As we’ve come to expect from Samsung, the new flagship Galaxy S5 is packed to the rafters with new and exciting features. But having been impressed by the likes of the heart-rate monitor and fingerprint sensor, the Korean company has clearly put in some work to refine a more standard feature – the rear-facing camera. The 16-megapixel offering not only takes much better photos than any previous Samsung smartphone, but also shoots 4K video, and now, courtesy of a video leaked by an early adopter in Mexico, we can properly scrutinize the device’s enhanced video-capturing capabilities.
Hitherto, only Nokia has really seized the initiative as far as smartphone photography is concerned, but we’re now seeing some of the other big-name vendors taking leaps to improve their camera tech. Sony’s Xperia Z2, which was shown off at last week’s Mobile World Congress, sports a 20-megapixel snapper with 4K support, and having been impressed with it in our hands-on, it looks as though the Galaxy S5 will give it more than a run for its money.
As you will see from the video embedded below, the detail and sharpness of the Galaxy S5’s video camera is spectacular, and although these pre-release, user-made walkthrough videos often sell a feature short, I think this particular clip does the S5’s 4K credentials a fair amount of justice.
The 3840 x 2160 clip, captured from a pretty good vantage point, gives us an idea as to how much of an improvement the Galaxy S5’s video camera is on that of its predecessor, and while some have criticized the device itself for not offering enough of an improvement on the Galaxy S4, those looking for robust photography features may well beg to differ.
The great thing about the Galaxy S5 and indeed every Galaxy smartphone is that the memory can be expanded via microSD, and if you’re looking to shoot videos in 2160p, then you’ll definitely need it. Just a few of minutes of footage will have you running well up into the GBs, so if you’re planning on picking up the Galaxy S5 for its image and video-taking credentials, then you will need to invest in a memory card with a substantial amount of real estate.
Check out the video below, although you will need to select the 2160p option to fully realize the finer details.
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