Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the new best smartphone camera: PhoneArena Camera Score

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the new best smartphone camera: PhoneArena Camera Score،

Although the S24 Ultra camera system is made up of four lenses, just like its predecessor, a number of changes have been made to the image processing and we have a significant camera upgrade.

On the hardware side, the most important is the new 5X telephoto lens which works very well and also does double duty for portraits. The phone also retains the 3X zoom lens, so you have two native zoom lenses on board, a rare feature even for a flagship.

The main camera also gets a welcome update: it appears to use the same (or slightly improved) Samsung ISOCELL HP2 sensor, but the actual images are clearly improved in several ways. Mainly, you get improved details, Samsung has addressed the heavy oversharpening seen in the previous model, exposure has improved and colors are refined to be more balanced.

The ultra-wide camera seems to have remained the same on paper, but we also see a slight improvement in image quality there.

But first, here are the specifications of the camera we have on board.

Galaxy S24 Ultra camera specs overview:

Main camera: 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm (wide), 1/1.3″ (Samsung ISOCELL HP2 sensor)
Ultra-wide: 12 MP, f/2.2, 14 mm (ultra-wide), 1/2.55″ (Sony IMX564 sensor)
3X Zoom: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70 mm, 1/2″ (unknown sensor)
5X Zoom: 50 MP, f/3.4, 111 mm (periscope), 1/2.52″ (unknown sensor)
Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 26 mm

Galaxy S24 Ultra camera score PhoneArena

With a total score of 153, the Galaxy S24 Ultra beats the previous PhoneArena Camera Score champion, the iPhone 15 Pro Maxby 1 point.

The new Galaxy scores 159 points for photo quality (up 2 points from the iPhone) and 157 points for video quality (tied with the iPhone).

The biggest difference is, unsurprisingly, in zoom quality, where the Galaxy benefits from an additional native lens. However, it also scores a bit better when it comes to the main camera, thanks to the big improvements Samsung has made to the processing.

PhoneArena camera ranking:

Device	TOTAL Score	PHOTO Score	VIDEO Score
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra	153	159	147
AppleiPhone 15 Pro Max	152	157	147
Apple iPhone 15 Pro	149	154	144
GooglePixel 8 Pro	148	155	141

These are the four best phones out of more than 20 models we've tested currently. Soon you will be able to see the ranking and scores of all models on a separate page on PhoneArena.

And below you will find some sample photos taken with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Galaxy S24 Ultra camera samples — Photos

Samsung has taken a big step forward in photo quality: the Galaxy S24 Ultra receives a total photo score of 159 points compared to just 144 points for the S23 Ultra.

The majority of these points come from improvements to the main camera, but we see that each camera receives a notable upgrade in the new generation.

In terms of video capture, the S24 Ultra achieves a total score of 147 points, another leap forward from the previous model's 141 points.

The majority of improvements come from the zoom camera, which is now capable of providing detailed images at the useful 5X zoom level. The new S24 Ultra also has excellent video stabilization and is capable of maintaining stable shooting at 5X and 10X zoom.

Video quality

In the video example above, you can compare the photo and video quality of the Galaxy S24 Ultra And iPhone 15 Pro Max in a number of different scenarios, from daytime to nighttime images.

In our camera score, we found that the main camera's video quality was comparable on the Galaxy and iPhone, as both scored the same in this category. The iPhone, however, performed better for videos shot with the ultra-wide camera, while the Galaxy came out on top when it came to videos captured with the front-facing camera.