Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Galaxy S24 Ultra: Can 5x ZOOM be better than 10x?”.
The Samsung Galaxy s23 Ultra is a powerful top-of-the-line camera phone with two rear, telephoto sensors and a maximum magnification of 100 times space Zoom the Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra is also a powerful top-of-the-line camera phone with two rear, telephoto sensors and a maximum magnification of 100x space. Zoom, however, there’s one key difference between these two devices that gives Samsung’s latest Flagship just a little bit more power when it comes to short to medium range Zoom. I am, of course, talking about the change from a 10x Optical telephoto sensor to a 5x Optical sensor. There’S also a jump from 10 megapixels to 50 megapixels, so, let’s get into what more megapixels and a shorter focal length mean for your zoomed in photos.
Both the Galaxy s23 and s24 Ultra have two telephoto sensors on the back, but Samsung only actually changed. One Samsung has swapped from the Galaxy s23 ultra’s, 10 mapel, 10x Optical sensor to a shorter but higher resolution – 50 megapixel 5x Optical sensor with maximum aperture of f 3.4 on the Galaxy s24 Ultra. This wider aperture means that Samsung’s, newer, telephoto sensor is able to capture a little bit more light with a shallower depth of field, though the higher resolution also means that it’s trading larger megapixels for smaller ones, so where you’ll actually see the biggest difference between these two Sensors is within the 3 to 10 time. Zoom range shots taken at 5x on the Galaxy s23 Ultra apply digital zoom and post-process, sharpening to the 10 megap 3x telephoto sensor, while the same shot taken with the Galaxy s24 Ultra uses the full 50 megapixel telephoto sensor and then bends the result from 50 megapixels Down to 12, the newer higher resolution sensor can then apply a crop for length between 5 and 10x Zoom, where the older sensor leans more and more on digital Zoom. Until you hit that 10x Optical length, let’s get into some real life examples. The first comparison comes courtesy of my colleague Rob who took his s23 and S2 24 Ultra out for a sunny walk in the UK. It shows an image of a clock on the side of a church taken at 5x Zoom with both devices.
The difference in color profile is immediately apparent, with the newer s24 Ultra delivering Bolder colors across the board, while the older Galaxy s23 Ultra comes in a little bit lighter and suffers from color bleeding in some of the highlights. Perhaps more importantly, the images show the difference between using the entire sensor versus combining a digital Zoom with sharpening and post the Galaxy s24 Ultra looks much more natural, especially when you’re, comparing the white stains on the gray stone of the building they’re visible in both shots, Though the Galaxy s24 Ultra treats the more like part of the scene, while the older Galaxy s23 Ultra sharpens them and enhances them, and they ultimately end up. Looking like white paintballs on the side of the building, the difference in quality is even more apparent when you pick out an image that doesn’t let either camera use its optical zoom. In this case, that means a 6X Zoom image of a decorative ladybug ornament. Next to a tree where the Galaxy s23 Ultra once again applies, dig digital Zoom with a bit of sharpening the Galaxy s24 Ultra, simply crops in from its higher resolution sensor.
This means that the Galaxy s23 Ultra once again suffers from many of the same flaws as the first example. It has oversharpened highlights and details in both the metal cage and the tree itself that make them look less natural than the Galaxy s24 Ultra Samsung’s older Flagship. Also sharpens and processes the spider web, which kind of makes it look thicker and fuzzier than the newer camera.
Our final comparison should give the Galaxy S2 3 Ultra a little bit more of a Fighting Chance as it’s taken at the 10x Zoom. That means that the older 10 megap telephoto sensor can ditch its digital zoom and get back to Optical quality, while the newer Galaxy s24 Ultra has to apply a central crop to its 50 megapixel sensor. The image shows a memorial plaque with plenty of fine text and details on a concrete base, which is hard work for any camera to process, let alone the Galaxy s23 or 24 Ultra. As expected, the older sensor’s longer focal length shines capturing more detail in both the bronze plaque itself and the concrete base.
The lighter color profile means that you can see some of the darker details within the plaque itself, where the Galaxy s24 Ultra kind of washes them out further on the Galaxy s24 Ultra, the base of each letter looks a little bit fuzzy, which is kind of hard To make out looking at the Galaxy s23 Ultra image, you can tell that it’s honestly, just the part of the letter where it meets the darker plaque. One of the bigger differences that I noticed in this example, however, is the green stain off to the right side of the concrete base. The newer Galaxy s25 4 ultra processes the green color and makes it thicker almost like a layer of paint on top of the concrete base. But the older Galaxy s23 Ultra accurately keeps it a lighter color and just shows more, like green discoloration, that sunk into the concrete itself, the results of our Samsung Galaxy teoto Throwdown shook out pretty much how I expected them to the newer sensor shines at shorter Zoom Lengths everything shy of 10x, while the older sensor packs a little bit more punch once you hit that double digit zoom and honestly. This is pretty much exactly why Samsung made the switch in the first place. It identified that most of its users spend their time between 3x zoom and 5x Zoom, so it wasn’t really doing a full service offering a 10x telephoto sensor we’ll have to see how this switch plays out over time and whether or not people want that 10x telephoto Sensor back on future Generations, what do you think did Samsung make the right call going for a shorter Zoom length, or do you already miss the 10x Optical telephoto? Let us know in the comments and check out plenty: more Samsung Galaxy s24 coverage at Android, authority.com .