megapixels) matters because it allows the camera to take in more light, render colors better, have less noise, and perform better in low light. Everything else is pretty much gimmicks and fiddling around the edges (except OIS is a nice feature, I think--and resolution and frame rates for video has gotten better--though 4K seems like a stupid exercise when no one has a computer screen or television that can render that level of resolution).
Anyway, so the Nexus 6 has just another medicore 1/3 sensor that will take fine snapshots. Mainly it is an advance over previous Nexus phones that had subpar cameras, but other than that it is just catching up to the mediocre pack of today's flagship pones. If you want the best camera in a normal phone, get an S5. If you want a truly great camera and can stand Windows Phone or the defunct Symbian OS, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808. Everything else is just whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was very informative. This really relieves me of not being so down about not having the imx214 in the Moto X 2014
Also, hello again. I've seen you before in the Moto X 2014 forums lol
sent from my Moto X (2014)
---------- Post added at 11:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 PM ----------
msal said:
Isn't the Note 4 better than the S5 in terms of camera performance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be, if it is using the same sensor as s5. On top of that, it is using OIS. The Note 4 should be the new benchmark in terms of camera quality for Android
sent from my Moto X (2014)

What about this camera compared to the LG G3? My G3 takes the best photos I've ever had from a phone. The megapixel count is the same between the two, but it has a Sony IMX135.. and it has that laser autofocus which is pretty nice for fast shots.
Also, what about the N6 being f2.0 aperture over the typical 2.2 or 2.4?

msal said:
Isn't the Note 4 better than the S5 in terms of camera performance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not into phablets, so I don't know much about the Note 4. It looks like it has a Sony IMX240 sesnor, with a 1/2.6 sensor, so slightly smaller than the 1/2.5 sensor in the S5. It does have OIS though, which should help with longer exposures in low light. The S5 has an "Isocell" sensor, which is supposed to have barriers between pixels that helps improve color accuracy and sharpness (see: http://connect.dpreview.com/post/0315472077/samsung-explains-the-galaxy-s5-isocell-sensor). I know the S5 has atypically good color accuracy for a phone, though part of that is a choice on Samsungs part not to favor in the post-processing the oversaturated colors that many people like (i.e. that many people mistake for better photos--people often find more accurate colors to look washed out). Anyway, since Samsung usually does a good job in their flagships, I would not be surprised if the Note 4 is comparable or slightly better than the S5. But it's going to be minor differences, I think.
0.0 said:
This was very informative. This really relieves me of not being so down about not having the imx214 in the Moto X 2014
Also, hello again. I've seen you before in the Moto X 2014 forums lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the new Nexus phone and the 2nd Gen. Moto X are the two phones I'm looking at to replace my Nexus 4, so I've been hanging around both forums. For the moment I'm just trying to get over my raging disappointment that the Nexus 6 really is a huge 6" phablet. Sigh. It does have some nice upgrades over the 2nd Gen. Moto X, I think. (Though if it lacks the four microphone noise cancellation in the Moto X, that's a deal killer for me--I haven't been able to confirm anything about this yet.)
I wouldn't worry about the different sensors in the phones much. They're both fine and more or less in the same ballpark of quality, as 1/3 sensors. OIS on the Nexus 6 is nice and should help with low light photography (and video), that's the biggest difference, depending how important that is to you. In good light, I doubt you'd see much difference between the cameras. For just general snapshots of friends and things like that, I think all these phones are fine.
As I said above, I think people make way too big a deal of the differences between cameras in current flagships. Handset makers try to make a big deal out of small differences, for the sake of competition, because they can't acknowledge the truth that they've all just decided the eight year old technology of 1/3 sensors is good enough and they'd rather make super thin phones. If you're the sort of person who's really going to get into the small differences between one flagship with a 1/3 sensor and another, then you're probably the sort of person that would appreciate an S5 more, because of it's 1/2.5 sensor, and you're probably the sort of person will to take the Windows Phone plunge so you can get the truly amazing Nokia 1020 with it's 1/1.5 sensor and many other advantages (mechanical shutter, OIS, Xenon flash, pixel binning for over sampling, lossless digital zooming).
Nitemare3219 said:
What about this camera compared to the LG G3? My G3 takes the best photos I've ever had from a phone. The megapixel count is the same between the two, but it has a Sony IMX135.. and it has that laser autofocus which is pretty nice for fast shots.
Also, what about the N6 being f2.0 aperture over the typical 2.2 or 2.4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The LG G3 has the same IMX135 sensor as the 2nd Gen Moto X, but also has OIS. It's prefectly good, but still yet another 1/3 sensor. It's the same sensor in the LG G2, the Note 3, the Galaxy S4, and a bazillion other phones, so it shouldn't be meaningfully different from any of them, except for the potential low light advantage of OIS. (Check this out to see just how many phones have Sony sensors in them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exmor).
That being said OIS is not a miracle cure for smaller sensors. Neither is the f2.0 aperature on the Nexus 6. They're nice features, but you can only do so much with a smaller 1/3 sensor. Again, these are all ways manufacturers are trying to fiddle around to make the best out of mediocre sensors. The S5 and even the five year old Nokia N86 with 1/2.5 sensors will do almost as well in low light as a phone with OIS (I think the f2.0 will make less of a difference than OIS). And, again, the huge 1/1.8, 1/1.5, 1/1.2 sensors in the Nokia N8, 1020, and 808 (respectively) are going to way out perform a 1/3 sensor with OIS in low light (as well as in every other situation)--and of course the 1020 also has OIS, on top of a huge sensor.
At this point, I don't really know why all flaghips don't have OIS. It has some benefits. And it's stupid to have to choose between a mediocre 1/3 sensor with OIS and a larger 1/2.5 sensor without OIS. It's like two different choices of how to shoot yourself in the foot.
All that to say, I still think these are all pretty minor differences between phones with more or less similar image making capabilities. I wouldn't choose between the LG G3, Moto X, or Nexus 6 for the camera. I might (might) choose the S5 for the camera, but I hate Samsung phones, so I really wouldn't ever get an S5. If the camera really was the main issue to me, I'd get a Nokia 1020 and enter the wonderful world of Windows Phone (which I think is under rated as an interface anyway). But that's really for the serious photographers.
*
A final word to the wise. Take the reviews of phone cameras you see online with a huge grain of salt. There are very few sites that do a good job and know what they are talking about. Most site reviewers are essentially amature photographers, making incredibly subjective judgments about images, with no real knowledge of how to take photos in a way that allow for good comparisons, and overplay the differences between today's phones (since they get the phones for free to review, they also have huge conflicts of interest and will mostly avoid saying anything too negative--like acknowledging that the differences between these phones a relatively minor). Dpreview.com is probably the best site I know of.

Great read dude. I've owned several Samsung's and nexus phones. None could take the quality pics my HTC DNA could. Would that be software related? I loved that damn phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

donnyp1 said:
Great read dude. I've owned several Samsung's and nexus phones. None could take the quality pics my HTC DNA could. Would that be software related? I loved that damn phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not especially familiar with the DNA and can't find any information about its sensor, although it appears to have a decent f2.0 aperature. Seems like it had the same sensor as the HTC One X, which was a 1/3.2 backside illuminated CMOS sensor. Reviews seem to find that the HTC One, with it's ultrapixels, took better (more color accurate) photos.
Perhaps there was just something about how the DNA did post-processing on the images that you subjectively liked better.
This is a good example of how sensors have stayed in the 1/3 ballpark for a long time and an older phone can be just as good as today's "flagships," which is basically the point I've been making.
I think the Nexus 5 that your signature says you have (like the Nexus 4 before it) has as somewhat subpar camera by the current standards. So it's understandable that coming from the DNA you could be having a worse experience--though the Nexus 5 has a similar 1/3.2 sensor and OIS. The Nexus 6, if you're' in the market for one, ought to be a decent improvement over the Nexus 5 and better than the DNA. Especially since the Nexus 6 has OIS, on top of a newer and slightly larger 1/3.06 sensor. But, still, I think they are all in the same general range as cameras.

What's with the 30 fps stat listed on the google and moto specific pages... Up to 4k recording but no slow motion capture. I thought the OPO does slo mo.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

So if both the one + and the nexus 6 have the same camera, would the difference be night shots with flash?
I don't really know how software will play in, but I hope that the nexus 6 is more crisp than moto x. Hard to decide between this or an One+.
I also wonder why the people that are disappointed with the nexus 6's price and/or screen size don't get a one + instead.

Richie5767 said:
So if both the one + and the nexus 6 have the same camera, would the difference be night shots with flash?
I don't really know how software will play in, but I hope that the nexus 6 is more crisp than moto x. Hard to decide between this or an One+.
I also wonder why the people that are disappointed with the nexus 6's price and/or screen size don't get a one + instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the stupid invite system ...you still can't get the freaking phone ....

One + is not available for Verizon as far as I know, or I would consider it.

Richie5767 said:
So if both the one + and the nexus 6 have the same camera, would the difference be night shots with flash?
I don't really know how software will play in, but I hope that the nexus 6 is more crisp than moto x. Hard to decide between this or an One+.
I also wonder why the people that are disappointed with the nexus 6's price and/or screen size don't get a one + instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From a hardware point of view, the main difference will be that the Nexus 6 has OIS (optical image stabilization) and the OnePlus One does not. This should improve photography in low light, allowing for longer exposures. And it will allow for more fluid and stable video, when moving the camera and shooting at the same time. The OnePlus One does have digital image stablization, which OnePlus made a big deal about, but digital image stablization sucks and reviews of the OnePlus One demonstrated this, as if it really needed to be demonstrated yet again on another device.
There could be software differences, in terms of how the phones post-process the images. The OnePlus One, like many phones, produces over-saturated colors, because people tend to like that better (they see the bright colors and think it is a better photo, even though it is an inaccurate representation of the colors in the actual scene). I wouldn't hold my breath for Google choosing to do something different, however. Over-saturated colors are pretty much the norm, not many phones go for more realistic colors. Also, phones sometimes vary on how much sharpening they apply in post processing. Again, sharpening creates the superficial appearance of a sharper image, but actually eliminates detail in the photo, if you zoom way in. Of course, these are things that can be corrected later with image editing software, if you care.
We'll really have to wait for reviews on high quality sites, like Dpreview, before we know if the Nexus 6 and OnePlus One vary at all in how they do post-processing.

Watch the Galaxy S7 destroy the iPhone 6S in a low light camera shoot out [VIDEO]

While some could argue that there isn’t a huge difference between the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S7 and its older sibling — last year’s Galaxy S6 — it’s hard to argue that the latest iteration in Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup didn’t receive a significant upgrade in the camera department. Tackling the 2 biggest challenges modern smartphone cameras face, Samsung was able to build a camera that, not only takes a better photo in low light, but can focus faster in these normally challenging situations as well.
They did this by using a larger f1.7 aperture lens and something they’re calling a “Dual Pixel” system. With a new Sony IMX260 camera sensor that captures more light by using larger 1.4μm pixels (at the cost of less megapixels), Samsung says the Galaxy S7 is capable of capturing 95% more light than the IMX240 sensor found in the Galaxy S6. The Galaxy S7 camera also uses all of the 12 million pixels to act as focus pixels, a feature you typically only find in full-sized DSLRs (phase detection auto focus). The end result is faster, more accurate auto-focus — 3 times faster than on the Galaxy S6 — and exceptional low light picture quality
Still don’t believe the hype? Located in Samsung’s huge MWC 2016 booth, the Korean manufacturer showcased the new low light capabilities of the Galaxy S7 by allowing us to see it for ourselves. They did this in a dark room that was so dimly lit, we had trouble seeing anything in there with our own eyes. See what happens when the Samsung Galaxy S7 goes up against last year’s Galaxy S6, and the Apple iPhone 6S in a lighting situation you’d have to be crazy to even attempt to shoot with a smartphone. We think the results speak for themselves.

Androidynamic said:
While some could argue that there isn’t a huge difference between the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S7 and its older sibling — last year’s Galaxy S6 — it’s hard to argue that the latest iteration in Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup didn’t receive a significant upgrade in the camera department. Tackling the 2 biggest challenges modern smartphone cameras face, Samsung was able to build a camera that, not only takes a better photo in low light, but can focus faster in these normally challenging situations as well.
They did this by using a larger f1.7 aperture lens and something they’re calling a “Dual Pixel” system. With a new Sony IMX260 camera sensor that captures more light by using larger 1.4μm pixels (at the cost of less megapixels), Samsung says the Galaxy S7 is capable of capturing 95% more light than the IMX240 sensor found in the Galaxy S6. The Galaxy S7 camera also uses all of the 12 million pixels to act as focus pixels, a feature you typically only find in full-sized DSLRs (phase detection auto focus). The end result is faster, more accurate auto-focus — 3 times faster than on the Galaxy S6 — and exceptional low light picture quality
Still don’t believe the hype? Located in Samsung’s huge MWC 2016 booth, the Korean manufacturer showcased the new low light capabilities of the Galaxy S7 by allowing us to see it for ourselves. They did this in a dark room that was so dimly lit, we had trouble seeing anything in there with our own eyes. See what happens when the Samsung Galaxy S7 goes up against last year’s Galaxy S6, and the Apple iPhone 6S in a lighting situation you’d have to be crazy to even attempt to shoot with a smartphone. We think the results speak for themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is already a camera thread. It's better to post there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/how-to/galaxy-s7-camera-thread-t3316316

Pierre118 said:
There is already a camera thread. It's better to post there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/how-to/galaxy-s7-camera-thread-t3316316
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you see How is much better ??!!!

Galaxy S7 Camera thread
You can go here for all S7 camera discussion.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/how-to/galaxy-s7-camera-thread-t3316316
Thanks,
Bajanman

Galaxy S5 to S7 (SM-G930F): An Upgrade or Really... Downgrade?

So I got myself a Galaxy S7 (SM-G930F) to replace my almost 2 year old Galaxy S5. After a few days of usage, here is what I think.
What I like on S7 compared to S5:
- much more responsive interface and overall experience, UI feels silk-smooth, the phone is properly fast
- all glassy (front and back) and beautiful, feels expensive (judging from posts on this forum, a very important feature for some users ;])
But that's about all to like. And this is what I dislike about it:
- While glass back of S7 looks very nice, it is much more slippery than plastic back of Galaxy S5. It is so slippery, that sometimes it is scary just to take it out of the pocket. So while I never needed a case with my S5, I may need it with S7
- No IR blaster. No idea why Samsung ditched such useful feature (LG G5 has it). It is very small and exists in waterproof S5, so space and waterproof-ness should not be a problem. And it is really useful, because you can skip renting remotes for TV and airco units in the hotels, if you already have IR blaster on your phone. So, Samsung, why to remove a useful feature which is also fun and helps to save money?
- No removable battery. This is not a very big issue for me, since I rarely needed extra battery on my S5, but some people (especially those traveling) are relying on it. Definitely nice to have in a phone. However, it may be that having non-removable battery helped to achieve IP68 dust/water-proof rating compared to IP67 on S5.
- Only 32 GB version at launch. Keeping in mind that Samsung gives away Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset with all S7 pre-orders (and VR demos/games take lots of space), 32GB suddenly does not seem quite a lot.
- Finally (and this annoys me most, since I am living in a place where winter is something that happens every year), for some unfathomable reason Samsung removed "Touch Sensivity" option from the ROM, which allows to operate the phone with the gloves on. This is just a software feature (since the touchscreens are crazy sensitive these days anyway) and it doesn't cost anything for Samsung to keep it in the phone. Nevertheless, on a new Galaxy S7 it is nowhere to be found. Samsung, are you listening - what the hell??? Now we can only hope someone (maybe even from XDA developers) will add this feature back as a standalone program/xposed framework module/etc.
There is one more problem - there is still no root for SM-G930F, at least not yet, but hopefully Chainfire will soon get his hands on it. So overall, even if the phone is faster and smoother, compared to Galaxy S5, it feels more like downgrade than the upgrade...
Best,
satanxda

One of the primary reasons as for why Samsung went for the complete glass redesign on the S6 (and later the S7) were the lackluster sales of the S5 as compared to the S4, the best selling android phone of all time. According to a list on wikipedia the S5 sold approximately 11 million units, while it's predecessor landed at an impressive 80 million. This probably wasn't the only reason for the design change though, as Samsung have been going after Apple's marketshare aggresively in the past two releases.
The removable battery and IR blaster were most likely removed because there were too few people using them.
I agree completely on the last two points though. It's odd if they removed the touch sensitivity thing, but there might be a technical reason behind it.

i just upgraded from the s5 to the s7 as well. I agree the back s5 felt a lot better in hands. I hate using a case, it defeats the purpose of making the phone so thin. I also didnt realize that there is no IR blaster until i read your post. whats move fun than getting drunk in bar and changing the tv channels or turning up or down the music

So the better camera, bigger battery, higher res screen, no ugly waterproof flaps you don't like? You're right it really is a downgrade, but only in your eyes.

Lol

Last year "No expandable storage! Screw you Samsung"
gives expandable storage
This year "Only 32GB's? Screw you Samsung!"
samsung cry cry

peachpuff said:
So the better camera, bigger battery, higher res screen, no ugly waterproof flaps you don't like? You're right it really is a downgrade, but only in your eyes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get it wrong - this post is not about the inevitable progress in CPU, screen and camera areas. It is about Samsung killing useful features for no reason.
P. S. You loose 4 Megapixels for camera as well with S7, so it may not be a camera upgrade in all ways ;] And the bigger battery only compensates for more pixels on the screen.

satanxda said:
Don't get it wrong - this post is not about the inevitable progress in CPU, screen and camera areas. It is about Samsung killing useful features for no reason.
P. S. You loose 4 Megapixels for camera as well with S7, so it may not be a camera upgrade in all ways ;] And the bigger battery only compensates for more pixels on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhh no. Megapixels do not make a quality camera. That's like saying your S5 would be an "upgrade" over some DSLRs. The reason some of the features were removed is just that they aren't practical. Sure, the IR blaster is cool, but I played with it once and never used it again. I'd imagine that's how 95% of the people who buy the phone are.
32gb internal memory is not a problem when you have 200gb expandable storage.
Removable battery is a non issue when you have both QC2.0 wired charging and fast wireless charging. If you're that concerned, buy a $20 power bank and charge your phone 3+ times on a single charge.

I went from an S5 to the S7 too. Expandable storage is a must. Hands down it's an upgrade. Yeah, I was bummed there was no IR blaster but then after setting it up on my S4 and S5 later I found I never used it. Wireless charging is built in and on the S5 you had to add it on and if you wanted a case after going wireless charging on the S5 you were limited. Wife heard the S7 didn't have that flap on the USB port and immediately said order me one. Granted root is not available yet but how soon after the S5 came out did it get root? Themes built in........ I can go on and on and on.

Things I don't like compared to my S4:
No removable battery - this I think I can live with without much angst, although I'd prefer removable
Glass back - slippery and fragile, might force me to use a case, which adds bulk that I do not like and have never needed with any phone. I really don't care at all what it looks like
Size and weight - about same width and thickness, but it's unnecessarily tall, and it's substantially heavier, which is a negative and will be an even bigger negative if I have to use a case
Otherwise, it's a pretty sizable upgrade in every other way. 32GB - hopefully there will be a 64GB or 128GB variant that will fully work on T-Mobile (WiFi calling is still an important feature to me), although it is a step up from the 16GB that I'm used to, and I can plunk in my 128GB SD.
I'm going to wait for prices to drop a bit, for Samsung to push out an update or two, and see how root/ROMs shake out.

satanxda said:
Don't get it wrong - this post is not about the inevitable progress in CPU, screen and camera areas. It is about Samsung killing useful features for no reason.
P. S. You loose 4 Megapixels for camera as well with S7, so it may not be a camera upgrade in all ways ;] And the bigger battery only compensates for more pixels on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On paper, the Galaxy S7 camera has lower specs: 12 MP on the back (compared with the S6 16 MP) and 5 MP on the front. While the new camera may produce a lower number of pixels, it makes up for this with dual-pixel technology; a feature that promises an increase in image clarity despite the lower pixel numbers.
The S7's camera focuses up to four times faster than the S6's. The camera's aperture is also lower, at f / 1.7, which means better low-light performance. Together, these enhancements mean that the Galaxy S7 focuses up to four times faster in low-light conditions and twice as fast in daylight.

TonyStark said:
On paper, the Galaxy S7 camera has lower specs: 12 MP on the back (compared with the S6 16 MP) and 5 MP on the front. While the new camera may produce a lower number of pixels, it makes up for this with dual-pixel technology; a feature that promises an increase in image clarity despite the lower pixel numbers.
The S7's camera focuses up to four times faster than the S6's. The camera's aperture is also lower, at f / 1.7, which means better low-light performance. Together, these enhancements mean that the Galaxy S7 focuses up to four times faster in low-light conditions and twice as fast in daylight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you said it - faster focus in exchange for a loss of 4 Megapixels. Less megapixels is not necessary a bad thing if the pixels are bigger (this way you get less noise), but it is still 4 Megapixels less ;] (which matters since there is no optical zoom in the phone, so zooming digitally means cropping your photo)

satanxda said:
Samsung removed "Touch Sensivity" option from the ROM, which allows to operate the phone with the gloves on. This is just a software feature (since the touchscreens are crazy sensitive these days anyway) and it doesn't cost anything for Samsung to keep it in the phone. Nevertheless, on a new Galaxy S7 it is nowhere to be found. Samsung, are you listening - what the hell???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for sharing this deal breaking piece of information, looks like I'm stuck with my S5. It's frustrating that Samsung never really "gets it". They can't compete with Apple on design aesthetics, they can't compete with Nexus on Android integration. We buy Samsung phones because they have features that other manufacturers overlook. I love my S5 because it's better than my S2. I would love the S7 if it was better than the S5, but it's not. Removing valuable features keeps people from upgrading. If you're correct about this being a software feature, there is hope, but I'm guessing it's hardware.
32 GB Memory with no 64 GB Option = Unforgivable
Loss Of IR Blaster = Not a deal breaker for me, but I understand why this will piss a lot of people off.
Loss Of FM Radio = Could care less.
Loss Of Removable battery = Get over it, fast charging and portable chargers are perfectly acceptable solutions for me.
No Root = I used to care about this, but it bothers me less and less with each new version of Android. I just don't have the time to invest in the complications of rooting anymore. Being on Verizon just makes this worse.
No USB 3 = Bummer, doesn't make sense to remove it.
I'm headed to the Verizon store with my motorcycle gloves to see what happens. If there's a complete loss of touchscreen functionality, I'll probably just keep going with my S5.

i bought the same phone today and it shows signal without putting the sim on.//
how to remove this??

LKS007 said:
i bought the same phone today and it shows signal without putting the sim on.//
how to remove this??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you can remove it - it's for emergency calls

The S7 camera kicks butt, that's coming from someone who use the Canon 5D3 regularly with 35L II, 85L II, 100L 2.8 IS macro, and 70-200L 2.8 IS II lens. I would gladly take lower aperture and give up few megapixel, hell...if S7 came with f/1.4 lens I wouldn't even mind going down to 6~8MP. You shouldn't use your phone to make poster or big prints to hang on your wall so anything more than 8MP on a phone camera is just gimmicky. LOL

ben805 said:
The S7 camera kicks butt, that's coming from someone who use the Canon 5D3 regularly with 35L II, 85L II, 100L 2.8 IS macro, and 70-200L 2.8 IS II lens. I would gladly take lower aperture and give up few megapixel, hell...if S7 came with f/1.4 lens I wouldn't even mind going down to 6~8MP. You shouldn't use your phone to make poster or big prints to hang on your wall so anything more than 8MP on a phone camera is just gimmicky. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I have my self a Canon 6D with high end lenses. The S7 photo quality is really impressive for such a small piece of hardware. Even with less Mpx, the sharpness is way better than with the S6, and the low light photos are impressives. And you can get the Raw. Photographers that opened the RAW files in lightroom are generally impressed by the overall quality of this phone. Hell, I'm finally happy to be able not to bring my DSLR for every situation I might take a photo.
I compared my old S4, my wife S6, and my workplace iphone 6S, believe me, the S7 is the only one that can actually be compared to compact camera

So the s7 camera is a beast? Im an android fan and i admit that in the past apple had the best mobile cameras. The note 3 and 4 had great cameras as well. I think android surpassed apple in the mobile camera area.

I upgraded from S5 also and only feature i really miss is IR.

Ok so the only feature I miss is an unlocked bootloader. I miss my root

Considering other options in price range with better camera

Love this phone but after seeing low light comparisons with an ancient Galaxy s5 I was massively disappointed with the low light photographs, which is important to me (as well as overall camera quality). I've familiarized myself with the custom settings and they still don't provide the desired quality.
Considering a 1st gen Google Pixel or Samsung S7 (leaning to the pixel). What phones, including older phones, in a similar price range would be a good trade off?

I don't care about your complaining. Would it help that you compares G5 Plus to 4 years old phone? It makes you feel better? Don't do off topic and just compare phones in the right topic. It's annoying.

maruchandd said:
Love this phone but after seeing low light comparisons with an ancient Galaxy s5 I was massively disappointed with the low light photographs, which is important to me (as well as overall camera quality). I've familiarized myself with the custom settings and they still don't provide the desired quality.
Considering a 1st gen Google Pixel or Samsung S7 (leaning to the pixel). What phones, including older phones, in a similar price range would be a good trade off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Moto G5plus and I compared the shots to 3 other phones I have access to (not all mine). These are all $200 something.
1. iPhone SE - Out of all budget phones, this makes the best pictures in this price range , the reason I won't get it is because the screen size is just a no-go for me. But camera wise, it's top dog, maybe the Note 5 and the S7 would be beating on it (in $200 range)
2. Honor 7X (I owned this for 2 days and returned it, because it had some defects and I chose not to get another one) This makes great pictures IMO, makes better pics than any moto phone although still not as good as the iphone.
3. Moto ZPlay (1st gen) - Don't get this for camera, actually the G5Plus makes better pictures, the only reason it would look better, because of the AMOLED screen it has, but look at it on a PC or another phone and compare the pics, you'd realize that the G5plus made sharper pictures. The Zplay was a mid-ranger in 2016, don't know how the Z2Play is, but as far as I know it has the same exact camera as the G5plus. Moto uses good cameras, but they just can't get their software processing right.
4. Blackberry Priv. - Despite all the other shortcomings (heats up, not so great battery life) this makes really good pictures, has a curved, hres screen too.
5. iPhone 6S- Same camera as the SE. Again, the reason I don't consider it, is because I had it and I got spoiled by my Note 5 (which I broke and gone now) which was way better and the large screen made me hate my iphone screen.
6. Used Galaxy S7 (or edge, but it's $100 more) this has to be the best shooter if you can find one for $200 as a refurb or used. Same thing with the Galaxy Note 4 or 5. Unless of course you hate touchwiz.
7. If you can find a first gen Pixel, you gonna have a good camera. also LG G6 are going dirt cheap on ebay and it's a 2017 flagship. It has an awesome camera with secondary wide angle shot. As of right now I'm getting an LG G6 soon to replace my G5 Plus.
8. Sony experia - I don't know much about it, although people claiming to make as good or even better pics as the S7. Sony seem to be the primary maker of the best cams on most of smartphones so they won't wimp out on putting a really good one on their own smartphones.

maruchandd said:
Love this phone but after seeing low light comparisons with an ancient Galaxy s5 I was massively disappointed with the low light photographs, which is important to me (as well as overall camera quality). I've familiarized myself with the custom settings and they still don't provide the desired quality.
Considering a 1st gen Google Pixel or Samsung S7 (leaning to the pixel). What phones, including older phones, in a similar price range would be a good trade off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, this has the same imaging sensor as the S7 and Pixel, but it was held back by crappy (but fixable) software. There's no way in heck an S5 can compare once you've turned on Camera2 and run the Gcam HDR+ exposure. Out of camera the shots hang on my wall next to ones taken with my $3000+ pro DSLR, and editing the RAW images blows me away every time I try tweaking them in lightroom.
I call shenanigans. I want to see the examples the OP is talking about, or I lay claim that he is only comparing the crippled stock camera app.

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Did Samsung improve the shutter speed on Note10+?? When I had the S10+ the still photos looked great, however it was hard to get a picture of my daughter(18mo old) that didn't look blurry

I spent a couple of days doing camera comparisons with my Pixel 3 XL, which I sent back on Friday (got my Note 10 on Wednesday). I found that I personally like the photos in daylight better from the Note 10, as they look just a bit more "punchy" and clear to me, but that's Samsung applying a deeper saturation and more sharpening. YMMV on that. Early reviews I read online said that it was on par with the Pixel 3 in daylight, but quickly fell apart in low light. I'm happy to report that wasn't my experience at all. Night mode works great, and while it would be nice to have an indicator of how long to hold it, it seems to be just as fast at the Pixel 3. The Pixel 3 did beat it out just a bit with clarity, but not by a very wide margin. I did some blind comparison test between shots from the Note 10 and the Pixel 3 XL with my girlfriend (who has a Pixel 3 XL of her own), and 9 of the 11 shots she picked were the Note 10 shots over the Pixel 3. She prefered the Pixel 3's selfie shot and it's Night Sight shot, but she said she really couldn't tell much of a difference in them.
Aside from quality, I like different Live Focus backgrounds, and being able to swipe up from a corner on the lockscreen to get to the camera is a huge plus for me. It's much faster for me to go from pocket to shot now. I'm going to a convention this weekend, so I expect to get some good use out of the triple cameras too. All in all, I'm beyond happy with the Note 10 camera, and coming from the Pixel 3 XL, I was very concerned, as that was hands down the best camera on a phone I'd ever used. The Note 10 isn't leaps and bounds better, but it is better, in my opinion.

As much as I like Note 10, camera is crap compared to Pixel 3. I've been shooting all day and most images are near useless if subject is moving, automatic in anything less then ideal conditions is also terrible, and can only be improved with Pro mode. Faces are too white and details are all washed out. I had exactly the same results with S10 that I returned
I am not sure what Samsung is thinking. Big company and great hardware, $1000 phone, yet software is not good and photos are behind even Pixel 1
Ps. I am leaning towards keeping the phone anyway and will give Gcam a try

Note 10+ Night Camera is really crap compared to the Pixel phone.... Ugh... Samsung again with their bs

EclipseGST20 said:
Did Samsung improve the shutter speed on Note10+?? When I had the S10+ the still photos looked great, however it was hard to get a picture of my daughter(18mo old) that didn't look blurry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No they haven't. I had a good hands on with the device at their stores and took my kids to just specially test this out.
I sold my S10 plus for this very reason and unfortunately in the Note note 10, they still haven't sorted it out. I had a Galaxy Note 8 and that was the last Samsung without this issue. I think it's something to do with the dual aperture.
Installing Gcam seems to help a lot but I have Exynos chip and doesn't get ported very well.

You have to use Pro mode in order to get anything useful with moving subject. Or Gcam maybe, I haven't tried yet

Daylight shots are very good though, I would say even better then Pixel

ZayaanAhyaan said:
No they haven't. I had a good hands on with the device at their stores and took my kids to just specially test this out.
I sold my S10 plus for this very reason and unfortunately in the Note note 10, they still haven't sorted it out. I had a Galaxy Note 8 and that was the last Samsung without this issue. I think it's something to do with the dual aperture.
Installing Gcam seems to help a lot but I have Exynos chip and doesn't get ported very well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing here with my wife's S10e. Since my S7 I hate this. Nowadays I have an iPhone Xr and this is not a problem, fortunately... But I'd like to go back to Android again... Maybe with Pixel 4...
Using pro mode on S10e I've got a nice result setting the shutter speed at least at 1/250. But you lose performance on HDR... So it's like a short sheet... You cover something and uncover other...

That's another mess, the pro mode.
On my note 8, i chose to keep a fast shutter speed and my preferred white balance with iso as a shortcut on home screen. This way it allowed me to directly jump into 3 of my preferred pro mode setting directly without fiddling and adjusting, but as always, Samsung had to take a damn step back and removed this shortcut starting from note 9.

Hmmmnnn. I had a note 8, and all the others besides the 9. Any of them, like any other cameras I have used(cameras and camcorders), with the faster shutter speeds, I always use manual(or as Samsung likes to call pro). I guess most of my subjects when I learned were really fast(rc helicopters doing aerobatics and saltwater reef tanks), so the old rule of 'learn manual shooting first and don't rely on auto' saved me.
Neither of those environments are ideal, and i learned to just 'make' the cameras work for me. It's not a fault of the devices, it's just the honest inherent nature of auto mode.. I also love macro photography, so that is another realm in which manual knowledge is key..
Sent from my Note 10+ using Tapatalk

The portrait mood has bee the single most disappointing feature for me, perhaps we are spoiled by the gcam quality, but samsung could have done better.
Having an Exynos device makes it even more challenging to find a stable fully functional gcam.
I am almost inclining towards finding a pixel (2/3a or 3) just for camera capabilities.
Even the poco with it's xiaomi camera did a better job at portraits

watsinaname said:
The portrait mood has bee the single most disappointing feature for me, perhaps we are spoiled by the gcam quality, but samsung could have done better.
Having an Exynos device makes it even more challenging to find a stable fully functional gcam.
I am almost inclining towards finding a pixel (2/3a or 3) just for camera capabilities.
Even the poco with it's xiaomi camera did a better job at portraits
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Portrait is very good as far as i'm concerned. Maybe malfunctionning device ? I have exynos as well and no pb with photos (EDIT : i have Note 10 Plus though so maybe TOF does the job).
My portait photos are probably the most striking and accurate i ever took with a smartphone, i have very nice pics of my kids taken with it.
Single hairs on sides are not blurred either, it only blurs the background and does it right.

I am very disappointed with cameras .
Low definition and quality when you do not have 100% of light .
Night mode it **** also.
I came from op6 and did better photos stock and with gcam.
Samsung camera processing it is the worst one

villadecai said:
I am very disappointed with cameras .
Low definition and quality when you do not have 100% of light .
Night mode it **** also.
I came from op6 and did better photos stock and with gcam.
Samsung camera processing it is the worst one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plain wrong... Post exemple or it never happened.

Camera is not good but much better than OP7
villadecai said:
I am very disappointed with cameras .
Low definition and quality when you do not have 100% of light .
Night mode it **** also.
I came from op6 and did better photos stock and with gcam.
Samsung camera processing it is the worst one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I compared with OP7 and found that Note 10 (Exynos) is far better when compared to OnePlus 7.
Though Pixel 2 XL have much better camera

Just wondering whether the staggering difference in photo quality between Exynos and Snapdragon versions of Note 10 is here as well. I was shocked how far better was Galaxy S9 (Snapdragon) in this term.

Definitely isn't this year...the Exynos model has improved a lot so much so there's a huge difference between the photo quality of the note 10 and the S10 5g I had.

new update to camera today

watsinaname said:
The portrait mood has bee the single most disappointing feature for me, perhaps we are spoiled by the gcam quality, but samsung could have done better.
Having an Exynos device makes it even more challenging to find a stable fully functional gcam.
I am almost inclining towards finding a pixel (2/3a or 3) just for camera capabilities.
Even the poco with it's xiaomi camera did a better job at portraits
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is weird, I find portrait quality to be much better than my Note 8 and iphone XS Max, edge definition is outstanding compared to iphones and I have taken portrait shots that are as good (resolution aside) as my Canon 70D with 85mm lens.