Up until now, the Snapdragon variants of the Samsung Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S8, and the Galaxy Note 8 could install and use the unofficial Google Camera HDR+ port to benefit from its image processing, but the Exynos variants of these devices were out of luck. This changes today, as the unofficial Google Camera HDR+ port is now working on the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S8, and the Galaxy Note 8.
HDR+ is the set of computational photography software processing techniques that Google has used to get excellent image quality from the Pixel phones. Currently, HDR+ processing is carried out through software with the help of the Hexagon DSP found on Snapdragon chipsets. Google has opted to keep HDR+ exclusive to Nexus and Pixel devices, but the developer community ported the app to most Snapdragon 820 and Snapdragon 835 phones, subsequently adding Xiaomi device compatibility to the list. The port has been proven to improve the image quality in many cases, especially in low light.
The Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S8, and the Galaxy Note 8 all have great camera quality even when using the stock camera app, but being able to use HDR+ should result in photos with better dynamic range, colour detail and better low light image processing. The port of the Google Camera HDR+ which works on these phones is based on the official Google Camera 5.0 APK. Up till now, HDR+ has seemingly required the presence of the Hexagon DSP.
In the Reddit thread for the HDR+ port for Exynos devices, user ybadusername has posted several photos demonstrating the difference between stock camera quality on the stock Galaxy S8+ and Google Camera HDR+ on the same hardware. The user's comments on the differences in image quality are as follows:
"The Google Camera photos do show the background much brighter than the stock camera app's photos. The stock camera app's photos also have less grain and less of an oil painting look than the Google Camera app's photos. The Google Camera app's photos are more colour accurate though (much more colour accurate in those photos with the leaves). However, the Google Camera app seems to take longer to take a photo than the stock camera app. The progress bar stays on the screen for a while when taking each photo. The stock camera app is almost instant."
In conclusion, it seems safe to say that HDR+ processing is indeed working on the Exynos variants of the S7/S8/Note 8, even though it may not be fully optimized and even though it may not show an improvement over the stock image quality in every case.
Download Google Camera HDR+ for the Exynos Galaxy S7/S8/Note 8
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