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How good is the Galaxy S8 camera? See for yourself

Indoors, outdoors, low light. Get a feel for the kinds of photos Samsung's S8 flagship can take.

Jessica Dolcourt
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Jessica Dolcourt
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1 of 30 Josh Miller/CNET

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 12-megapixel camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing selfie cam.

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2 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

I took photos of everything, and pulled some of the best from my adventures with the Galaxy S8 so far.

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3 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

The photos in this collection are unedited and don't use filters; I wanted to show you what the camera could do all on its own.

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4 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

The S8 and S8 Plus have tons of filters you can apply, and stickers that are straight outta Snapchat.

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5 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Enjoy these photos; I'll pipe up again to explain a thing or two.

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6 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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7 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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8 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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9 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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10 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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11 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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12 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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13 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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14 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Testing out the selfie camera's autofocus on a blah kind of day.

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15 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Another day, another focus test.

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16 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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17 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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18 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

I shot this on a carousel moving both up and down and around. I'm impressed that the image in the mirror is as clear as it is.

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19 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Not bad considering the motion of the bumper cars.

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20 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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21 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

It's a fried potato, since you're wondering, pulled out like an accordion. It tastes like flavorless potato chips until you season it yourself.

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22 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

I took this from the bottom up, which is why it isn't as bright as it could be. I'd want to use editing tools to bring out the color.

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23 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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24 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Taken inside a laser tag room. The camera struggled focusing on faces, but handled the coil like a pro.

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25 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Lots of low-light shots of adult beverages. It was extremely dark in here, so the visual noise is expected.

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26 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Still, these are good enough to share on social networks or by texting.

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27 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
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28 of 30 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Reiterating how laser tag pushed the camera to its limit. The subject was posing, not moving, but is still indistinct, not sharply in focus.

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29 of 30 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Here's the camera responsible for the shots. It's nice and flush with the phone.

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30 of 30 Josh Miller/CNET

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