Subj : Samsungs Galaxy S25 Ultra brings in the camera upgrade Ive been w To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Sat Feb 01 2025 08:45:05 Samsungs Galaxy S25 Ultra brings in the camera upgrade Ive been waiting for Apple should be taking notes Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2025 08:30:00 +0000 Description: An upgrade from a 12MP ultra-wide camera to a 50MP sensor is a great move for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Ive never been a huge fan of ultra-wide cameras, even on some of the best camera phones . Too often, the cameras dont have a high enough resolution to produce crisp photos when scrutinizing the detail, or theres too much warping on the edges. Ive always felt the physical limitation of the small sensors and lenses used in smartphone ultra-wide cameras hold them back from delivering the more impressive shots of main and telephoto cameras. Ive also never been a fan of how Samsungs ultra-wide cameras in its Galaxy S-series, with photos that appear noisy and lacking sharpness, even occasionally looking a bit smudged when peering deeper into a shot. However, with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra , the South Korean tech giant appears to have turned a corner with its ultra-wide cameras. Thats because the S25 Ultra comes with a 50-megapixel rather than the 12MP ultra-wide camera of the Galaxy S24 Ultra . Its been a common idea that megapixels dont mean a great deal when it comes to smartphone cameras, especially those on the best phones . But Im starting to see a shift in the sands in that theres only so much smart computational photography can do with 12MP sensors and images. In contrast, more detail sucked in by a higher megapixel sensor effectively means more data to process and, thus, more scope to get a better photo. With the caveat that others on the TechRadar team and I are continuing to test the Galaxy S25 suite of smartphones, I quickly pitched the ultra-wide camera of the Galaxy S25 Ultra against the 12MP ultra-wide on my iPhone 16 Pro Max ; my main phone. In the photo samples below, youll see the Galaxy S25 Ultras ultra-wide camera in its default 12MP mode an annoying default, but I understand it saves on file size and 50MP shots, alongside 12MP iPhone 16 Pro Max snaps. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro Max ultra-wide photos Image 1 of 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra 50MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 4 iPhone 16 Pro Max 12MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) Image 3 of 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra 50MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) Image 4 of 4 (Image credit: Future) At a quick glance, its not particularly easy to see huge differences between the shots other than different interpretations of colors; Samsung, as usual, favors punchier colors over the iPhones more muted take. But look closer, and youll see finer details in the foreground of the Galaxy S25 Ultras 50MP ultra-wide shots vs the iPhone 16 Pro Maxs. Punch into a shot, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra resolves sharper details than its rival. The same is broadly true when comparing the 12MP ultra-wide versus the 50MP shots on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. You have to go on the hunt for changes, as both shots use the same camera sensors; just the 12MP images are being produced with pixel-binning to make a 50MP snap smaller. Still, from what I can tell, this process naturally loses some detail on a shot but also removes a degree of dynamic range; in the 12MP shots, shadows and highlights are more uniform, whereas in the 50MP photos, theres more of a gradient from light to dark. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 50MP vs 12MP ultra-wide photos Image 1 of 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra 50MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra 12MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) Image 3 of 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra 50MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) Image 4 of 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra 12MP ultra-wide (Image credit: Future) I find this pertinent, as recent conversations about flagship phone cameras have focused on how they tend to produce somewhat flat photos by bringing up the shadows and pulling down bright parts. This can bring out more detail but results in a photo that doesn't look quite true to life and ends up lacking some contrast that can help make a photo pop. So, my key takeaway for anyone planning to get a Galaxy S25 Ultra is to use the 50MP mode in the ultra-wide camera for the best results. And I think this is a sign that Apple should look to follow the example set by the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Google Pixel 9 Pro , as well as the Pixel 8 Pro , and adopt a larger pixel count with the ultra-wide camera on the iPhone 17 Pro . Head to the comment and let me know which ultra-wide photos you prefer, and do check out our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review ; also, keep TechRadar bookmarked as well have more thoughts and experiences with the Galaxy S25 phones as we keep digging into them. You might also like iPhone vs Galaxy video: which would you choose? Check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 review And read our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/samsung-galaxy-phones/samsungs-galaxy-s25-ult ra-brings-in-the-camera-upgrade-ive-been-waiting-for-apple-should-be-taking-no tes --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .