Compared with the four flagship cameras, is Galaxy S22 Ultra the best camera phone so far?

We rated Samsung Galaxy S2 1 Ultra as the best camera phone of the year in 20021. So far, we are very impressed with Galaxy S22 Ultra. But how does this phone compete with its best competitor?

In this camera battle, we compared the Galaxy S22 Ultra with the same new product Oppo Find X5 Pro, Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max and the more affordable but equally excellent Google Pixel 6 Pro. These are the best camera phones, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Can Galaxy S22 Ultra surpass any of them? Let's find out the answer in this Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra camera test.

In addition to the traditional camera specifications listed above, it is worth noting that some of these mobile phones also provide less traditional hardware methods for smartphone image processing. Oppo made its debut in Find X5 Pro in its internal Marisilicon X AI ISP, which has excellent low light capture and noise reduction capabilities. Similarly, Pixel 6 Pro uses a customized Google Tensor SoC with a Google machine learning chip tightly coupled to the image processing pipeline.

Of course, Apple and Samsung also use the learning methods of their respective processors. However, compared with what we have traditionally seen in smartphones, the other two phones put more energy into images. See if it's really that strong.

Let's take a closer look at the overall appearance of the images taken by these four high-end smartphones.

The picture above emphasizes how each mobile phone handles color processing. Oppo Find X5 Pro is most dependent on saturation, pay attention to the grass green and blue tones in the sky. The highlights of this phone are also slightly trimmed, and too many highlights are suppressed, which is very undesirable.

Apple's latest iPhone and Google's Pixel 6 Pro are located at the other end of the spectrum, and the colors are more reserved and real. You may find that iPhone pushes more highlights and yellow, while Pixel 6 is slightly darker than other products. Galaxy S22 Ultra is between the two, which is more impactful, but certainly not as good as Oppo's color configuration.

Interpretation of photographic terms: ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc.

In the second group of photos, we pay more attention to exposure and white balance. We saw a slightly warmer yellow tone in the iPhone picture. The first photo looked unnatural, and the second photo was not so natural. Pixel 6 Pro achieves ideal white balance in both photos. However, in both cases, the exposure is slightly insufficient, which may be to deal with bright background.

Oppo Find X5 Pro becomes more colorful again in the first photo-look at the orange tone on the wooden table. Its dynamic range and exposure are usually excellent, but in the second photo, there is a slight tone on the white wall. Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra provides the brightest exposure in our second photo, and matches the Pixel in white balance accuracy. The lens of the drink is also well exposed, because we can see the blue sky through the window, which is different from the lens of the iPhone.

Color and exposure level:

Let's take a look at the more difficult HDR lens. It is not so simple to strike a balance between bright highlights and deep shadows.

Except iPhone, other mobile phones have solved this thorny problem well. However, let's take a closer look at the highlights and shadows to see which phone extracts the most details from this scene.

IPhone didn't perform well and failed to pick out many details in the shadow of the scene. Although I emphasized dark areas as our theme, Apple's algorithm seems to give priority to non-tangential clouds. On the other hand, some shadows in Find X5 Pro will fade when stretched. In other words, this phone can shoot more details than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which provides a very high contrast appearance, but it is not very real. Although the clouds are slightly trimmed and more saturated, Google Pixel 6 Pro best balances this tricky HDR scene.

The second photo, the situation is similar. Apple's iPhone once again captures the least color and detail in the shadow part of the scene. At the same time, Pixel 6 Pro and Find X5 Pro extract the most details in these areas. However, the strong color of Oppo is a bit overdone. Galaxy S22 Ultra is in between, balancing the highlights and shadows of the scene, but unfortunately, it sacrifices the darkest part.

HDR ranking:

Speaking of macro photography, when you are close to the subject, iPhone, Find and Galaxy phones will switch to the super wide-angle camera. This is good, but it does mean that you lose the shallow depth of field that macro photography might want. If you like, both Oppo and Samsung offer the option of turning off this function and shooting from the main camera, but they can't focus at close range without switching to super wide angle.

These results seem to be very suitable for macro shooting. However, even if we move back a little, the focus of Find X5 Pro is the most difficult and disappointing. Generally speaking, Samsung's image performs best here, capturing a lot of details, colors and white balance. On the other hand, the iPhone is a little too yellow.

Unfortunately, Google Pixel 6 Pro has a fixed-focus super wide-angle camera, which is not suitable for macro photography. The main camera won't focus at this distance, which means you have to take a step back and use a zoom camera. Fortunately, Google's zoom technology provides results that are as competitive as ultra-wide-angle cameras used by other mobile phones.

Let's see what the main camera can do.

In sunny conditions, color balance is more important than details. The image of iPhone is slightly soft, and the shadow details are slightly inferior to the other three models. Find X5 Pro is a little heavier than its competitors in sharpening, which we can see from the slight halo around the branches and the sawtooth on the flagpole.

All these results look very good for macro shooting.

Pixel 6 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra are surprisingly close, but each has its own intricacies. Pixel's HDR is better, so it can capture more details in highlights, but the details look a bit too sharp. S22 Ultra has some fuzzy points, and the branches look more like artificial sharpening.

Next, the observation of the details is carried out under less than ideal cloudy lighting conditions. Similarly, the color balance and exposure of each mobile phone are more obviously different than any obvious details.

Staring at the shadow under the bridge, there is not a big distance between the two. Similarly, due to the sharpening of details, Google's Pixel 6 looks a bit artificial, as does Oppo's search for X5 Pro. At the same time, the iPhone is softer, but it seems that it still depends on noise reduction and sharpening to polish the image, which makes the bricks look flatter than other mobile phones. Galaxy S22 Ultra will nudge it here to get the truest look. But there are some strange sharpening artifacts in the green trees, which are noisier than the competitors. Generally speaking, it is difficult to pick out any one of these mobile phones that is obviously superior to other mobile phones, at least during the day.

Detailed ranking:

In the past, low light conditions separated the good from the best. Now every competitor is equipped with a large-size main sensor and a large aperture to capture light. The result of this game may be closer than ever before.

In the case of dim indoor light, all mobile phones will not have problems. However, the white balance of Find X5 Pro is off, which may be caused by dim light and strong color saturation of the mobile phone. However, its large sensor can easily extract details. In contrast, iPhone 13 Pro Max is a little soft and noisy, but it provides a stable exposure. Similarly, there are a few particles in the photo of Pixel, but its white balance is better than that of Apple. Generally speaking, Galaxy S22 Ultra is best for shooting scenes, capturing fine details and just the right tone. But its white balance may be a little red.

Turning down the light, I shot the following scenes with the night mode turned on and off to judge the ability of the mobile phone to capture quick snapshots and long exposure. One thing to note: Oppo always uses night mode when it detects insufficient light, so I took a photo with the Pro mode of my mobile phone to show the difference.

It can be seen that the mobile phone performs surprisingly well without night scene mode, except that Find X5 Pro has some slight deficiencies in details and colors. The aperture of Pixel 6 seems to be smaller than that of iPhone and Galaxy phones, because it is smaller. Due to its small sensor, the exposure of iPhone is unexpectedly good, but some colors are filtered out. Similarly, we see that the color temperature of Galaxy S22 Ultra is a bit too high, but other than that, considering the very dark conditions, it is the most accurate.

When the night scene mode is turned on, the effects of the four camera phones are very different. The color, exposure and white balance of Pixel 6 Pro are the best and brightest. But considering the night scene, the exposure can be said to be too bright. You will also find many edges and blurs from the long exposure of photos. In contrast, Apple's night mode has no such marginal phenomenon. Very sharp, a little too much, so to speak. If a small amount of noise can be ignored, it is a stable low-light photo. The results of Oppo and Samsung are somewhere in between, with some slight smearing, but the details look more real. But neither of them solves the problem of white balance-Find X5 Pro is too cold and Galaxy S22 Ultra is too warm.

Finally, a batch of low-light photos taken by the main camera and the ultra-wide-angle camera in 3 times zoom and night mode. Find out the availability of each camera in low light conditions and the matching degree of image processing when switching between them.

We found that the iPhone didn't want to expose these photos for a long time at night, but the super wide-angle lens would benefit a lot. Its relatively small 1/3.4-inch sensor can hardly capture as much light as the large ultra-wide sensor of Find X5 Pro. The performance of Find X5 Pro is almost as good as that of the main camera, but the color is a little off. Oppo's 3x zoom lens is a bit too dark, and iPhone's zoom image is brighter, but it is too sharp and heavy because of the night view mode.

Google Pixel 6 Pro results are more popular, and its main camera and super wide-angle camera provide the best exposure among all four mobile phones. But the color is not as bright as we can see from its mobile phone. This is especially true for the 3x zoom lens, which looks heavier than its competitors, and the ultra-wide-angle resolution zoom is not effective in low light. Samsung's zoom photos are the best, providing brighter exposure, shallow depth of field and rich colors. The main camera and super wide-angle camera of Galaxy S22 Ultra also output excellent results, but their exposure is not as good as that of Find X5 Pro.

All four mobile phones have strong ability to take pictures at night.

Low light level:

The main camera of Galaxy S22 Ultra has provided a wide field of view, but the super wide angle is still much worse than the main camera. It matches iPhone 13 Pro Max, and also provides a super wide-angle lens with a focal length of 13mm, but it seems to be a step back due to the narrow focal length of its main camera. The ultra-wide angle of Pixel 6 Pro is the narrowest here, and the focal length is only 17mm, which means you can't shoot as much as possible. Oppo's Find X5 Pro is between the two, and its equivalent focal length is 15mm.

In terms of image quality, all four cameras can receive correct exposure and color from the main camera. Even in the complicated HDR lens, you will find good color, white balance and HDR capabilities from these four lenses. If you insist on nitpicking, the iPhone's ultra-wide-angle camera is even more difficult to pick out shadow details than the main sensor. I also think 13mm is a bit too wide, because the photos of iPhone and Galaxy S22 look more distorted than those of the other two mobile phones. The ultra-wide angle of Find X5 Pro seems to be the best choice. Using a larger image sensor can ensure that switching lenses under complex lighting conditions will not affect the image quality.

Although it is good to put more things into the picture frame, manufacturers and users must be aware that a wide field of vision will bring lens distortion. We cut off 100% in the corner of each picture below, and look for the effect carefully.

We found that all four cameras had some problems. Pixel 6 Pro is the most fuzzy and noisy, considering that it uses old hardware, it is inherently insufficient. The other three are closer, although the Galaxy S22 Ultra is blurred at the edge of the lens. Finding X5 Pro is similar to iPhone 13 Pro Max. In view of the wider field of vision of iPhone, we have to regard its lens as the best choice for nondestructive shooting. But if you want to print or enlarge your pictures, you need to pay attention to these problems.

Super wide-angle ranking:

Let's try the zoom ability of the mobile phone, starting with close-up shooting.

Due to their original incremental focus cameras, iPhone 13 Pro Max and Galaxy S22 Ultra are the cleanest at 3x. The details are clear and concentrated, and the color balance and exposure are quite good, which also masks the consistent warm tone of the iPhone.

Pixel 6 Pro's ultra-high resolution technology is competitive in this respect, but compared with optical zoom, the software solution is a bit harsh. In this photo, its white balance is too warm. Oppo Find X5 Pro has not found a suitable color balance, and the details are a bit soft. Its 2 x telephoto zoom can still be used perfectly under the condition of 3 x, but it seems that Oppo lacks remote optical components and does not perform well here.

Five times, we can see that Find X5 Pro is definitely its weakness. The details are not obvious, and the photos also have obvious edges, indicating that the zoom lens is not well controlled. IPhone 13 Pro Max is better at outputting photos with 5x zoom lens, keeping fine details, but it is slightly insufficient in exposure.

Galaxy S22 Ultra and Pixel 6 Pro are brighter, showing more details. Cropping to 100%, there is almost no difference between the two images, which proves that the two algorithms have been upgraded by software. Samsung's photos are a bit too sharp, because compared with Google's 4 times optical lens, it is 3 times to 5 times or even higher, and the marginal difference is still obvious.

10 who is the winner? The results are clear at a glance, and iPhone 13 Pro Max and Find X5 Pro have far exceeded the expected results-they left few details in the image. Galaxy S22 Ultra's 10x periscope camera won here with excellent details and colors. However, Google's ultra-high resolution algorithm is really not far behind, and the level of detail is very competitive. Although a little too sharp, the softer color shows that the old hardware still has a great influence on the effect. Nevertheless, the imaging effect of Pixel 6 Pro is much higher than its hardware specifications, and it is superior to all products except S22 Ultra in a long distance.

Zoom ranking:

I quickly shot a statue in portrait mode. When shooting in portrait mode, the cropping factor of each camera is slightly different, and the iPhone is the most stubborn and won't let you change it. So it is impossible to completely match the framework here.

Although the branches sneaked into the picture, all four cameras handled the background here well. But Find X5 Pro can't completely distinguish which branches should be blurred and which should not be blurred, while other phones are smarter. You may have found that Pixel 6 Pro looks sharper than other products. Disappointingly, everything you shoot in the portrait mode of Pixel 6 Pro seems to have undergone a lot of processing, whether it is stone or skin texture. I think iPhone and Galaxy are slightly better portrait cameras here.

Now let's take some pictures of people.

In the bright sunshine, all four mobile phones provide fine details, and there is almost no problem in edge detection of scattered scenes, and even the hairline difference between people and trees can be distinguished. However, the iPhone made a small mistake around the ear.

Similarly, Pixel 6 Pro is a bit too sharp in skin texture, and the white balance seems to ignore the sunlight, and the picture is a bit too cold, while Samsung's is too warm, and other aspects are good. Sadly, Find X5 Pro cuts off the highlights and clouds on people's faces. In addition, skin color and texture are also outstanding. Apple's selfie is equally excellent in tone and texture, but the main body of the character is somewhat underexposed.

For these cameras, it is even more difficult to shoot in the dark. Pixel 6 Pro does not blur the gap between the character's hair and the left earphone. It really restored the green of the grass and made the characters' faces a little too orange. This is a good but not wonderful selfie. Apple has a similar problem, the saturation on the grass is slightly higher, and it can't handle the HDR background well.

Generally speaking, Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best here, which balances skin color and texture well on a bright background. Unfortunately, the lens effect of Oppo completely suppressed the background highlights. It seems that the mobile phone can't handle the lens and HDR at the same time, otherwise its skin color and subject exposure can be said to be the best.

There are some obvious winners and losers in low-light selfies. IPhone is the worst, and handing over a noisy photo can't expose the face of the character correctly. Find X5 Pro is obviously better, but there is a lot of noise and the white balance is not well mastered. Google's selfie camera is saved in night view mode. Even if the selfie is still too blurred, it can provide stable exposure and color. This makes Galaxy S22 Ultra the best in its kind, although it is also a bit soft. Samsung has determined the appropriate exposure, color, lens and skin color, and can also take high-quality selfies under some very difficult conditions.

Portrait and selfie ranking:

Generally speaking, we have four excellent camera phones here, but it would be a pity not to be crowned champion. In this competition, there is no absolute winner in each category, but adding up the scores provides us with two top-ranked mobile phones-Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Google Pixel 6 Pro. Neither is perfect, but if you are looking for the most stable and multifunctional camera phone, Samsung's latest flagship is worth recommending. Its color balance, low-light shooting, self-timer and zoom ability are excellent.

Google Pixel 6 Pro is close behind, especially in zoom. In this HDR scene, it actually surpasses S22 Ultra. Most importantly, its performance is almost as good as Samsung's flagship. The retail price is only $899, while the price of S22 Ultra is $65438 +0200. This is a considerable savings. To be sure, Google's flagship product is a good choice for everyone except the most critical photographer, but from the system point of view, I think there are not many habits that China people can use, because ancient songs are so popular.

Oppo Find X5 Pro is very stable, and it would have done better if it hadn't been for several persistent problems, namely, over-enthusiastic palette and lack of decent zoom quality. The former can be fixed in the software update, but at this price, this phone should be more competitive at a long distance, looking forward to the return of OPPO periscope camera.

IPhone 13 Pro max is overrated. It is a good camera phone, but its HDR and zoom functions are a bit backward, and the camera's consistent warm tone is an annoying problem. Apple seems to be in no hurry to solve it. In other words, it is still an excellent mobile phone for portrait lovers or night owls who avoid taking selfies, and it has one of the better ultra-wide-angle cameras on the market at present.

I'm sure that each of these mobile phones will find its own fans because of its given advantages and disadvantages. However, if you want a powerful shooting ability that won't let you down, please choose Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. If your budget is tight, then the cheap Google Pixel 6 Pro won't go wrong.