How good is the under-display camera really?

With the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung has presented the latest generation of the foldable smartphone. A test device was made available to us before the market launch and we took a closer look at the cell phone’s sub-display camera.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3: sub-display camera in detail

The biggest advantage of an under-display camera is supposed to be that you can no longer see the sensor. Exactly that is not the case with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. Especially in situations where a white background is used, it is now not a hole for the front camera that can be clearly seen, but one A network of pixels that catches the eye.

I personally find this solution from Samsung to be more annoying than just a hole in the screen. That’s why I recommend everyone to activate dark mode. If the background is dark, the front camera is no longer noticeable. This is the disadvantage if a display is installed above the camera, on which of course active pixels also work.

What is the image quality of the sub-display camera?

Samsung has built so many cameras into the foldable Galaxy Z Fold 3 that you don’t actually have to use the under-display camera with 4 MP if you don’t want to. Instead, you can access the 10 MP camera in the external display or the 12 MP main camera by using the external display as a viewfinder. That’s exactly what we did and Take a selfie with each of the cameras:

Although the lighting right next to the window is actually optimal, the quality of the photo with the sub-display camera is visibly poorer than the other photos. It’s lighter, rather fuzzy and the colors look quite pale.

In comparison, the regular front camera in the external display of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 creates a much more natural picture. There is no lack of sharpness here. Personally, I like it best of the three pictures.

The 12 MP main camera on the back of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 should actually take the best selfie. In the photo you get a lot more depth, because the sensor is of course considerably larger, but the colors look a little more unnatural and darker. Yes, I tanned a bit during the last sunny days in the garden, but I didn’t get that tan. The background also looks a bit strange with the shadows, which are actually not that dark and discolored.

in the Video we show you all the details about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3:

Don’t trust the camera app preview

What I immediately noticed when using it: The software reworks the photo very heavily for the final result of the front camera. What you see in the viewfinder does not have to correspond to the final result, which the Samsung mobile phone then saves. The difference is particularly noticeable in difficult lighting conditions. If you click on the gallery fast enough, you can even see how the photo is post-processed.

This process is not new. However, it is very noticeable in the under-display camera of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. With the Pixel 5, I can also observe this process very nicely. There the completion takes a little longer due to the weaker processor, so that you can really see how the software makes the picture beautiful.

Is the under-display camera on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 unusable?

Under no circumstance. You should just avoid taking selfies in too dark surroundings and with a lot of backlighting. Then the sub-display camera fails due to the construction. Here you should then reach directly to the front camera of the external displayto get a decent result. If the lighting conditions are right, the pictures are good enough and the picture quality is sufficient for video calls. But I wouldn’t have used the sub-display camera.