Samsung Galaxy S7 vs. Apple iPhone 7 camera comparison: Which smartphone takes better pictures?

There is no love lost between Samsung and Apple. The two companies remain rivals, both on the legal and consumer fronts, and continue to fight for the top spot in the world of handheld devices. Recently, the two faced off once again when both released their latest high-end mobile phones: the iPhone 7 and Galaxy 7. Both companies are known for incorporating good cameras on their handsets. Which one, however, is better?

The iPhone 7 comes with a 12-megapixel rear camera that has a wide-angle sensor. It also bears an f1/8 aperture, allowing a lot of light to saturate images. Its other camera features and quad-LED (dual tone) flash to brighten up photos taken in dark areas. It also has Focus Pixels and Optical Image Stabilization. It can shoot 4K videos. Its front camera, meanwhile, is a 7-megapixel shooter with a f/2.2 aperture. It also can shoot videos but at a slightly lower resolution compared to the rear camera at 1080p.

The Galaxy S7, meanwhile, also comes with a 12-megapixel rear camera (Sony IMX260) with an f1/8 aperture. It can also shoot 4K videos. Its other camera features include OIS, LED flash, and Dual Pixels. Its front camera, meanwhile, is a 5-megapixel shooter, and it can also shoot videos up to 1080p.

On paper, it seems that the cameras on both phones are nearly at par with each other, with iPhone having a slight edge owing to its front camera having a higher resolution. However, a camera test by Forbes revealed that the photos taken using the Galaxy S7 are richer in detail and have higher clarity, while the iPhone 7 slightly washes out its shots, regardless of the level of lighting available in the environment.

Business Insider echoed this review. It mentioned that the iPhone 7's camera self-adjusts its settings depending on the photos that are being taken. While this can be a good thing, this also works to the phone's disadvantage, as it sometimes overshoots its adjustments, leading to washed-out images.

The difference might be minimal, but given how the two mobile phones are neck-and-neck against each other, every slight advantage already counts as a victory. In this regard, the Samsung Galaxy S7 edges out its Apple competitor.