This iPhone and Samsung Galaxy Camera Comparison Wasn't What I Expected
The Galaxy S21 has four cameras and is $29 cheaper than the iPhone 12 and its three cameras. I tested both phones, taking lots of photos and videos with each. Patrick Holland/CNET...
02/10/2021
The Galaxy S21 has four cameras and is $29 cheaper than the iPhone 12 and its three cameras. I tested both phones taking lots of photos and videos with each.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The $829 (£799, AU$1,349)
iPhone 12< /p>
has dual rear cameras and the $800 (£769, AU$1,249) Samsung
Galaxy S21
has three rear cameras. Are more cameras better? Or does a higher price mean better photos? To find out, I did a good old-fashioned photoshoot. The results surprised me.
Few people decide between an iPhone 12 and a Galaxy S21 based on their cameras alone. There might be a small niche of professional photographers, like me, who would use cameras to decide between a Galaxy S21 Ultra or an iPhone 12 Pro Max. But most people stick with what they know and if someone passes
iOS
to Android or vice versa, the cameras will not be the only decisive factor.
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With that acknowledgment of reality out of the way, let's take a look at these cameras. Despite a similar price, the Galaxy S21 and iPhone 12 represent two different approaches to phone photography and video capture. Samsung takes a "bigger is better" stance, with three rear cameras (wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto) and a camera app with a dizzying array of modes, including two different slow motion options, two pro modes (a for photos and one for video) and two portrait modes (one for photos and one for videos). The Galaxy S21 seems to have a camera feature for just about everyone.
Apple
takes a more restrained approach to the iPhone 12 and wants a camera system that anyone can use. There are two rear cameras (wide and ultra-wide) and its application has been largely the same for years. What it lacks in terms of the number of modes, it makes up for in a simple and easy to use interface.
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Camera comparison: Galaxy S21 vs iPhone 12
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iPhone 12 and Galaxy S21 photos are excellent
It's no surprise that both the phones take great everyday photos. The Galaxy S21 and its 12-megapixel main camera take bright photos with cool tones. Photos look soft and images don't suffer from excessive sharpness.
I took this photo just before sunset with the Galaxy S21. It shows Samsung's HDR chops.
Patrick Holland/CNET
This photo of a church was taken on the iPhone 12 and shows off its SmartHDR processing.
Patrick Holland/CNET
I used Single Take mode on the Galaxy S21 to get this adorable moment. Single Take captures a flurry of photos and videos and selects what it thinks are the best.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The iPhone 12 can capture photos with excellent detail and texture, even indoors. Look carefully at the patterns on the wallpaper, the cups and the texture of the leaves on the plant.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The iPhone 12 and its 12-megapixel main camera have a new lens this year. Images are sharper compared to the Galaxy S21. The colors are moving towards warmer hues and reflections are better protected. There's not much of a difference in sharpness and exposure between the phones, and the choice will ultimately come down to personal taste. To see the differences in sharpness, look at the photos below, especially in the menu.
Both phones are equipped with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and capture spectacular photos. The Galaxy S21's ultrawide prioritizes brightening shadow detail. You can see it in the photos below, especially the stone wall in the lower right.
The iPhone 12's ultrawide, like its main camera, exposes photos to prevent highlights from turning white. When it comes to their ultra-wide cameras, neither phone has a huge advantage over the other.
This was taken with the iPhone 12's ultra-wide camera. Look closely at the building on the right and its crown molding and white window trim. You can still make out the details.
Patrick Holland/CNET
I stole this ultra-wide photo with the Galaxy S21 while being photographed by my girlfriend and colleague Sarah. The skin tones are beautiful and the shadows are bright.
Patrick Holland/CNET
This self-portrait was taken with the iPhone 12's ultra-wide camera and self-timer. The phone shields the highlights from my face but lets the clouds and sky fade to solid white.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Galaxy S21 zoom destroys iPhone 12
< p>There were only a few times when one phone was unquestionably better than the other. The most obvious example is the camera zoom. The Galaxy S21 has a dedicated 64-megapixel telephoto camera that can zoom up to 30x magnification, unlike the iPhone 12. You need to upgrade to $999iPhone 12 Pro
to get a telephoto lens.
Unless you get physically close to your subject, you rely on digital zoom and cropping on the iPhone 12. At 3x zoom, iPhone 12 photos look fine, but Galaxy S21 3x photos are better in every way. Check out 3x photos of both phones below.
The iPhone 12 can take photos at 5x zoom, but things don't look great at that magnification. Zoomed photos are soft, blurry and lacking in detail.
The iPhone 12 exceeds 5x for photos.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The zoom on the S21 is quite good up to 10x, from which point image quality begins to suffer. Photos taken between 20x and 30x look terrible. Take a look below.
Three photos of the Galaxy S21 from the same bridge. The left one was taken at 10x, the middle one at 20x and the right one at 30x.
Patrick Holland/CNET
iPhone 12 vs. Galaxy S21 night mode
< p> No surprises here, but both phones take excellent photos in night mode. The Galaxy S21 favors brightness: look at the photos below and the reflection in the water. The Galaxy S21 makes the water brighter, which makes the reflection blurrier. The iPhone 12 has over-emphasized its photo. Look carefully at the bricks of the building.There are, however, notable differences between them. Most important is how the iPhone 12 reflects light sources. I don't know if it's the lens coating or the compactness of the lens that's the cause, but the iPhone 11 series had similar issues. Take a look at the photo below. In the middle of the image, clouds have letters reflecting the Bank of America sign on the building.
This photo was taken with the iPhone 12 in night mode. Notice the lights and reflections of the signs that appear in the center of the clouds.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The Galaxy S21 applies great noise reduction, making night mode images look soft and smooth. In the photos below, notice the clouds as well as the bricks of the building on the far right. They are softer and lack detail.
The Galaxy S21 has autofocus for selfies
Like the photos from the iPhone's main rear camera, its selfies have a warmer white balance. It will look more flattering on some skin tones than others. But the biggest difference is in focus. The iPhone 12's front camera, like most smartphone cameras, has a fixed focus. The Galaxy S21's selfie camera has dual-pixel autofocus and can lock onto my eyes just fine. That's not to say iPhone 12 selfies aren't sharp, but the Galaxy S21 can achieve really sharp focus.
Video: Specs vs Reality
On paper, the Galaxy S21 can record video at up to 8K, which is incredibly impressive. But you sacrifice a lot when recording 8K. You can only shoot at 24 fps. You cannot zoom. Videos suffer from moiré, also known as “screen door effect”. Low-light videos are absolutely horrible. And the files are huge, which is only worse because there's no expandable storage on the Galaxy S21. Take a look at the video below to see 8K video footage shot with the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
4K video on the Galaxy S21 is actually pretty good, but the iPhone 12's 4K video has the edge in terms of image quality and color. In many ways, Samsung has caught up with Apple in terms of phone video quality.
The Achilles heel for Apple is the same reflection issue I found in Night Mode photos. If you're shooting in low to medium lighting and there's a light source, it's likely to cause a reflection in the video recording. Sometimes you can work around this problem by simply changing the angle at which you are holding the phone. But this is not an ideal solution.
Watch the videos below to see footage shot from the iPhone 12.
Both phones have capable camera setups, and for me there isn't a clear winner between the two. The Galaxy S21 offers more versatility, but it's overwhelming in terms of options, settings, and modes. The iPhone 12 keeps things simple and easy to use, but it made me want more "pro" options, which led me to look for third-party solutions on the iOS App Store.