Category Archives: Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Shooting in RAW – Editorial

March 17, 2016Reviews, Tech NewsCamera, RAW, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

This is my final part of the S7 Edge camera review. In this part I will cover off using the Pro Mode and RAW images.

The above shot is full auto with HDR activated. I then took the same shot in the Pro mode and extracted the RAW image into Adobe Lightroom on my Mac to see whether the RAW image could be improved. After a few quick edits and conversion to a jpeg I achieved the shot below.

Is this better than full auto. Not sure to be honest. What do you think?

I then tried using 3 raw images with 3 different EV exposures. -2, 0 and +2. The aim to combine them in Lightroom using the HDR option. Sadly, Lightroom would not perform this merge as it produced an error message data not available in images to perform HDR merge.

My next option was using another Mac app, Photomatix 5 HDR. For this I combined 3 raw images with different exposures. This was a non runner as the boat name running along the edge was not aligned. This was despite the S7 Edge being on a tripod. This was very disappointing as this app produces amazing images.

So was the effort of shooting in raw worth it? No in my opinion. Just use a normal jpeg and edit in snapseed or similar and create this shot below.

So at the moment I cannot see any benefit in using RAW with this Phone.

On Monday, my full review of the S7 Edge will be live. This will include by audio findings and my view of the S7 Edge “experience”.

Xiaomi Mi-5 – review

March 17, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsXiaomi Mi-5 reviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

The Xiaomi Mi-5 got announced at MWC 2016. It is a crazy packed specification beast of a phone costing nearly half the price of the Samsung Galaxy S7. But is it as good? Gizmochina takes a 10 minute look at the new Mi 5.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Camera – Testing the dual pixel focus system at 70mph

March 16, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsCamera, high speed, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Samsung claim the dual pixel focus system is super fast. In my tests this is certainly the case. So how does it do at 70mph.

The below shots are shot behind a windscreen too.

The new multi million pedestrian and cyclist bridge built over the M5 that cost far too much money and a bridge that isn’t used that often.

The road sign is in relative focus. So a few shots at very high speed that seem to work well. I did take several more of the same sections and they all were similar in focus.

The final shot was a typical sunny day. This is where the 12mp shows its weakness. A 16mp sensor from the Note 5 or similar would reveal more detail when cropped.

Just as an update in case you missed the fix from yesterday, but predominately my S7 Edge camera was failed yesterday and wouldn’t take any photos until I discovered the solution. If you get this error message it should be because you have Smart Stay optioned enabled. This can be found in the main settings app, under Display, Smart Stay. Toggle this off for the time being until Samsung releases a fix for the conflict. If you turned Smart Stay off, and are still getting problems can you please get in touch.

So I've tried everything. Can't get the camera back to life. #S7Edge disappointment. pic.twitter.com/GoW1K8gGNq

— Gavin Fabiani-Laymond (@gavinsgadgets) March 15, 2016

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Camera Shootout – All 7 Parts Plus My Final Verdict on the S7 Camera

March 16, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech News5 part review, camera shootout, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Below are links to all 8 parts of my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera review, comparison and shootout with the Apple iPhone 6S Plus.

Part 1 – Samsung S7 Edge vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus

Part 2 – Burst, Macro and Auto Mode Shots

Part 3 – Handling the Sun, Panoramic, Macro and Selective Focus

Part 4 – Random Camera Shots to Admire

Part 5 – Apple iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Night and Low Light using the best apps on each platform

Part 6 – More Random Shots from the S7 Edge Camera

Part 7 – Shooting and Fast Focusing at 70mph

Part 7a – Handheld Night Shots

Next week will be a post on RAW quality along with my ultimate review including the audio quality. Due to the issues with the camera failing, my final views will be postponed until next week. This will allow me time to examine raw quality too.

Update – Shooting in RAW

Apple iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Sound Quality Comparison

March 15, 2016Android, Apple, Audio, Reviews, Tech NewsApple iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, Sound Quality ComparisonGavin Fabiani-Laymond

This should be a simple test but actually it could be if I made it simple but I’m not going to do that.

I have some early impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge audio quality using the speaker, headphone jack, bluetooth and USB Audio. However, before I give it my opinion I also want to test third Party apps being like Poweramp and USB Audio Player Pro as well as the default music apps on the phone.

For the Apple iPhone 6S Plus I will be using Onkyo HF Player, Audio Gate Player and Neutron Music Player apps. I will also be testing the sound quality via the loudspeaker, bluetooth and USB Audio.

Equipment. Headphones will include a selection of in ear, bluetooth and wired over the ears. In my review I will list all the headphones used. I will also be using a number of portable DACS, Oppo HA-2, Fiio Q1 and iBasso D-Zero MK2.

If there is anything you would like to know, let me know and I will try and answer it in my sound quality review between the two phones.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Handheld Night Shots

March 15, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech Newshand held night shots, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

After yesterday’s night shots, I got asked for some examples of the camera at night without the use of a tripod. So here we go.

I had to use the Pro mode to reproduce the actual level of darkness. See below.

So that’s how dark it really is. Now for auto mode. Makes the shot much lighter. See below.

And finally a hand held shot of the church to compare with yesterday’s post. This was shot in auto.

Again it was really much darker.

As a comparison below is handheld shot from default camera app on the iPhone 6S Plus.

Using pro mode here’s an arty shot of the sunset over dartmoor.

So do the handheld shots from the S7 change your view on its camera quality ?

Apple iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Low Light & Night Camera Shootout – Be Surprised

March 14, 2016Android, Apple, Reviews, Tech NewsApple iPhone 6S plus, camera low light, Comparison, night shots, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

This is my final part of my camera shootout / comparisons with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera. This is the part that surprised me the most. The photos were taken just before light disappeared and then at night. All shots were on a tripod.

For these tests I used the best apps on iOS to help the Apple iPhone 6S. Sadly not a single third party app on android works yet with the new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera.

iPhone 6S – ISO 200 1/4s – Default Camera App

Same shot but using LowLightMode+ on ProCamera+ for iOS which combines upto 64 exposures into 1.

ProCamera+ makes a huge difference, so now it’s time to try Nightcap Pro for iOS. See below. Nightcap Pro does a great job too.

Ok so now over to the Samsung Galaxy S7. First shot below is in auto. It chooses an ISO 1250 and a shutter of 1/10s. However, I imagine it’s done multiple exposures as the noise level seems low.

So now to using the Pro mode in the S7 Edge. Shot below is ISO 100 and a 2s exposure.

So same ISO 100 but now 4s in Pro Mode for the Samsung S7 Edge.

So let’s go back to the iPhone 6S Plus. It’s a lot darker now.

The default iPhone camera app picks ISO 160 and 1/4s exposure for the shot below. It’s really dark now and the default camera app shows it that way.

So next I tried ProCamera+ for the same shot. See below. And it does a much better job.

So it’s only fair to now try Nightcap Pro for iOS for the same shot again. This was a 22s exposure.

Ok so that was the iPhone. Now let’s switch back to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Below is auto mode. Now remember it was getting darker all the time so the S7 always had the short straw. In full auto it was too dark so I just used Pro Mode. Shots are in order of exposures at 100 ISO. First 1s, then 2s and finally 4s.

And now 2s. See below.

And finally 4s. See below.

Ok let’s try some light trails. First up iPhone 6S Plus using Nightcap Pro. Light trails cannot be done using the iOS default camera app.

And now let’s try with the Samsung Galaxy S7 using Pro Mode. See below.

Right let’s try a night shot with strew lamps. First up the iPhone 6S Plus. Using the default camera app, ISO 1,600 and a 1/4s exposure is selected. Shot below.

Let’s try ProCamera+. Shot below. As you can see it does a better job in its lowlight+ mode.

And finally on the iPhone I used Nightcap Pro. Shot below.

So let’s switch back to the S7 Edge. In auto mode it choose ISO 1,600 and 1/7s. Shot below.

I didn’t use Pro Mode as it started to rain so I had to abort. But I don’t like the yellow effect from the S7 auto shot. Also when zooming in the details were not as good as those from the iPhone.

So which phone is your winner and why?

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Fresh Photos just off the Camera Today – Updated with more shots

March 13, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech Newscamera shots, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

The photos below were just snapped with the S7 Edge a short while ago.

It really is a lovely day on Dartmoor today.

George and Fury zig zagging. Or something. Not sure really but they were both charging around.

And here is George with his tongue. Fury and Tiggy are playing in the background.

A lovely shot of Fury. She looks wet and muddy 🙂

This is the view at the moment. Stunning.

And lastly here’s Tiggy, also wet and muddy 🙂

And now for some macro shots just taken a few minutes ago.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Camera Shootout – Part 5 – Action Dog Shots – Plus Editorial

March 13, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsAction Dogs, camera shootout, part 5, Samsung Galaxy S7Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

It had to be done. Could I obtain some shots of my 3 labradors in action as I have done so already with all my previous smartphones?

If you are need to refresh your memory of these action dogs shots, have a look again at the reviews for the Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4 (especially) and LG V10 (also especially). Click HERE.

So off I went with 3 dogs on a day that was slightly overcast and a fair amount of glare. Not perfect lighting for shooting dogs. I shot all the photos in 4:3 12mp on the S7 Edge. All in Auto mode and using the burst, which is simply press and hold the shutter. Then on my iPad I viewed all 500 shots are selected the best. The annoying part was all 500 were in focus!!!!! So it took ages to decide as so many were great. I also was curious as to how fast the burst mode was on the S7 vs iPhone 6S Plus. The S7 reaches a max of 100 burst shots at a file size of 2.37mb, while the iPhone has only reached 40 burst shots at a file size of 2.07mb. On my iPad i used the iOS Photos app and cropped the photos to 16:9.

What is truly amazing the the S7 camera is its speed and speed to focus. Often the dogs would appear charging/running back to me. Each time I was able to double press the home button and hit the shutter and fire off another burst of photos, that were all in focus. Amazing.

Panoramic with Tiggy and View of Princetown, Dartmoor

I really like this shot a lot and its a smashing panoramic.

Burst Shots

This was Tiggy all lovely and clean.

And Tiggy again with her ears looking triangular somehow.

And Tiggy now soaked in water and covered in mud. You can’t see the mud as her colouring disguises it, but believe me she had tons on her!

Another shot of Tiggy, She was running around 20mph.

George on the left, Fury on the right. Check out those happy faces. Both dogs were running super fast.

Fury at full speed.

And finally George and Fury. George was running like a rocket, Fury was too.

Now I saved over 30 action shots for my personal photo library. Google Photos took some of the bursts saved photos and made a GIF. See below. This also shows you how well the S7 maintained focus despite Tiggy’s running speed and distance. Very very impressive.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Random Camera Shots – Part 4

March 12, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech Newscamera shots, Samsung Galaxy S7 edgeGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Below are just a few quick camera shots from the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. I have been asked what sensor my S7 Edge has and it is the ISOCELL sensor. I am very happy with all these shots. It seems when sunlight has gone, the S7 Edge takes good quality photos.

Daffodil Macro

There were a few daffodils outside the pizza takeaway, so I took a quick shot.

Dartmoor Panoramic

I do like the stitched image of the panoramic shot. This is just before dusk, so the lighting was just starting to fade, with some fog appearing in the distance.

Cropped Image

I was driving along and saw this pony grazing by the road. I lowered my car window and took a quick snap. I then edited the shot to lose the road and focus on the pony. So long as the image is not too far away, there is plenty of detail for cropping. I was probably about 20 feet away from the pony.

Normal Random Shots

Another scenic shot of Dartmoor and then a bike that was also next to the pizza takeaway.

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