We pitted Samsung's new phone camera against the iPhone 6 and there was a clear winner

galaxy note 5 vs iphone 6 plus
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

Smartphone cameras are nothing short of incredible, but some are still better than others.

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Apple has interestingly stuck with an 8-megapixel camera for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, while many Android and Windows phones go for 13 megapixels or more.

Samsung's latest Galaxy Note 5 has a 16-megapixel camera, and if it's anything like the iPhone-busting Galaxy S6's shooter, it'll have a chance against the iPhone 6 Plus.

Smartphone cameras, FIGHT:

 

 

 

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The Note 5 generally captures more building detail than the iPhone in this picture, especially when you compare the details on the tallest building towards the center in the two shots. The Note 5 also took a brighter photo with more contrast that generally looks better, but it also led to over-exposed parts of the clouds.

galaxy note 5 picture camera
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

This was taken with the iPhone 6 Plus. I'd still take the Note 5's picture despite the over-exposure of the clouds, as this picture looks a little dark and gloomy. The iPhone's camera just doesn't capture as much detail as the Note 5.

iphone 6 camera vs galaxy note 5
iPhone 6 Plus
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider
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The colors on this building shot with the Note 5 looks slightly washed out compared to the iPhone. The brighter spots in the picture also appear a little more over-exposed than on the iPhone. But again, the Note 5 captures much sharper and clearer detail.

samsung galaxy note 5 camera picture 2
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech insider

The iPhone might shoot pictures with more accurate colors and contrast, but that doesn't mean the picture looks better. The Note 5 still wins this one because, again, its picture generally looks better and sharper.

iphone 6 picture camera 2
iPhone 6 Plus
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The Note 5's colors here are completely washed out compared to the iPhone's picture. But again, the Note 5 makes the iPhone's picture look comparatively blurry.

samsung galaxy note 5 camera picture 3
Galaxy Note 5
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The iPhone did much better with colors and contrast than the Note 5 here.

iphone 6 picture camera 3
iPhone 6 Plus
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The following two pictures are in "actual size," which means they're not being resized to fit on a screen and it helps find out which camera does best with detail. It's no surprise that the Note 5 captured significantly more detail, which is especially noticeable in the shadowy areas under the eagle's protruding brow.

galaxy note 5 picture actual size
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

I was standing at the same distance when both pictures were taken, which shows the difference between an 8-megapixel (iPhone) and 16-megapixel camera (Note 5). More megapixels can lead to a bigger picture size, which is evident here, and it also often leads to better detail if the camera components are good.

iphone 6 picture actual sized detail
iPhone 6 Plus
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This again highlights the sheer detail that the Note 5 captures, but he sunlight bouncing off the purple and green leaves look overly bright compared to the iPhone picture.

samsung galaxy note 5 camera picture 4
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech insider

The iPhone 6's picture is a little more dull than the Note 5's and the details aren't as sharp, but it's overall a better picture.

iphone 6 picture camera 4
iPhone 6 Plus
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech insider
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The Note 5 wins in this artificially lit indoor shot with sunlight coming through a window above.

samsung galaxy note 5 camera picture 5
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech insider

The iPhone's version of the picture is dull, which is a little more accurate color-wise, but it doesn't look as good as the Note 5's picture.

iphone 6 picture camera 5
iPhone 6 Plus
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Surprisingly, the Note 5 didn't perform well in this environment lit by an artificial light with a yellowish hue. The Note 5 made everything look a little more yellow compared to the iPhone picture.

samsung galaxy note 5 camera picture 6
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech insider

The iPhone did a better job of managing the yellow lighting, which helped make for a better looking picture.

iphone 6 picture camera 6
iPhone 6 Plus
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The Note 5 clearly struggles with yellow indoor lighting, as it even gives the dark gray/brown floor a yellow tint in this picture.

samsung galaxy note 5 camera picture 7
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech insider

The iPhone seems to deal with artificial lighting a lot better the Note 5.

iphone 6 picture camera 7
iPhone 6 Plus
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The Note 5 takes very nice naturally lit indoor shots, but notice how the top left corner is completely white.

galaxy note 5 picture camera
Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

Now look at the same corner in the same picture taken by the iPhone. You can actually see some blue from the sky and some faint outline of a building. Technically, a photographer or camera pro would say the iPhone's picture better because it captured those details outside the window, but the Note 5's picture generally looks better as it's more evenly lit.

iphone 6 plus picture camera
iPhone 6 Plus
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider
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Here's the Note 5's camera in a low-light situation. It did a great job in brightening up this bag in a room that was much darker than the picture makes it look.

galaxy note 5 camera picture
Galaxy Note 5
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The iPhone 6 Plus...not so much.

iphone 6 plus camera picture
iPhone 6 Plus
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And even if you wanted to use flash, the Note 5 does a better job of lighting the area more evenly than the iPhone.

Galaxy note 5 camera flash
Galaxy Note 5
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The bag lost detail with the flash.

iphone 6 plus camera flash
iPhone 6 Plus
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Conclusion...

Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

All in all, the Galaxy Note 5 takes better pictures than the iPhone 6 Plus in almost every situation, including outdoors (albeit with a little over-exposure), and in dark environments.

The iPhone edges out the Note 5 in indoor artificially lit situations, but the Note 5 makes up for it by capturing much finer detail than the iPhone. 

The Galaxy Note 5 camera wins.

 

 

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