I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of ultra-wide cameras, even on a few of the finest digicam telephones. Too usually, the cameras don’t have a excessive sufficient decision to provide crisp images when scrutinizing the element, or there’s an excessive amount of warping on the perimeters. I’ve all the time felt the bodily limitation of the small sensors and lenses utilized in smartphone ultra-wide cameras maintain them again from delivering the extra spectacular pictures of principal and telephoto cameras.
I’ve additionally by no means been a fan of how Samsung’s ultra-wide cameras in its Galaxy S-series, with images that seem noisy and missing sharpness, even sometimes wanting a bit smudged when peering deeper right into a shot.
However, with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the South Korean tech large seems to have turned a nook with its ultra-wide cameras. That’s as a result of the S25 Ultra comes with a 50-megapixel somewhat than the 12MP ultra-wide digicam of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
It’s been a standard concept that megapixels don’t imply a terrific deal with regards to smartphone cameras, particularly these on the very best telephones. But I’m beginning to see a shift within the sands in that there’s solely a lot sensible computational images can do with 12MP sensors and pictures. In distinction, extra element sucked in by a better megapixel sensor successfully means extra knowledge to course of and, thus, extra scope to get a greater picture.
With the caveat that others on the TechRadar staff and I are persevering with to check the Galaxy S25 suite of smartphones, I shortly pitched the ultra-wide digicam of the Galaxy S25 Ultra towards the 12MP ultra-wide on my iPhone 16 Pro Max; my principal cellphone.
In the picture samples beneath, you’ll see the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s ultra-wide digicam in its default 12MP mode – an annoying default, however I perceive it saves on file dimension – and 50MP pictures, alongside 12MP iPhone 16 Pro Max snaps.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max ultra-wide images
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At a fast look, it’s not significantly simple to see large variations between the pictures apart from totally different interpretations of colours; Samsung, as standard, favors punchier colours over the iPhone’s extra muted take.
But look nearer, and also you’ll see finer particulars within the foreground of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 50MP ultra-wide pictures vs the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s. Punch right into a shot, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra resolves sharper particulars than its rival.
The identical is broadly true when evaluating the 12MP ultra-wide versus the 50MP pictures on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. You must go on the hunt for modifications, as each pictures use the identical digicam sensors; simply the 12MP photos are being produced with pixel-binning to make a 50MP snap smaller.
Still, from what I can inform, this course of naturally loses some element on a shot but in addition removes a level of dynamic vary; within the 12MP pictures, shadows and highlights are extra uniform, whereas within the 50MP images, there’s extra of a gradient from gentle to darkish.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 50MP vs 12MP ultra-wide images
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I discover this pertinent, as latest conversations about flagship cellphone cameras have targeted on how they have an inclination to provide considerably flat images by mentioning the shadows and knocking down vivid components. This can deliver out extra element however ends in a photograph that does not look fairly true to life and finally ends up missing some distinction that may assist make a photograph pop.
So, my key takeaway for anybody planning to get a Galaxy S25 Ultra is to make use of the 50MP mode within the ultra-wide digicam for the very best outcomes.
And I believe this can be a signal that Apple ought to look to observe the instance set by the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Google Pixel 9 Pro, in addition to the Pixel 8 Pro, and undertake a bigger pixel depend with the ultra-wide digicam on the iPhone 17 Pro.
Head to the remark and let me know which ultra-wide images you favor, and do try our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra overview; additionally, preserve TechRadar bookmarked as we’ll have extra ideas and experiences with the Galaxy S25 telephones as we preserve digging into them.
