Yet, the sky in
the Essential Phone photo is completely overblown and white, whereas the Galaxy S8 managed to retain the sky's blue color.
Not exact matches
✅ Minimalistic, Safe and Secure storage for travel
essentials such as money, passport,
phone, boarding passes, credit cards,
photo ID
The colors in the
Essential Phone's
photo are more accurate, which reflect the Flatiron Building's true colors compared to the seemingly white - washed effect on the Galaxy S8.
It also made the windows pop a little more compared to the duller windows in the
Essential Phone's
photo.
The
Essential Phone actually does better justice to the contrast between the shady and sunlit areas, which makes for a more dynamic and interesting
photo.
The
Essential Phone's
photo is good, but the contrast is flatter and less appealing.
All of that's not to say that the
Essential Phone can't take nice
photos — it can.
However, the background in the
Essential Phone's
photo looks pixelated, and the Galaxy S8 offers better bokeh — where the subject is in focus against a blurred - out background.
However, the sunlit areas in the column with the «162» number are overblown and void of detail compared to the
Essential Phone's
photo.
It doesn't look quite as sharp as the
Essential Phone's
photo, but the colors and background look better overall.
Generally, however, the entire experience of trying to snap a
photo with the
Essential Phone, in its current state, is more trouble than it's worth.
I also found that the
Essential Phone has far fewer camera options than the Galaxy S8, which could be good for the sake of simplicity, but anyone who likes to take a lot of
photos on their smartphones may be looking for more granular options.
Have a peek at our
Essential Phone first impressions feature to see some examples of better
photo quality with the Google Camera App (originally meant for the Pixel.)
These
photo comparisons were enough to sway me — the
Essential Phone actually has a good camera, but it is held back by the stock camera software.
For another example, Andy Rubin — the founder of Android, and before that one of the people behind the Sidekick
phone — recently tweeted a teaser
photo of another slick - looking, edge - to - edge device, presumably from the handset company he's working on, called
Essential.
When I first used the
Essential Phone back in August, the device's camera app was barely serviceable; now, however, the camera is capable of capturing genuinely decent
photos.
Oddly enough, another $ 699 device that has had its
photo experience panned to high heaven is the
Essential Phone.
We've been covering the Android developer community's efforts to port the Google Camera to other devices, and for
phones like the
Essential Phone, it's improved
photo quality by leaps and bounds.
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Phone 7
Essential Phone owners are already using the Tiny Planet feature to create really cool
photos, as evidenced by the replies to the above tweet.
But unlike the iPhone, the
Essential Phone uses a secondary monochrome sensor that allows it to absorb more light for better low - light
photos.
If you don't mind owning a dual - camera smartphone that takes a little longer to snap
photos and lacks optical image stabilization, the
Essential Phone might be for you.
Some
photos would look fine, but later the
Essential Phone's camera would produce images that are blurrier and grainier.
Essential already pushed out a software update for the
phone's camera back in August, but the improvements weren't enough to fix the poor quality in capturing low light
photos.
Photo sample from the
Essential Phone's dual cameras showing the the process of merging color and monochrome images.
Whether you're in the market for a Samsung device, an LG
phone, something from HTC, or maybe even an offering from this little - known startup called
Essential, you can rest assured that your money will go towards a high - end, highly capable, long - lasting smartphone, that can take great
photos, and also isn't bogged down by too much third - party software.