From a hardware standpoint, Samsung’s flagship smartphones are the best out there for low-light photography, and the Galaxy S10 may be even better thanks to some software tricks. The folks over at XDA Developers have discovered code in the Galaxy Note 9’s Android Pie beta camera app that hints at a dedicated camera mode for bright pictures “even in very dark conditions.” This would be similar to Google’s Night Sight and Huawei’s Night Mode feature.
As you can see in the image below, the text in the code makes for a pretty clear hint. Bright Night seems to be the new camera feature’s name, with Super Night describing just how it would work: taking multiple shots and combining them to get brighter images. Samsung’s new flagships already combine multiple shots for excellent end results in all conditions, and Bright Night is likely to add long exposure and slow shutter speeds to the mix for better low-light shots. Think of it as an automated Pro mode, as it would adjust the necessary camera parameters on its own instead of putting the onus on the user.
Samsung’s implementation is likely to depend mainly on long exposure times and slow shutter speed. Google’s implementation of Night Sight on Pixel phones uses machine learning and software processing, but while Samsung doesn’t have any major machine learning skills, factors like a camera sensor with F1.5 aperture should even things out.
Bright Night might someday make its way to currents flagships (Galaxy S9 and Note 9), similar to how Super Slow-mo or AR Emoji were released for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. That may take a few months, however, as Samsung is going to need the Galaxy S10 to offer as many exclusive features as possible to attract consumers.
