Galaxy S24 Ultra desperately needs a better camera: Galaxy S23 Ultra can no longer compete\u060c<\/p>\n
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…<\/p>\n
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<\/a> in this otherwise near-perfect flagship.<\/p>\n 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 Ultra<\/span>and that's because I would be happy with it too… If Samsung's flagship product existed in isolation… But that's not the case.<\/p>\n And it turns out that a few weeks before the official unveiling of the highly anticipated Galaxy S24<\/a> Ultra, we're getting another stark reminder of the immaturity of the photography experience on the market. Galaxy S23<\/span> The Ultra (and other latest generation consumer flagships like the iPhone<\/a> 14 Pro) can be compared to China's latest flagship challenger, called the Vivo X100 Pro.<\/p>\n 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<\/span> an \u201cimmature\u201d camera, and why Samsung<\/a> should work hard to make it a more authentic and balanced camera with the new Galaxy S24 Ultra<\/span>.<\/p>\n I should start<\/a> by saying that I haven't taken any samples comparing the Vivo X100 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra<\/span>since Vivo's flagship hasn't been released to the global market and hence we haven't got our hands on it yet…yet.<\/p>\n That being said, the sample images you're looking at come from a reliable source with an excellent track record: YouTube blogger \u0427\u0415\u0421\u0422\u041d\u042b\u0419 \u0411\u041b\u041e\u0413 (Chestniy Blog) who has been reviewing and comparing smartphones for at least 12 years.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I'm not going to launch into a long speech about Samsung's mistakes with the Galaxy S23<\/span> 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.<\/p>\n Now is this something new for the photos that come out of the Galaxy S23 Ultra<\/span>? 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<\/span> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Usually with camera comparisons like the ones we do all year and the ones I do myself with my iPhone 15 Pro Max<\/span>, Galaxy S23 Ultra<\/span>and 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.<\/p>\n Here, Vivo's larger sensors across the board, top-notch HDR, and special Zeiss lens coating seem to pay off immensely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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<\/span>.<\/p>\n 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<\/span> Ultra's 10x lens.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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 Pro<\/span>in case you were wondering).<\/p>\nNext-gen Vivo<\/h2>\n
Vivo<\/h2>\n
My iPhone 15 Pro Max (also) takes sharper photos than my Galaxy S23 Ultra (day and night)<\/h3>\n