Samsung Galaxy S7 vs. Apple iPhone 6s Plus: Who takes better photos?

Note: This article was first published on 19th March 2016.

Introduction

As a camera reviewer, you sometimes do weird things. Like stand in one spot, and whip out four smartphones from your camera bag while an irritated tourist stands beside you, waiting for you to go away so she can take the same shot.

All in the name of discovering the ‘better’ camera.

Sometimes, it really is possible to find the ‘better’ camera, when one outperforms the other so much that it’s easy to call. Sometimes, it’s hard, as one comes close to the other, and each is good at something the other isn’t. Spoiler alert; that’s kind of how this story ends.

Today’s two competitors are the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (its review here) and the Apple iPhone 6s Plus. The iPhone 6s Plus was my choice for best smartphone camera of 2015, and we thought it’d be interesting to see how Samsung’s latest fares against the iPhone 6s Plus. For a lark, I also pull out the Note 5 from time to time, to see how Samsung’s latest generation phone compares to its predecessor.

Note: The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have identical Sony sensors, so their test results should be similar — except when they come with Samsung’s ISOCELL sensors. Our S7 Edge is running the Sony sensor.

User experience — which works better?

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is the smoother smartphone to shoot with.

The S7 Edge has blazingly fast auto-focus

First of all, its auto-focus (AF) is blazingly fast. The S7s come with dual pixel AF technology. They’re not the first cameras in the world to have it; Canon first introduced dual pixel AF in 2013 with the EOS 70D DSLR, but the S7s are the first smartphones in the world to implement it.

Not only is the new AF system fast, it’s also accurate, which is critical. I’ve used cameras that also had fast AF, but they were simply faster to the wrong target. The S7 Edge nails the subject more accurately than not.

This is especially obvious when it comes to shooting in low light. The S7 Edge locks onto the subject much more quickly than the iPhone 6s Plus, which can hunt for its subject in low light and sometimes gets it wrong.

I was skeptical when dual pixel AF was announced on the new S7s, as poor AF wasn’t really a complaint on previous Samsung flagship smartphones. But it makes a difference in real life, making shooting feel smoother and easier. Once you get used to the S7s’ AF speed, you can’t go back.

The S7 Edge’s UI has something for everyone

I also appreciate how the S7 Edge’s camera app caters for both everyday users as well as pro users. It’s nice to be able to save to raw for those important shots with tricky lighting, though the S7 Edge is still missing an easy way to quickly switch to raw — you can only select it in the Settings menu.

I noticed that the manual controls have been refined from the Note 5’s; whereas before you couldn’t quickly reset manual settings back to auto, now you can.

I have to say that the AMOLED display also makes a difference when shooting; the screen is easier to discern in bright environments than the iPhone’s LCD screen. Photos appear more vibrant and vivid on the Samsung’s screen compared to the iPhone’s, although they might appear similar back on the PC.

Oh, iPhone

Now, the iPhone 6s Plus’s camera app remains easy to use for most people, but it’s become increasingly more frustrating how you can’t access the manual controls and get raw files out, even with third-party apps.

Colors and details in good light

The Apple iPhone 6s Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge take comparable photos in good light.

While the Samsung Note 5 had the definite edge over the iPhone 6s Plus in good light, thanks to a higher megapixel count which gave its photos more details, the S7s go back down to a 12MP sensor. Thus, you can see in the 100% cropped samples below, that the Note 5’s capture has noticeably more detail than either the S7 Edge or the iPhone 6s Plus’.

Thus, I see roughly the same amount of detail being captured by either smartphone in good light. Even colors and saturation are comparable across situations; sometimes the S7 Edge produces richer colors, and sometimes the iPhone 6s Plus does. See for yourself.

Colors and details in low light

Nobody really wins in this particular section, as each smartphone comes with its own pros and cons, none of which significantly one-ups the other.

The iPhone 6s Plus is really stable

The iPhone 6s Plus really gets one thing right in low light: Its optical image stabilization (OIS) is excellent.

In dark environments, your camera needs to lengthen the shutter speed to capture more light, but that increases the risk that your shot will be ruined by your hands moving, resulting in blurry photos. Even the smallest of movements can cause motion blur.

The iPhone 6s Plus’ OIS manages to keep shutter speeds low while remaining steady, which also has the advantage of keeping the ISO, and thus image noise, low. The two shots below are an example of how the iPhone 6s Plus’ OIS helped me get a steady shot in low light, while the S7 Edge’s shot turned out blurry. This is despite the iPhone 6s Plus shooting at an even slower shutter speed than the S7 Edge.

But the iPhone 6s Plus also takes chances, way too many chances. For one, low shutter speeds are fine for still subjects, but if you’re shooting people at 1/8th of a second, for example, any slight movement on their part will result in blurriness. The iPhone 6s Plus also doesn’t warn you to keep your hands steady when it’s shooting at such low shutter speeds, which is downright irresponsible.

The iPhone 6s Plus also tends to produce flatter colors in low light, which is a big strike against it. See the extreme test shots below in near dark; I’m completely dull in the iPhone 6s Plus’ shot, while the S7 Edge manages to retain the color of my skin and shirt. The S7 Edge also manages to collect more light, possibly due to its faster lens.

This doesn’t just happen in extreme low light, but in moderate low light as well. Notice how the colors in the iPhone 6s Plus’ images are duller compared to the S7 Edge’s.

But the iPhone 6s Plus’ biggest weakness against the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge though, is how its AF is usually slower than the S7 Edge’s in low light, and much less accurate.

The S7 Edge’s AF is fast and accurate, even in low light

Unlike the iPhone 6s Plus, the S7 Edge can lock onto the correct subject quickly in low light — much more quickly than any smartphone camera I’ve seen to date.

As seen above, the S7 Edge’s images retain more color in low light than the iPhone 6s Plus’, which is a key highlight. I also appreciate how Samsung has toned down its (usually) harsh noise reduction on the S7 Edge, allowing more image noise, but also more image detail, to show through than on the iPhone 6s Plus. See the Note 5’s image to see how its heavy noise reduction has reduced details to indistinct smudges.

However, the S7 Edge’s OIS is not as good as the iPhone 6s Plus’, and I got more blurry shots in low light due to camera shake. The S7 Edge does warn you to keep your hands steady (in Auto, not Pro mode), but sometimes that’s just not easy to do. In the samples below, I shot the iPhone 6s Plus at a seriously low shutter speed of 1/17th sec, and it turned out sharp. The same shot with the S7 Edge at 1/10th sec, and it turned out blurry. It didn’t happen in just this one instance, but consistently across my low light shooting experience with the S7 Edge.

So, who wins, who loses? The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge’s AF is obviously better than the iPhone 6s Plus’ in low light, and I prefer the punchier colors and fuller details from its images, although they do come with more image noise. However, the iPhone 6s Plus will help you nail sharper images in low light than the S7 Edge, with its excellent OIS, which is no small feat either.

High Dynamic Range

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge takes better High Dynamic Range (HDR). The shots have a greater range of preserved highlights and brighter shadows than the Apple iPhone 6s Plus. In my 2015 smartphone camera shootout, I already noticed that the iPhone 6s Plus’ HDR images tend to be rather weak, with more blown highlights and lost shadows than the rest.

Panorama

The Apple iPhone 6s Plus takes better panoramas. It held the crown in the 2015 smartphone camera shootout and it holds on to it here.

Both the iPhone 6s Plus and S7 Edge take panoramas with no visible seams, but the S7 Edge has problems with moving subjects — some ghosting can be seen, while none appears in my iPhone 6s Plus test images.

Video

The Apple iPhone 6s Plus still takes the better videos. While the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has the edge (ahem) in auto-focus (AF) speed and accuracy, especially in low light, the iPhone 6s Plus has better image quality and optical image stabilization (OIS).

Both smartphones’ focus quickly and accurately in good light, but it’s in low light where the S7 Edge clearly shows its advantages. In the tests below, you can see the iPhone 6s Plus still hunting for focus from time to time, while the S7 Edge usually locks focus quickly and confidently.

Update: Added Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge’s 4K video, with no OIS, for comparison.

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For most situations, the S7 Edge’s OIS will suffice. The problem is that when it comes to more challenging situations, like walking down the stairs, the iPhone 6s Plus’ OIS does admirably, while the S7 Edge’s OIS just can’t keep up. Also, if you want to record at the highest 4K quality, only the iPhone 6s Plus’ OIS still works. The S7 Edge’s OIS only works when shooting in Full-HD and below.

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The biggest strike against the S7 Edge is that its videos are obviously prone to the rolling shutter effect, where subjects loll along like jelly when you move the camera. This was the same problem that we saw on the Note 5, and it really damages video quality. On the other hand, the iPhone 6s Plus controls rolling shutter admirably well.

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So does the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge have the edge over the Apple iPhone 6s Plus?

What the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is better at

The S7 Edge is more user-friendly, its auto-focus (AF) is much faster and more accurate, the photos have vibrant color in both good and low light, plus it takes better High Dynamic Range (HDR) images.

However, the S7 Edge’s optical image stabilization (OIS) is not as good as the iPhone 6s Plus’. That results in more blurry images in low light, thanks to camera shake, and also shakier handheld videos. OIS also doesn’t work in 4k video resolution, only Full-HD and below.

Some ghosting can be seen in moving subjects when shooting panoramas, and the S7 Edge’s video obviously suffers from rolling shutter, which is not great if you want to shoot video with it.

What the Apple iPhone 6s Plus is better at

The iPhone 6s Plus is better at video; with excellent OIS even in 4k resolution. That OIS also gets you sharper images in low light, although it shoots at such dangerously low shutter speeds that any movement from your subject and the photo will turn out blurry anyway.

The colors in the iPhone 6s Plus’ photos have vibrant color in good light, but noticeably flatter color in low light. It takes the best panoramas, but HDR images tend to either blow out highlights or lose shadow detail. The camera UI is easy enough for most people, but remains overly simplistic for advanced users.

So where does that leave us? It seems obvious that except for video, neither camera offers significant advantages over the other. But I can at least say for sure that the S7 Edge’s camera is noticeably better than the Note 5’s (except, again, in video). While it captures less detail than the Note 5, the S7 Edge does better in low light and has way better AF, which are worthy trade-offs for the smaller megapixel count.

About the S7 Edge’s faster and better dual pixel AF

I was skeptical when dual pixel AF was first announced on the S7s. Not that it isn’t a technological breakthrough (it is) that doesn’t have practical use in the real world (it does), but whether or not it’s the most pressing problem to solve for Samsung.

For example, Xiaomi’s newest flagship, the Mi5, introduces four-axis OIS to smartphones for the first time. While I haven’t used it myself, better OIS seems to be a more valuable problem to solve for users than AF, because while AF was already good on the S6 and Note 5, the S7 Edge’s OIS still hasn’t caught up to Apple’s iPhone 6s Plus.

2016’s smartphone camera comparisons aren’t over yet

It’s also worth remembering that the S7s are Samsung’s 2016 flagships, while the iPhone 6s Plus remains Apple’s 2015 flagship. It’ll be interesting to see what Apple brings to the mix in this year’s iPhone 7s’ cameras (dual cameras, maybe?), as well as see how other competitors, like the aforementioned Xiaomi Mi5, and LG’s G5, will measure up. More to come …