Samsung ’s plan of attack to the camera in its Ultra phones has concentrate on evolution and introducing incremental melioration with each subsequent model .
Last year’sGalaxy S24 Ultrasaw Samsung interchange the secondary telephotograph lens to a 50MP detector with 5x optic rapid climb . Higher resolution and a higher pel enumeration thanks to pixel binning mean the zoom quality was improved over the Galaxy S23 Ultra ’s 10x rapid growth , despite a low optic zoom length . TheGalaxy S25 Ultraalso feature the 200MP independent camera that made its entry in the Galaxy S23 Ultra .
Samsung has chosen this year to precede an all - newfangled 50MP radical - wide tv camera . It ’s meant to declare oneself a great melioration over the 12MP ultra wide used antecedently , but does it deliver ? How much of an upgrade is it , and how does it liken to its fundamental rivals ? On a late trip to the Middle East , I test all of these to find out , and here ’s what happened .
The key camera specs
Let ’s take a quick look at the Galaxy S25 Ultra camera eyeglasses and how they compare to the competition :
As we can see , the Galaxy S25 Ultra brings Samsung ’s television camera flagship in line with rival phones that have also made the substitution to a better ultra - all-embracing . Apple introduced a new 48MP ultra - wide in theiPhone 16 professional , whilst thePixel 9 Profollows its forerunner with a tweaked 48MP radical - wide photographic camera . TheOnePlus 13 , meanwhile , features uniformity amongst its lenses , with all three lens system sporting a resolving of 50MP .
Let ’s take a look at the extremist - wide in military action over a series of landscapes in Dubai , and how it compares to the contender .
Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S25 Plus, S25 and S24 Ultra
The crowing question to suffice is the easiest to compare : did Samsung take to use a new detector , and is it an rising slope over alternative phones that use the previous version ? The Galaxy S25 Plus , the Galaxy S25 , and the Galaxy S24 Ultra partake the same extremist - wide sensor a trial with the S25 Plus will be fairly brooding of execution on the other two gadget .
In the first test , the upgraded ultra - wide sensor on the Galaxy S25 Ultra does n’t ensue in a drastic betterment . Yes , the Galaxy S25 Ultra becharm better overall images , but there are n’t huge differences in the amount of detail captured . Even when zoomed in , the particular on the buildings in the foreground of the bunch are similar between both sets of images .
The same trend applies to the first shot in this test , although this is even close than the first two . Zooming into the details on the pier , neither telephone set evince a caboodle of detail , but it ’s prosperous to discern the detail in the Galaxy S24 Ultra photograph .
For this photo , both phone again attend very similar , but the sky is more concentrated in the Galaxy S25 Ultra sample . This ultimately leads to a photo that ’s more visually likeable , and better for post directly to social medium , even if it ’s not the most color - accurate .
The master reason that Samsung opted for a new radical - broad sensor in the Galaxy S25 Ultra was for low lighting and macro picture taking . In the case of the former , there ’s no contest : the Galaxy S25 Ultra captures a well - looking photo out of the loge . Zoom in and there ’s a significant improvement in the amount of detail captured as well .
Overall , the Galaxy S25 Ultra features a better extremist - broad tv camera , but you wo n’t see these benefits in right brightness , where Samsung already has a great camera . Rather , it ’s in low light that the higher closure count works best , as the pixel bin allows the speech sound to capture importantly more unaccented .
The Galaxy S25 Ultra ’s ultra - wide photographic camera will also likely be the same one in at least next year’sGalaxy S26 Ultra , so is it good than its current contender ?
Galaxy S25 Ultra ultra-wide vs iPhone 16 Pro
First , let ’s take off with the iPhone 16 Pro . Apple ’s history suggest that the new 48MP extremist - wide photographic camera will also be the same one found in the iPhone 17 Pro and longer , so we have an other glimpse of how the iPhone 17 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra radical - full cameras could forge up .
In a foreshadowing of this entire trial run , the remainder between these two ultra - all-inclusive cameras become now apparent . The iPhone 16 Pro captures a more color - accurate photo that ’s pictorial , but the Galaxy S25 Ultra is more saturated and visually appealing . Sure , you’re able to accomplish the same with some redaction on the iPhone 16 Pro , but the Galaxy S25 Ultra also captures slightly more detail .
In this photo , the colouration of the beach and the Witwatersrand on the iPhone 16 Pro lead to a better - look photo , but the Galaxy S25 Ultra would have catch similar ringing had I framed it aright . The eternal sleep of the iPhone 16 Pro photo is also best as Samsung struggles a little with lineal sunlight , although the Galaxy S25 Ultra also has more detail in the image .
Over the past month that I ’ve been using the Galaxy S25 Ultra , I ’ve noticed that the new macro instruction photography mode can kvetch in too rapidly when judge to shoot through a glass window that has some stain or raindrop on it . In this exposure , it features some of this phenomenon and overall , the Galaxy S25 Ultra does n’t know where to focus . The iPhone 16 Pro is a clear-cut winner here .
We ’ve already seen that the improved ultra - broad has give way bang-up result for the Galaxy S25 Ultra against its siblings , and the same implement to the iPhone 16 Pro . There ’s more detail , more vibrancy , and good processing on the Galaxy S25 Ultra , and it ’s the one that I ’d choose sharing on social medium , even though the iPhone 16 Pro is more true - to - life .
Galaxy S25 Ultra ultra-wide vs Pixel 9 Pro
Google has used pixel binning and a high - resolution reckoning for most two years , but the Pixel 9 Pro also has a tweaked extremist - wide sensor over the old Pixel 8 Pro . Does Google have the upper hand ?
In this mental testing , both telephone set capture similar amounts of detail and have nearly identical post - processing . However , the Galaxy S25 Ultra has more or less more saturation which hold the sky pop more in this photo . Zoom in and the Pixel 9 Pro has somewhat more detail in the buildings , although neither photo is that usable . I ’ll give this one to the Galaxy S25 Ultra for personal preference , but it ’s super close .
In this test , I vastly prefer the Galaxy S25 Ultra . The extra intensity apply to the construction color as well , which result in a better overall image . Samsung also catch more detail in the construction nitty-gritty - left in the foreground , which is manifest when you zoom into the balconies .
Thanks to slightly odd framing and a unlike field of view , the Pixel 9 Pro looks far less vibrant than the Galaxy S25 Ultra . I would pick Samsung ’s photo overall as it does well to balance the colour in the building to the left with the remainder of the scene , but I do like the bass color in the sea in the photo captured by the Pixel 9 Pro .
attend at both images in a blind test , and the Pixel 9 Pro will probably win as Google ’s post - processing resolution in a picture that does n’t want a filter . travail into the weeds and it ’s much close , and the Galaxy S25 Ultra capture more detail in the buildings . It ’s super finale , but I ’ll give it to Google just for the Instagram - ready photo that necessitate no editing .
Overall , it ’s a close - campaign competition between the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Pixel 9 Pro . Both phones are evenly matched , but if I had to pick a achiever , it would be the Galaxy S25 Ultra just slightly . Also worth observe is that in my zoom photographic camera psychometric test , the Galaxy S25 Ultra far outpaces the Pixel 9 Pro , but our Pixel 9 Pro vs Galaxy S25 Ultra comparison shows that Google is no slouch elsewhere .
Galaxy S25 Ultra ultra-wide vs OnePlus 13
The OnePlus 13 has a camera already examine to stack up to the Galaxy S25 Ultra in our Zoom testing , but how does the ultra - wide camera comparison ? These cameras are similar on paper , but how do they perform in the veridical world ?
At first glance , the Galaxy S25 Ultra takes a better ultra - wide-eyed picture as it can extenuate the lense flare from the bright overhead sun , whereas the OnePlus 13 give out to suit it . The Galaxy S25 Ultra also has better color thanks to Samsung ’s post - processing , but zoom in a slight and the OnePlus 13 captures more detail . This is a win for Samsung , but it ’s closer than it first look .
During this trial , there ’s a big difference between how each phone handles the scene ahead . The Galaxy S25 Ultra exposure is much brighter , which intend it shin with the highlight , whereas the OnePlus 13 is moodier and drear , but captures better detail in the periphery . The winner is the OnePlus 13 , although it ’s a secretive contest again .
This examination bring out a role turnaround with the Galaxy S25 Ultra proving well at handling the highlights and the OnePlus 13 sputter with the highlight around the tree diagram limb . The Galaxy S25 Ultra wins this one hands down .
The last daytime tryout substantiate that these phones are very equally matched and the winner depend on the scene . In this case , the chroma in the OnePlus 13 photo is more visually appealing , and the photo itself has more detail in all the edifice . The OnePlus 13 gain this one .
Both phone are equally equal for ultra - wide night photos . The Galaxy S25 Ultra is slenderly brilliant , but the OnePlus 13 has more item . Zooming to 600 % , the OnePlus 13 has better exposure in the Damac building sign , and there ’s a little more graining on the Galaxy S25 Ultra sample .
Overall , this is the close battle of any in this series of tests . The OnePlus 13 and Galaxy S25 Ultra are very equally matched , and even standardised in their inconsistencies between unlike dead reckoning . Between the five run , the Galaxy S25 Ultra beat the OnePlus 13 at the concluding hurdle , but across many other photos I ’ve taken , these are nearly identical . As a issue , I ’m address this one a haulage .
How good is the new S25 Ultra ultra-wide camera?
Overall , the Galaxy S25 Ultra ultra - wide tv camera has surprised me . Like the rest of the phone , it ’s about betterment in the little detail , versus offering a wholesale rise .
This improvement , however , does n’t put it ahead of all its competition . Yes , it ’s better than theiPhone 16 Proand 16 Pro Max , which is its chief contender in the US , but it only just beats the Pixel 9 Pro . Google will likely meliorate the ultra - panoptic further before Samsung die so this raises question for the hereafter as Samsung is n’t leap and bounds onwards .
When Google settle to amend the radical - wide , it should await to the OnePlus 13.It overreach the Galaxy S25 Ultra in our Zoom test , and in this radical - wide test , it ’s essentially on equivalence with the Samsung . There are metre when I favour one phone over the other , but the balance is n’t heavily skewed in either direction .
ab initio , I expected this climb to be unneeded , but having tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra and theGalaxy S25 Plus , the upgraded Galaxy S25 Ultra ultra - encompassing photographic camera is a welcome improvement . With a well ultra - wide camera andplenty of other reasons we like it , there ’s no just clock time to pick up one of thebest Galaxy S25 Ultra deals .
