CheckMag | Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra takes baby steps: Early camera comparison with iPhone 16 Pro Max and S24 Ultra

GSMArena was quick off the line this time and delivered first comparison images from their hands-on session in San Jose just a few hours after the launch of the Galaxy S25 Ultra took place. Soon after, the second part of the early camera comparison test followed and provided photos of the city in the Bay Area at day and at night. GSMArena’s overall conclusion — Samsung has taken baby steps in the right direction, but the differences are just marginal in many cases and hardly worth mentioning, which has been expected given the very similar hardware.

The 200-megapixel main camera showed virtually no differences indoors, at least not in the 12-megapixel default mode. During the day, the Galaxy S24 Ultra sometimes produces sharper photos, even though oversharpening has often been a rather negative characteristic of Samsung smartphones in the past. This first impression was confirmed by some photos taken at night, as the newer model often showed warmer colors. Night shots from the Galaxy S25 Ultra generally look a little bit better, which also applies to the other sensors, including the aging 10-megapixel 3x telephoto lens. More noticeable differences can be seen at 10x zoom, which indicates that Samsung has also tweaked its zoom algorithm.

One might expect to see bigger differences with the new ultra-wide-angle camera, but once again there are just minor improvements. Interestingly, the old 12-megapixel sensor sometimes showed more detail but also more oversharpening and significantly more noise in indoor and outdoor settings, especially at night. We would classify these improvements as rather marginal. The picture comparisons below are just two examples, more can be found here and here.

Looking at Samsung’s promotional material, one might expect to see a bigger difference in videos that have been recorded at night. But at least in the samples below, we don't see any significant differences at first glance in the 4K30 test videos that GSMArena has uploaded on YouTube. The night sky might look slightly less noisy, and the bright lights of the cars may look more realistic. The overall difference is anything but huge in our view.

SuperSaf and MrWhosetheBoss have been among the first YouTubers to release a detailed camera comparison video between the two biggest competitors in the flagship market today. Both videos are embedded below. In summary, it can be said that deciding between Samsung and Apple’s smartphone cameras comes down to personal taste and preferences.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max sometimes has the edge, in other cases Samsung's new top dog yields better results. Thanks to its dual telephoto camera, the Galaxy S25 Ultra generally has an advantage in 3x to 5x zoom shots. However, SuperSaf's video still holds some surprises as Apple's zoom algorithm appears to deliver considerably sharper night shots. Apple also takes the lead in portrait video (Cinematic Video), but the well-known YouTuber prefers Samsung's AI-based editing tools, like the new Audio Eraser.

A video partly filmed in the noisy London Underground by MrWhosetheboss shows the exact opposite. Apple's audio mix feature proves to be slightly better, although neither result is impressive in our opinion. Nonetheless, he praises one specific improvement of the new Galaxy S25 generation, although this will likely be made available via a software update for older Galaxy phones — the new, cleaner and faster camera app of One UI 7. In terms of video, the YouTuber sees significant improvements compared to the predecessor and also noticeable differences at night, but the new Samsung flagship still can't quite beat Apple, especially in difficult lighting conditions.

This is also evident in night-time zoom photos, which is where MrWhosetheboss comes to the same conclusion as his colleague SuperSaf. Stabilization is more reliable with the iPhone’s Action Mode. On the other hand, Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra offers significantly better AI editing tools, better selfies, better portrait shots, and now properly captures skin tones in most cases. It also provides visible improvements for photos and videos posted directly to Instagram, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max ultimately wins this camera comparison, albeit by a narrower margin than last year.

GSMArena (1, 2), SuperSaf Youtube, MrWhosetheboss, Youtube