I'm a proud owner of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, one of the best camera phones that you can buy right now, and I'm always talking about how it can capture a pretty sharp shot without much effort. I also tend to use my phone camera a lot more than my Sony mirrorless camera for daily snaps. But what about Samsung's new S25 Ultra model?
Before getting my hands on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for review, I was convinced that an upgrade from my S24 Ultra wasn't necessary. After all, the only major upgrade is the leap from a 12MP wide-angle lens to a 50MP lens, right? Oh boy, was I wrong. On paper, the difference in camera specs between the S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra models is very minimal, but it's not until you use both camera phones that you can really notice the boost in image quality, and I'm pretty sure this is thanks to the AI ProVisual Engine.
Take a look at the image sliders below to see how last year's Galaxy flagship holds up against the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. If you're more of an Apple fan, you might prefer our guide to the best iPhones for photography, or you can also check out my recent camera phone shootout using the iPhone 16 Pro Max Vs the S25 Ultra.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra boasts the exact same 200MP main camera (f/1.7) as the S24 Ultra model, with the same 10MP telephoto (f/2.4), ans 50MP periscope telephoto (f/3.4) lenses. The main difference is that the S25 Ultra is sporting, a new 50MP ultrawide (f/1.9) lens, which was previously 12MP on the S24 Ultra.
In terms of video quality, both Samsung models can shoot 8K at 30fps as a maximum.
Image comparisons
As I've said already, my current smartphone is the S24 Ultra, and since buying it back in February 2024, I've been extremely happy with its performance and image quality. Samsung's S24 series launch was ambitious and incredibly innovative, with major upgrades plus the introduction of Galaxy AI features for the very first time.
I think this made it harder for Samsung to impress with the announcement of the S25 series this year, as it had already set the bar so high that there wasn't much room for improvement (at least in my opinion). In my recent Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review, I've noted that there have been a lot more upgrades to this phone than I initially thought, mostly software and AI-based, which makes the phone a top choice for content creators. But does it justify an upgrade for current S24 users?
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To keep things fair, I stood in the exact same spot when shooting with these phones, used the same aspect ratio (16 by 9), the same lens, and shot using the highest possible quality setting (excluding RAW modes) that both camera phones could muster, which is 200MP for both models.
Zoom test
While Samsung and Apple are definitely key players in the camera phone industry, remember that it's not all about owning the most expensive device to get great shots, and some of the best budget camera phones have pleasantly surprised us too.
The main focus of this camera phone shootout has been landscape imagery, but check out Rankin's 8 steps to Smartphone Photography Success if you're seeking some excellent tips on shooting portraiture with a smartphone.
Image galleries
Photos from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
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Photos from the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
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Verdict
It might be tricky to see the details in this article, but when viewing the photos captured by the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in Photoshop and on my OLED tablet screen, the sharpness and level of detail from the unedited photos is remarkable (and much sharper with a better contrast than images captured with my S24 Ultra).
The overall image quality with the Samsung S25 Ultra is leaps ahead of the S24 Ultra, despite both devices sharing a lot of the same hardware and camera specs. So, where has the quality boost come from? With the Galaxy S24 and S25 series, all media captured is enhanced by what Samsung calls its AI ProVisual Engine. This is a suite of AI-powered tools that comprises an AI engine designed to optimise image quality.
Features of the engine, like ProScaler for AI upscaling, are processed on the phone's hardware (not the cloud) and are used to enhance image quality for a crisper viewing experience. It's likely that Samsung has made some improvements to the AI ProVisual Engine which has impacted the image quality of the smartphone, without any major hardware advancements.
Interested in more camera phone comparisons? Take a look at my shootout between the Honor Magic 7 Pro and my S24 Ultra to see how these models tackled stunning Slovenian landscapes. More recently, I also pitted the Nothing Phone 3a Pro against my Samsung, and the results were impressive.
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Beth is Creative Bloq’s Ecommerce Writer and has the fun job of finding you the very best prices and deals on creative tech. Beth kicked off her journalistic career writing for Digital Camera World, and has since earned bylines on TechRadar too. With a Masters degree in Photography, Beth loves getting to tinker with new cameras, especially camera phones, as the resident Samsung fan on the team. Her background working as a tester for CeX let her play around with all kinds of weird and wonderful products, including robots, and she’s recently gotten into 3D printing too. Outside of CB, you’ll find her gaming on her PS5, photographing local shows under the alias Bethshootsbands, and making TikToks of her dog, Tilly.
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