Samsung’s New Triple-Lens Smartphone Is Surprisingly Affordable

Samsung has confirmed the existence of a new smartphone with not one, not two, but three rear-facing cameras. Surprise, surprise; it’s not the Galaxy S10 – and normal people will be able to afford it.

The Samsung Galaxy A7 a a mid-range Android phone with a seriously cool trick up its sleeve. Defying industry convention, Samsung is debuting its first-ever triple lens camera on this phone. (Normally, flagship handsets get all the cool stuff first before trickling down to cheaper models.)

This is obviously good news for keen smartphone photographers who don’t have $2000+ to burn on their hobby. So what makes the A7’s camera so special?

As you can see from the above image, the Samsung Galaxy A7 packs no fewer than three lenses into the rear chassis in a vertical alignment. It consists of an 8-megapixel 120° ultra wide-angle lens, a “depth” camera with a 5-megapixel sensor and a 24-megapixel snapper boasting super-zippy live focus. Similar to the iPhone XS, you can use the triple lens arrangement to create stunning ‘bokeh’ effects, with the ability to blur the background behind a subject on the fly.

Naturally, there’s also a front camera which comes with a selfie-friendly 24-megapixel sensor. Samsung’s intelligent Scene Optimiser – which debuted on the Samsung Galaxy S9 – is also back for another go around. It’s basically an artificial intelligence-fuelled software tool that automatically adjusts colour, contrast and brightness to suit the subject and conditions at hand.

For the uninitiated among you, triple-lens phone cameras are not a gimmick, as the Huawei P20 Pro proved with its overall DxOMark score of 109 points – the highest mark ever at the time. They’re capable of producing extremely high levels of detail in photos and also improve low-light performance. In short, it provides more scope and creativity to the photographer.

Otherwise, the specs are slightly better than average for a mid-range smartphone – there’s a 6-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Display with a native resolution of 2220×1080 pixels, a 2.2GHz octa-core processor, between 4GB and 6GB of RAM, a 33000mAh battery and up to 128GB of onboard storage. It will come in a choice of four colours: blue, black, gold and pink.

There’s currently no word on Australian pricing and availability but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything official. One thing’s for sure: the price tag will be nowhere near the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or Apple iPhone XS.

If you care about phone photography (and care equally about having money in your pocket) the Samsung Galaxy A7 could be the phone to get.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/04/which-flagship-smartphone-has-the-best-camera/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/03/Phone-Cameras-410×231.jpg” title=”Phone Camera Showdown: Apple Vs Samsung Vs Google” excerpt=”When you’re paying top dollar for a smartphone, you obviously want it to have the best camera on the market. Otherwise you might as well be buying a mid-range model.

Most flagship handsets now come with dual lenses, night-friendly sensors and advanced stabilisation software which means virtually anyone can take stunning photos and videos. But which smartphone is best? Watch these comparison videos from YouTube’s technology experts and judge for yourself.”]


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