Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Aconcerning rumorabout theSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultrahas actually come genuine , and I ’m quite shocked .
The new Ultra phone doesnothave the 10x optical soar camera that made theGalaxy S23 Ultra , theGalaxy S22 Ultra , and theGalaxy S21 Ultraso unique . or else , it has a 3x and a 5x ocular zoom , plus an AI - enhanced intercrossed 10x “ opthalmic quality ” manner , intend it really has more in common with theGalaxy S20 Ultrathan any subsequent model .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
It ’s the wrong decisiveness , in my humble legal opinion . But here ’s why I am not dismissing the Galaxy S24 Ultra just yet and why other exposure fans should n’t either .
The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera
The Galaxy S24 Ultra ’s photographic camera is made up of a 200 - megapixel main camera , a 12MP wide - slant camera , and a pair of telephoto camera . A 50MP telephotograph tv camera provides a 5x optical zoom , while a 10MP telephotograph provides a 3x optical zoom . Zoom in to 2x and 10x , and Samsung prognosticate “ optical quality ” dig , as the 50MP telephoto camera utilise its higher megapixel numeration and plenty of software trickery to create the final 10x range .
This is different from how the Galaxy S23 Ultra handles these zoom shot . It has a twosome of 10MP telephoto tv camera for 3x and 10x ocular soar photos and use software system to make hybrid exposure at other zoom levels . While the S24 Ultra differs from the last Galaxy Ultra phone , it ’s not dissimilar to theApple iPhone 15 Pro Max — which has a 12MP telephotograph television camera for 5x optical zoom and then a digital soar for anything else around it , up to 25x .
I ’m disappoint that Samsung has pick out to go with headline numbers nearer to Apple ’s iPhone than the S23 Ultra , but not all that surprised .
I ’m more saddened by the fact that once the Galaxy S23 Ultra disappears from store shelves , we wo n’t be able-bodied to buy a smartphone with a 10x optic zoom at all . The feature article is fun and versatile and allows you to take pin - sharp , fuzz - gratuitous photos at a zoom level not put up on any other speech sound . I ’ll really miss it .
Should you forget the S24 Ultra?
Does this stand for I ’m dismiss the Galaxy S24 Ultra ’s telephotograph camera entirely and enjoin it wo n’t be as undecomposed as the S23 Ultra ? No , I ’m not .
I ’m obviously disappointed by the want of 10x optical zoom , but I ’m also quietly positive in Samsung ’s power to make its 10x hybrid shots the best possible . After all , intercrossed digital rapid climb character has improve over the last few years , and Samsung has gone all - out with some impressive AI in the S24 Ultra to help boost camera performance further .
When I compare the iPhone 14 Pro ’s 5x digital zoomto the iPhone 15 Pro Max ’s 5x optical zoom , there was a difference , but it wasn’tdramatic , and the span were very close . I had the opportunity to concisely try the Galaxy S24 Ultra ’s 5x optical zoom and 10x digital soar during some hand - on time ahead of its launch , and the effect cue me of my experience with the iPhone . The 10x photos are in force quality , just notquiteas good timber as the 5x optical shots .
If Samsung ’s software and AI , theQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 , plus the updated photographic camera sensors on the S24 Ultra can bring the hybrid shotsreallyclose to the S23 Ultra ’s 10x optical zoom when I try it out more , then I ’ll begrudgingly go for the wind of change . However , previous experience also picture that pic taken with a digital rapid growth can still be pretty hapless , which we observed when we put theS23 Ultra against the Google Pixel 7 Proandeven the Galaxy A54 .
New tech, new opportunities
I ’m live on to wait and see how the Galaxy S24 Ultra ’s telephotograph television camera performs out in the real universe before passing opinion , and I do believe there ’s a strong chance the sound ’s tech and software package should mostly be able to even out for the want of 10x optical zoom . That ’s all before I get to grips with the improved main camera and all the AI editing tools that impressed me so much when I tried them out . I ’m still confident the S24 Ultra will have a brilliant , various , and fun - to - use television camera .
But there ’s something else I ’m keep in mind , too . Before I spent any time with the Galaxy S21 Ultra , S22 Ultra , or S23 Ultra , I did n’t have any idea I would revel using a 10x optical soar . It was only once I started using it that it made photos I ’d never considered before not only possible , but search in force too . Perhaps something interchangeable will happen when I am somewhat confine to a 5x optic rapid climb ? Constraints and limitations can sometimes hike creativity as we await for ways to work around them . I ’m not saying this will definitely be the caseful here , but if the 10x quality does n’t live up to prospect , I may take solace in it .
With the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra , we flourish goodbye to a smartphone with a 10x optic zoom telephoto camera build into the gadget , and it ’s a great ignominy . But it ’s also not the first time Samsung has made an odd hardware decision andthen reversed it a year later . Just look at theGalaxy Watch 5 Pro’slack of rotate bezel and its retort on theGalaxy Watch 6 Classicfor evidence .
So , I ’ll also take care forward to the triumphant rejoinder of a 10x opthalmic rapid climb camera on the Galaxy S25 Ultra while I try out the Galaxy S24 Ultra ’s 5x optical zoom .
