Up Next: The new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra top flagship is here, and from the get-go, it looks set to beat and improve the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s success in the camera department.
While it features mostly the same superb camera setup as its predecessor, some surgically implanted changes to the mix are set to make the Galaxy S25 Ultra a prime candidate for the top of the camera charts.
And that’s just natural to consider, seeing how well the Galaxy S24 Ultra performed and sat mostly undefeated in our PhoneArena Camera Score, especially when considering other devices available in the US.
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra |
|---|---|
| Main camera 200MP F1.7 24mm PDAF, Laser, OIS Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Sensor size: 1/1.3″ 0.6µm New ProVisual Engine |
Main camera 200MP F1.7 24mm PDAF, Laser, OIS Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Sensor size: 1/1.3″ 0.6µm |
| Telephoto camera 10MP F2.4 67mm (3.0X optical zoom) OIS, PDAF Sony IMX754 Sensor size: 1/3.52″ 1.12µm |
Telephoto camera 10MP F2.4 67mm (3.0X optical zoom) OIS, PDAF Sony IMX754 Sensor size: 1/3.52″ 1.12µm |
| Ultrawide camera 50MP, F1.9, 13mm, 120º FoV ISOCELL S5KJN3 |
Ultrawide camera 12MP, F2.2, 13mm, 120º FoV Sensor size: 1/2.55″ 1.4µm |
| Front-facing camera 12MP F2.2 |
Front-facing camera 12MP F2.2 |
The main wide camera remains unchanged from last year, still using the large 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor that is also found on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The telephoto and periscope cameras remain completely unchanged, with the shorter zoom boasting a humble 10MP sensor and 3X optical zoom, while the capable periscope has a 50MP native resolution and boasts a 5.0X zoom.
The only major change with the Galaxy S25 Ultra is the ultrawide camera. The new phone has a fresh 50MP ultrawide with wider F1.9 aperture, but the same 120º field-of-view (13mm in 35mm equivalent). That’s a nice upgrade from the standard 12MP ultrawide we’ve had on top Galaxy flagships for a couple of generations now.
Software optimization seems to be playing a more important part with the Galaxy S25 Ultra this year. The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy boasts a new ProVisual Engine, which features improved algorithms and image-processing, promising photos and videos with less noise or blur, as well as better details.
So far so good, but how does the new Galaxy S25 Ultra fare in the PhoneArena Camera Score test? Does it live up to the success of its predecessor?
Most importantly, how does it compare to other popular cameraphones like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and Pixel 9 Pro XL?
Let’s first reveal the Galaxy S25 Ultra camera score:
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Camera Score compared to its rivals
Photo Video
| Phone | Camera Score |
Photo Score |
Main (wide) |
Ultra Wide |
Selfie | Zoom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | 158 | 165 | 87 | 23 | 27 | 28 |
| Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | 156 | 162 | 83 | 24 | 28 | 28 |
| Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max | 154 | 158 | 82 | 24 | 28 | 25 |
| Google Pixel 9 Pro XL | 151 | 159 | 84 | 23 | 26 | 27 |
| Phone | Camera Score |
Video Score |
Main (wide) |
Ultra Wide |
Selfie | Zoom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | 158 | 150 | 75 | 21 | 28 | 26 |
| Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | 156 | 151 | 77 | 21 | 28 | 24 |
| Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max | 154 | 150 | 76 | 23 | 27 | 24 |
| Google Pixel 9 Pro XL | 151 | 142 | 76 | 20 | 25 | 21 |
Find out more details about photo and video scores for all phones we have tested on our PhoneArena Camera Score page
Well, continuing the strong foundation laid by the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the new Galaxy S25 Ultra tops the PhoneArena Camera Score for devices available in the US!
Recommended Stories Samsung’s new flagship improves the score achieved by last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra by two whole points, reaching 158 points. The second spot remains occupied by the Galaxy S24 Ultra itself with 156 points, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro XL scored 154 and 151 points, respectively.
The improvement with the Galaxy S25 Ultra is mainly in the still photography score, where the Galaxy S25 Ultra achieves the best score we’ve measured so far, a combination of exceptional performance of the main, ultrawide, zoom, and selfie cameras.
When it comes to our video test, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is nearly perfect, but the slightly softer detail when shooting 4K video with the main camera puts the new flagship a step below the Galaxy S24 Ultra in the same test and on par with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Pros
- Exceptional dynamic range and true-to-life colors with all cameras
- Natural and pleasing detail, oversharpening has been mostly eliminated for good
- Improved telephoto/periscope zoom quality, excellent portraits as well
- Ultrawide delivers sharper photos with less noise in low-light conditions
Cons
- Ultrawide and main cameras are slightly softer than Galaxy S24 Ultra in video
- Front-facing camera not as good as Galaxy S24 Ultra
Main Camera
The Galaxy S25 Ultra has the best wide-angle camera we’ve tested so far, and it is definitely impressive. It has everything that a camera should have: excellent dynamics, superb HDR, nearly perfect subject exposure, great detail, and finally, no noticeable oversharpening.
The latter is great, as Samsung cameras have often suffered from oversharpening in the past. Colors are great, perfectly striking the difficult balance between realistic and vivid, which makes for excellent photos.
When the lights go down, the Galaxy S25 Ultra‘s main camera continues with its super-solid performance. It does a superb job at capturing almost perfect low-light images without trying to turn the night into day.
Details and colors are great, and so is the dynamic range, which correctly brings up shadows but doesn’t struggle with artificial lighting either. There is some natural noise in some of the samples, but it’s perfectly fine.
Zoom Quality
3X
5X
10X
3X
5X
10X
The Galaxy S25 Ultra has two zoom cameras, which deliver exceptional quality. Similarly to last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, we get exceptional sharpness in all zoom levels that matter (up to 10X), but the ProVisual Engine has delivered some improvements here as well, despite the unchanged hardware.
As a result, we get sharper photos with more details in comparison with last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra and pretty much any other phone we’ve tested thus far.
What’s more, the lack of oversharpening means that you get very natural images that lack the artifacts usually associated with smartphone zoom cameras, which is superb. Dynamics, exposure, and colors are also top-notch, making the Galaxy S25 Ultra the phone with the best zooming capabilities at the moment.
Ultra-wide Camera
The new 50MP ultrawide is good, but in our tests, it ranks slightly lower than the old 12MP Galaxy S24 Ultra ultrawide in terms of sharpness and detail. It also tends to slightly underexpose the scene, which leads to photos that could be a bit more gloomy in certain situations, but that’s a very minor gripe for an otherwise great ultrawide camera. It has a good field of view, with good corner sharpness, and delivers great colors.
When the lights go down, the ultrawide continues the strong performance with more than adequate dynamics, natural colors, and realistic color temperature that doesn’t lean towards the red or blue hues. Sharpness might be a smidgen better on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra arguably gives you better ultrawide photos.
Front Camera
The selfie camera of the Galaxy S25 Ultra hasn’t received any hardware updates, but it has also beed administered the cure for oversharpening, which is good. Selfies are excellent, however, they are slightly inferior when directly pitted against the Galaxy S24 Ultra: they are slightly less detailed and with a slightly cooler color temperature. Subject exposure is also a smidgen less impressive here.
Video
A large part of the improvements with the Galaxy S25 Ultra are in the video-recording realm. Samsung has improved HDR recording from 8-bit to 10-bit, which captures more information and delivers videos with richer colors and greater dynamics. Galaxy Log is also a new feature, enabling the capture of flat video that’s perfect for color-grading in post.
The phone can capture videos up to 4K@120fps and 8K@30fps, but 4K videos at a lower framerate are more practical. Videos are very stable, with good dynamic range and color accuracy.
Main Camera – Video
Videos taken with the main camera of the Galaxy S25 Ultra are lovely, with great exposure, dynamics, and colors. The only issue here is the sharpness: they are on the softer side when compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra and its competitors, which isn’t great to see.
Ultrawide camera – Video
Ultrawide videos also suffer from the sharpness problem, failing to deliver videos as tack-sharp as the Galaxy S24 Ultra did. At the same time, the oversharpening is dealt with here as well, so you will have to pick your poison. Other than that, the colors and dynamics, as well as overall stabilization when shooting ultrawide videos, are all excellent.
Zoom camera – Video
Zoom in to take a video, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra will reward you with nothing short of excellence, both from a quality and detail perspective. Both cameras deliver outstanding videos with exceptional stabilization and sharpness, as well as the simply lovely dynamics and colors.
Selfie camera – Video
Videos taken with the frontal camera are pretty decent, with no oversharpening but decent sharpness still. Color temperature is slightly colder and subject exposure was better on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but other than that, the selfie camera is great for video as well.
Conclusion
Rather unsurprisingly, Samsung once again rules the mobile photography space.
After last year’s extremely capable and versatile Galaxy S24 Ultra, which was constantly among the top three best cameraphones we’ve tested, regardless of what rival aimed for its spot, the new Galaxy S25 Ultra positions itself higher in the chart with ease from the get-go.
Although little has changed in terms of hardware, Samsung’s new and improved image-processing algorithms and software have changed the overall image quality and overall performance of the camera for the better. We get more natural images and videos with less oversharpening, excellent dynamics, and natural colors with tasteful saturation.
The new ultrawide camera is slightly on the softer side when compared with its predecessor, videos aren’t as sharp as we’d love them to be, and selfies might have been slightly better last year, but all these are mostly minor issues.
Overall, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is currently the smartphone with the best camera you can get.