The Galaxy S7 comes out on top but the iPhone 6s still beats the S7 handily when it comes to video
Camera comparison – Galaxy S7 vs. iPhone 6s
So who has the better camera between the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Apple iPhone 6s? While its not an orange-to-orange comparison, it’s always interesting to find out which camera is better. Now we’ve taken our time with this comparison, taking photos over the past week and creating photo comparisons where our readers/viewers have voted on. The only thing we can say for sure is that the camera on the S7 is much better than the camera on the S6. In fact, the Galaxy S7 makes the Galaxy S6 feel like a prototype.
The S7 outperforms the 6s in low light or shadows, but the 6s has better color in our opinion. From a video perspective, despite being an Apple fan, we have to say that the video camera on the Galaxy S7 has a slight edge over the iPhone 6s in general, but there are a few places where we will not use the Galaxy S7.
Right off the bat, the S7 has a bigger field of view (FOV) which means you capture more. You’ll notice a big difference when the two cameras are placed side by side, but if all you’re doing is staring at one camera, you’re not going to notice it much.
You can see more of Monty but he isn’t a brown dog…
In general, over 60% of our viewers choose the photos taken by the Galaxy S7. We will say that the majority of the photos were indoors in semi-low light situations which are where the S7 shines. If you look at the photo comparison between Monty sitting on his bed in our co-working office, the top photo came from the S7, and you can see more of Monty than the photo was taken on the 6s. 78% of you choose the photo from the S7 and we agree but if you’re never seen Monty before, you might think he’s a brown dog but in reality, he’s a gray dog. This mismatch of color is one of the reasons why we say the iPhone 6s is better for color.
The Galaxy S7 is the clear winner here
For really low light conditions, the S7 wins hands down. The photo above was taken in one of the meeting rooms, you can’t even see the horse on the iPhone 6s photo. 100% of you choose the photo from the Galaxy S7.
Another example of the iPhone’s superior color can be seen in this picture comparison of desk lamps. The S7 photo’s representation of the brick is too yellow for our liking. The iPhone 6s represents the brick with a deeper orange/red color which looks more realistic. From our pool, 60% of our viewers choose the iPhone 6s photo.
The Galaxy S7 works better with shadows
The Galaxy S7 tends to overexposure photographs which improve the details that the S7 captures in photos where shadows are involved. In this panoramic shot of Calgary, the buildings are a little more detailed in the S7 photo. 80% of you guys preferred the S7 photo but in an unexpected twist, turning 90 degrees and taking a photo another part of Calgary, 75% of you choose the photo taken by the iPhone 6s.
Surprisingly, more people preferred the iPhone 6s image
So what does that mean? Well, if you are concerned about the camera, the Samsung Galaxy S7 from our perspective will take better photos indoors with the iPhone 6s doing better outdoors. However, this is the exact opposite for selfies because the iPhone’s screen attempts to become a flash which produces slightly better photos in low light conditions.
When it comes to video, the bigger FOV of the S7 makes it a better video camera and the focus on the S7 is quicker than the 6s by a lot. We preferred the auto-focus on the iPhone 6 when compared to the older Galaxy S6, but Samsung has improved the auto-focus on the S7 because it is lightning fast.
The areas where the iPhone 6s comes out on top is slo-mo video and video stabilization. We can’t say which one is better regarding video quality as they look quite similar but from how we use slo-mo video, having the larger FOV on the S7 makes it harder to film iPhone drops. Sure you see more in the shot, but you see less of the iPhone getting its face owned by concrete.
We will add that the slow-motion footage on the S7 is mind-boggling better than the S6. How did Samsung get away with releasing the S6? Capturing anything in slow motion on the S6 resulted in the device vomiting over-exposed, brutally contrasted footage.
For video stabilization, the iPhone 6s comes out on top. The S7’s stabilization is much better than the Galaxy S6’s and is almost comparable to the 6s. A couple of hours of driving footage with Monty showed us that the iPhone 6s’s video stabilization was a little better.
However, there is a hand down winner when compared to the iPhone 6s Plus, which has optical video stabilization. The iPhone 6s Plus produced footage that was Glidecam-like whereas the footage captured by the S7 was visibly shakier.
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