Camera Shootout: Zenfone 3 vs Galaxy Note7

With the ASUS Zenfone 3 recent official Philippine launch, let’s take its improved shooter to the comparison table with Samsung’s latest and greatest Android smartphone yet — Galaxy Note7. On paper, the Zenfone 3 has a 16MP shooter equipped with optical image stabilization and phase/laser autofocus while the Galaxy Note7 has a modest 12MP Dual Pixel sensor with phase detection autofocus and OIS as well. And here are the comparisons:

Daylight

Even though the scenario we have above is a bit gloomy, both handsets were able to capture pretty good stills of the skyscrapers. But, we have to give the applause to the Note7 since it has a sharper and more detailed shot. Also, it’s a bit more saturated which is a nice touch since the environment is already muted.

HDR

To help with the contrast of the sky and land, we have to turn on the HDR mode. As can be seen, the Zenfone 3 struggles to capture and put together the images it took to create a balanced image. The Note7, on the other hand, did a good job but the cloudy weather is not helping to give the still its needed boost.

Indoor

Heading indoors with a strong interior lighting, the two able to get decent stills. Although, when compared side by side, the Zenfone 3 appears to opt for a flatter image making it look dull and uninteresting. The Note7 keeps things well saturated even with artificial lighting.

Macro

When doing close-ups, both the Zenfone 3 and Note7 focuses easily on the nearby subject. No issue when focusing but, just like with the previous sample, ASUS’ keeps things muted while the Note7 produces better contrast and colors.

Low-light

Let’s dim the lights down this time and test how the new technologies of the two helps in capturing with less light to work with. The Zenfone 3 obviously likes to eat more light but it kinda struggles with the focusing. The Note7’s capture may be dimmer but we appreciate the proper contrast and slightly crispier shot.

Flash

Turning on the flash helps to light things up and tone portraits by a bit with the dual-tone LEDs. The Zenfone 3’s focusing system finds it hard to focus on the subject (which is Bob) thus resulting to a slightly out-of-focus shot. We tried shooting for 3 times but the combination of the Laser and PDAF is not working properly here. As for the Note7, it obviously has a stronger light fill and better focusing in the dark.

Selfie

The front shooters on both the Zenfone 3 and Note7 will please people who love to take selfies. Both are sufficient to appease vanity but, if you like more light for your face, the larger f/1.7 aperture of the latter take a small leap against the other.

Video

When it comes to 4K video recording, the Zenfone gets the edge in brightness while the Note7 shows its prowess in stabilization even at high resolution. The sample above (4K downsized to fit) shows the advantage of the each handset when doing moving stills. Audio-wise, neither of them give satisfying capture but both are okay.

That’s about it for our swift comparison of the two new handsets in the market. The Zenfone 3, aimed as a mid-range option, starts at Php16,995 while the Note7, a much higher offering cost for Php39,990.