iPhone 8 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 8: Camera Battle

Apple tree's new iPhone viii series simply hit the streets and the company says it has the best cameras always on a telephone (at least until the iPhone X comes out). Samsung fans may accept offense, as the company claims its S8 and Notation 8 cameras are, in fact, the best. Is i amend than the other? Should you switch operating systems to get better images out of your constant companion? Is it worth it to get one of the bigger, pricier, dual-lens models? We ran all-encompassing tests to help you determine.

iPhone 8: New Sensors?

Apple states that the iPhone 8 Plus uses sensors that are physically larger than its predecessor. This may be true, just information technology doesn't show in the EXIF data. The main camera is a 28mm equivalent lens, with an actual focal length of three.99mm and a fixed f/i.viii aperture.

I took a expect at the x-ray photos that iFixit made of the main sensor module in the iPhone vii and iPhone 8. They're dissimilar magnifications, so a direct comparison isn't possible without some resizing. I resized the two images to match as closely as possible in Photoshop, using the outline of the chassis every bit a guideline, and and so overlaid the sensor modules over 1 some other as best as possible. A back-and-forth viewing shows that, if at that place's a difference in size, it's extremely pocket-size.

According to the EXIF data, the iPhone 8's main camera is still a iii.99mm f/1.8, the same as you lot get in the iPhone 7, and Apple's marketing information tells united states of america that it's a six-element design, also the same as on the 7. Put the aforementioned lens on and get the same field of view and information technology's clear, the active imaging area is also the aforementioned.

That's likewise truthful with the 2x lens. It'south a 6mm f/2.8. You lot'll find that the math doesn't work out there for it to exist a 2x. That's considering the secondary sensor is smaller than the master. The main lens uses a chip that'south a 1/3-inch course (the same size Apple has used since the 5s) and the 2x sensor is a 1/3.6-inch pattern.

Samsung uses a 4.3mm f/1.7 lens for its wide-angle photographic camera on the S8 and Notation 8. The focal length is wider, merely because the photographic camera's main sensor is a larger i/2.55-inch design, the field of view is wider, roughly 24mm in full-frame terms. Its 2d lens seems to be a lilliputian tighter than simply digitally zooming the chief lens into its 2x position. That makes me think it'southward closer to 52mm in focal length, which would make its sensor a 1/3.half dozen-inch design, the same as Apple's secondary imager. The lens itself is a 6mm f/2.4 optic.

Yes, Samsung's principal photographic camera has a wider aperture. But the deviation between f/i.8 and f/i.seven is entirely bookish. The difference in f-stops between the 2x lenses isn't negligible, but information technology'south close. The i-third-stop difference means you'll capture the exposure at the same ISO at 1/30-second with the iPhone and 1/40-second with the Note viii. The real advantage the Notation eight holds is that its secondary lens is optically stabilized, while the 8 Plus is not—yous'll demand to stride up to the forthcoming iPhone 10 to become dual stabilized lenses.

Lab Tests

We run a standard assortment of lab tests on every camera we test, from compacts all the way upwardly to medium format models. In that location'southward a test chart to evaluate prototype racket, and also accept a look at how noise reduction furnishings detail, as well as a standard dissimilarity-based resolution chart to run across how crisp a lens is.

Smartphone cameras are a scrap different than SLRs, not only because of the tiny lenses and sensors, simply also because a lot of the voodoo that goes into their power to make a photograph is based on software. Plus, because you'll (likely) be posting your latest snapshot to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, or the like, paradigm filters are liberally available and applied to photos to give them unlike looks.

So take lab tests for what they are: a pure as we tin can manage look at the photographic camera'south default output. They're not the be-all, end-all aggregator of what is adept and what is bad, especially when you consider that your phone's camera app is simply the showtime step in a long journey that your images will travel on before they're seen by friends, family unit, and followers.

We chose to compare the iPhone 8 Plus with the Galaxy Notation 8 for a couple of reasons. One, each handset shares a lot of tech with its smaller sibling. 2, they've each got a dual-camera configuration, so they tin do thing like capture images with a blurred background and also shoot photos with standard-angle field of view.

If you're a fan of small phones, and are trying to brand the decision betwixt an iPhone eight or Galaxy S8, yous can just ignore the exam images and data from the 2x camera and look at what the unmarried-lens model tin do.

Noise

To test the iPhone we used the ProCam 5 app, a $5 download that supports full transmission shutter and ISO control, as well as Raw image capture. It's likewise the only manner you can be certain you're using the 2x lens when yous want to—the standard photographic camera app switches to a digitally zoomed view of the broad lens in dim calorie-free.

Apple tree has put Raw support into recent phones, just doesn't support it with its ain software. The Note eight shoots in Raw if you lot use the Pro fashion in its standard photographic camera app, merely you can't apply the 2x lens—it but works in Automobile mode. And, like the iPhone, if yous're using its app in auto way you'll end up with a digitally zoomed shot at 2x in dim light.

The iPhone viii has a base ISO setting of twenty. When shooting in Pro mode, the lowest you can gear up the Notation eight is ISO 50. There is very fiddling (if any) difference between ISO twenty and ISO l on the iPhone, then we'll start our comparison shots at ISO l. Both settings are going to be used in bright, outdoor light.

The Note viii shows a bit more contrast and color saturation than the iPhone eight when shooting JPGs. A look at the Raw files shows that the Annotation's larger main sensor is capturing merely a little more fine detail, visible in the foliage underneath the silo. In the existent world, it'south an essentially negligible departure. The extra sharpening delivered by the Samsung JPG engine delivers a slightly higher sharpness score (three,025 lines) than the iPhone'south main camera (2,851 lines). Merely when you consider that both are outputting 12MP files that are destined for social networks, the deviation is academic.

At ISO 100, the divergence between the iPhone 8 and Note 8 main cameras is negligible. Raw images are very shut as well, with the iPhone showing a little bit more dissimilarity when processed in Lightroom CC with default settings applied.

The iPhone 8'due south JPG output shows a slight bit more detail at ISO 200 when compared with the Note viii. Lightroom does a bit ameliorate job removing color racket from the Note viii's DNG output, merely otherwise the output is very close.

At ISO 400 the output remains shut betwixt the 2 phones. The Note shows a slight edge in detail, and slightly lower noise (1.1 percent) versus the iPhone's main camera (1.ii percent). Again, the iPhone shows more than color noise in its DNG output, only we wait Adobe to meliorate its processing engine to eliminate it in the futurity. Bated from the false color, Raw prototype quality is neck and neck.

ISO 800 is the meridian manual setting supported past the Note 8's camera app. Its JPG output shows a little bit more detail than the iPhone's main camera, but both are quite blurred. Lightroom removes color dissonance from the Note's Raw output effectively, and while information technology's grainy information technology preserves detail not seen in the JPG. Color dissonance in the iPhone output wipes away a skillful amount of particular. Nosotros'll have to expect and see how much Adobe can improve its processing when it adds a custom profile for the new telephone to Lightroom.

The iPhone tin exist set manually to ISO 1600 and 2000. (The ProCamera app lists the latter as ISO 2112, but the EXIF data says 2000. Someone on one of the evolution teams is a Rush fan.) You can't expect decent results from a tiny sensor at such a high ISO.

Samsung doesn't requite y'all whatever ability to use the 2x camera when shooting in Pro mode, which means you can't shoot Raw using the 2x lens. Zooming applies digital zoom, which is an accented caput-scratcher. Information technology also utilizes digital zoom in the automatic mode if light is low enough to button the 2x camera beyond ISO 200. Apple tree does the same thing in its standard camera app, although it has a higher threshold, switching to the primary camera at ISO 800. This was also the case with the iPhone 7 Plus.

At ISO fifty the Annotation viii's 2x lens has a noticeable edge in resolution when compared with the iPhone viii Plus. I see some show of aggressive sharpening, just it's not egregious. Crisper results translate into a higher Imatest sharpness score also, 3,655 lines for the Note versus 2,518 lines for the iPhone.

Image output is a lot closer effectually ISO 100. The Note 8 shows a footling more detail, while the iPhone outputs a slightly darker prototype with more contrast. The Note still has an edge, simply it's not a big one.

The iPhone output takes a hit at ISO 200. The Note eight does a little bit improve, with more fine detail visible, just again, you'll need to wait at photos on a pixel level to really spot the difference.

The Note viii'due south 2x camera drops out of the race at ISO 400. We see increased noise with the iPhone 8 Plus here, farther blurring output, but it's still meliorate than what you'd get with a digital zoom practical to an ISO 200 image from the 28mm lens—remember that the secondary lens doesn't gather as much light as the main.

Y'all'll demand to use a tertiary-political party app to shoot with the 2x lens at ISO 800 on the iPhone. Item is wiped away, although with some enhancements to its Raw processing for the phone, I'd expect that you tin can get slightly better results from processing the DNG.

The story is about the same at ISO 1250, the peak setting which the iPhone's 2x lens can be used. Fine particular is blurred, so expect textures to exist waxy when shooting JPGs. Colour noise is a big issue with the current Raw conversion.

Nosotros ran the aforementioned batch of tests last year using the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, and Galaxy S7. We weren't using a manual camera app for the 7 Plus at that time, simply it does wait like in that location's some slight comeback in loftier ISO epitome quality with the new iPhone 8 model. How much of this is hardware and how much is image processing is in question. Apple's marketing will have you believe that it's night and day; it's non. If you own a 7, or even a 6s, the improvements in even so imaging performance are marginal. The iPhone viii is a huge step forward if you're still using an iPhone 6, and if y'all opt for the Plus model, the dual camera is a do good over whatever single-lens phone.

The Note 8 and S8'due south main camera is a bigger upgrade over the imager establish in the Galaxy S7. At lower settings we run across photos that aren't so aggressively over-sharpened, and at higher ISOs nosotros run across less noise reduction applied to JPGs. It's a win-win for Samsung on that front end.

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus can salvage images in two formats—HEIC or JPG. Nosotros shot everything using HEIC, simply the telephone converts those images to JPG when transferring via AirDrop, Dropbox, or email. Since HEIC isn't supported on the desktop tools nosotros utilize for image analysis, we looked at the JPG conversions. HEIC's big reward is more efficient, effective image compression. I also looked at test images on the iPhone's screen and compared them with what I was seeing on my desktop workstation; I was unable to discern the difference.

In the Real World

Lab tests are great if yous similar looking at test images and numbers. They're useful to tell you how something works, and what it's strengths and weaknesses are, and in farthermost situations, a lilliputian scrap of extra performance can help yous get an image that yous might non otherwise.

iPhone 8 and Note 8 : Low Light Comparison

In brilliant low-cal, you lot shouldn't wait to encounter much difference betwixt the iPhone 8, Galaxy S8, or Note 8. Simply while the Note viii concluded up showing a bit more than detail at higher ISOs in our lab tests, I was disappointed to run into how it handled shooting a typical scene on a metropolis street at night. The iPhone's main camera (left) does a better task pulling in highlights in bright signage, and while the streetlights are diddled out, they don't show the same type of flare as you lot get with the Note 8'southward principal camera. Both were shot with automatic exposure. Samsung has a general trend to overexpose a scene by a niggling scrap, which gives images a brighter feel by default.

We meet the same blazon of flare from the Note in another side-past-side exam shot, below. Again, the iPhone is on the left and the Note on the right. Also we should remember how bright the chief lenses are; the iPhone is using ISO 100 for both shots, while the Samsung uses ISO 400 for the first and ISO 200 for the 2nd. If you're the blazon of phone photographer who uses manual settings, you tin work to ensure that the nighttime street shots aren't as vivid past adjusting the exposure manually, though we await that the vast majority of smartphone photographers to rely on automatic exposure.

Both camera apps let you accommodate exposure without having to delve into transmission settings. Tap to focus on the iPhone and there's an exposure slider to the right of the focus box. Do the same on the Note and it's at the bottom of your frame. You lot'll desire to acquire to use them to dial in brightness to get the nigh out of your smartphone camera. You tin turn a ho-hum, brightly lit shot into something moody and shadowy by lowering exposure, and get ameliorate shots of subjects that are in shadow with a strong backlight by using the slider to brighten your image.

The iPhone and Galaxy both focus extremely quickly, and the chief lens is stabilized on both models. The secondary lens of Note is stabilized, but the iPhone viii Plus's 2x optic is not. If you call up you'll exist using it a lot, specially for video, and are an iOS user, consider waiting for the iPhone X, which has dual stabilized rear lenses.

Video

Both the iPhone and Samsung flagship models record video at 4K quality. Only the iPhone lets you select the frame charge per unit—24, 30, and 60fps capture options are bachelor. The Galaxy S8 and Annotation S8 are locked in to shooting at 30fps at 4K, only can push button to 60fps at 1080p. (The iPhone can practise that too.) To change video settings with the Note 8 you lot'll use the camera app, which make sense. To change resolution or frame charge per unit with the iPhone, you lot must dive into your chief Settings app and notice the camera folio. It's disruptive and doesn't let you vary the look of your video with the ease that I'd prefer.

That makes the iPhone a scrap more versatile for folks who similar the different looks that varying the video frame rate can practise. You tin can shoot at 24fps for a cinematic look, at 30fps to lucifer traditional video, and 60fps for that ultra-smooth fast-action await. And because information technology does all 3 at 4K, you have liberal room to crop down to 1080p to go a tighter field of view while maintaining stabilization. The iPhone besides supports 1080p slow-motion footage, captured at 120fps or 240fps for ane-quarter or one-fifth playback speed, something that the Note 8 and Galaxy S8 don't practice.

The iPhone 8's wide-angle camera has the best stabilization of the bunch. Video is effectively smoothed, then in that location's no jitter, and it looks quite natural—all at 4K. The Note eight has dual stabilized lenses, and while they aren't jumpy and jittery, you can see the frame shake as you take steps while walking, an effect absent in the viii Plus' wide camera. The 8 Plus is definitely using some digital stabilization to steady its 2x lens footage so it'south not jittery, but it's not every bit shine as any of the optical options, and you can encounter some unnatural motion that'south a outcome of the digital stabilization.

In improver to standard video capture, the iPhone will machine-edit videos on demand, highlighting photos and moments from a certain time period. I tried information technology out. It made some weird choices. It mixed upward a few portraits of staff members with lots of images from our photographic camera exam scene, and omitted everything I shot in the botanical gardens. I guess it likes people and test charts more than flowers. If you utilize your phone to accept more typical photos, it'll hopefully do a better job.

The iPhone also shoots what Apple tree calls Live Photos. They're a mix of a second or and so of video leading up to your shot, followed by the prototype itself. Information technology'due south a bully concept—Nikon did a similar matter with its failed series of Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras. But if you lot don't encounter yourself sharing these types of clips y'all might desire to plow the feature off, as it takes upwards more space than a standard photo.

Dual Lens Features

If you're shopping for an iPhone 8 or Galaxy S8, you tin can condone this section. Nosotros're going to talk almost what the dual lenses in the 8 Plus and Note eight bring to the tabular array. In addition to a tighter field of view when shooting photos, they both use depth information delivered by the cameras to map scenes and simulate the out-of-focus blur, too known equally bokeh, associated with wide aperture lenses and large image sensors.

They exercise it a flake differently. Apple tree doesn't permit you arrange the amount of background blur, while Samsung does, simply iPhone 8 Plus owners take specialized lighting effects that can exist practical to images, whereas y'all don't get that with the Notation eight.

On the iPhone it's called Portrait Manner, although it works when holding the phone in landscape orientation and you certainly aren't express to photographing people. Samsung calls its version Alive Focus. Both require yous to be a few feet abroad from your bailiwick to work, and both allow for adjustments to the epitome and effect after capture—think of it as a Lytro camera, but with much better paradigm quality.

For my first batch of test shots I wanted to photograph a person, and PCMag features guru Chandra Steele volunteered. I did my best to lucifer up framing and lighting with both phones, as well as with a Canon EOS 5DS R with the latest Tamron 24-70mm f/ii.eight zoom lens fastened. The SLR shot ended upwardly being at 66mm at f/two.8. The results are above. You'll notice that the shots aren't labeled. Meet if you lot can tell the divergence betwixt the phones and pro SLR.

iPhone, Note 8, and SLR Bokeh Comparison

Running from left to correct, nosotros accept the Notation 8, the Catechism, and finally the iPhone. Despite it being a windy day, the Note eight managed not to do annihilation awful to Chandra'south hair in the depth-mapping procedure and delivers, to my eye, the await that'south most like to a pro SLR and f/2.8 zoom lens. The forest railing behind our subject isn't quite equally blurred in the Milky way shot, just the building in the background is blurred with aplomb. The field of view is slightly unlike with the Notation eight, despite all three shots being captured from the aforementioned position with a similar pose. That'south because the Notation's main photographic camera is a little bit wider than the iPhone's.

The iPhone didn't practice a skilful job with Chandra'southward hair. The summit of her head is slightly cut off, and there'southward a more noticeable cutout at the camera left side of her caput. Why? A shut wait at the images (below) tells the tale. The iPhone's algorithm is getting thrown off by some individual hairs at the elevation of the head, also equally chip of the edifice backside Chandra that isn't fully illuminated by the setting sun. The paradigm on the far left is the non-portrait iPhone shot (you can toggle the effect after an image has been captured), with the iPhone'southward Natural Light portrait shot in the middle, and, for comparison, the Note viii'due south take on the portrait on the right.

iPhone 8 and Note 8 : Facial Mapping Comparison

That'due south not to say that Samsung's algorithm is perfect; it can definitely get tricked up. Simply at press time, it appears to have a bit of an edge when it comes to mapping humans. I also took both phones to brunch, followed by a trip to the New York Botanical Gardens, to see how their bokeh modes handled 2 popular Instagram subjects—food and flowers.

When it comes to eggs benedict, both phones exercise an admirable, Instagram-worthy job. The iPhone underexposes a bit in shady lighting, but that's something you can easily fix after the fact, information technology'south not significantly dim. Information technology handles this background well, with soft, feathered blur, and I don't see any bug with the mapping of the subject itself. The Note 8 doesn't deliver as much blur, even at its about extreme setting, only out-of-focus highlights are pretty skillful, they just don't have the same feathered look as y'all get with the iPhone.

At the gardens I nabbed shots with both phones that would fool veteran photographers at Instagram sizes. Both did an excellent task mapping a lotus that was role of an outdoor h2o garden exhibit. Simply when it came to shooting a bird-of-paradise, the iPhone managed to get the proper amount of background blur, while the Notation 8 shows a bit too much in focus behind the bloom, even with the blur set to its maximum level.

I'm thinking the wider wide-angle lens is in play here. For this particular image, shot indoors under skylights, Samsung's colors are warmer and more pleasing to the eye, only once more, information technology'due south easy to warm a photo to taste, either using the iOS Photos app or the editing software of your choosing.

Both phones failed big time when it came to capturing a swirling fiddlehead fern plant. The Notation 8 struggled to map it and I but managed a couple of blurry shots that were the camera's attempt at blurring the background (the wide-angle shots, which the Note 8 also saves, are sharply focused). The iPhone picked upward on sure parts of the plant, but did a poor job of deciding what should be in focus and what is blurred.

Right now, both phones have plusses and minuses when it comes to bokeh simulation. The iPhone 8 Plus sometimes struggles mapping hair when photographing people, while the Note 8 steps upward and does a solid job. Simply for other shots, especially those when the background is not far off in the distance, the iPhone draws the out-of-focus expanse with a blurrier, more pleasing feathered expect. Both fail the fiddlehead fern exam, only let'south be honest, information technology's a weirdly shaped institute. Because the portrait outcome relies so heavily on software processing, there'due south a proficient chance nosotros'll see improvements in both camps as software updates roll out from Apple and Samsung.

Remember that with both phones, shooting for shallow depth of field isn't the nigh candid procedure. Information technology takes longer to focus and map a scene than it does with a single lens, so if y'all want to get photos of your toddler running around that wait like they were shot with a big-sensor camera, you'll withal demand to get a camera with a big sensor. Signal-and-shoots with 1-inch sensors, like the Sony RX100 III, do this quite well and fit in your pocket, and there are a wealth of options in the mirrorless and SLR world if you're willing to deal with a larger interchangeable lens model.

iPhone-Only: Portrait Lighting

Allow'south talk about the marquee addition to the iPhone'southward portrait way, absent completely from the Samsung side of the contend. Portrait Lighting, still in beta, is exclusive to the iPhone eight Plus at this time, though it volition too be included in the forthcoming iPhone X. The tool adds a new dimension to your portrait shots, allowing you to change the lighting on your subject area'due south face, or spotlight them against a black background, the latter with tuned modes for color or black-and-white photography.

The default setting, Natural, is what nosotros've seen before in the 7 Plus. The updated A11 processor in the new iPhone models adds some new lighting furnishings. You lot as well get Studio Light, which promises to continue your subject's face brightly lit, and Contour Light, which promises to deliver images with shadows, highlights, and lowlights. I institute these effects to be pretty subtly different; but if you expect closely you lot can see what each is doing. The iPhone lets us create multiple looks from a single shot, so I took one image of Chandra and practical each lighting issue.

The Natural consequence looks pretty good to beginning, but the shot was taken as the sun was low on the horizon, so the calorie-free was pretty soft to begin with. There are distinct shadows visible, still, especially where the hair shadows the face.

Switching to the Studio look brightens those shadows, painting both of our model'south optics brightly. It's almost as if I had an assistant standing next to me belongings a reflector for better illumination.

The Contour look is pretty close to Natural here. At that place's still some shadow on the middle nether the hair, but it's been lifted slightly. Skin seems a little softened, and the highlight on the nose is brighter than it is with the Natural look. With more stark lighting to start, I imagine the effect would exist more than pronounced.

Stage Light, in both its color and monochrome forms, is instantly recognizable. The groundwork is gone, along with some of Chandra's hair and the ruffles on the shoulders of her apparel, unfortunately. Shadows are lifted, like in Studio, and we get a little bit more brightness in highlights, similar you'd expect from Profile.

If Apple tree is able to meliorate its mapping methods to deliver a more than consistent out-of-focus effect, it has something here with the lighting effects. It's deadly easy to switch between looks, even afterwards you've taken a shot, so you lot get the one you desire, and subsequently that you can edit more using your favorite app.

The Winner

If y'all're one of the (seemingly) few individuals who are doubter when it comes to preference between Android and iOS, and are choosing your telephone based solely on camera performance and capability, you lot'll desire to narrow your search to i of the dual-camera models. They requite you more versatility when capturing images, as the shallow depth of field options deliver a look that you lot associate with a much larger, defended camera.

The iPhone eight Plus has its strengths—its autoexposure tends to exist ameliorate, especially in mixed lighting, and it we didn't come across whatsoever farthermost flare around bright lights when shooting night scenes like we did with the Note viii. It also tends to deliver photos with a shallower depth of field, offers more frame rate options for 4K video, and shoots irksome-motility 1080p video.

The Note eight does a better job with portraits of people, and keeps up with the iPhone for other subjects. When I tried the 2 side by side, they ran into like problems with tricky subjects. The Note eight's secondary camera is optically stabilized, and so video shot with it is steadier, which isn't the case with the iPhone 8 Plus. But the iPhone's broad-angle camera offers better stabilization than Samsung'due south.

If you don't want a big phone, and you don't want to wait or spend the money for the iPhone X (which promises to deliver as skilful or amend overall operation than the 8 Plus), you'll likely be shopping for an iPhone viii or Galaxy S8, both of which use the same primary photographic camera as their larger siblings.

The S8's main camera delivers photos that are slightly wider in angle, albeit sometimes over-sharpened when shooting JPGs. This ways that photos shot at low ISOs prove a niggling more pop than y'all become from the iPhone 8, but every bit the sensitivity ramps up the two phones evangelize more than like results. It's not until ISO 800 that the Annotation viii shows a very slight reward.

Indeed, what you lot get from the iPhone 8 and S8's primary lenses, from a all the same-capture perspective, are so shut that information technology really should come up downward to what other phone features y'all like better, and which operating platform yous adopt. If you want significantly better images, cease shooting with your phone and buy a photographic camera. Meaty models with 1-inch sensors will run circles effectually a smartphone in pure prototype quality, and if you call back you'll use a bigger camera with regularity, you can opt for a mirrorless model or SLR with interchangeable lenses.