This is the best look at the Galaxy S9’s variable aperture you’ll ever get

I think most of us would agree that Samsung’s claim that the Galaxy S9 “reinvents” the smartphone camera is some major hyperbole. But for now the S9 stands alone as the only flagship with a variable aperture camera, so the new feature is getting a lot of interest. We already covered a teardown from iFixit, but another posted today by Jerry Rig Everything gives a much closer look at the mechanics of those aperture blades.

Once Zack pries open the S9 and gets down to the camera unit, he finds the actual lever that controls the blades that allow Samsung’s latest smartphone to switch from its default f/2.4 aperture to a best-in-class f/1.5 in low-light conditions. The phone analyzes the scene, picks the best aperture for your situation, and electronically tells that switch to open or close down the blades depending on which it picks chooses. There’s just something about getting a close-up view of the inner workings of this system that’s way cooler than merely seeing the aperture switch back and forth on a regular, assembled Galaxy S9.

Earlier today Vlad published a comparison between the S9 and Pixel 2, which is still regarded as the best overall smartphone camera around (for stills). But the S9 can best it in some circumstances, which is significant improvement over where Samsung stood in 2017 when pitted against the original Pixel.