Face-off: which smartphone takes the best photos - Samsung Galaxy S8+ or Huawei P10 Plus? Our photo editor’s verdict

Photo editor tries out two top-of-the-range smartphones in daylight, taking a backlit shot and in low light to determine which one is the best camera phone

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The Huawei 10 Plus smartphone (left) and the Samsung S8+ smartphone.

Published: 4:47pm, 1 Jun 2017Updated: 5:27pm, 1 Jun 2017

Samsung officially released its new Galaxy S8 phones in Hong Kong in May and reviewers have been smitten not only by its super slick design but impressive processing power. Both the S8 and S8+ also boast top-end camera specs, a slight upgrade from those of the S7 series.

But how does the S8+ stack up against the Huawei P10 Plus when it comes to smartphone photography? We crowned the P10, its smaller (and cheaper) sister, the best camera phone in a comparison with two other top-of-the range models, the LG G6 and Sony Xperia XZs, in April.

Once again, we have asked South China Morning Post photo editor for Culture and Lifestyle Antony Dickson to test out the rear cameras on the two handsets. For testing, we used loan units provided by the brands; Dickson shot in auto mode with resolution set to the highest in broad daylight, as well as in low light conditions with no flash. Here are his observations and verdict.

Daylight images:

In general, the Huawei tended to capture slightly more information, or have a greater dynamic range, producing a slightly more gentle graduation from the highlights to the shadows - meaning more details in the darker parts of the images as well as well as the lighter parts - than the Samsung. But there is more to good image quality than a simple histogram.