Samsung just recently announced the Galaxy S25 Ultra, its latest flagship smartphone that's designed to compete with the iPhone. We did a hands-on video last week, but this week we're back with an in-depth camera comparison.
In this article and our accompanying video, we've included blind photos from the S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max so you can judge for yourself which smartphone camera you prefer, but we'll let you know which is which at the very end of the video.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 50-megapixel Main lens (which is wide angle), a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide lens, and a 12-megapixel Telephoto lens. In sheer specs, Samsung wins because the S25 Ultra has a quad camera setup with a 200-megapixel wide lens, a 50-megapixel ultra wide lens, a 50 megapixel telephoto lens, and an extra 10-megapixel telephoto lens. The extra telephoto lens allows for more versatility with different optical zoom options.
Adding more megapixels lets you crop in more and it can preserve detail when doing so, but smartphone cameras these days are advanced enough that you're going to get fantastic pictures regardless of whether you have an iPhone or a Samsung device.
That said, there are notable differences in under-the-hood processing techniques, plus some areas where Apple has an edge and some areas where Samsung excels.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max simply cannot compete with the Galaxy S25 on optical and software-enhanced digital zoom. The Galaxy S25 has 5x optical zoom like the iPhone, but 10x "optical quality" zoom that uses AI, and it works well.
Further, Samsung has a 100x zoom feature that's been getting better every year. Apple's digital zoom is limited to 25x, and there's so much noise that 25x images are unusable, but Samsung's comparable 30x images look decent.
Comparing zoomed in photos is where you'll see the biggest difference between the S25 Ultra and the 16 Pro Max.
When it comes to everyday photos, there are some areas where the S25 Ultra struggled. Low-light and night photos in particular showed some significant light flare and blur, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max performed better in these scenarios. Apple's image processing tends to be high contrast with vivid color, and that's clear here. Shots from the S25 Ultra tend to be a little more washed out, but which you like better is a matter of preference.
Portraits were similar with both smartphones, and both did a good job separating the subject from the background and applying attractive blur.
To match the iPhone's video recording capabilities, Samsung added a new LOG video recording mode for pros, along with an Expert RAW mode that lets you adjust aperture before capturing a shot. Apple still has an edge when it comes to video, including stabilization.
Make sure to watch the video to see which smartphone is which, and let us know in the comments below whether you prefer the images from the Galaxy S25 Ultra or the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
