HTC U11 vs. Samsung Galaxy S8+: Pixel Duel

24 May 2017
In this follow-up to the pick-a-flagship shootout from the weekend we take a close look at how the prominent absentee in that three-way contest - the HTC U11 - stacks up to the Galaxy S8+ camera.

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  • D
  • AnonD-152638
  • mhB
  • 24 May 2017

LLL, 24 May 2017Going by daylight samples, can I safely say that U11 sample... moreThat is the problem.
GSMarena need to get a reference camera. For the blind shootouts as well. There is no way of judging what is the most accurate color. And in the blind shootout with the S8 recently, it apparently rendered some blinds incorreclty, but for somone that did not know, they looked like they had more details. And then GSMarena were buffled why people picked the S8... Simply because there was no reference, people thought it should look like what it did on the S8 picture.

In terms of lowlight here, it is really hard to tell which is most color accurate. The HTC U11 has the yellowish tone, that is very common in low light photography, sometimes, the light is actually yellow. But in many cases the color balance is off and the actual light as seen in person, wasn't at all yellowish, but it ends up that way on photos, I have had that happend with DSLRs as well.
So I'm always sceptical when I see yellowish streetlights.

Personally I would guess that the S8+ is better in low light in general, and in daylight they are so similar that even though the U11 probably has a slight advantage it is hardly woth mentioning, so by that I would pick the S8+ as the winner.
But neither is actually a camera centric phone, so in deciding, one has to look at the rest of the phone, the camera can't be deciding factor when the differences are this small.

    • T
    • Timmy
    • p%}
    • 24 May 2017

    HTC produced phones for Google, so maybe they are more related with Google than Samsung in terms of camera. Seems U11 keeps better details, it's especially visible in zoom mode on text/billboards/road signs - on S8+ most of them are hard to read. Anyway it produces worse quality in some night scenes ( weird colors and blur ).

      • D
      • AnonD-600084
      • PQV
      • 24 May 2017

      AnonD-442781, 24 May 2017Lol. We've already seen how bad the xz premium is compared ... moreNot try being a fanboy but,right now there is not bad camera in flagship phone this day,all of them have a advantage and disadvantage,all of them have great cam,but i think xzp alittle bit better due to outdoor shot,that have more detail and natural,low light it suffer a bit,i agreed with it,but if use manual mode,it have the best shot in low light,plus more in video department xzp is ahead in competition in quality and the amazing stabilisation,it selfie also great among flagship,plus it has exclusive 960fps super slow motion.

        • v
        • venkatesh
        • 7t{
        • 24 May 2017

        I could see a clear winner in terms of colour and quality in rear camera HTC nails samsung especially in the photo with bus hanlin tea shop there s8+ does not even stand a chance to compare with htc u11 . Finally somebody can say htc has the best camera in android.

          • D
          • AnonD-664474
          • Kg{
          • 24 May 2017

          Anonymous, 24 May 2017So I tested the XZ Premium against the U11, U11 had so much... moreSlow Motion of the XZ Premium is definitely more grainy because of higher frame rate. Set it to standard (240fps) and it'll be much better than the U 11.

          If you're that guy of low light snapper, you might fall in love with my Canon 70D which will destroy all smartphones in low light image quality.

          I'd take the advantage of higher resolution for a far better daylight image, because that's where most of my shots will be taken.

            • D
            • AnonD-664474
            • Kg{
            • 24 May 2017

            I like HTC's features but camera for sure goes to the S8.
            Still not of a big difference to get the better speakers of the U 11, though S8 has a headphone jack.

              • P
              • Panji
              • tDT
              • 24 May 2017

              I need headphone jack. So I choose S8+.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • H5K
                • 24 May 2017

                So I tested the XZ Premium against the U11, U11 had so much more detail and better colour. The front camera on the XZ struggled in low light and the sound through the speakers on the U11 wipe the floor on the XZ. I even compared the slow more and although really slow, really dark and grainy on the XZ.

                The U11 is the phone to be followed by the S8.

                  AnonD-251354, 24 May 2017XZ Premium beat them allAgreed.

                    • D
                    • AnonD-442781
                    • H5W
                    • 24 May 2017

                    AnonD-251354, 24 May 2017XZ Premium beat them allLol. We've already seen how bad the xz premium is compared to the top cameras on the market. And it still has Sony's signature postprocessing.

                      AnonD-251354, 24 May 2017XZ Premium beat them allYes but in low-light it suffers more than other phones

                        • D
                        • AnonD-251354
                        • P@Y
                        • 24 May 2017

                        XZ Premium beat them all

                          Seriously, most of the differences mentioned between the phones are nit-picking and you could never go wrong with either of these phones. Both of them look very stunning.

                            • L
                            • LLL
                            • PA7
                            • 24 May 2017

                            Going by daylight samples, can I safely say that U11 samples are consistently warm (yellowish tint) OR that S8 samples are consistently cool (bluish tint)?
                            Which one is truer to reality then??

                              • D
                              • AnonD-523334
                              • 7k7
                              • 24 May 2017

                              Though I'd have liked a lil smaller bezels on U11, or a bigger battery.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-523334
                                • 7k7
                                • 24 May 2017

                                U11 wins, by a hair.
                                BTW, I'm getting U11. firstly was unimpressed, but now I'm liking it.
                                Flat screen - check
                                Richer sound - check
                                Nice bezels - check
                                Camera - same, best.
                                Looks - U11 has more character on back. and I hate curved screen so I'm going with U11.
                                Waterproof - almost same... Piece of mind.

                                  • S
                                  • SH.T
                                  • g8c
                                  • 24 May 2017

                                  in matter of super fast focuses, i thinck it was first intorduced in asus zefone 3 ... but never laid my hands on one to see for myself. it is all SONY i know simply because i saw it in their website ... where explain the chipsets and technology.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-284635
                                    • Kgt
                                    • 24 May 2017

                                    Can you do the comparison with HTC10 ? please. I really want to see how much of the improvement (esp. low light perf.) despite U11 having smaller sensor size than 10. Because I'm hesitating whether to upgrade or not.

                                      • S
                                      • SH.T
                                      • g8c
                                      • 24 May 2017

                                      AnonD-660652, 24 May 2017Eventually something is able to compete with Samsung in low... moreHey man, there were HTC 10 and pixel for that matter ... at least

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • NHr
                                        • 24 May 2017

                                        Two top phones...good show from both of them...will remain at the top I think until the Nokia 9 comes along