iPhone 6s vs. Samsung Galaxy S7 preliminary camera comparison

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 27 Feb 2016

Apple iPhone 6s - 12MP camera with dual tone LED flash

A lot has been said about the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge since their launch earlier this week. While the cameras on Samsung’s latest flagship handsets now feature the same resolution sensor as found on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus — 12MP, they do feature many other improvements and additions that make them better than  Apple’s latest iPhones.

This includes features like dual pixel sensor technology, a wider aperture, OIS and more. Many other Android phones also feature camera specs that on paper sound better than the iPhone 6s, but are unable to match the latter’s performance in day-to-day life. So, looking beyond the hardware jargon, how does the 12MP shooter on the Galaxy S7 stack up against the iPhone 6s?

Galaxy S7

Read: Why the Samsung Galaxy S7 camera is better than Galaxy S6? 

The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are scheduled to go on sale on March 11 in the United States and other key markets of the world. Until then, it is tough to tell which smartphone’s camera is better between the two. Nonetheless, the folks over at PhoneArena were able to shoot some quick comparison shots between the iPhone 6s and the Galaxy S7 at the Mobile World Congress show floor that does give us a sneak peek of how the camera performance of these two devices stack against each other.

iPhone 6s camera sample

Samsung Galaxy S7 camera sample

Galaxy S7 vs. iPhone 6s

In all the comparison images above, there is a trend: the photos from the Galaxy S7 are brighter thanks to its wider f1/7 aperture. The iPhone 6s only comes with an f/2.2 lens, so its sensor receives less light than the 12MP shooter on the S7. Nonetheless, despite being at such a huge disadvantage, the iPhone 6s does a pretty good job here. Plus, unlike the iPhone 6s Plus, the iPhone 6s does not feature OIS, which would have likely helped the latter’s performance further here.

Read: 5 Galaxy S7 features we want in the iPhone 7

It is tough to say which handset is the winner here. Sure, the photos takes from the Galaxy S7 are brighter, but without having a look at the full resolution samples, it is tough to say which device captures more details and keeps the noise in check. Keep in mind that a wider aperture lens can lead to blurring around the edges, which is tough to make out from the above images. The smaller aperture lens on the iPhone 6s is devoid of any such issue, but it is possible that the Galaxy S7’s 12MP shooter suffers from something like this.

While the above comparison shots are in no way enough to know which smartphone has the better camera of the two, whose photos do you like the most? Galaxy S7 or iPhone 6s? Drop in a comment and let us know about it. Credit where its due though: Android OEMs have made huge strides in the camera department with their phones over the last couple of years and caught up with Apple. It will now be interesting to see what — if anything — Apple does with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to push the camera performance in its smartphones to a new level once again.

[Via PhoneArena]