Question - 6 year old phone has bigger pictures than the S21 FE? | XDA Forums

The following is the highest resolution photo that I got each of these two phones to produce with their best camera settings:

Galaxy J5 (2016): 4128x3096
Galaxy S21 FE: 4000x3000

How does a 6 year old low-end budget phone create photos with more pixels than a 2022 almost-flagship phone?

N10+ is 4032×3024
I wouldn't sweat it... smaller/more pixels in the same size sensor doesn't necessarily mean better images. Sensor size maybe different.
Either way the difference is negligible.

blackhawk said:

N10+ is 4032×3024
I wouldn't sweat it... smaller/more pixels in the same size sensor doesn't necessarily mean better images. Sensor size maybe different.
Either way the difference is negligible.

Shouldn't today's phone's produced pictures that are much bigger than that of 6 years ago?

xda-eh said:

Shouldn't today's phone's produced pictures that are much bigger than that of 6 years ago?

Not necessarily. Even blowing it up you can't see that difference unless you count the pixels. Which produces the better image? Bottom line.
More doesn't mean better.
Individual pixel lense quality matters more.
Larger form factor sensors generally also perform better. These sensors are small so it limits the amount of quality pixels you can use.
That sensor size also limits the amount of light they can gather vs a full frame cam sensor. The small phone cam lens also gather far less light than say a 35 or 50mm lense does.

xda-eh said:

Shouldn't today's phone's produced pictures that are much bigger than that of 6 years ago?

No because a higher resolution doesn't equal to a better quality image. Improvements to the lens, the sensor and the hardware that does the actual image processing is way more important.
And the S21 has optical image stabilizing which the J5 doesn't have.

Seems like if the S21 FE's camera is better, it's by a drop.

GameLogic said:

No because a higher resolution doesn't equal to a better quality image. Improvements to the lens, the sensor and the hardware that does the actual image processing is way more important.
And the S21 has optical image stabilizing which the J5 doesn't have.

Exactly. Resolution is irrelevant at some point... especially if the individual pixels can't grab a good noise nulling and/or image sample.
12mp is considered ideal for this size sensor, even full frame pro cam sensors top out at around 26mb. One of these will rip a smartphone cam to shreds.
I prefer optical over digital IS.

blackhawk said:

Exactly. Resolution is irrelevant at some point... especially if the individual pixels can't grab a good noise nulling and/or image sample.
12mp is considered ideal for this size sensor, even full frame pro cam sensors top out at around 26mb. One of these will rip a smartphone cam to shreds.
I prefer optical over digital IS.

From the little that I tried the S21 FE's camera and compared its photos to the J5, the former's quality doesn't seem much better than the latter. Maybe a drop.

xda-eh said:

From the little that I tried the S21 FE's camera and compared its photos to the J5, the former's quality doesn't seem much better than the latter. Maybe a drop.

Still using the N10+ which grabs good images. What's interesting is I've seen it do the smudging that the S23U users are complaining about. It's not cam shake, light level, wind, shutter speed, focus or subject movement caused; it's seemingly random. Very noticeable with cat fur. Seems to be settings related as it doesn't always happen.
Lately using the same firmware I'm not seeing it (changed the settings)... strange. It's quit annoying when it happens and no way to fix it with post editing.

It's just strange that an almost-flagship phone (the S21 FE) has a camera that isn't much of an upgrade in terms of picture quality over a low end 2016 J series phone.

I doubt it. Especially in low light the software kicks in and makes the j5 look old. OIS obviously helps to get steady shots.

xda-eh said:

It's just strange that an almost-flagship phone (the S21 FE) has a camera that isn't much of an upgrade in terms of picture quality over a low end 2016 J series phone.

The N10+ was a quantum leap from my old S4+ in everything including cams.
In my opinion the N10+ was Samsung's overall zenith in flagship design. Android 9 was Gookill's zenith. Both started screwing up on subsequent models/versions. The lack of expandable storage is both an overreach and reprehensible; it doesn't serve the consumer but rather Google's and Samsung's agendas. Once Samsung stop calling it a Note it was broke...

The low-end A12 from December 2020 has a 48 MP camera, while the S21 FE has a 12 MP camera.

xda-eh said:

The low-end A12 from December 2020 has a 48 MP camera, while the S21 FE has a 12 MP camera.

Both are underwhelming. Guess Samsung thought the 48mp cam would make the A12 more appealing. Oddly it has the expandable storage and 3.5mm jack.
A used N10+ is a more capable phone than both, Samsung's a mess. They've been undermining themselves for years now. Poor leadership.

blackhawk said:

Both are underwhelming.

Well, in the case of the low-end A12 it may be excusable, but for the $700 priced S21 FE it’s inexcusable. Along with the S21 FE’s lousy battery that drains much quicker than the advertised amount. Not to mention its touch and scroll glitches.

xda-eh said:

Well, in the case of the low-end A12 it may be excusable, but for the $700 priced S21 FE it’s inexcusable. Along with the S21 FE’s lousy battery that drains much quicker than the advertised amount. Not to mention its touch and scroll glitches.

My point exactly. You can buy a new N975U1* for less than $700 even now. Better yet they're factory loaded with Android 10 although I think Pie is better. Poor SOT has gotten to be a major issue since the N10+; Samsung's solution is to put increasing larger capacity Li's and even then the N10+ is getting better SOT.
Great... heavier, thicker phones with megapixel counts like the pro movie cams have (except their performance justify it).
Samsung's morphed into a hyped up hot mess

*new Exynos variants are priced considerably higher (demand) because they can be rooted. Otherwise they are less capable than the Snaps.

blackhawk said:

heavier, thicker phones...

Yup. Major problem.

blackhawk said:

*new Exynos variants are priced considerably higher (demand) because they can be rooted. Otherwise they are less capable than the Snaps.

Snapdragon phones can't be rooted?

xda-eh said:

Yup. Major problem.


Snapdragon phones can't be rooted?

Likely not. There were/are some sites charging money to do so remotely. They're using their Knox Developer privileges to so, until Samsung catches up to them. I think that's what's going on... my interest is minimal.

Giving anyone remote access permission is unacceptable and bricking a good N10+ is something I personally wouldn't risk as they run well stock (and securely even on Pie) after being optimized.

blackhawk said:

Likely not. There were/are some sites charging money to do so remotely. They're using their Knox Developer privileges to so, until Samsung catches up to them. I think that's what's going on... my interest is minimal.

Giving anyone remote access permission is unacceptable and bricking a good N10+ is something I personally wouldn't risk as they run well stock (and securely even on Pie) after being optimized.

It's not a Snapdragon thing, it's a Samsung U.S. (North America in general I think) thing
Meaning, the S21FE Snapdragon variant CAN be rooted (from European regions) but the S21FE Snapdragon U.S. variant cannot.

ShaDisNX255 said:

It's not a Snapdragon thing, it's a Samsung U.S. (North America in general I think) thing
Meaning, the S21FE Snapdragon variant CAN be rooted (from European regions) but the S21FE Snapdragon U.S. variant cannot.

I hadn't heard that but it's more of a curiosity for me. What you said doesn't seem to be true for the N10+'s at all.
Why would Samsung mix distributed* both Exynos and Snaps in the same region? I see a small amount of the Exynos variat N10+'s here in the US for sale but believe they all came from out of country.


*aside from rooting the Snaps are invariably the more desirable variant.