Google has announced its first mid-range Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, and these phones make the Galaxy S10's nighttime photography skills look even worse. While the Pixel 3a and 3a XL have mid-range specs and single rear and front cameras, Google has equipped them with Night Sight, the software feature that lets the company's flagship Pixel phones take detailed and well-lit pictures in extremely low-light conditions. The Galaxy S10 has a dedicated Night mode in the camera now but it doesn't come close to Night Sight, and now, Google is offering the latter on phones that cost less $500.
A $400 phone's camera night mode beats the Galaxy S10's
At $400, the Pixel 3a is considerably cheaper than the Galaxy S10e, which retails for $749 in the US. Now, as an overall package, the Pixel 3a falls in the mid-range category and can't match the Galaxy S10 lineup as far as the specs and features are concerned. And being able to take great photos in the dark without having to tinker with camera settings may not be too important for everyone, but in my opinion, Samsung now has no excuse to not offer something like Night Sight to its consumers as soon as it possibly can.
Samsung probably won't be able to fully match the capabilities of Night Sight, as Google is using data from the billions of photos it has on its servers (through Google Photos and other services) to make the algorithms that power Night Sight. There's no reason Samsung can't do better, though. The Galaxy S10 camera's Night mode can make a difference in low-light conditions, but it's just a basic night mode and not truly impressive compared to what the Pixels can do with more basic camera hardware.
The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL might not do too well outside the US, but with Google now offering a flagship-grade camera on a mid-range phone and Chinese OEMs already breathing down Samsung's neck, the Korean giant needs to pick up the pace. My colleague Danny thinks the Galaxy S11 to be a flagship ‘camera' phone, but now that Google's mid-range Pixels have come into the picture (no pun intended), Samsung would do well to bring something impressive in the camera department this year itself with the Galaxy Note 10.
SamsungGalaxy S10e
SamsungGalaxy S10
