Taking a step back in the megapixel count and a few steps up in the quality of the pixels, Samsung's latest series of handsets are able to better take brighter photos in low-light situations than the iPhone 6s and the Galaxy S6. This may be reason behind Samsung's optimism about the Galaxy S7's chances to gain better traction than its predecessors.
The yet-to-be released Galaxy S7 has a 12-megapixel count, 4 megapixels less than the Galaxy S6. But while the pixel count has been dialed back, the camera on the Galaxy S7's pixel size has been tuned to 1.4 μm from the Galaxy S6's 1.12 μm pixel size.
The Galaxy S7's aperture has widened to f/1.7 from f/1.9, and its new Sony IMX260 sensor, at 1/2.5 of an inch, is a significant step up from the Galaxy S6's 1/2.6 of an inch IMX240. The difference is the newer handset is capable of capturing up to 95 percent more light that the last series, according to Samsung.
This all agrees with an argument Apple has been making ever since it left the resolution race and focused on the size of the iPhones' sensors and pixel quality.
The result has seen iPhones become synonymous with causal photography, while those who purchased products from rivals have had difficulty understanding why photos from 20-megapixel camera still don't look as good as something shot from an 8-megapixel iPhone.
The folks over at PhoneArena got to spend some hands-on time with the Galaxy S7 and concluded that there wasn't a "mindblowing distinction" between the low-light performance of Samsung's upcoming handset series and its current bunch of flag bearers.
"The Galaxy S7 produces a slightly brighter image," wrote PhoneArena's Paul K. "One could argue that it's also slightly more yellowish, but since we don't know how exactly the box looked from the inside, it could also be said that it's the Galaxy S6 edge+ that produces a more bluish image."
Meanwhile, Phandroid got some footage of the more saucy comparison: the S7 vs. the S6 vs. the 6s - yep, the iPhone 6s. Check it out:
