Smartphones in recent years have shown themselves well in terms of photography. Previously, the South Korean manufacturer provided too many unnecessary functionality, but recently the pre-installed Camera app provides interesting, convenient and useful options. The flagships of this year are equipped with a high-quality camera, which in capable hands can work wonders.
New camera app
Application Camera on the Galaxy S8 not much changed compared to previous devices, but still it has been updated to be more convenient to use. The new layout option puts the camera's most requested features at the center. For example, you can now zoom when taking a photo simply by moving the shutter button from left to right. Thus, with one finger, you can shoot and resize the image.
What each camera mode can do
A swipe to the right in the camera interface allows you to open various shooting modes. Among them are available the following:
Bixby Assistant in the Camera app
Along with these smartphones, Samsung has introduced a new digital assistant called Bixby, which is not yet quite ready to go. However, it is with the camera that the assistant is already working, we are talking about a function called Bixby Vision.
You need to press the Bixby button on the case. Point the camera at an object or landscape and the assistant will display related images and purchase links for those items. Bixby Vision works with a variety of items, including cosmetics with stickers and electronics from well-known brands. Sometimes the assistant gets things mixed up.
Bixby is bundled with the camera app, motivating users to use it often, just like a physical button on the body motivates them to frequently voice requests. If you find her work useful for comparing what you see in stores with your own eyes with what you can find on the Internet, you can activate the “Quick Launch” option in the camera settings.
Using focus manually
Do you want to master the bokeh effect on ? Open manual settings by swiping left next to the camera shutter button and select the Pro shooting mode. Here, click on the "Manual focus" option and move the cursor until you achieve the desired effect. You will see green lines in the viewfinder that indicate what the camera is focusing on. After that, you can take photos.
Quick launch activation
By default, fast startup is enabled initially. You need to quickly press the power button on the right side of the case twice quickly to launch the camera app. You can use this option even when the screen is off. If you accidentally disabled this feature, you can turn it back on in the camera settings.
Galaxy S8 smartphones have received larger screens compared to the devices of the previous generation, so reaching the farthest edges is not easy. For this reason, the floating shutter button on the screen enhances the convenience of photographing. You can enable it in the camera settings, it is two lines below the quick launch of the camera. When enabled, the camera interface will show a floating button that can be placed anywhere in the Camera app.
Shooting a video before taking a photo
Turn on Motion photo in the camera app settings to record a short video before taking a photo.Quick switching between cameras
The button for switching between cameras is located at the top of the application interface. You can also switch with a simple gesture up in the viewfinder, which is convenient to do with one hand.
Use photo filters
At the bottom of the camera interface, where the shutter button is, swipe left to open the effects. It can also be accessed from the Face Masks menu. There are many different filters available here, some of them are suitable for landscape photos, others for selfies.Face Smoothing
The resolution of the front camera of the Galaxy S8 is 8 megapixels, which is quite a lot. The aperture is f / 1.7, there is autofocus, so you can safely use this camera to photograph yourself and your friends. If you are not completely confident in your beauty, you can use the beautification modes that are built into the camera app to hide imperfections. Click on the icon that looks like a person with long hair to open different beautification options, such as smoothing the skin, adding artificial lighting, or brightening the eyes.
Wide angle selfies
To take wide-angle photos on the front camera, you need to swipe to the right in the area near the shutter in the front camera mode, just like opening the filter on the rear camera. The wide-angle selfie mode is similar to taking panoramic shots in the rear camera, you need to swipe the viewfinder from left to right to take a photo.Use face masks
Samsung built a feature called "Face Masks" into the Galaxy S8's camera; it's not the same as Snapchat's filters, although it works almost identically. You can use them in the front camera on yourself or on the back camera with other people. Unfortunately, they cannot be used together with other effects, only one filter can be applied at a time.More recently, two fresh “space” flagships Samsung Galaxy S8 and its slightly larger version Galaxy S8 + appeared on the mobile device market. It would seem that there is something else to chase, what other improvements can be placed in these small devices. Apparently, Samsung, which was bound to happen sooner or later, also asked similar questions. Since it has become pointless to technically improve gadgets after the breakthrough Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in many ways, where to move on? The South Korean developer has directed the development of its flagships along a new path. Namely - design and usability. Instead of trying to outmaneuver its biggest competitor, the iPhone, developers from the land of Morning Calm have turned their attention to the comfort of their own customers.
Specifications Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus
In terms of technical stuff, S8 and S8 + rightfully occupy a leading position not only among their own representatives, but also among the flagships of other brands. They outperform their younger predecessors, the S7 and S7 Edge, quite a bit. However, Samsung representatives themselves pay much more attention to the design of the phone and the various “chips” that have appeared here. So let's take a look at what's here.
Housing materials
The body of the phone, like most modern Samsungs, is made of glass and metal. The frame framing the perimeter is metal, and the front and back panels are completely hidden under the glass. By the way, the S8 is equipped with Gorilla Glass 4 glass, but the “baby” S8 + is already protected by Gorilla Glass 5. Both have an oleophobic coating, which means that the phones are protected from minor scratches, dust and do not glare in the sun. And at the same time extremely easily soiled. It’s better to immediately get a case for a brand new gadget, otherwise you risk going crazy trying to get rid of instantly appearing and ubiquitous fingerprints on the case.
The phone is very pleasant to hold in your hand, but it gets dirty at the speed of light
Design
Materials S8/S8 + are not much different from their predecessors, but in the design there have been dramatic changes. Now the working screen occupies almost the entire surface of the front panel - as much as 84% of its area. The speaker, retinal scanner, proximity sensor, front camera and light sensor remained in place. Do you understand what this means? No mechanical home button and no famous Samsung logo above the display. The Home button, as well as the touch "Return" and "Running applications" are now part of the screen. These “managers” retained their functions. The virtual Home key is located in its usual place and is always available to the user. It feels like pressing it exactly conveys pressing the previous physical version - you can feel a kind of click both when you hold down the key and when you release it. If you press this sensor with great force, it will vibrate and instantly take you to the main screen. For those who are concerned about the availability of the key while running various full-screen programs, for example, games, let's clarify - Home is always available.
The fingerprint scanner had to be moved to the back panel, because there was simply no space left in front.
On the back, along with the camera and flash, the developers placed a fingerprint scanner. Not all users were satisfied with this decision, however, you must admit, the creators simply had no alternatives.
Sizes and colors
The dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy S8 are 148.9 x 68.1 mm, and the height is 8 mm, while the weight is 152 g. The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is slightly larger than its counterpart: length and height - 159.5 x 73.4 mm, thickness - 8.1 mm and weight - 173 g.
The dimensions of the phones, in general, do not feel too capacious and uncomfortable. In the hand of the device lie perfectly. True, small flaws are found when trying to reach the S8 + fingerprint scanner. If in the S8 the sensor button can be found without much difficulty, then in the plus model this becomes an essential task. Otherwise, the ergonomics of the devices show themselves well.
Despite their large size, both phones fit perfectly in the hand. That's just trying to reach the opposite upper corner - in vain
Phones have five colors, but only three are available for Russia: yellow topaz (gold), black diamond and mystical amethyst (silver).
Screen
The screen is the most remarkable part of the phone, because it takes up almost the entire space of the front panel. The diagonal size of the regular version is 5.8 inches with a pixel density of 570 ppi, the plus model has 6.2 inches with a pixel density of 529 ppi. The resolution of the screens is 2960 x 1440 pixels, i.e. Quad HD+. The screen, of course, has curved edges, just like the Galaxy S7/S7 Edge. However, this time the developers tried to make the display “borderless” and they really succeeded.
Due to the fact that the side frames in the front plane of the screen have disappeared, and the upper edges on both sides of the display are extremely narrow, it creates an unusual feeling that you are immersed in the image. In addition to this, the slightly elongated screen proportions add originality to the phone. It uses a ratio of 18.5:9 instead of the usual 16:9. Such an innovation, surprisingly, does not cause any discomfort. Even vice versa. Now the screen can accommodate much more information, which is certainly convenient. And such an unusual display of the picture only adds to the uniqueness.
Both versions of the phone use the same type of SuperAMOLED screen. If you have already used phones from Samsung of the middle and older lines, then you know about all the advantages of this type of screen. You still have access to various detailed settings - color mode, calibration, blue filter, contrast, brightness, and more. The screen shows itself perfectly both indoors and on a brightly lit street. Among other things, in the screen settings, you can set the desired resolution and a list of applications that will be used in full screen mode.
Photo gallery: smartphone display testing
The intelligent assistant still needs to be improved - at least in the Russian version
Biometric phone security
Facial recognition and an iris scanner have been added to the available data protection tools. In the first case, you need to take into account many different nuances. In good light, the sensor works perfectly and without failures. But if the light is dim or there is practically none, do not be surprised if your own phone suddenly does not recognize you. Also, recognition may not work if, for example, you are trying to unlock your phone while lying down, or your current appearance is somehow different from the one that was originally captured. In addition, many note that the scanner is easy to deceive by simply showing him a photo of the owner. In the second case, recognition takes a little longer, but the tool is much more reliable.
The retinal scanner can go haywire if you're wearing sunglasses. The rest - including ordinary glasses - is not a hindrance to him.
Headset AKG
Samsung acquired Harman last year. This developer is famous for having previously created various audio products for brands such as Harman Kardon and Bowers & Wilkins. This time, Harman has collaborated with Samsung. The result of their work was in-ear headphones with a remote, designed and released specifically for the S8 and S8 +. We must pay tribute, the sound in them is really good. However, this is only at medium frequencies. Avid connoisseurs of good sound will clearly notice that the bass in these headphones does not differ in power, there is no immersion effect and sound depth either. And the volume of the AKG-headset is very small. Maybe it's the phones themselves, you ask. And here it is not. If you replace the headset included in the kit with any other more or less high-quality headphones, then the sound improves significantly. “Space” novelties give out simply a chic range of sound waves, but AKGs are definitely not suitable for its disclosure.
Camera Features
The camera of both phones inherited from their top-end ancestor Galaxy S7. The resolution of the main lens is 12 megapixels, while the aperture is equal to f / 1.7. The front camera is slightly worse - only 8 megapixels with an aperture value of the same f / 1.7. The focus length is 26 mm, there is optical stabilization. In terms of technical strength, the camera is really no different from its predecessor. So what's new?
And the fact that Samsung has focused on the software part of its cameras. Improved shooting in low light conditions. The developers turned to Dual Pixel technology, due to which autofocus was accelerated, as well as continuous shooting.
Daytime shooting (+ sample photos)
When shooting during the day, there are no complaints about the camera. The pictures come out clear, as detailed as possible, without blurring, even if the subject was in motion. The picture itself is saturated, sometimes even too much, but these are the features of all Samsung mobile technology. The white balance is adjusted perfectly, the color scheme pleases with its maximum plausibility.
The phone adjusts the white balance very sensitively, with almost no misses There are no complaints about macro shooting
Among other modes, the Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ has the ability to manually adjust the focus You can choose which plane your phone should focus on
By the way, you can shoot in two modes - auto and manual. Manual mode allows you to set the exposure, shutter speed, ISO, white balance. In addition, the S8/S8+ offers several preset modes to choose from. However, even without them, the camera behaves quite decently.
Shooting in low light (photo)
We are already accustomed to the fact that in low light conditions, when twilight begins to thicken on the street or you enter a room with your device, the quality of shooting deteriorates sharply, the picture acquires a lot of noise, blurring appears and saturation disappears. In the case of the Galaxy S8/S8+, this does not happen. The phone is excellent even in dim light.
The picture was taken during the onset of the evening - there is no noise, and the detail is as high as in daytime shooting
Front-camera
8 megapixels allow the front camera to take pictures with the quality no worse than the main lens. It supports autofocus mode and face auto-retouch. The camera does not have its own flash, but a screen backlight is a good replacement for it.
Even in dim light, the selfie of the sculpture came out detailed and rich.
Video
The maximum available resolution in which the S8 / S8 + can shoot is 4K, i.e. 3840 x 2160 pixels, while the frame rate reaches 30fps. In the lower FullHD resolution, the frame rate increases to 60 fps. Optical stabilization is available for shooting video, which instantly aligns the frame. Phones give an excellent picture - a decent level of saturation, brightness and detail even in the dark. The sound recording is also of high quality - there are no incomprehensible interference and noise, the audio track is clear and loud.
The South Korean developer realized in time that it’s not about pixels at all and “more” does not mean “better”. The camera on the S8/S8+ doesn't outperform that of the same S7, but the difference in image quality is noticeable.
Samsung Galaxy S8 - the flagship of 2017, was considered the coolest at that time, but now there are already S9 and Note9, although S8 is not much different from S9, so sales are rumored to be so-so. So why pay more? You can buy S8.
The S8 is available in the following colors: Black Diamond, Yellow Topaz, Mystic Amethyst, Ruby Red and Blue (not sold in Russia).
I take pictures all the time. He needed a phone so that his camera was no worse than any professional cameras. They themselves are huge, and quickly took out the phone, until I saw something, clicked and that's it - the photo was taken! Here a butterfly sat on a flower - rather get your phone and shoot! And how the bat posed for me) Beauty))
S8 was bought in Euroset for 47 thousand something in July 2018.
I bought for the camera the rest didn't matter. There is only one main camera here, but it's better than 2, which give the result many times worse.
I think many people are worried about the camera and the quality of photos on the front camera and on the main camera, so I will attach a lot of photos in different conditions. I will say that you can even take a picture of the starry sky, which surprised me a lot!
I will note chic design, and I want to hold a smartphone in my hands. I give credit to Samsung. The design of iPhones can not be compared with the design of s8.
I wanted to buy S8 in the color "Mystical Amethyst", but I took "Red Ruby". The color is very beautiful, although at first it seemed so to me.
The phone supports: wireless charging, fast charging, there is NFC to pay for purchases with your phone. This is a big plus. It is possible to use a smartphone as a Wi-Fi transmitter for other gadgets, Always on display is quite an interesting thing.
The boundless screen of the S8 is super amoled - bright, juicy, pleasing to the eye.
The processor is nimble, will give odds to the flagships of 2018. The phone will be relevant back in 2019, thanks to the camera and the processor!
By the way, the phone comes from the box to 7 android(already phones on 8 android). I did not update anything - neither the firmware nor the android version. I don't trust updates
Frame Made of glass and front and back - glass Gorilla Glass. There are small gaps in the phone itself and therefore dust and dirt clog there. It annoys me, to be honest.
Slot. You can put either 2 sims or 1 sim and a flash drive into the slot. Will have to choose. I have a sim card and a 64 gb flash drive.
memory The smartphone has 64 GB and 4 RAM. 4 GB is now more than enough for the phone.
The smartphone has mini jack for headphones is good because some manufacturers have a tendency to remove all holes except for the charging connector)
The set comes with AKG headphones in the color of the phone, they are sturdy, the sound is good.
About dynamics- it is located at the bottom right and this is not very convenient, because if you play or watch a movie and hold the phone in your hands, you can accidentally cover it with your hand and the sound will disappear. By the way, there was never a problem with the speaker.
Fingerprint scanner located in an unusual place and it is unusually small. Xiaomi redmi 4x had a round and nimble scanner, but here it seems to be a brake. It took me a long time to get used to it. First, the finger constantly hits the camera, so you have to get used to it, and even then, it works so-so.
Iris scanner it works with a bang even in the dark, then FIG understand why during the day you have to enter a graphic key or use your fingers. I'm not happy with scanners, to be honest.
I will say right away that battery... ahem hmm. In economy mode, with 4G turned off, with medium brightness and even with other settings, it pulls out a maximum of 4-5 hours on instagram, vk, and the internet. And then each owner of c8 turns out differently. If without the Internet turned on, the screen will work for about 5-8 hours. And if you surf the Internet and use the camera, then the battery will go away in a couple of hours. Approximately 3-4. The flagship, although 2017, is dying. This disappointed me - you will have to take an external battery with you on a trip.
The phone did not lag or hang almost. The only thing is that when I scroll through the list of applications in the settings, for some reason it scrolls this list inadequately with a slight delay. Apparently this is a problem in the firmware, and not in the phone.
I have been using Samsung for almost 4 months now, I wear it in the original Samsung case-book for 5 thousand (the case is fragile for my 5k ... I also bought it in Euroset), so there are no scratches, but the oleophobic coating has worn off in the place where most often I poke on the screen and therefore now there is always a greasy spot. It doesn't look very aesthetically pleasing. Yes, the screen is a little dirty, you have to wipe it often. If you wear it without a case, then the likelihood of scratching / breaking it increases significantly. Break the screen = hit on 15-20 thousand for a screen replacement.
c8 has ip 68, which means protection against dust and water. But it is not a fact that water will not get into your smartphone. The manufacturer promises that the c8 will withstand half an hour at a depth of 1.5 meters under water, but I didn’t risk even just putting it under the tap or putting it in a glass of water for the sake of interest, not even going to the river / lake with it, etc. Why? Because it is not a fact that he will survive in real life. And if water gets into the phone itself, then this is no longer a warranty case, no one will fix it for free. The maximum I photographed in the rain and then 5 minutes.
In general, the phone is handsome - the design impressed me, the camera is gorgeous, there are many useful functions such as NFS, fast charging, an iris scanner, but the battery is rather weak. Well, the fragile S8 of course - glass both front and back. Even if the vaunted Gorilla Glass is there, you should still be wary of the smartphone.
When I walk down the street, I try not to sit on social networks, call less often and not hold the phone in my hands, because 47 thousand) I try to take care of it as much as possible. For calls, I have an old Nokia.
It either makes me happy or sad) The biggest plus is the camera, the biggest minus is the battery, in my opinion.
Hi all! Today we are going to take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S8. This year, Samsung has paid special attention to the flagships, Note 7 managed to tarnish its reputation, but despite this, the company remains one of the market leaders. Or maybe it was the story with Note 7 that led to a sharp desire to do something impressive. Looking at the Galaxy S8, you can't get rid of emotions.
Screen
The screen is the main feature of the flagship, it occupies a little less than 84% of the front of the smartphone and you can safely be sure that this is the near future of the entire industry. Samsung themselves call this an infinite display, I must say in the case, although the same Xiaomi Mi Mix screen occupies the same 84%. Manufacturers position it as a revolution or a breakthrough. In fact, it looks really good, the idea of curved displays is brought to mind.
Technical part
The matrix is proprietary Super AMOLED, with support for premium HDR technology, with a resolution of 2960x1440 pixels, and an aspect ratio of 18.5 by 9.
The screen is very juicy, you can customize it for yourself. It is clear that this is, if not the best display on the market, then at least one of.
Protection
Glass Gorilla Glass 5, and display sizes 5.8 or 6.2 inches. The two flagships differ only in diagonal and battery capacity, in all other respects they are completely equal.
Naturally, the most curious thing here is that with a diagonal of 6.2, the Galaxy S8 plus is smaller than the iPhone 7 plus, which has a 5.5-inch screen, except that the Samsung smartphone is slightly higher.
Another innovation for Samsung is the on-screen buttons. At the same time, the "home" key remained, it is located directly under the screen and for it they added a technology for simulating a real pressing, similar to the Taptic Engine in the iPhone 7.
Why would you ask to press the home button with a hard press on the touch screen? First, in this way you can exit any application without pulling out the on-screen buttons. Second - so you can turn on the screen when it is turned off. Thirdly, double-clicking opens the camera.
Where is the fingerprint scanner?
Where is the fingerprint scanner? He moved to the back to the camera, it is not at all convenient to use it, and on the S8 plus it is completely impossible, the fingers simply do not reach. And if you are also left-handed ... In general, it is extremely clumsily done. But Samsung claims that the fingerprint scanner has been replaced by a retinal scanner and facial recognition. In the first case, it is reliable, but it does not work super fast. And in the second, you can easily bypass, for example, your photo. Therefore, the fingerprint scanner remains the best solution so far.
What else is on the body? At the top end there is a hybrid tray. On the right side is the power button. On the left is a volume rocker and suddenly another button that is responsible for launching Samsung's own voice assistant. It makes no sense to talk about it today, since it does not work in Russian and you cannot reassign the application to the button.
At the bottom, the USB Type-C connector, 3.5 mm headphone jack and speaker are asymmetrically located.
Sound
The sound here is not stereo, but quite loud and clear, in a word, the speaker is good. Many will say thank you for the headphone jack, not everyone supports the trend of abandoning the mini-jack. On the other hand, the display is the future, and the music is the past.
What's included?
The phone even comes with pretty high-quality headphones from AKG, since Samsung bought Harman Kardon not so long ago. But such a promotion does not look logical, it was necessary to put wireless headphones in the kit right away. Well, the location of Type-C is not in the center, obviously it will not please perfectionists.
The back glass is also Gorilla Glass 5, but the side frame is aluminum.
It is glossy in all versions of the device, which specifically in the gray copy gives the effect of cheapness. Although black onyx looks good. But in our case, it was necessary to do matte.
Processor and Memory
S8 failed to become the first Snapdragon 835 flagship, Sony was the first. In this version, the S8 will be sold in the US, Japan and China. But for Europe and Asia, Samsung Exynos 8895 is provided. Not everyone will appreciate this option, since Samsung often had flaws in proprietary processors.
Samsung stopped chasing after the amount of memory, so both models received 4 gigabytes of RAM, which seemed to be enough. But the phone performs at the level of the Galaxy S7, or even a little slower. Although you have to look.
Tests
At the same time, synthetics show probably the best results on the market, 174964 AnTuTu points and 6617/2110 in Geekbench 4.
As for the built-in memory, they saved money here, there is only a 64 gigabyte version. But the slot for memory cards was left, you can always expand it.
Camera
This year, the Korean company did not pay attention to cameras either, leaving a 12 megapixel sensor on both models. There is no option with a dual main camera, which is a pity, because it is from Samsung that we usually expect breakthroughs, although the question is whether this is a breakthrough in the iPhone?
Photos are obtained at the level of the same Galaxy S7, with two pleasant but! There is no distortion that everyone complained about and there is no serious oversharping. Now the picture is quite clear and not too compressed.
The front camera is 8 megapixels, everything is fine, improvements and additions have appeared in the application. For example, masks, as well as the integration of the Bigsby voice assistant.
Sample photos of Samsung Galaxy S8
Samsung Galaxy S8 HDR mode example (Off/Auto/On)
Battery
Despite the huge display, the battery is not at all large, 3000mAh for the S8 and 3500mAh for the S8 plus. There is fast wireless charging. By the way, additional equipment for wireless will have to be purchased separately.
When it comes to battery reliability, Samsung now has a whole department dedicated to testing them, something no other brand can boast of. But for others, smartphones have not yet exploded so massively. Although here it is worth paying tribute to the engineers, the S8 gets about 5 hours of screen time, and the S8 plus has about 6, quite a result.
Operating system
Galaxy S8 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat with a proprietary shell. Until the end of May, they promise an update to Android 7.1.1, where instead of Bigsby you can turn on Google Assistant.
What is interesting in the system? The launcher is now similar to what we saw in the Google Pixel, you can open all applications by swiping up or down. It's great that you can still change the buttons of the navigation bar in places. Otherwise, it's the familiar Grace UX.
The phone is IP68 water and dust resistant. If it suddenly catches fire, you can always put it out by throwing it into the toilet or bathroom, for example.
bluetooth 5.0
Another cool thing about the Galaxy S8 is that it is the first smartphone with bluetooth version 5.0. What can be done about it? You can connect two headsets or speakers at the same time, this is really cool.
Are there phantom clicks?
Well, the last. Are there phantom clicks? It's important! It is clear that Samsung has worked on a curved display, for the umpteenth time, so that there are no more such problems. And it really got better, but there are still phantom clicks, albeit quite rarely.
Prices in Russia
Galaxy S8: 54990r. Galaxy S8 plus: 59990r.
Colors
Colors: black diamond, mystical amethyst and yellow topaz. In the USA, for example, there will be an additional color blue and silver.
What impression does the S8 create?
What impression does the S8 create? Quite twofold actually. The screen is certainly very good, it looks cool, there is no other word for it. After S8, you take any phone in your hand and think: what kind of junk ?! Approximately such sensations were from the iPhone 4 when I already held the iPhone 5.
On the other hand, no revolution in the cell. We did not receive a metal case, and the fingerprint scanner, a separate issue, is inconvenient for everyone. In addition, the Pure Android that Google installs in its device, the Galaxy S8 is far away. It works well, but not perfect, not fast, although without conditionally you need to wait for updates. And again, you need to wait for something. Despite everything, the number of pre-orders in Russia beats the records of last year, almost by an order of magnitude!
Eventually
S8 will remain the main event of 2017 if Google and Apple don't take a step back. And knowing Apple, we can expect a new iPhone with the S prefix, with minor changes.
Samsung with a characteristic Korean vision, but once again becomes a trendsetter.
I have been using the Samsung Galaxy S8 as my main smartphone for two weeks now. In addition to a bunch of new chips in it, they have updated the front camera.
And they updated it very much - so much so that it is worthy of a separate article.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and its awesome front camera
The front camera in the Samsung Galaxy S8 evolved from the Samsung Galaxy S7 camera: it was good, it became just great. But first, about what has not changed.
used wide angle lens, which seems to move you away from the camera and makes it easier to take group selfies than on an iPhone. The aperture, as before, is f/1.7 instead of f/2.2 in the iPhone 7 Plus, which means that much more light is passed into the sensor.
Because of this, pictures in the dark come out clear, noticeably less noise and artifacts. See for yourself.
Well, now to the upgrades.
In the front of the Galaxy S8 added pixels - 8 MP versus 5 megapixels in the Galaxy S7. Purely technically, this gives sharper pictures in the same conditions, and also allows you to crop the photo more strongly, keeping its quality high.
Portraits Samsung Galaxy S8 makes cool, agree. Even if you do not believe me, the pictures will say everything for me. The complexion is natural, the teeth are white, the hair is well worked out - there is no emphasis on the yellowness that the iPhone loves so much. The pictures are rich and sharp, the latter can be adjusted: for example, soften the skin tone!
Photo taken on Samsung Galaxy S8
But the main trump card of the Samsung Galaxy S8 front camera is autofocus .
It works just as fast as on the main camera. Automatically focuses on all faces in the frame, so you almost never need to press the display.
It's straight bomb. Autofocus, oh, how lacking on the iPhone, because of this, almost all selfies are blurry from a more or less close distance. I think that optical stabilization will appear in the next generation - and happiness will come.
The selfie camera in the Samsung Galaxy S8 has more to offer.
For example, you can take pictures using a heart rate monitor. Just turn on the camera and touch the sensor with your finger - it is located on the back, not far from the camera. This is if it is inconvenient to poke at the screen. The method has one minus - the finger gets on the camera and stains it. You will have to wipe it periodically.
As on the iPhone, I do not advise taking pictures with the volume button - the pictures often come out blurry.
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Photo taken on Samsung Galaxy S8
In addition, all selfies are retouched right at the time of shooting. Before you take a picture, you can “photoshop” yourself in advance: for the sake of a joke, make huge eyes, and, well, correct the tone of the face.
Photo taken on Samsung Galaxy S8
There is a super-wide mode here, a la panorama. While shooting, you tilt your smartphone left and right, you get a panoramic self-portrait. With selective focus, you can take a selfie with cool bokeh - the equivalent of "Portrait Mode" on the iPhone 7 Plus.
Well, the last. Appeared mask stickers: animated, with and without sound. You can overlay text, filters, effects on the picture.
Publication from website (@site) May 30, 2017 at 9:46 PDT
We naturally checked out. But, alas, we are not so beautiful. Although they tried very hard.
Stickers really rule, especially in the hands of other people. You give them a Samsung Galaxy S8, they snap themselves with funny faces, and then it's all stored in memory. And you, of course, do not post it on your instagram, tagging them so that it would be discourteous;))
Total. The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a front camera that:
- Shoots brighter and clearer than iPhone 7
- shoots great even in the dark
- super-wide selfies rule, especially with a crowd
- mask stickers blow up any party)
Now the iPhone 7 Plus. And his 3 year old camera
The front camera on the iPhone 7 Plus hasn't changed much from previous generations. The angle of the lens is still small, you look close in the photo. You either have to have long arms or carry a selfie stick. Especially if you decide to take a joint photo with friends.
The number of megapixels in the iPhone 7 Plus has increased from 5 to 7 megapixels. At the same time, the aperture remained the same - f / 2.2. In good lighting, the pictures are not bad, but in the evening noises come out, the background turns into a mess.
This is no longer an outstanding result, and its lacks in any restaurant: fashionable now yellow decorative lamps and subdued light from a pretty photo turn into a set of pixels, each of which can be counted on the fingers.
Photo taken on iPhone 7 PlusTo somehow smooth out this jamb, Apple offered a flash Retina Flash. It adjusts to ambient light to convey natural skin tones. With it, the photos are bright, maybe a little blurry. Well, not everyone loves the flash itself.
Reality: Selfies on the iPhone 7 Plus are not far from the 6s Plus and merge as such in the Samsung Galaxy S8.
The pictures are clearer, but the problems of the predecessor remain. It's strange that Apple scores on the front camera. But while they are thinking, Samsung is doing it. And other competitors are not asleep.
Rumor has it that in the iPhone 8 she is waiting for dramatic changes, but it seems that she will simply catch up with the competitor.
What is the result. Stop, you already know everything
I'll have to confess. If you are into the topic of modern mobile cameras, then you knew the result of this article in advance. Apple has remained on the sidelines of progress in the quality of its cameras, and another example is above.
