Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S7’s Selfie Camera and all its new features
The 5-megapixel front-facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will be an important feature for those who love taking selfies. We decided to take a deeper look at the camera to see what new goodies Samsung threw in.
Watch: Samsung Galaxy S7 low light camera test
Mostly everything is as you remembered on the Samsung Galaxy S6. You’ll get a myriad of standard camera options like setting white balance, being able to adjust color tones, HDR mode and the ability to shoot video at up to 2560 x 1440 resolution.
Selfie Flash and Motion Photo
New this year is a nice Selfie Flash feature that lights the display up to help illuminate your face when the lighting is great. It’ll flash bright and white, and it’s a very nice solution to the issue without having to jam more hardware into the phone.
Furthermore, the Motion Photo feature we told you about earlier is supported for selfies, too.
You snap a photo, and the phone will also attach the few seconds of video leading up to that moment. It’s a cool way to get more out of your memories, though you can’t share the “motion” part of that photo with anyone else — it’s for you and you alone.
Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge’s Beauty Mode
Beauty mode also makes its return, though Samsung has really gone balls to the walls with it. Previously it was just a softening tool to help mask some of your imperfections, but now there’s a whole new box of stuff waiting for you:
- Skin Tone: Softens your face up to hide this wrinkles.
- Spotlight: Brighten portions of your face to balance imperfect lighting.
- Slim Face: Make your face appear thinner.
- Large Eyes: Enhances your eyes to make them stand out more
- Shape Correction: Corrects the shape of faces that appear distorted.
All of these settings can be fine tuned with slider bars so you can find the perfect balance for the situation at hand. Another new feature is is a Wide Selfie Shot mode which lets you take a panoramic photo to get more background or subjects into view.
Even more Selfie features
Other familiar features are alternate shutter options so you don’t have to touch the display or a button to capture the image. There’s your standard timer, of course, but you can also say “Cheese” or “Shoot,” wave at the camera, and even use the device’s heart rate sensor to capture the photo.
If Selfies are important to you it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge won’t be lacking in that department at all. Be sure to check it out in more detail in the video above.