In this article we’ll compared the cameras of three mobile phones, the LG V10, Galaxy Note 5 and Google Nexus 6p. Before we start reviewing the three cameras in-depth, let’s take a look at the camera’s specifications first.
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LG V10 Dual-lens Selfie Camera
The V10 was announced on October 2015, and one of the features that differentiate it from the other two is its front dual-lens camera setup, which allows you to shoot in either 80-degree FOV or 120-degree ultra wide-angle.
The Nexus 6P and Galaxy Note 5 both have a single-lens selfie camera. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 selfie camera has the widest field of view (22mm equivalent focal length), which is wider than the Nexus 6P’s ~25.9mm one. The official websites doesn’t state the equivalent focal length of the 6P and V10. I calculated the focal length of the V10 using a FOV->FL calculator and uses a source in one of the Android forums to find an estimate focal length of the Nexus 6P front camera. If you have a better source, by all means, share it with us in the comment section below.
As I mentioned, the LG V10 has two lenses at the front. You can check out this image on mashable (the selfie image of a guy taking selfie in the press room), and you can see that the distortions aren’t too severe and the center area of the frame looks very good – great for groufie pictures! You can check out this image on lgmobile.co.kr, which demonstrates the difference between 80° FOV and the much wider 120° field of view. It doesn’t matter if you shoot horizontally or vertically, you’ll be able to fit much more subject into the frame.
The LG V10 camera has 5 difference modes: Snap video mode (60-second short film), Manual Video Mode, Manual Camera Mode, auto mode and Simple mode (all automatic, no additional settings and video capture available). In manual mode you have the option toe manually adjust the ISO sensitivity, manual focus, set the shutter speed, brightness, white balance (2300K – 7500K) and exposure compensation. The manual controls allows you to achieve results that you wouldn’t be able to achieve otherwise (in auto or semi-auto modes).
So the LG V10 is in its own league regarding its camera selfie capabilities. You can here more about other smartphones which are amazing for shooting selfies.
I wasn’t able to dig up the front-camera lens’ aperture. Compared to the Note 5 and 6P, the V10 has the same resolution as the Galaxy Note 5 front camera, but lower than the Nexus 6P 8MP camera. The Note 5 will give you the second widest field of view, but wider than the V10 for a single-lens picture, and the Note 5 lens is significantly brighter than the Nexus 6P one.
Now let me visualize you the difference in the angular field of view between the LG V10, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Google Nexus 6P front cameras.
Let’s start with the LG V10 80-degree vs 120-degree. 12.5mm lens focal length is equivalent to 120-degrees diagonal FOV:
OK, now let’s see how the LG V10 dual-lens front camera FOV compares to that of the the Note 5 and Nexus 6P.
You can clearly see that the LG V10 allows much wider capture than the Nexus 6P and Note 5’s single lens setup.
Rear Camera Comparison
LG V10 vs Note 5
The LG V10 front camera utilizes a Sony Stacked Sensor and together with an optical image stabilization (OIS) and faster f/1.8 aperture, you can expect superb low-light performance. I’ve watch a video made by Max Lee YouTube user, testing the Note 5 versus LG V10 in extreme low-light conditions. According to his test, the Note 5 has much less noise and better color reproduction (tested with the highest ISO setting). When shooting a video in auto mode, the LG V10 seems to do better overall with a brighter image and faster autofocusing.
By the way, the LG V10 has the same 50-2700 ISO range as the LG G4. The Galaxy Note 5 on the other hand has a 40-1600 ISO range and this explains the video exposure results. I think that the LG G10 camera has chosen a higher ISO and faster shutter speed which might explains why it performed poorly in that test; but again, it’s in auto mode. In manual mode you might get closer results.
That being said, the V10 lens is slightly (0.156 stops) faster and same pixel pitch, so you might expect the V10 to perform slightly better. This is why it’s important to manually adjust the camera settings if possible to make sure that the comparison is balance and really reflect the low-light performance capabilities of the phone cameras. In manual mode, the LG V10 was able to outperform the Note 5 due to its faster aperture and higher maximum ISO. So all in all, the LG V10 beats the Note 5 in very low-light situations and in manual mode where you have more control over the camera settings and final image output. Just keep in mind that you’ll get more noise as you climb up the ISO scale, so sometimes it’s better to use a slower shutter speed when appropriate and use a lower ISO to get a well exposed picture with less digital image noise.
In daylight, both phones capture amazingly detailed image with gorgeous natural colors.
The LG V10 uses Laser Autofocus system (it’s actually a infrared beam, not a laser beam) compared to the phase-detection pixels of the Note 5, which I think it’s better if you are shooting moving subjects that are more than 10 meters from the camera. that said, the laser AF operated amazingly well in low light conditions and provides faster and accurate object focusing performance compared to PDAF. The Laser AF also doesn’t rely on the LED flash to lit the scene and help the AF system lock on the subject, which is a big plus.
LG V10 vs Nexus 6P
Here we can find more substantial differences. Google has focused on making the rear camera optimal for low-light performance. It omitted the OIS, but included a relatively large 1/2.3″ Stacked BSI sensor with 1.55 micron pixels. This setup should compensates for the lack of OIS, and indeed, DxOMark found it to be one of the best low-light performer so far when they tested and reviews it on September 29, 2015.
The LG V10 features a faster lens (f/1.8 vs f/2.0 = 1.235x more light in favor of the V10) and has OIS, which also helps to stable both photos and videos. The V10 has a smaller sensor with smaller pixels, but the OIS can compensate for those small pixels by allowing the photographer to shoot at slower shutter speeds while still maintaining a sharp image.
The Nexus 6P also lacks video manual mode, the V10 has the same manual mode as the G4, and you can manually adjust the settings in real time while shooting a video. The 6P has dual flash compared to V10 single LED flash. Although DxOMark hasn’t tested the V10 as of the time of writing, the LG V10 uses the same great camera of the LG G4.
The LG V10 is a great competitor to the Nexus 6P and certainly has some significant advantages if you look at all the camera features overall.
We end up with a LG V10 Ultra HD / 4K 30fps video test by Marc the Geek YouTube user.
Conclusion
As you can see, LG introduced an amazing new smartphone with unique twist. I’m sure people will love the new dual-lens camera for shooting groufies and it has a stellar low light performance. It has almost everything you want in a camera: a fast lens, great AF performance, Raw shooting, 4K video recording, OIS, video and photo manual shooting mode and it produce super high quality images. We can expect it to perform around the same as the LG G4 due to its identical hardware specs, but many of you will certainly appreciate its dual-lens camera and more advanced video options.
Of course many people don’t base their decision on the camera specs alone, and you should consider all the other specs before you make up your mind. Now that you know some of the substantial differences between the cameras of each phone, you’ll be able to make a more knowledgeable buying decision.
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