Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs. LG V30: quick camera comparison

Samsung's such a huge player in the mobile space that all too often we see companies being accused of playing copycat to its actions. And while the smartphone manufacturer's been a leader plenty of times in the past, right now we're witnessing Samsung itself acting as the company catching up to others, as it finally embraces dual-camera hardware with the new Galaxy Note 8 flagship.

Does being a latecomer to this trend mean that Samsung's had more time than everyone else to get its hardware and software right? Considering how successful it's been with single cameras on phones like the Galaxy S8, it's easy to take for granted that doubling up on camera hardware could be an easy path towards supercharging the new phablet's image-taking experience. And seeing the way it's hitting the ground running with dual 12MP sensors, each supporting optical stabilization, the Note 8 certainly sounds on paper like a really strong contender.

But Samsung's not the only company with a new high-profile dual-camera phone, and this week at IFA 2017 we got to see LG go official with its own such device, the V30. Coming from an exceptionally well-renowned family of dual-camera phones, it seems more like a foregone conclusion that we're going to get some fantastic images out of the V30's sensors: a 16MP standard camera, and a 13MP wide-angle camera.

We're going to be spending a lot more time with the cameras on both these phones as we put the handsets through our full review workup, but with both of them on-hand here in Berlin we absolutely had to put them side-by-side and give you a quick early look at what you can expect from each.