Galaxy S24 Ultra desperately needs a better camera: Galaxy S23 Ultra can no longer compete

Galaxy S24 Ultra desperately needs a better camera: Galaxy S23 Ultra can no longer compete،

You could make the argument that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has been the most feature-rich and “complete” flagship phone of 2023, and you wouldn't be wrong…

The Ultra checks all the boxes, and what's even more impressive is how well it holds up against the most recently released flagship phones at the end of the year – remember, the Galaxy S23 series came out early 2023. That's with one exception, which (I think) is the camera in this otherwise near-perfect flagship.

To be clear, I'm sure most people will be more than happy with the photos and videos that come out of the Galaxy S23 Ultraand that's because I would be happy with it too… If Samsung's flagship product existed in isolation… But that's not the case.

And it turns out that a few weeks before the official unveiling of the highly anticipated Galaxy S24 Ultra, we're getting another stark reminder of the immaturity of the photography experience on the market. Galaxy S23 The Ultra (and other latest generation consumer flagships like the iPhone 14 Pro) can be compared to China's latest flagship challenger, called the Vivo X100 Pro.

I'm also adding my iPhone 15 Pro Max to this little “comparison”, because I want to explain exactly what makes the Galaxy S23 Ultra an “immature” camera, and why Samsung should work hard to make it a more authentic and balanced camera with the new Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Next-gen Vivo

I should start by saying that I haven't taken any samples comparing the Vivo X100 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultrasince Vivo's flagship hasn't been released to the global market and hence we haven't got our hands on it yet…yet.

That being said, the sample images you're looking at come from a reliable source with an excellent track record: YouTube blogger ЧЕСТНЫЙ БЛОГ (Chestniy Blog) who has been reviewing and comparing smartphones for at least 12 years.

What was also helpful to me during this comparison was my basic understanding of the Russian language. However, looking at these images, I doubt you need to understand any language to see the huge difference in quality between them.

I'm not going to launch into a long speech about Samsung's mistakes with the Galaxy S23 Ultra's image processing (as I've done before), but it's clear we're talking about lack of detail, lack of color, overexposed highlights, and even weird artifacts like the green spot that you see in the sky in the photo. with the bridge.

Now is this something new for the photos that come out of the Galaxy S23 Ultra? Not really. But as an owner of the phone since its launch, I have to say that I don't remember the Galaxy S23 Ultra I'm having just as much trouble keeping up with the competition, and I think I may have an idea why that's the case.

By placing Samsung's nearly year-old flagship next to a next-generation camera phone like the Vivo X100 Pro, it's easier than ever to see how well the photography team Samsung must catch up with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Vivo

Usually with camera comparisons like the ones we do all year and the ones I do myself with my iPhone 15 Pro Max, Galaxy S23 Ultraand Pixel 8 Pro, one phone's camera would perform better than another phone's, and things would wobble a bit, making it hard to say which phone has “better overall”, rather than to depend on your needs.

What particularly strikes me is that most of the images in the comparison (you can look at the full video here) follow Vivo's path regardless of the camera used to take the photo (except for a few Portrait mode shots taken with the zoom lenses).

Here, Vivo's larger sensors across the board, top-notch HDR, and special Zeiss lens coating seem to pay off immensely.

Whether you shoot with the main camera, zoom, or ultra-wide, the Vivo X100's sample photos look sharper and handle dynamic range noticeably better than those on the Vivo X100. Galaxy S23 Ultra.

However, it was the 10x zoom photos that surprised me the most, since the Vivo flagship has a 4.3x periscope camera compared to Samsung's 10x snapper. Clearly, Vivo is using clever image processing, per-sensor cropping, and (to my eyes) even AI tricks to make 10x zoom photos taken with the X100 Pro look more “stitched together” than those taken with the X100 Pro. Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x lens.

My iPhone 15 Pro Max (also) takes sharper photos than my Galaxy S23 Ultra (day and night)

Comparing photos taken with my Galaxy S23 Ultra and my iPhone 15 Pro Max seems to show similar issues with Samsung's image processing at night. These samples are taken with Night mode enabled.

The green tint and artifacts seen in the Vivo X100 Pro comparison are present in the 1x photos I took with my Galaxy S23 Ultra Additionally, while long-range zoom at night is where the S23 Ultra really struggles to maintain proper exposure and colors. Somewhat surprisingly, the iPhone's 5x camera is sharper and much more precise here. Keep in mind that both phones were on their latest software update when the samples were taken – the zoom shots are taken on the latest One UI 6 for the S23 Ultra and iOS. 17.2 for the iPhone, which did a good job improving the focus of zoomed photos for the iPhone.

Overall, I found the iPhone's camera to be significantly more reliable at night, with one exception: photos taken without Night mode, where the two are tied or the Galaxy takes a slight lead. head (in total darkness). But again, it is by activating Night mode that the iPhone produces the sharpest and most precise photos (even compared to the Pixel 8 Proin case you were wondering).

Apple has seriously stepped up its Night mode game this year. The iPhone 15 Pro Max now leads the pack in a category that Google once dominated (alongside Huawei). I guess the iPhone really does it “later but better” sometimes?

Can the Galaxy S24 Ultra update Samsung's camera game and (at least) match the iPhone 15 Pro and Vivo X100 Pro?

The short (speculative) answer to this (speculative) question is “yes”. I absolutely believe Samsung can succeed and turn the Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera into a top contender again, and here's why…

THE Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to move to a new main camera sensor, as opposed to the one Samsung has used for the past couple of years.

We also expect to see the departure of the 10x optical zoom, which is to be replaced by a 5x zoom lens with a much larger aperture and sensor – this is exactly the kind of “mature” change I like to see from the part from Samsung, as the 5x camera should be more than capable of taking great shots at 10-15x zoom using sensor cropping, while also giving you a much more useful optical lens for general photography

Last but not least, great image processing changes the Galaxy S24 Ultra what we desperately need to deliver should be aided and enabled by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC – the brains of the camera; of course, it's up to Samsung to decide whether the necessary processing changes will arrive or not

Despite its highest ceiling thanks to its comprehensive camera system, the Galaxy S23 Ultra struggles to catch up with the competition's growing hardware and software expertise. But what better chance for Samsung to make a comeback and turn the Galaxy S24 Ultra's camera into a more authentic and practical shooter?

Now the Galaxy S24 Ultra surpass the likes of the Vivo X100 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in photography and videography? This year's Chinese phones and Apple flagships have set the bar high, but like I said… I'm 100% sure Samsung can jump over it (if it really wants to make it).