Samsung Galaxy Note V Mobile review: ‘Phabulous’ mobile image quality

Billed as a ‘Phablet’ – a phone/tablet hybrid – Samsung Galaxy Note devices have been very popular with consumers looking for an all-in-one solution. Launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus smart phone, the new Galaxy Note V is a very similar proposition but aimed towards a different type of user. Like its sibling the Note V scores a very high 85 DxOMark Mobile score. For almost all criteria the Note V achieves very high performance, very close to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

Photo

Auto HDR records all the tones

For contrast and exposure the Galaxy Note V achieves good results both in good and low light environments. In very strong light some of the brightest highlights tend to become over exposed but the Note V’s HDR mode, which is triggered automatically in such scenarios, does a good job of bringing details at both ends of the tonal range.

Color pleasant in almost all conditions

As the Galaxy S6 Edge +, Generally colors are pleasant in all lighting conditions too, although better, as you’d expect, in good daylight with some color shading visible when shooting indoors under a tungsten light source.

Some of the finest detail we’ve seen to date

Detail preservation from Samsung’s latest devices is some of the finest we’ve seen although, as also noted on the S6 Edge Plus review, noise becomes visible in areas of blocked color such as a sky, even shooting in good light.

Great autofocus but…

Autofocus performance is very commendable, with generally fast and accurate performance under all but the weakest light sources. That said we did record some inaccuracies and out of focus shots specifically when using the Note V’s Macro mode.

Respectable Flash performance

The LED flash produces a burst of light that’s nicely centred in the frame and although there’s some light attenuation when using flash as the only light source, it’s respectable. Detail preservation also remains strong when using flash, but again a build up of noise is visible and especially in the corner of the frame. Finally when mixing flash with a tungsten light source white balance turns yellow. 

Video

Great videos for all lighting condition

Shooting video on the Galaxy Note V, exposures are excellent in both lighting conditions, achieving a Bright Light score of 92 (out of 100) and Low Light score of 82. Dynamic range is well controlled too, with nicely preserved detail in both the brighter and darker parts of the video.

Overall video color rendering and white balance are good, with the exception of slightly dull color in low light, and white balance is a little slow to adapt when changing scene.

There’s also a visible loss of detail in videos shot under low light conditions, as well as a build up of low frequency luminance noise, especially around the edges.

Autofocus performance is good in video mode with accurate tracking in most cases, except when changing scene where autofocus is a little slow to trigger. Stabilisation is also good in bright lighting conditions with some minor jitter artifacts noticeable on indoor walking motion.