Samsung gave its latest Galaxy S21 flagship smartphone some upgrades in its video shooting capabilities. Although Apple's iPhone 12 still has some tricks up its sleeve in the form of some distinct advantages in certain departments. One of the biggest highlights of the Galaxy S21's announcement is its improved camera.
Despite sharing deceptively similar camera hardware as its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 doesn't exactly perform the same as the Galaxy S20. Samsung's new flagship naturally came with better processing power that increased its camera's performance, along with a wealth of software enhancements and AI-assisted technology that drastically improved its video functionality. Of course, the same can be said with Apple's iPhone 12, which also came with a slew of pro-grade video options and camera upgrades over the iPhone 11.
The question now is, which of the two captures better videos in terms of quality, hardware capability, and software usability? For starters, let's tackle the respective camera hardware of both flagships. The Galaxy S21 has a three-camera set-up on the back, comprising two 12-megapixel lenses and a 64-megapixel telephoto lens, while the iPhone 12 only has two 12-megapixel ultra-wide and wide-angle lenses. The iPhone 12's main ultra-wide shooter does come with a wider f/2.4 aperture than the Galaxy S21's primary f/2.2 aperture lens, though, allowing more natural lighting in videos without the need for additional software enhancements, which can give more natural-looking captures, especially in low-light. Given the Galaxy S21's telephoto lens though, it will do a better job of capturing videos that require more zooming capabilities. It can reach up to 3x magnification with hybrid optical zoom and up to 30x magnification, compared to the iPhone 12's 2x optical zoom and 5x digital magnification.
Galaxy S21 And iPhone 12's Video Capturing Features And Advantages
Both Samsung and Apple's respective flagships have a lot of pros and cons but these differences become more apparent when it comes to its video capturing features. The Galaxy S21 is capable of shooting up to 8K video recordings at 24 frames per second (fps), while the iPhone 12 can only shoot in 4K at 60 fps tops. Both are capable of shooting slow-motion 1080p footage at up to 240 fps, but only the Galaxy S21 can shoot super slow-mo 720p videos at 960 fps. While both handsets come with their own optical image stabilization technologies, the Galaxy S21 is more equipped to shoot more fast-paced action cam footage, given its Super Steady mode, which negates a lot of jerks and camera shakes that might appear more pronounced in the iPhone 12's captures.
However, the Galaxy S21's HDR10+ video recording ability is nowhere near the level of the iPhone 12's Dolby Vision feature, which enables a more vibrant HDR video at 30 fps. Despite that advantage, though, there aren't many displays at the moment that can take full advantage of Dolby Vision, making it less practical, as users can only enjoy its vividly brighter and crisper videos on the iPhone 12's smaller screen. As for video software capabilities, Samsung's flagship does feature some on-the-fly video-editing features offered by its versatile Single Take tool, along with a picture-in-picture video capture mode called Director's View, which lets users take some creative documentary-like footage by simultaneously activating both selfie and rear cameras. The iPhone 12, on the other hand, has its intricate iMovie app which easily integrates with Apple's Final Cut Pro. Overall, it comes down to the type of video users are hoping to capture, Samsung Galaxy S21's video toolset offers lots of versatility for instant content creation, while Apple's iPhone 12 gives users a plethora of video settings to play around with, along with tech that's ahead of its time.