Galaxy S6 blows away iPhone (and everything else) in pro camera tests
Samsung beats Apple to the best smartphone camera for the first time. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Every smartphone maker promises us great photos from its latest devices, but few Android handsets are actually capable of taking them consistently. That’s not the case with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, which are just as impressive as Samsung said they would be.
In the latest DxOMark tests, the trusted industry standard for camera and lens quality ratings, the Galaxy S6 edge’s 16-megapixel camera beats out the iPhone 6, the Galaxy Note 4, and all other competitors with top marks.
“Achieving an overall DxOMark Mobile Score of 86, the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the new leader for smartphone image quality,” DxO says.
“With clear daylight ahead of the previous champion, the iPhone 6 with 82 points, it’s a very impressive result for the South Korean manufacturer’s latest flagship smartphone.”
DxO was particularly impressed with the S6 edge’s exposure, contract, autofocus, and texture — all of which scored 90 points or more. Its exposure and contrast score was achieved in both bright light as well as low-light environments, despite the latter usually being the downfall of smartphone cameras.
DxO also praised the S6 edge’s color sub-score of 85, which was also achieved in all lighting conditions.
DxOMark official rankings. Photo: DxO
The S6 edge’s overall score of 86 puts it 3 points ahead of the Galaxy Note 4, 4 points ahead of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and 7 points ahead of last year’s Galaxy S5. And as the S6 edge has exactly the same internals as the regular Galaxy S6, these scores count for that device, too.
In comparison with the iPhone 6 — arguably the S6’s biggest rival — Samsung’s device is “now noticeably ahead” in the flash, noise, and texture categories, DxO said. It has also caught up in autofocus, while the exposure, contrast, and color scores are very similar.
Android hardware makers have long been struggling to match the camera quality of the iPhone, which has always been one of the best all-rounders on the market. But Samsung has proven with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge — and the Note 4, in fact — that it can be beaten.
- SourceDxOMark
