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Blind camera shootout: LG V30 vs iPhone 8 Plus vs Galaxy Note 8

by Milen Yanachkov / Oct 24, 2017, 4:41 AM

Blind camera shootout: LG V30 vs iPhone 8 Plus vs Galaxy Note 8

This is it guys, we are finally doing it! By popular demand from readers, we are pitting the brand new LG V30 against two of the best smartphone cameras on the market right now – the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus! What took us? Well, we had a ton of other stuff to do with our V30 units before we could get to this comparison. But it's happening and that's all that matters right now. Also, again by popular demand, we are doing a blind shootout! That's right! No scores and no long-winded analyses of photos (I'll save that for when the results are announced, thank you very much). It's you, our readers, who have the say here!

The Galaxy Note 8 has already established itself as a sharpshooter, especially in low-light, while the iPhone 8 Plus touts a robust portrait mode and advanced image processing capabilities, courtesy of its A11 Bionic chip. But what about the LG V30? Shunning away from the trend of implementing a telephoto lens alongside its main shooter, the V30 instead goes the opposite direction with an ultra-wide angle second camera. Before the V30 came out, LG boasted about the new f/1.6 aperture—the "widest" ever implemented in a smartphone—and although in the end it did not amount to much, we would remiss not to take LG's latest flagship out on a photo stroll. So, can it compete with the best of the best? And who has the edge between the Note 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus? Well, you tell us!

Disclaimer: The phones have been shuffled for each scene.

Shooting against the sun

(exposure range)

Expand gallery for large images and crops

Which photo do you like the most?

LG V30

4.29%

Galaxy Note 8

40.01%

iPhone 8 Plus

55.7%

Mural

(color and detail)

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Which photo do you like the most?

LG V30

52.69%

Galaxy Note 8

13.85%

iPhone 8 Plus

33.46%

Daylight #1

(color and exposure)

Expand gallery for large images and crops

Which photo do you like the most?

LG V30

42.12%

Galaxy Note 8

21.18%

iPhone 8 Plus

36.7%

Daylight #2

(color and exposure)

Expand gallery for large images and crops

Which photo do you like the most?

LG V30

33.98%

Galaxy Note 8

6.7%

iPhone 8 Plus

59.32%

Portrait #1

(color and dynamic range)

All three phones shot in HDR

For this scene, I wasn't able to perfectly match the framing of each shot, because the day was cloudy and the light was constantly changing. I had to take some time between the shots, waiting for what little sun there was to peek between the clouds, so I could try to replicate the same scene across all three devices.

Expand gallery for large images and crops

Which photo do you like the most?

iPhone 8 Plus

90.11%

Galaxy Note 8

9.1%

LG V30

0.8%

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55 Comments

1. Arch_Fiend

Posts: 3951; Member since: Oct 03, 2015

Very nice selection of photos of different lighting and distances.

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 4:51 AM 13

2. worldpeace

Posts: 3135; Member since: Apr 15, 2016

Right, It's much better than the last blindtest. Better place and better looking model. Sunset (backlit) scene is obvious and someone still choose underexposed picture :v selfie and low-light show that one camera prefer cooler temperature, one camera warmer, and one normal

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 5:04 AM 8

4. Well-Manicured-Man

Posts: 727; Member since: Jun 16, 2015

The cameras behave completely different when it comes to color temperature and exposure especially visible in low light. Look at the last two pictures. One camera is entirely on cold temperature. In the last picture, for this camera, one cannot even see the stars anymore in the picture because of the unnatural blueish sky. Sure, it is all about personal taste but this camera is ignoring a very important part of the scene. Certainly not my taste. But that is all software related. Hardware-wise all cameras could achieve very similar results.

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 5:23 AM 4

20. Victor.H

Posts: 1104; Member since: May 27, 2011

What do you mean "a better looking model"?! :)

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 7:25 AM 13

22. Zylam

Posts: 1823; Member since: Oct 20, 2010

LOL checky Victor!

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 7:31 AM 1

28. worldpeace

Posts: 3135; Member since: Apr 15, 2016

Umm.. It's just I prefer female, that's it :v

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 9:00 AM 1

11. Cicero

Posts: 1157; Member since: Jan 22, 2014

Veliko Tarnovo Bulgaria and the Tsar Church is on that pictures. Guys, show to the people pictures feom inside the church. Neo impresionism of religious paints. I'm a tourist from Romania which usually spend weekends on Veliko. Nice!

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 6:26 AM 2

33. Milen_Y

Posts: 116; Member since: Jun 09, 2016

Good catch! There's also the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos visible in a couple of photos (Sunset and Low-light #2).

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 9:57 AM 1

12. piyath

Posts: 2445; Member since: Mar 23, 2012

Yes but results will be a complete mix bag...

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 6:27 AM 0

37. combatmedic870

Posts: 987; Member since: Sep 02, 2015

What a hotty

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 10:20 AM 0

47. Skimshaddy

Posts: 126; Member since: Feb 23, 2016

Low light #2 photos captured some UFOs

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 1:31 PM 0

3. Furkan

Posts: 552; Member since: Feb 25, 2017

LG's front camera is very bad(!) Lol. As you see. It is good Note 8 isnt natural. Bluish(like S7,S8 - so manual camera is better) i8 is yellowish(manual is better)

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 5:13 AM 1

5. Arch_Fiend

Posts: 3951; Member since: Oct 03, 2015

Yes gosick they all have color problems.

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 5:33 AM 0

7. Furkan

Posts: 552; Member since: Feb 25, 2017

V30 doesnt have

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 6:15 AM 0

19. Arch_Fiend

Posts: 3951; Member since: Oct 03, 2015

Really? They all look a little weird to me.

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 7:16 AM 0

36. Furkan

Posts: 552; Member since: Feb 25, 2017

lol i forgot reading the disclaimer Never mind this comment

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 10:13 AM 0

39. L0n3n1nja

Posts: 1603; Member since: Jul 12, 2016

My Note 5 and S7 take yellowish photos while the G4 I've used and compared to took blueish photos.

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 10:58 AM 0

6. grk007

Posts: 21; Member since: Mar 15, 2013

Make a Blind camera shootout including pixel 2 and Mate 10 pro with all top flagships. Lets put DXO mark into test :)

posted on Oct 24, 2017, 5:45 AM 2

8. Well-Manicured-Man

Posts: 727; Member since: Jun 16, 2015

I 2nd that. As stated above, I think it is more or less about software when explaining the differences in image quality between the flagships. Especially Google’s HDR+ should be part of this contest.