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Samsung Galaxy Note II camera review

Peter M Ferenczi | Published: Mar 22, 2013 at 19:39:03 UTC

Performance and Image Quality

Like the Galaxy S3, the Note II is fast on the photographic draw. It locks focus quickly and shows virtually no shutter lag. Shot-to-shot time is very good, almost as fast as you can push the shutter button. Switch to burst mode and you can rip off 20 shots at six frames per second at full resolution. That’s faster than some DSLRs.

With its quad-core processor and 2GB RAM the Samsung Galaxy Note II is also quick and responsive when working with apps, viewing images or browsing the web. Apps, including the camera app, open in the blink of an eye and the use of Android 4.1. "Jelly Bean" as operating system means all scrolling is very smooth.

Daylight, Low ISO

The Galaxy Note II's image quality is as good as identical to the Galaxy S3's. Check out our S3 review for a comparison with the iPhone 5, HTC One X and Nokia Lumia 920.

With enough light to work with, image quality is generally good. White balance is accurate and exposures are usually correct, though you’ll want to enable face recognition in portraits to ensure that pale faces don’t blow out. There’s some noise visible in even tones like blue skies, but it’s not objectionable. When viewed at 100% magnification it becomes clear that the Samsung, like its sister model, the S3, is using strong noise reduction to produce a clean image. This comes at the expense of fine low-contrast detail, even in good light.

Dynamic range is limited as with any phone camera with a small sensor, so you may need to dial in a bit of negative exposure compensation when shooting contrasty subjects to avoid blowing out highlights, or switch to HDR mode.


In good light the Note II delivers good results. There’s a little noise visible in the sky, and low-contrast detail suffers from noise reduction but overall the camera does a decent job.	100% crop

Exposure is good in this scene but the red channel is seriously clipped, which leads to a slightly artificial look in the face.	100% crop

Like on most smartphone cameras highlight clipping is an issue in high-contrast scenes.	100% crop

Skin tones are natural in daylight but even at ISO 100 fine details is smeared by noise reduction.	100% crop

Low Light, High ISO

As light levels drop and ISOs climb, the Note II obviously has more trouble, but it holds its own with results that are very similar to the Galaxy S3's. That said, image quality deteriorates quickly as you increase the ISO sensitivity, with noise, noise reduction artifacts and detail smearing creeping in quite aggressively -- as you would expect from any image capturing device with a tiny sensor. Nevertheless, images are good enough for typical web use up to the highest settings.

Getting the best possible results in a low-light situation means taking advantage of the camera app’s flexibility. You can avoid overexposure by switching the metering mode or just dialing in negative compensation, and set ISO manually to keep it from climbing too high (as long as you can hold the phone steady).

Like the S3, the Note II offers manual control over ISO but not all settings are available in manual mode. You can choose a range from ISO 100 - 800 but in Auto mode the Samsung goes both below and above this range, capturing images at ISO 80 and 1600, respectively. Turning on the electronic image stabilization lets the Note II push ISO even higher and raises the minimum shutter speed to around 1/30 of second.


At ISO 1250, the Note II delivers an image that’s totally satisfying at screen resolutions. Zooming in reveals the smeary reality of the noise reduction being deployed, but it’s handled pretty well for a smartphone.	100% crop

Fine details starts suffering as soon as you go higher than base ISO, as can be seen in this ISO 320 shot.	100% crop

Electronic image stabilization raises ISO to 2500 in this shot, resulting in pretty nasty output with a lot of noise and detail smearing.	100% crop

The Galaxy Note II's camera app offers a way to improve low light image quality. The Low Light shooting mode also works wonders in terms of avoiding intrusive noise by blending a quick burst of frames into one and averaging out the noise. As with the HDR mode, objects moving through the frame may create strange artifacts, so the tool works best with static scenes. You should also avoid any camera shake while capturing the burst.


For this shot we've switched to spot metering and manually set ISO to 800, which is enough to get a decent albeit somewhat noisy exposure.	100% crop

Here we used the camera app’s Low Light scene mode, which delivers exceptionally low noise for these light levels.	100% crop

Comments

Total comments: 81

This phone is like a dream that will never come true. I bought this phone 5 months ago where all of the sudden it stopped working.
Currently I live in Canada.. logically I can go to any Samsung service and fix but that is not possible for unknown reasons. so I had to contact Samsung UK.
I checked and confirmed with them that this phone belongs to them before sending it. I sent the phone which costs me shipping and handling back and forth because this cheap Samsung company doesn't pay for the shipping. Anyway that is not the point.

finally Samsung received my phone and they didn't even bother to follow up. so I called and guess what they told me that this phone is from United Emirates...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which means that Samsung UK cannot touch..

Now I have to wait for the phone be sent back and then ship it to United Emirates.

they just lost a customer where all my products are Samsung. TV, phones...etc.

No way that I will touch their products.

Bye bye Samsung

0 upvotes

I like this phone just because o f its camera.

0 upvotes

Do a HTC One review, as the camera is term ultra pixels that uses a far larger single-plate cmos sensor with only 4MP.

0 upvotes

Patience please, we are currently working on it. We can only start a review once we get the sample units from the manufacturers and sometimes that takes longer than we would like.

1 upvote

DxO still refuses to acknowledge GoPro ... the most popular camera in the world and capable of higher quality then these phone cameras?!

1 upvote

well, DxO test high-end compact cameras and interchangeable lens cameras. The GoPro doesn't fit into either of those categories.

0 upvotes

Does this mean will be seeing the test results for Fuji X20 and the hundreds of other DSLR reviews missing.

0 upvotes

Can you send us al ist of the "hundreds of DSLRs missing" please...we'll start working on it right away.

1 upvote

GoPro IS a high end compact camera.

0 upvotes

I've got a Note I, and wouldn't trade it for anything. 18 months, and still going like a champ. Skipping the Note II, but holding off on the Galaxy IV...perhaps a Note III this fall??

0 upvotes

I switched from iPhone to Note II and I love the phone.

Samsung doesn't seem to do as good a job in colour balance as Apple, I have to say. Some of the brighter greens/reds can look a bit too bright and unrealistic.

0 upvotes

My Note II ( unlocked AT&T ) is quite nice .... much better battery life than the Note I.
I can do about 80% of the ordinary, every day photos with this unit. What would take that to 95% is to add a 10X to 12X optical zoom, even if that requires 10mm thickness and a few ounces. More control over exposure, ISO ( to 6400 ) and shutter speed would help. The phone manufactures don't really realize they are in the camera business ... and the camera manufacturers don't realize they are in the phone business .... although there are signs they are waking-up.
AS for OSs, MS is somnolent.

0 upvotes

I have this phone. I also have the GH2, and I have used a lot of Canon and Nikon Cameras. I can, easily say, that with the HDR Switched ON, the dynamic range of the Note 2's camera, easily rivals a lot of top end DSLRs. The only thing is, it cannot handle shake and moving objects, too well, in the HDR Mode. I think, its a reasonable, and small trade off.

0 upvotes

Love HDR on my iPhone 5 !

0 upvotes

That's what I thought when I had a Note (1). Amazing camera. When I view my photos in iPhoto or Aperture, with the exception of zoomed in shots, I cannot tell which camera or phone I used! (I had a GH2 too, and it was good.)

0 upvotes

nice review, but if you can't get reviews out sooner than this for phone it's almost not worth bothering.

2 upvotes

Agreed. Ive had this phone since November.

0 upvotes

Having had my time with the Note 2 I must say it is a very decent phone + internet machine.
And once you get some security in place it can boost your outdoor your productivity regarding emailing / surfing / messaging etc.. It has CPU + RAM enough to load full web sites like Outlook web access etc..
Memory flexibility, the return of the stylus, battery life, software. A lot to love.

But the camera is just mediocre.

-continued-

1 upvote

DP Review should help the phone makers to integrate better camera's and use stronger term and verdicts to push for less generic camera module integration in Phones and have some them invest in some real R&D on the subject.

We usually walk with Note 2 + Nokia 808 Pureview and feel taking pictures with the Note 2 is a waste if you have the 808 at your disposal.

Since both Note 2 and Nokia 808 are about the same age I urge for a re-review of the Nokia 808 compared to "current best of class".

If we continue forget about what is possible in terms of camera integration we will be stuck for ages to come with anorexic smartphone designs with generic camera modules and mediocre results at best. Even from Nokia (see L920)

Until they get the camera's upgraded I say no to 6 month to yearly update cycle madness of the smartphone industry as we can already guess the Note 3 will not sport a superior groundbreaking camera technology.

Maybe it will have a hardware shutter?

3 upvotes

Purchased the Note II specifically for photography and videography, but it had nothing to do with using it to take photos. The sumptuous 5.5 inch screen is a godsend when paired with the GH3's wifi feature. That extra real estate makes all the difference.

1 upvote

Just another gadget review site.

New owners should always ask themselves why the site/product became popular in the first in the first place.

2 upvotes

You still get your camera reviews and you get (camera focused) smartphone reviews on top of that. What's there to complain?

7 upvotes

Anyone complaining about cellphone review are out of touch with reality. Currently cellphone are the new P&S.

3 upvotes

Not only cellphones get better, but P&S as well. I have both a Note 2 and a Canon S100, the latter being far superiorin photos. I like ths Note 2 but never use the camera. I use its USB connectivity fo put photos from my S100 or 7d onto it and use its large screen to control my 7d with DSLR controller.

0 upvotes

I'm coming to dp less and less. Cell phones? Really? What a shame, you used to best the best photo site in the world.

0 upvotes

Cell phone is the new P&S.

4 upvotes

If you really can't deal with the (camera focused) smartphone reviews you could simply ignore them and still have the same dpreview that you've always had. You can even filter all connect articles from the front page if you really want to.

6 upvotes

Both Photoshop touch and Photoshop touch for phone exist on Android.

Please correct it.

1 upvote

Yes, they are available but not the version that is optimized for the S-Pen, like on the Galaxy 10.1. That's all we're saying.

Comment edited 5 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Thing I would like to know should I use my Note 2 Camera or buy a DSLR like a Nikon 3100 to take better pictures? or will this Note 2 take just as good of pictures? I have not really tried all of the features yet..I always just assumed DSLR is better, but maybe it is not worth the extra cash?

0 upvotes

it depends what kind of quality of your pictures do you like to have. Next question: do you like to have large prints?
And do you like playing with "depth of field" in your pictures. If you say to all questions that's not important to me then you can stay with your Galaxy.

I use my Galaxy Note 2 just for pictures which are not really important for me. Like selling someting via ebay or remember a streetname in a city...
For all others I use my Canon DSLR.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

DPReview, whoa!, behind & late to review, whats going on here? I got Note2 last year... Note 3 will release on Aug 2013.. C'mon..

3 upvotes

We'd better come to terms with the fact that mobile devices are becoming a force in the imaging marketplace and camera review sites have little choice but to include at least the serious contenders. Unfortunately for DPR, the phone product cycle is so short that bringing a review like this out so long after a launch is pretty much useless as information for buyers.

0 upvotes

The Note II is the current model. If the Note III will be announced in August it won't be available before October. I think this review is till relevant (but yes, in an ideal world we'd have published it earlier, I give you that).

2 upvotes

Garbage? Samsung is kind enough to offer the stylus to those that need or want it. The S4 can't be owned yet, and the iPhone 5... no sd card support, smaller screen, and you can't change the battery like you can with most Samsungs. The Note 8 is what I'm waiting for... That is the killer s-pen platform for me. Choice is a great thing.

3 upvotes

This phone is garbage, not sure why any photographer would prefer it over the S4 or IPhone 5

3 upvotes

Pairing the 5.5 inch screen of the Note II with the wifi functionality of a number of DSLR cameras makes it an eminently more attractive proposition than an iPhone

4 upvotes

Thanks dpreview! I have the note II and have gotten a lot of good results with the camera and video. The HDR mode works really well. Low light is a hit and miss, but I am able to get a good picture if there is time to setup the shot and take it. When there is plenty of light, most of the time no problems unless indoors and there are curly bulbs. If I change the WB then it works out just fine. When I view the pictures on the Note II and a more expensive monitor, the pictures are awesome! When I view on a cheaper or crappy monitor, detail is lost and I am disappointed. These smartphones are designed to capture memories and I think they do a really good job. I know each version of the Note will keep getting better and better, but I am happy with mine and probably will upgrade to the Note IV. For those complaining about a late review... I know where you are coming from, however, this is something new to dpreview so give them time. I'm sure Galaxy S4 Review will be quicker!

3 upvotes

I liked Note 1 better. It's 16:10 form factor is MUCH more useful then 16:9 of Note 2...

1 upvote

I got Note 1 and I agree the screen shape is a slightly better shape and a slightly higher 285ppi vs 267 ppi screen resolution, but not a huge difference I believe. On the other hand, there is not enough there for Note 1 owners to upgrade -better off buying a Note 8, for tablet use only, or waiting for Note 3 with a rumoured 5.9 inch dislay at 1920 x 1080.

0 upvotes

Go Samsung go ...this is the best device I ever owned , its not only the camera , its the whole combination .
It will take me hours to explain it ...
In short : it is the world in your hand .
Go Samsung go

3 upvotes

Jeez, u sound like teenager. Grow up.

2 upvotes

@Ahmed: what's the problem if EwanMc likes his phone that much?

0 upvotes

Nevermind shutter speed indication ffs. How about Shutter speed priority mode, and optional EV indications?

There are times shooting toddlers and such that one needs to guarantee a fast shutter speed, e.g. 1/200th

With my original Galaxy Note, even with the sport mode enabled, it often fails to deliver more than 1/30th due to some auto iso nonsense thinking the IS can handle it.

I just want semi-manual control. I don't need Aperture priority unless they increase the size of the sensor dramatically (Which wouldn't hurt), but shutter priority is essential.

Dpreview seemed to help drive development in dslrs by mentioning the major negatives in every camera review, and generally expecting more.

Incidentally good review, and I didn't know that about the volume button. An app called CameraPro does the same thing.

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

Why there's score for all reviewed phone so far except Nokia Lumia 920......

0 upvotes

What is the focal length (35mm equivalent) of the lens?

2 upvotes

I owned a Note 1 and to date, I can say with confidence, it produced the best images I have ever got from a phone - so much so, I sold my Panasonic GH2 and used the Note to do EVERYTHING on my trip to Chicago in March 2012, including of course, the photography and video. Although the video is a bit wobly without optical stabilisation, the photos were superb - indoor and out. I think Samsung have the edge when it comes to phone cameras.

I also used the Note (1) on the trip for hotel booking (using the awesome Hotel Tonight app), SatNav (GPS) when driving or walking about Chicago and area, taking notes and of course, as a phone, both regular calls and Skype.

The screen was great too.

So I cannot imagine how a Note 2 is, perhaps it has the same camera? Here's to the Note 3.

Anyway, if any pros want a second camera for quick shots, the Note comes highly recommended.
(I had sold the GH2 prior to knowing about my trip, would have kept it for the optical zoom and wide angle lens.)

Comment edited 49 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

I own the Note 1 as well, however its processor is its real handicap. I just downloaded Photoshop Touch for Phone and it's brutally slow. The one benefit of the Note 2 would be the faster processor that makes using PS Touch for Phone bearable. Other than that the Note 1 is fine. This comment is just a heads up for folks thinking that they could save money by purchasing a Note 1 for some advanced editing. If you want to use PS Touch for Phone, then stay away from the Note 1.

0 upvotes

lol, how long has this phone been out and only now a review! Note 3 is almost released....

5 upvotes

..I love this phone. Just moved up from a HTC Thunderbolt. My main objective was something smaller than my Kindle Fire that I could use in conjuction with the WIFISD card on my Lumix LX7. I can take my snaps, upload thru the WIFI sd card to the phone, edit on the GN2 with my various Android apps and share instanly. I also bought (2) 3100 mAh batteries and a charger from Amazon for $20.00US, so I always have ample batteries in my pocket.
..and I am very pleased with the GN2's camera abilities as well. To all the naysayers out there,.. find something better,..go buy it.

0 upvotes

The Galaxy Note 2 uses a quad-core Exynos processor clocked at 1.6GHz, not a dual core processor as stated, just to clarify, thanks!

3 upvotes

Can we have some comments about the display? AMOLED screens have been notoriously bad when it comes to colour accuracy. Is this better than usual? How does it compare to IPS displays?

3 upvotes

If you want a color-neutral screen probably none of the current phones is for you. The Note II's certainly displays colors in a very vibrant fashion..but then that's not much of an issue, as the images captured by the camera are very vibrant too. The question becomes more relevant if you want to display images that have been shot with another camera on your phone. We'll look into ways of testing that in the future.

1 upvote

Galaxy S3 has "Screen Mode" where one can choose:
"dynamic", "default", "natural" or "film"

1 upvote

The Note II has those too but as far as I am aware there is currently no way of calibrating a phone screen.

1 upvote

Lars if you want a colour neutral screen on a mobile you go for the iPhone which has a IPS panel and then colour calibrate it with the Datacolor Syder 3 or 4 using the free iPhone app they make.

3 upvotes

This only works for sRG images viewed in the Spyder app though, not for any other apps or images with other profiles. It's far from ideal.

http://regex.info/blog/2012-03-27/1964

3 upvotes

You can calibrate your screen if you unlock and root your phone.
Its tuff to do but can be done

0 upvotes

Got a link for that?

0 upvotes

color calibration for note2:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1927852

0 upvotes

The note I is already at the dumps X 150,000.

1 upvote

I love my Note 2. I don't use the camera all that much, but it strikes me as decent for a cell phone (I don't have huge expectations), and it's always with me.

The Note 2 will accept a 64GB micro SD card. It's easy to load photos taken with a better camera, and the big screen provides a great way to show them to family and friends.

1 upvote

The Bad lists: "No physical shutter button" twice. That must mean it's really bad. ;)

Comment edited 31 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

thanks, corrected

0 upvotes

You can also trigger the shutter when you plugin your headphones and use the volumebutton on them to take photos with. It works very well as a cabletrigger.

0 upvotes

Note 2 is a fantastic smartphone.
The first one I'm really happy with.

Screen is gorgeous, it's extremely fast and it's bettery lasts very long (for a smartphone).

2 upvotes

How long does yours last? Mine does not last more than 1.5 days even with little action- generally a work day gets it to the yellow zone after it is fully charged. To last longer I need to turn off wifi, gps and bluetooth. I'd be interested to hear how long other people's Note 2 lasts.

Comment edited 46 seconds after posting

1 upvote

you can root and install a custom kernel that permits adjustment of power/cpu/gpu/etc and then undervolt. your battery can last longer. or you can use a higher-rated battery.

1 upvote

Thanks, I'll have to give that one a read.

0 upvotes

It lasts depending on how heavily I'm using it, but generally a lot longer than smartphones I had before (iphone 3G, HTC Desire and Samsung Note 1).

It last me 2-3 days of heavy use, about 7-8h screen on time and 1-2hrs talk/day + 2hrs browsing/day, using GPS with Endomondo etc...

0 upvotes

One of your negatives is that there is no physical shutter button. There actually is a way to use a physical button (volume button) as the shutter, by adjusting the settings. In camera mode, go to Settings > Use volume key as > The camera key. Thought you might want to know.

Comment edited 49 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

That is true, I'll modify this comment. By default the volume rockers control the zoom in the camera app though, so it would be nice to have a dedicated shutter button, like on the Lumia 920. On the Nokia, this also brings up the camera app when you press this button.

2 upvotes

DP Review. It makes sense to launch a DPReview mobile site, provided you are able to keep some of your key qualities. One of those is sharing a format among the reviews. Having checked this review out I looked into the Nokia Lumia 920, but unless I'm mistaken it follows an entirely different layout, sections are different, making comparison difficult. You want to have a large audience I suggest you get your review format aligned so that I can tell all reviews are off the same site. In addition, comparisons with various mobile phones within the article would provide some value as well. Good luck.

2 upvotes

The Note II's camera module is as good as identical to the S3's. Check the S3 review for comparison with various other devices.

2 upvotes

Agreed. I'm completely loss on this site. The reviews on this site are all over the place since the two Nokia 920 articles.

Dp should at least shoot the test scene for every phone.

0 upvotes

Are you serious? Really? Are you the same of DPreview or are you stealing only the name?
It takes bravery to call this "camera review".
Even I could do this "camera review".

Please be serious and start doing cameraphone reviews at the level I can see on your mother site (?) and for wich I know you are able to.

3 upvotes

Take a breather please. Firstly, this is a phone review focusing on the camera capabilities of the device but this being a smartphone we are obviously looking at other factors too.
Secondly, the Note II's imaging components are as good as identical as the Galaxy S3's which is why we link to the relevant sections in the S3 review. No need to say the same thing twice.
Thirdly, we still have a DxO data report in the pipeline for this device which we will add in the near future, so if you prefer to look at diagrams over images, that should satisfy your needs.

3 upvotes

"Firstly, this is a phone review focusing on the camera capabilities of the device but this being a smartphone we are obviously looking at other factors too."

Then why weren't any of those "other factors" included in the Pros/Cons section of your review?

And why is DPR reviewing a cell phone that's been out now for over 5 months, and has already sold tens of millions of units? The GS Note II is an unqualified as well as a qualified success, hands down. This "review" would have been far more useful 4 1/2 months ago.

Once again, late to the party, and nothing really useful given to really help inform the consumer.

1 upvote

Agree, also seems to me DPR is looking for anything loosely allied to photography to pad out the site at the expense of core DP tests. Even peddling stuff from other sites which I don't understand, as product lifecycles get ever shorter there must be more to publish?

2 upvotes

+1. They need to call this place dp blog or something, because its lack of uniform testing is getting annoying. They need to backdate to the Nokia 920 and start shooting their test scene on every phone since then.

2 upvotes

Love the HDR very easy to use. Great screen size for showing photos.

1 upvote

Total comments: 81

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