CAMERA SHOOTOUT: The iPhone 6 takes on the Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9

Lisa Eadicicco

Now that phones come with high-quality cameras, there’s no need to carry around a digital camera in addition to your phone.

Apple, Samsung, and HTC have all emphasized how great their phones are at taking photos. But that doesn’t mean they’re all the same in terms of camera quality.

The iPhone 6 comes with an 8-megapixel camera, while the HTC One M9 features a 20-megapixel camera and the Galaxy S6 comes with a 16-megapixel camera. During our testing, we used the iPhone 6 Plus and Galaxy S6 Edge, which both feature the same camera as the ones found in the iPhone 6 and standard Galaxy S6.

(Note: All photos were taken with the camera’s default settings in the same place at the same time. No flash or editing features were used). 

This photo taken on the rooftop of our building with the iPhone 6 Plus is sharp and clear. But you’ll notice there’s a little glare in the upper right hand corner.

This one taken with the Galaxy S6 seems a little washed out and overexposed. But it doesn’t have the same glare as the iPhone 6′s image.

This photo taken with the new HTC One is the best of the three. The colors are vibrant, it’s not overexposed, and there’s no glare.

This photo taken with the iPhone 6 is great — the lighting is perfect, and there’s no glare.

But I actually prefer this image shot with the Galaxy S6. It was a close call, but the colors looked richer to me.

The HTC One M9′s photo is way too overexposed. It’s so bright!

Here’s a close-up shot of wood chips shot with the iPhone 6.

And here’s that same photo taken with the Galaxy S6. They’re both great photos.

This round goes to HTC, though. The lighting is better and the brown coloring is much more vibrant than in the previous photos.

Here’s a shot of two bananas taken with the iPhone 6. It’s the best photo in my opinion: the color seems accurate and it’s detailed.

Now here’s how the Galaxy S6 fared. The color is more lively than the iPhone’s photo, but it doesn’t seem as detailed. I also think the color is more accurate in the iPhone’s picture.

The HTC One M9′s photo is good, but it’s a little washed out. It’s the same problem as the rooftop photo from the second photo batch.

The iPhone 6 takes great low-light pictures. In a dim setting, you can still see the subject’s face and details.

The Galaxy S6 takes much better low-light photos than Samsung’s previous phones. The lighting is more even here than in the iPhone’s photo, but this round goes to the iPhone since it’s a bit sharper.

The HTC One’s camera took poor photos in dim conditions. Half of the subject’s face is covered in darkness.

This photo taken with the iPhone 6 is the best of the bunch, mostly because the lighting is good and the colors look natural.

The Galaxy S6′s photo is a bit yellowish due to the lighting.

This photo taken with the HTC One is the darkest and blurriest of the bunch.

The iPhone 6 also wins this round, but it was a really difficult choice. Both the iPhone and Samsung’s phone took photos that were sharp, clear, and colorful.

But, when I zoomed in on both photos, I noticed the iPhone was slightly more detailed. This is still an excellent photo from the S6, though.

The HTC M9′s photo is darker and out of focus.

The overall winner? The iPhone 6. It took the best photos overall, especially indoors and in low light. The Galaxy S6 was also quite good, coming in very close to the iPhone in most settings. The HTC did spectacularly well in a couple of outdoor settings, but overall seemed to have problems with exposure.

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