Samsung Canada is launching its new Galaxy S5 smartphone on April 11, and one of the features it’s touting is the camera.
The camera is one of the key buying decisions for many smartphone buyers, according to Samsung, and the S5 is equipped with a 16MP main camera with selective focus and high dynamic range and 2.0MP front-facing camera.
I’ve had the S5 for a few days, and Samsung wants it back aready — so I can’t give you a proper review. I have been playing with the camera though, and can do a few comparisons between the S5 and my personal smartphone, the BlackBerry Q10.
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I took both with me to a Maple Leafs game the other night, and took the same shots with each phone. Here’s how they look.
Centre Ice
- With the Q10
- With the S5
Game Play
- With the Q10
- With the S5
As you can see, compared to the Q10 the S5’s pictures were clearer and richer in crisp colour, while the Q10’s seemed a little yellowy. I also liked the widescreen aspect of the S5.
It’s not all about shooting sports from the rafters though — selfies are all the rage these days. So that was my next comparison test. So I corralled Paolo Del Nibletto for a Tteam CDN selfie.
Team CDN selfie
- With the Q10
- With the S5
Again, the shot just looks crisper with the S5 than it does with the Q10, and as a bonus the S5’s widescreen aspect allows space for a roomier selfie shot. There was some discussion in the office on this one — the focus was a bit better on the Q10 — so it’s not a selfie slam dunk for the S5.
With the comparison testing trending toward Samsung though, I decided on one final test. I’m one of those people that likes to occasionally post photos of their dinners to Facebook when at a restaurant, whether its pizza in New York or steak in Las Vegas. I’ve always been really impressed with the quality of the pictures I get with my Q10 when taking close-ups of food.
Therefore, in the name of science, and as I hadn’t had lunch, I ordered up some chicken wings for one final comparison.
Chicken Wing close-up
- With the Q10
- With the S5
While the S5 did a pretty good job of capturing the saucy chicken wing goodness, for this test I have to give the clear nod to the Q10. It wasn’t a big gap for everyone in the office, but my colleagues did all agree the Q10 took the best chicken wing shot.
Now, I still can’t type on those soft keyboards, and I love a lot of the other BlackBerry features with my Q10. If we’re just talking cameras though, the clear advantage has to go to the Samsung Galaxy S5 — unless you’re a foodie. In that case, keep the Q10 handy for all your dinner snaps.
Apples and oranges. The S5’s promotional video is 8 minutes long and fails to give messaging and phone calls a mention. Q10 is built for productivity not taking photos. That said, blackberry 10 OS is ready, one of their next releases should be a phone that focuses on specs rather than sending messages and making phone calls. One for the wall huggers.