Tech

Camera shootout: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro Plus – Android Authority

Published

4 years ago

February 7, 2021

55 minutes ago

Credit: David Imel / Android Authority

When it comes to photography, Samsung’s latest Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus are unchanged from last year’s Galaxy S20. But that doesn’t mean the company doesn’t have anything exciting to offer the more demanding shutterbugs out there in 2021.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra — Samsung’s ultra-premium flagship this year — comes packing four rear cameras, a laser autofocusing system, and up to 10x optical zoom. The phone also boasts an updated 108MP main sensor that promises to fix a few issues from last year’s Galaxy S20 Ultra. It’s a cutting edge piece of mobile photography hardware that wants to challenge the very best camera phones.

To see how much of an upgrade is on offer for $1,199, we’ve pitted the Galaxy S21 Ultra against one of last year’s ultra-premium powerhouses of photography — the Huawei P40 Pro Plus.

Our verdicts: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review | Huawei P40 Pro Plus review

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro Plus: Camera specs

	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra	Huawei P40 Pro Plus
Main sensor	108MP resolution 1/1.33″ sensor f/1.8 aperture PDAF, OIS 26mm focal length	50MP resolution 1/1.28″ sensor (RYYB) f/1.9 aperture omnidirectional PDAF, OIS 23mm focal length
Wide-angle lens	12MP resolution 1/2.55″ sensor f/2.2 aperture dual pixel PDAF 13mm focal length	40MP resolution 1/1.54″ sensor f/1.8 aperture PDAF 18mm focal length
Zoom lens 1	10MP resolution 1/3.24″ sensor f/2.4 aperture dual pixel PDAF, OIS 70mm focal length 3x telephoto zoom	8MP resolution RYYB sensor f/2.4 aperture PDAF, OIS 80mm focal length 3x telephoto zoom
Zoom lens 2	10MP resolution 1/3.24″ sensor f/4.9 aperture dual pixel PDAF, OIS 240mm focal length 10x periscope zoom	8MP resolution f/4.4 aperture PDAF, OIS 240mm focal length 10x optical zoom
Other lens	Laser autofocus system	Time-of-flight 3D laser depth sensor

Before we dive into a selection of sample shots, let’s recap how the handsets compare on paper.

Despite a wide range of different components, the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Huawei P40 Pro Plus offer similar solutions to common mobile photography problems.

Can Huawei’s RYYB color filter beat Samsung’s ISCOCELL approach?

Both feature large, high-resolution main sensors designed to capture as much light as possible. Testing will tell whether Huawei’s RYYB color filter versus Samsung’s ISCOCELL approach produces the best results. Samsung offers a wider field-of-view with its wide-angle camera, but Huawei provides a much bigger sensor and higher resolution, which will likely produce enhanced detail.

There’s a fair bit of familiarity when it comes to zoom capabilities too. The two handsets use 3x telephoto and 10x periscope zoom cameras to cater to shorter and long-range distances. This dual-camera approach should solve the quality gap that occurs with a single zoom camera. What may well separate these small sensors and narrow apertures is how well they capture detail in lower light scenarios.

Without further delay, let’s get into the images.

Daylight smorgasbord

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

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Huawei P40 Pro Plus

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Both handsets produce very high quality looking images from their main sensor at full-frame. Samsung offers a little extra saturation, but it’s less jarring than in previous years. The phone also has a cooler color palette in some of its pictures. The company’s HDR implementation produces particularly excellent results with brightly lit backgrounds. Huawei’s images come out a little darker and warmer (the occasional red tint still remains) but overall both offer solid exposure and white balance in these daylight pictures.

Diving deeper into some 100% crops might reveal some more meaningful differences.

Photography terms explained: ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and more

Details are great on both phones. You can see this in the texturing on these fake flower petals. There is some softness and a haloing effect around edges outside of the main focal point in Samsung’s picture. This could be an artifact from HDR processing or multi-frame image stitching, but it’s quite hard to tell. Fortunately, the effect is small enough that you can’t see it in the full-frame image. At the same time, Huawei dials up the color saturation a little too much here, leaving the Galaxy S21 Ultra looking a tad more realistic.

While there’s a color balance difference to this full-frame shot (the Galaxy S21 Ultra ending up cooler than the Huawei P40 Pro Plus), the color processing for the subject is essentially identical — both are excellent. Fine details are also virtually indistinguishable. Although very close inspection of the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s shot hints at a slight more reliance on post-processing to clean up the image. This is particularly noticeable with the sharpening in the trees. This more artificial look may also be an artifact of the sensor’s nona-binning technology, which converts the 108MP sensor into brighter 12MP outputs. Again though, you’ll only notice this difference when peeking at these 100% crops.

With darker shadows and tougher to discern details, both phones have their pros and cons. Pay very close attention to the textured greys and shadow details, which look a lot noisier in Samsung’s photo. However, the Galaxy handset manages to extract some of the rivets on the steel pillars which are completely absent from Huawei’s more heavily denoised, darker photo. However, the S21 Ultra also has a few problems with highlight exposure, which are blurry for some reason. This may be a result of the company’s HDR implementation.

Similar differences in detail are observed when closing in on this portrait shot. Samsung is clearly a little heavier on the processing here, with a notable sharpening pass visible on hair and skin lines. At the same time, the S21 Ultra applies more smoothing to face textures. Huawei’s image is definitely softer and a little blurry, but the details and skin textures look more natural on this close inspection. An interesting difference here is that Samsung opts for a much stronger blur while Huawei’s is more subtle.

Again it’s down to very small differences when shooting in decent lighting. Both phones offer good edge detection for the portrait shot, thanks to assistance from laser focusing sensors. All four of these images end up with solid colors, and dynamic range regardless of which handset they were shot with. The most obvious difference is their color balance and Huawei’s tendency to underexpose a little. Although we could equally say that Samsung overexposes just as often. The correct balance is somewhere between these phones.

Wide-angles

Both phones take good looking daylight pictures with their wide-angle camera. Importantly, processing capabilities appear to be a match between the wide and main sensors on both phones. Although Huawei’s wide-angle doesn’t seem to inherit the red tint issue we sometimes see with the main RYYB sensor. The P40 Pro Plus also takes wide-angle pictures in 16:9 rather than 4:3.

As we noted in the spec rundown, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra offers a wider field of view by quite a margin. You can fit a lot more in with the Ultra, but the pictures end up with more of that wide-angle “fishbowl” look. Even so, Samsung has done a good job at lens correction and keeping distortion under control. It’s a very good wide-angle camera.

Huawei’s narrower field of view provides cleaner images when cropping in. The camera offers exceptional detail that’s miles ahead of most of its rivals. While this is typically less important with wide-angle lenses, the extra quality comes in handy when the handset switches to the wide-angle lens for macro shots.

Enhanced zoom

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

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Huawei P40 Pro Plus

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Both of these smartphones offer optical zoom quality at 3x and 10x. You’ll struggle to pick out any major differences between the phones at 3x. The two offer good exposure, colors, and white balance at this range.

Moving on to 10x. the Huawei P40 Pro Plus struggles with exposure in the shot above, despite both using a periscope camera design. The small sensors, narrow apertures, and multiple mirrors found in periscope camera designs can cause light detection issues, which most likely explains this underexposure. This small issue isn’t limited to the P40 Pro Plus, however. The Galaxy S20 Ultra comes out slightly darker at 10x in the show below. Although it’s nowhere near as noticeable as the first example.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

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Huawei P40 Pro Plus

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Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra and Huawei P40 Pro Plus provide extendable digital zooms out all the way to 100x. Neither phone produces good results at that long-range, with essentially no detail captured. Even at 30x, both phones appear heavily processed and also struggle to extract decent amounts of detail. The Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 30x samples retain a fraction more detail, although this comes with a heavy oversharpening pass. Huawei’s long-range zoom efforts are a little too heavy on the denoise.

Overall, both smartphones the same level of zoom flexibility thanks to their dual zoom cameras. The setup is a definite improvement over the single zoom camera options included in more affordable flagship phones. While the differences are small, Samsung ekes out a small advantage for image quality at extreme ranges.

Low light

Shooting in low light gives us a better picture of how these two large image sensors handle more challenging shooting conditions.

The snow in our low light scene reveals a lot about the phones’ color processing and white balance in the dark. Huawei’s dreaded red tint makes a resurgence here, warming up all of our snow pictures with an overly warm hue. The colors are also rather washed out as a result. Granted, you won’t see this issue as noticeable in shots with less white content in them, but it’s clearly a major issue with Huawei’s camera setup.

Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra, by comparison, hands in a much more realistic white balance. Colors and light sources also pop with the appropriate level of realism, and there’s a generally good level of dynamic range preserved in these tougher conditions.

Cropping in a little closer on our shots also reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra snags extra detail that you won’t find on the Huawei P40 Pro Plus. There’s more notable definition on the building slats and even in the snow on the ground, although Samsung’s image still has a heavily processed look when cropping into 100%. Huawei’s image isn’t lacking detail as such, but the company’s approach to denoise and color processing problems end up resulting in the loss of some fine details on very close inspection.

Just like some of the daylight shots earlier, there’s a noticeable amount of smearing and smudging in areas of Samsung’s image. Particular nearer the edges of the main camera lens, which you can spot in the tops of the trees. The perspective of this house also looks a little weird and stretched, pointing to a less than perfect lens distortion correction algorithm. Although again, this could also be due to long exposure or processing times, and/or multi-frame HDR image stitching.

In the end, both handsets perform well in low light, but it’s clear that Samsung is out in front when it comes to color processing and white balance for your full-frame image.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro camera test: The verdict

Credit: David Imel / Android Authority

As you’d expect from two ultra-premium camera smartphones with rather similar specs, the results are close. Very close. Especially when examining the photos at full-frame, as most photographers will. That said, each phone has a few identifiable pros and cons.

I’m more of a fan of Huawei’s softer, more natural-looking portrait photos and the general lack of noticeable processing artifacts. The P40 Pro Plus’ wide-angle camera is also one of the best in the business for detail. That said, the RYYB main camera still suffers from a red tint all these months later and Huawei’s photos come out too dark on occasion.

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The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is slightly more consistent with its exposure, white balance, and HDR processing than the Huawei P40 Pro Plus. That’s enough to tip the phone into the lead, despite the odd HDR blurring and overexposure problems. To its credit, the Galaxy S21 Ultra offers a much wider field of view with minimal distortion too, which is usually what customers are after from an ultra-wide lens. Most importantly, Samsung has vastly improved on the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s inconsistencies this year, with more natural colors, much-improved zoom capabilities, and more precise autofocusing from its 108MP main sensor.

We’ll be putting the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra through its paces against other great camera phones in the coming weeks. In the meantime, what do you think about the pictures taken with the S21 Ultra?

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Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

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