LG G5 versus Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Camera Shootout!

I decided to have a shoot out of two of the best cameras on the market on a mobile phone. To my surprise they're quite comparable, but in some situations one is better than the other.

I'm not a professional photographer, but I do like to take pictures with my phone since I don't have my camera on me most of the time. So please take this pictures with a grain of salt as your mileage may vary! Both devices are my own personal devices that I purchased with my own money, so there is 0 sponsorship here. Google doesn't pay me for ads or traffic. Neither Samsung nor LG even know I bought their devices for this test. So these are 100% my findings and 100% mine alone with 0 influence from anyone.

Note: All were taken in auto mode, with auto focus unless specified. First is zoomed out image and then 100% crop.



Enjoy the shots.

LEFT      ||      RIGHT

LG G5    ||   S7 EDGE

In this picture we can see that more detail is in the the G5 image, mostly due to the 16mpx shooter versus the 12 megapixel shooter on the S7 Edge. There is no real clear winner, but I'd give the G5 the upper hand in this image solely due to the higher megapixel. Both shots are very well exposed, very good quality and neither of them took a better shot for sharpness.

In this indoor shot the S7E pulls ahead due to the text on the LG G5 UAG case (another review that's coming up in the near future!). The G5 does have a higher resolution camera, but the sharpness of the S7E wins in this test. The text on the box for G5 and Drop Tested just looks better on the S7E. It's also very sharp, but both did a good job.

Here in this image is where we begin to see bigger differences. Just looking at the greens in these bushes clearly shows the color representation on the G5 is superior. In the bushes you can see that there are "patches" of colors, where in the S7E image you can't clearly see them. Greens are more vibrant as well as having the stones being much more clearly defined.You can even read the text on the G5 for the pillar.  The winner is clearly the G5.

This image is just another 100% crop from the previous image. We can, once again, see how the colors aren't correctly interpreted by the S7E. These bushes do have patterns of yellow / green, where as in the S7E camera they're all blended together. G5 still wins this shot.

G5 shoots a sharp image, but the S7E shoots a brighter image. But the greens on the G5 are more intense and feel richer. I'd give colors to G5, and overall quality to the S7E. Neither shot bad shots!

This picture is much sharper on the S7E, but once again, color representation isn't the best on the S7E, so I decided to add one of the filters in the pro mode (still having everything in automatic of course) and I was able to shoot the following image. 

The S7E shoots a much richer picture, but now it doesn't look realistic.  It's just a little to warm.

While both shots are VERY good, I must say I prefer the black lines around the antler in the S7E image. But once again, both are very good, Mostly the pixels seem to be crisper on the S7E vs the G5 - I do doubt that anyone could say that the G5 takes bad pictures though, because these are superb pictures.

Colors in this image are more correct on the S7E, and also the numbers on the phone and the blacks on the pillow look better on the S7E.  While inspecting the cable, I do find that the G5 captures more details. In the S7E shot you can see that there is some cable inside, but you can't really say which color is which, but in the G5 image you can clearly see which color is where.  Tie? Yes, tie.

Blacks are darker on the G5, but blurrier than the S7E counterpart.

This is a difficult shot to decide which is better. So neither get my vote! Or both, however you want to look at it.

In all these low light shots I was expecting the S7E to destroy the G5, ironically it didn't. Most pictures seem the S7E was darker, and less focused than the G5! Way to go LG.

I spoke to soon, In this picture, and the following, LG totally disappointed me - just look at that quality! So many artifacts; the S7E destroyed the G4 in this highlighter image as well as the keyboard image on the Surface Pro 4.

The Euro shot clearly falls in favor of the S7E where the image is both brighter and has more detail.

The same can be said about this shot with the remote. Blacks are darker and whites are brighter,

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and LG G5 are very good cameras. There is no clear winner for them, but we can say that some scenarios fall in favor of one devices versus the other.

LG G5 strong points

Color reprenstation is superior

Ourdoor low light shots are fantastic

Detail in the images, due to the 16 megapixel camera

Very good 16:9 ratio (most TVs, monitors and phones have this ratio)

Weak points

Focus is slower, sometimes having trouble to focus correctly

details are sometimes washed away and become blurry regardless of having a 16 megapixel camera.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge strong points

Indoor low light shots are great

Colors are fairly accurate, especially indoors. 

Very fast at focusing

Generally speaking the S7E locks on to the device in front of you very quickly and automatically. 

Weak points

Color accuracy outdoors

Less detailed shots at 12 megapixels

The 4:3 ratio is good for Instagram, and 1:1 shots. This will cut images if you want to use them as a background on most monitors, for example.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review

I've been using the S7 Edge for the last few weeks and I feel like I am ready to review it. The reason why I got the S7 Edge was because I was waiting for the LG G5 to come out, but multiple delays in Europe sent the date further and further back. So while I was waiting I got the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - probably one of the most novel device I've used in a while. Let's jump right into the review.

The Specifications 

• 5.5" curved AMOLED screen
• Gorilla Glass 4
• 1440 x 2560 pixels 
• Weight 157 grams
• IP 68 certified 
• 4GB ram
• SD 820 or Exynos 8890 processor, region dependent. I am testing the Exynos version
• Android 6.0
• Wireless charging 
• Micro SD support
• QC 2.0

The Design 

The design of the Galaxy S7 Edge really is one of the most incredible things I have to talk about - this device is so well built and feels so premium it makes it hard for me to really grasp that it's a phone and not a piece of jewelry. It's a metal frame that has been sandwiched by two panes of glass. The top, where the screen is located, is curved and has an "infinity" display. It really gives the illusion that you really are holding the screen in your hand rather than holding the phone itself. If you've never tried a double edged device, you should go to your local store and try it out! It's very novel and looks very cool. In the hand the device is gorgeous, feels solid, well built. No one could or would ever say that the device is poorly crafted. It comes in multiple colors: I only had the white and black models. 

On the positive side of this is that the device is now water resistant! IP68 for those of you that know what it means. For those of you who don't, that means that is both dust proof and water resistant up to 1.5 meters and up to 30 minutes at once.

The fingerprint scanner is located on the home button - in my tests it is mostly usable, very quick. I don't like that I have to press the button to make it activate (or have the screen on) when other devices are already scanning always as soon as it detects a finger on it. As long as your fingers are clean and dry, then it'll work very well! 

The display panel and screen 

The display on this device is do sharp and detailed. It is one of the highest resolution screens on the market. The display is very visible in outdoor usage and is so saturated. For those of you who don't like saturated looks, as I don't as much, there are options to tone down the display and get more lcd like quality colors.  This came in handy multiple times as I find the display sometimes to oversaturate the colors to the point that I wouldn't enjoy some of the yellows and greens. But since this is fixable by going into the display settings you can't be sad or hold it against Samsung.  

The curves on this screen are what make this device so special. Now if you think it is a gimmick, well, it is! There really is no real reason to have it. In fact sometimes it's a curse. Holding the phone sometimes presses other buttons and opens apps all on its own,  as does trying to use it with one hand. One of my favorite tech review sites also stated the same thing happening with them. Hopefully Samsung can push something out to fix this or have some kind of palm rejection similar to what other laptops and tablets have when you have a pen near the screen. 

There are very useful functions though. If the screen is off you can rub the screen and get notifications.  You can have the edge menu come up with shortcuts to people,  apps,  tasks,  compass and rulers,  etc. It's fairly customizable and many can be downloaded from the web as well. 


The always on display (AOD) is very bright and you can see it in any light setting, but I find it far too distracting - the AOD moves every 1 minute, to avoid burn in. So every 1 minute I see movement on the desk and it distracts me, so I personally have it turned off. I would have liked it to be static. Customization is very plentiful with this device with different clock styles and images, background etc. You can even show a calendar! All very handy. 

Volume and Speaker

The volume on this device is actually quite low… This is of course due to the fact that it is IP68 certified. Any phone that has been IP68 certified always sounds a little muffled, sadly. As an example, where on my LG G4 and G5 I would keep the volume at around 30-50%, on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge I would have to keep the volume at 75% or higher to get similar volume. This isn't the ideal device to share your music with someone. On the positive side, sound is good quality even though a little tinny. 

The Camera

I am a camera phone junkie. The shots produced by the S7 and S7 Edge are very well lit, and focus incredibly fast but I have to say that I wasn't too overly pleased with the quality of these photos coming from the LG G4. The rear camera has a 12 megapixel camera with f/1.7, and is optically stabilized - this means that it won't shake as much when holding it, and the f/ 1.7 aperture means that it can take some superb low light images. The front camera is a wider 5 megapixel shooter, which doesn't have OIS - to be fair, the only device that has OIS on the front camera is the HTC 10. Please see the post that I had published in a previous post comparing the camera quality between the LG G4 and the S7 Edge. I think LG have put a fantastic amount of work into that phone and its camera - sadly I can't say the same about the LG G5 since it produces very similar images to the S7 Edge (you'll have to wait for another comparative shootout, I suppose).  

The camera focuses ultra-quickly.  Its macro shots are very sharp, and you can get closer to your subject than with other competing devices (LG G4, V10 and G5). 

Low light is superb on the Samsung device. Check out the detail of these two shots:

 LG G5 to the left, Samsung S7 Edge to the right, both 100% crop

Day light shots are good, but I do feel like it is a step down from the LG G4 that I had before and was, personally, a favorite as a shooter. But every device has pros and cons, and you just need to try them both. Regardless, the biggest issue I had with the S7 Edge is that color representation wasn't very true to life.  Details were over aggressively deleted with Samsung's algorithms with over-sharpening. Here are a few examples from my shootout with the LG G5 and the S7 Edge:

 LG G5 to the left, Samsung S7 Edge to the right, both 100% crop

As you can see, colors are not as well represented and in the circled areas the colors are all blended together. 

Selfie shots are a bit wider than most other devices, but not as wide as the dual camera on the LG V10. 

Manual mode on this phone isn't as great as the LG G4 and G5, but it is much better than not having it. If you have time to fiddle with the settings you can get some incredibly beautiful, saturated and exposed images. 

When shooting in manual mode you can also shoot in RAW dng, which will allow you to take it home and edit the DNG and expose it as you like - files are very large! So be sure to get an SD card with enough space. 

Here are some sample shots taken with both manual and auto:

Battery life

I'm getting a full day with about 4-5 hours of screen on time, which is better than most devices since this phone has a 3,600 mah battery, which his huge compared to other devices. Also, software optimization has a lot to do with it. I have seen on some forums that people are getting up to 6-8 hours of SOT, which is insane. I for one don't make any exceptions for my device, it needs to work for me, so I keep radios on, brightness at the level I want, and don't disable any push notifications. This device will last 95% of people through the entire day. I can get about 2 days of battery life with more limited usage. 

Conclusion 

I really enjoy this device. It's very novel. It feels like a piece of art. I am afraid I'll drop it and shatter it to pieces - that's why I have invested in a good quality case (a few of them in fact), and what's appearing to be problematic is finding a good screen protector that's case friendly - but that's for another day! For me the most important things are:

1. Battery life - it has great battery life. If it had just "ok" battery life, and a non-replaceable battery then this would have been a bust for me.
2. Camera - this phone has a great camera, but I only have 2 issues - color representation seems to be on the whiter side, and the aspect ratio. Both are OK! So no big deal, but it would have been better for me if were a more traditional ratio and more on the darker side. 

Other things? Build quality is awesome - much better than the LG G5. 

Would I recommend it? Totally! 
+Screen quality is awesome.
-Audio is weak.
+Camera is very quick, focuses VERY well and quickly with awesome macro and very decent color representation. 
+Build quality is fantastic, including the waterproofing.
+Feel in the hand is superb, and ultra-premium. 
+Battery life is great.
-Curved screen is more problematic for me than useful, but it does make your device "one of a kind" and it is useful in multiple situations.

LG G4 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: Camera shoot out.

Welcome to a shoot out. I've had the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge for a few days now, and the first thing I did was do a shoot out compared to my 1 year old LG G4. The results and samples are published below. Many people say that the S7E I have was defective, so I got a second, which had the exact same results. I will not be talking about speed, battery life, or UI - this is purely from a camera perspective. Another post to be coming soon with my opinion about the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

Disclaimer & Information. The LG G4 has 16mpx camera, and the S7E has a 12mpx camera, but I tried to zoom out of the larger G4 camera to have approx. the same size for these first few shots. All shots were done with auto-mode. Also, neither Samsung nor LG sponsor me, pay me, or encourage me to do these tests. I did these of my own volition. I paid for both of these devices with my own hard earned money. Therefore, I can guarantee that no company has paid for any of these opinions.

Outdoor shots are first:

This image details that the G4 has much better color representation... I can confirm that the LG G4 does do a much better job at showing the correct colors, these were most true to life and vivid. Those blues in the graffiti and walls are the correct colors. It seems as if Samsung just washed them out or that the auto mode is just too bright to begin with.  Either way, its white balance metering is not too great.

While sitting down I decided to take a picture of my shoe. Again, not realistically captured in the S7E image, but not only that, the details are missing from the image. All you need to do is look at the button to the right of shoe shoe. The LG G4 offers a better focused, more detailed and incredibly crisp image.

LG G4 crop:

Galaxy S7 Edge crop: 

 Colors here are washed out, colors are off. Details, once again, are missing. It's as if the sky was splashed with a hint of gray along with the blue. That gray paint also got lowered into the structure as well.

Night time pictures are SUPERB on the S7E, I assume this is due to the f1.7 aperture vs the f1.8 on the G4. The G4 was set to 30 seconds, and the S7E to 10 (their respective max's). S7E produces a much more beautiful image.  Colors here are actually very good for a nighttime shot.

The sky was much bluer in the G4, which was the actual blue color - and trees were made a strange green on the S7E.

Let's do some macro and closeup shots!

Penguin:

 As we can see in this picture, from the distance, the white on the penguin is a little shot. A little too white for my taste, but details on both are very crisp --- from a distance.

 At 100% zoom, you can see that the details on the G4 are crisper than those on of the S7E, but not by much, but the S7E image is fuzzier without a doubt. Colors are also correct on the G4, once again. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Glass bird: (please ignore my dirty desk)

S7E wins in this case. I even tried to retake the G4 shots just to see if I had taken the picture incorrectly, and sadly, this was the best I could do. Without a doubt the S7E focuses better, faster, and takes better macro shots! Details are crisp and clear in macros.


Solar Maikos:

Once again, the S7E wins - focuses fast and correctly, whereas the G4 didn't do so well.

Results:

Generally speaking, the S7E does better with macro shots and low l. The G4 does better with indoor and outdoor shots.
S7E Wins in:

• Low light images (night time images)
• Macro shots
• Speed to shoot
• Focus speed

LG G4 wins in:

• General over all quality of images
• Clarity in outdoor images along with indoor images as well
• Color reproduction
• White balance in most situations
• Time lapse (up to 30 seconds vs the 10 seconds on the S7 Edge)

Night mode the S7E destroys the G4 with its better 1.7 aperture.

I hope you all have enjoyed this shootout!

I can't wait to get the G5 in the next week or so to be able to compare G4 and G5, and also G5 and S7E.

I think for the money, the G4 is your best bet. It's around 330 euros on Amazon and the Galaxy S7 Edge is around 800 euros. If the camera is the most important feature for quality, then the G4 is your best bet. The S7E takes very fast images and very good low light images. The S7E seems to be more of a status symbol and a feat of awesome build quality and long battery life, but its shooter isn't one of its highlights, sadly, when compared to the LG G4 in terms of quality. That doesn't mean the S7E isn't a good phone, on the contrary - it is a FANTASTIC phone. I enjoy it very much! I just think that it doesn't outdo what the G4 can do except for in a very few specific fields.