The Galaxy S8′s primary camera has me unimpressed, but that’s not a bad thing
Last year, Samsung knocked it out of the park with the Galaxy S7′s camera. The 12-megapixel rear camera on the S7 didn’t have as many megapixels as its predecessor, but the combination of features like dual-pixel autofocus and larger pixels made the S7′s camera nothing short of amazing. The Galaxy S7 was hailed as having the best camera on a smartphone at the time of its launch, and with the Galaxy S8, Samsung worked on further improving camera performance. The new mult-frame processor that takes multiple shots and combines them into one for increased photo quality is the highlight on the S8, but I have been rather unimpressed with the rear camera on the Samsung’s new flagships.
The thing is, I don’t mean that in a bad way, and the S8 has made me realize how good Samsung’s flagship camera was a year ago. The only benefit I notice on the photos taken by the S8 is the increased detail in low-light shots. Elsewhere, in day-to-day usage, the Galaxy S8 offers nearly the same image quality as the Galaxy S7 in my eyes, and I like the photos that come out of the rear camera. The thing is, since the camera isn’t noticeably better than the S7′s, I don’t find myself firing up the camera as much as I tend to on a new device. That, again, is not a bad thing, as Samsung has been offering a stellar imaging experience on its top devices for more than a year.
Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ review: Samsung brings us the future, but it’s not perfect yet
Is there room for improvement? There certainly is. In bright light, the Galaxy S8 has the same tendency to overexpose the subject as the S7. This is particularly noticeable when you manually focus on a subject that’s lit up (like a lamp, or a lit signboard outside a store), and it’s something that bothered me even on the Galaxy S7. But it’s not often that you take photos of such subjects, so it’s not something that takes away from the otherwise impressive performance of Samsung’s 12-megapixel flagship cameras.
What’s your take on the Galaxy S8′s rear camera?
