Samsung Galaxy S Plus review: Enter the Snapdragon

Plain old camera

The Galaxy S Plus has a 5 MP camera on its back, capable of producing images of up to 2592 x 1944 pixel resolution. It's nothing new - in fact it has remained unchained throughout the lineup, from the Galaxy S, through the SL and Armani. It lacks important attributes such as a flash and a shutter key.

The user interface is standard Samsung for the most part – and that’s not a bad thing. It’s easily thumbable and offers readily accessible scene and shooting modes. Geotagging, face and smile detection are enabled too.

Samsung Galaxy S Plus camera interface

In terms of image quality, the Galaxy S Plus offers no advantage over the original Galaxy S - the sensor is exactly the same and produces the exact same results as the one on the original Galaxy S. In short, it’s not the best 5 MP camera around. Images turn out slightly underexposed and colors are duller than we would’ve liked. You could definitely do worse though, the Galaxy S Plus is good enough for the occasional snapshot.

Galaxy S Plus camera samples

And here goes a macro shot from the Galaxy S Plus camera.

Galaxy S Plus macro sample

Photo quality comparison

The Samsung Galaxy S Plus enters our Photo Compare Tool to join the other 5MP shooters. The tool’s page will give you enough info on how to use it and what to look for.

The Galaxy S Plus is not that good as a sharp shooter. Keep in mind that any differences with the original Galaxy S are due to the lighting at the particular time of the shoot. Overall, the camera on the Galaxy S Plus's back may not be the ultimate but you will be fine if you're not a camera-phone buff.

Samsung Galaxy S Plus in our Photo Compare Tool

Video recording does HD

The Galaxy S Plus is among the HD-capable smartphones out there. It can record up to 720p videos (1280 x 720) at 30 fps.

Samsung Galaxy S Plus camcorder interface

Being the same camera as on the original Galaxy S, it reproduces the same videos as well. The HD footage recorded in mp4 format plays out perfectly smooth. Image quality is decent and the amount of resolved detail is good (if unspectacular), but the colors are a bit oversaturated and the dynamic range could be a bit better.

Take a look at this 720p video sample made with the Samsung Galaxy S Plus.

Here's an untouched 720p video sample for download.

Video quality comparison

As you can see the Galaxy S Plus is on par with the previous Galaxy S original. It produces nice video quality and a good amount of fine detail. Compared other players in the 720p game like the LG Optimus Black and Motorola Atrix it's much better but still falls short of devices like the Nokia N8 and the Apple iPhone 4.

Samsung Galaxy S Plus in the Video Compare Tool