In the Android camp, Samsung is the strongest photographer, and the Galaxy S and Note series have always been the benchmark for Android photography. The Galaxy Note3/S5/Note4/S6 edge launched in the past two years has offered several big killers, such as ISOCELL, optical anti shake, and large aperture. But what is the difference between them?
Because there are many versions of S5, and we also have two versions of S6 edge, so there are many machines participating in the test at the same time. Finally, the S5 using Exynos 5422 and the S6 edge of the Hong Kong version are selected as representatives of their respective models for testing, along with the Chinese version of Moto X Pro, which was previously more discriminating than the S6 edge, which can be compared with the relevant links to mark the following links:
parameter
Galaxy S5： Samsung's own ISOCELL with 16 million pixels, sensor size of 1/2.6 inch, single pixel length of 1.12 μ m, aperture of F2.2. The test machine is port version, CPU is Exynos 5422, and Android 5.0 has been applied
Galaxy S6 edge (hereinafter referred to as S6E): Sony IMX240 16 million image sensor, sensor size 1/2.6 inch, unit pixel 1.2 μ m, aperture F1.9, OIS optical anti shake. The testing machine is port version, and the CPU is Exynos 7420
Galaxy Note3： Sony IMX135 13 million pixel sensor, sensor size 1/3.06 inch unit pixel 1.12 μ m, aperture F2.2. The test machine is port version, CPU is Exynos 5420, and Android 5.0 has been applied
Galaxy Note4: Sony IMX240/Samsung ISOCELL 16 million image sensor (the display model changes before and after the brush, and cannot be confirmed), aperture F2.2, OIS optical anti shake. The test machine is port version, CPU is Exynos 5433, and Android 5.0 has been applied
The author is a Maoist who always likes to magnify photos. The magnification of the following samples is 100-150%, and there is their respective Exif information in the upper left corner of the samples. The order of all samples below is: top left Note3, bottom left S5, top right Note4, bottom right S6 edge.
reminder: The webpage can be zoomed by "ctrl+mouse wheel/plus/minus sign", and the webpage size can be restored by "ctrl+0". Click the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the sample to view the large picture. These skills can make you feel more comfortable.
Indoor lighting scene
Comparison of sample size in the same scene. Except for the note 3 in the upper left corner, which is 13 million pixels at 4:3, the others are 16 million pixels at 16:9.
The smaller the wide-angle, the less scenery can be accommodated, and the same scenery can be divided into more pixels, which can effectively improve the discrimination. However, the cost is that the amount of scenery/light is less, which will cause some pressure on weak light imaging.
The same display frame is larger in the sample of S5 and note4 with smaller wide-angle; For S6E with larger wide-angle, the number of pixels assigned to the exhibition stand in the sample is a little smaller, and the number of pixels assigned to the unit scene (exhibition stand) is almost less than the note3 with 13 million pixels.
The four flagship ships of these two generations all use Exynos processors, and the white balance and light metering are relatively close. Although the white balance of S6E is slightly yellow and red, the white balance is relatively the most accurate one (note3 is slightly aunt red, note4 is yellow).
However, in some scenes with complex light environment, they will show different white balance judgments. The white balance of the new generation note4 and S6E is much warmer. The former is more yellow and the latter is more red (the effect seen by the naked eye is actually between S5 in the lower left corner and S6E in the lower right corner).
The scene is not bright enough, and note3 and S5 without optical anti shake on the left have automatically turned on the night view mode, so the ISO and shutter information cannot be seen;
There are two optical anti shake parts on the right, both at the lowest shutter 1/11s. Compared with Note4, which has a small aperture and a wide angle, the ISO is up to 320, while S6E fades to only 200 ISO.
Central magnification of sample sheet 1
Central magnification of sample sheet 2
Central magnification of sample sheet 3
Central magnification of sample sheet 4
Ranking of discrimination performance of four models in the same department: Note4 (top right)>S6E (bottom right)>S5 (bottom left)>Note3 (top left).
In sample 4, we can see that except for the Samsung flagship before S6E, there are very obvious sharpening marks (the black words in the red box have white edges).
However, S6E has changed Samsung's habit of sharpening. The images are not processed too much, which makes it more natural. However, the extreme sharpness is a little weaker than that of the same generation of Note4, but still a little stronger than that of the previous generation of S5, which is quite far away from note3.
Central magnification of sample sheet 5
One interesting thing is that the Note3 (upper left) has lower pixel density, and the noise control under high sense is much better than other models.
Even if the ISO of S6E is only 200, the image noise is more serious than that of note 4 of ISO 320 (the sensor model should be different), and white noise has a greater impact on the image appearance.
Ultra weak light scene
Central magnification of sample sheet 6
Enlarge the upper side of sample sheet 6
Enlarge the upper side of sample sheet 7
Central magnification of sample sheet 7
Although it is certain that S6E is the brightest part of the picture and performs best in the extreme low light environment that can trigger the automatic night scene mode. However, in many low light scenes, the optical anti shake note4 and S6E do not trigger the automatic night scene mode, but continue to improve the ISO, resulting in serious noise in the picture, and the overall performance cannot be separated from note3 and S5.
This problem is more serious for S6E with optical anti shake+large aperture, and the machine is more inclined not to enter the night view mode. In addition, the IMX240 on the port version S6E has even worse performance than the port version Note4 (probably ISOCELL)
In addition, we can also find by the way that the image quality improvement brought by Samsung's night view mode is actually better than optical anti shake. However, there are always two sides to a coin: the nightscape mode requires longer processing time, poor photo taking experience and easier manual film pasting.
Close shot/macro
Sample 8
Sample 9
There is enough light for indoor ceiling shooting, and they can all fight with the minimum ISO. However, the white balance of S5 has a rather exaggerated drift
Sample 10 central magnification
Even in macro scenes where the pixel advantage cannot be separated from the distance, there are 16 million pixels+sharp S5 and Note4 with much more picture details; The image sharpness of S6E, which has not been sharpened much, is weaker, but still much better than Note3, which has 13 million pixels.
Sample sheet 11 central magnification
Sample 9 central magnification (bright light micro distance)
Sample 12 is magnified in the center (ultra weak light macro distance, the ISO of S6E reaches 1000 and still does not enter the night view mode)
Algorithm sharpening and algorithm noise reduction are not universal methods. They have their own side effects: in sample 11, S6E (lower right) without excessive sharpening is more natural and the picture is much cleaner; Excessive sharpening also causes the paper details in sample 9 to appear strange; In sample 12, the S5 (sharpening+noise reduction daubing) with the weakest high sensitivity and no optical anti shake is like oil painting.
summary
For the Maoist Party, which I always want to enlarge my photos, note4 It is a better camera. For most day and night scenes, its photo details/sharpness are the strongest among the four machines and even all flagship phones;
But for other users, S6 edge is a better choice. It has fast focusing and imaging, less film pasting, large wide-angle, convenient composition, and is really dedicated to street photography.
The performance of the old flagship S5 that can still be bought now is not bad, but the premise is that you can only buy the Hong Kong version/European version/Korean version. If you are the Bank of China (especially the telecom user), let me say that.
Metering and white balance: Samsung has four flagship ships of the second generation, and the metering performance is very similar. In addition to the white balance of Exynos 5422 S5 (which is also the most inaccurate of the three versions of S5), the other three are relatively stable and accurate.
Daytime performance: note3 S5、note4， In the daytime, the discriminant power has steadily increased, and the S6 edge with large wide-angle and without strong sharpening has slightly decreased, but it is still a little stronger than the model using IMX214.
Night performance: It is also rising steadily, but in some low light scenes (at night, roadside, garage, indoor low light, etc.), there are optical anti shake note4 and S6 edge, which may not trigger the night scene mode, and the picture purity is not as good as the previous generation, but actually the picture details are more.
Use experience: This is not mentioned before, but when eight machines are compared together, the difference is very obvious. In the daytime, the difference between the focusing and imaging speed of the machine is not obvious. However, note3 and S5 focus in weak light and pull the bellows. After the night view mode is automatically turned on, the imaging is slow, and it is easy to shake the paste film by hand, which is not very pleasant to use. For the machine with optical anti shake, many low light scenes will not trigger the night scene mode, and focusing and imaging are also fast. You can also take good photos under extreme low light.
PS： If you have any questions, please leave a message below
Appendix: Sharpness comparison
The following comparison items, from left to right, are: Moto X Pro, the national bank version, which uses Sony IMX214 13 million pixel sensor; Note3 using Sony IMX135 13 megapixel sensor; Today's Samsung photography benchmark S6 edge.
Indoor proof sheet
Sample 1, note 3 two years ago, the white balance is better than Moto X Pro
Sample 1 central amplification
Sample 2 central magnification
Sample 3 central magnification
Sample 4 central magnification
Sample 5 central magnification
Macro proof sheet
Sample 6 central magnification
Sample sheet 7 central magnification
Sample 8, weak light micro sample, central amplification
When the light is good, the sharpness of Moto X Pro is slightly better than that of S6 edge; But under the indoor light and weak light, they were tortured; After all, note3 was a machine two years ago. The IMX135 without optical anti shake is quite old. In addition to white balance, it can still win Moto X Pro (Moto: Are you sure you are not blacking me?), Others were almost completely defeated.
