Smartphone photography was becoming increasingly popular, especially as the latest devices offered increasingly capable camera specifications. Image quality varied considerably among phone brands. The iPhone was known for its beautiful design and forward-looking software, but its camera was not initially the most advanced. Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and LG G4, by contrast, had somewhat less striking designs but took better photos than their competitors—at least according to the specifications. But was that really the case?
The iPhone 6 had an 8-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The Galaxy S6 and G4 had 16-megapixel cameras with f/1.9 and f/1.8 apertures, respectively. But what about ISO and shutter speed? Those were important factors too. On most smartphones, these values were fixed or set automatically. LG G4 owners, however, could switch to manual mode—a valuable option for photography enthusiasts.
This article brought together a selection of images taken with different smartphones. Take a look and judge for yourself: which device do you think produced the best photos?
The two photos above were taken with an iPhone 6 and came from the World Gallery on Apple’s website. The first, a black-and-white image, was taken by Renee M. from California with the iPhone 6 camera app and edited with Instagram and Flickr. The second was taken by Sawyer K. in California with the standard camera app and VSCO Cam.
In addition, sources at the Chinese company Feng reported that the iPhone 6s would be equipped with a 12-megapixel sensor using RGBW technology. This meant adding a white pixel to the existing RGB sensor to brighten images in low light. At the time, the rumor suggested that Apple was working to optimize its camera features for even better photo quality.
The two lower photos in this article were taken with Android devices and came from the brands’ Facebook accounts. Garry Norris took the first photo from the top of the waterfalls in the Blue Mountains in Australia using a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The final photo was taken with the LG G4, which had been on sale at T-Mobile since Friday, May 22. Every one of them was a beautiful image.
Do you prefer an iPhone or an Android smartphone?
