The battle for ultra phone is heated this year, the goal of launching a phone with every company that can compete with Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s camera.
Samsung’s latest camera beamoth has four cameras: a 200MP main sensor that was paired with 50MP ultravide and two telephoto lenses. One camera has a 10MP sensor offering a 3x optical zoom, while the other has a 50MP sensor with 5x optical zoom.
Since it was launched in January, I have taken thousands of photos from many countries around the world with Galaxy S25 Ultra. While phones like Oppo X8 Ultra and Xiaomi 15 defeat Ultra in some environment, Galaxy S25 Ultra can still take extraordinary photos.
Here are some of the best pictures that I have taken and why.
Best phone for variety in portrait mode
I have been a major fan of Samsung’s portrait mode for a long time, but the biggest option is the option involved in the portrait mode camera. Samsung is not the only company that offers a series of different portrait mode, but every Samsung phone camera includes my favorite portrait mode feature: Color point.
The color point is designed to capture artistic and unique portrait mode pictures. It works by separating the foreground and background, so that you can keep the east in color when creating background grayscale. The results can actually be striking photos; I have used them for many years for my social avatar.
Beyond the color point, Samsung’s portrait mode also has other fun features. A standard smear mode stains the background, and three mode simulate different lighting conditions: studios, high-key mono and low-key mono. There is also a backdrop mode that allows you to create a full background color behind the subject in the photo.
Two particularly notable features are that you can edit both the effect and its strength before and after taking the photo, and all these similar features work with the front-faceing camera. Regarding versatility, no phone provides the width of portrait mode that the Galaxy S25 ultra.
High quality and rich colors for many photos
The post-processing of the photographs captured on the Samsung phone usually gives the same results, which makes an immediate identifiable image. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is no different, and while Samsung has toned some saturation for more natural photos, the camera still takes high quality images that are rich in color.
In particular, it is a great phone for lively ultra wide photos with high saturation. Some phones, such as Pixel 9 Pro, prefer natural colors at the cost of saturation, so you may want to apply the filter before uploading on social media.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra takes excellent, Instagram-Reddy photos that require little editing. Many users will find these photos more visually attractive than the competition, even if they are not accurate or natural. Blind attractive pictures are always better on social media, which most people share their lives with the world.
What about telephoto cameras?
The main reason for buying Galaxy S25 Ultra is dual telephoto camera. Samsung has been refining its approach to telephoto cameras over the years, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra can capture luxurious pictures in many different -focal lengths.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is not the world-butter once, especially the phone X8 Ultra and OnePlus 13, such as Oppo, have shown better zoom performance, but you can still take incredible photos.
In the viewfinder, you will find many options representing different focal lengths. The 2x zoom option is a crop of the main 200MP sensor, while 3x and 5x use their dedicated telephoto lenses. Then there are 10X and above zoom options, which add AI and details to a hybrid zoom with various sensors.
However, it is worth noting that while the Galaxy S25 ultra is great in low focal length, Samsung’s space zoom has not hit the test of time. In the previous years, the space zoom feature was groundbreaking and crossed the competition, but now Samsung’s rivals have captured the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
For example, take OnePlus 13. It has only one telephoto lens, but it is more capable in 30x and its maximum 120x zoom than the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Or Oppo gets X8 Ultra, which has two telephoto lenses. The same education applies here, especially even the Oppo Find X8, which has just one telephoto like OnePlus 13, takes a better 30X photos than Samsung’s flagship camera powerhouse.
However, despite the competition being better in some ways, the Galaxy S25 Ultra still has an excellent zoom camera that will delight most users.
Galaxy S25 Ultra camera versatile yet collapse
For many years, the Galaxy S25 Ultra was largely a gold standard for photos, at least if you give a discount to the phone created by Huawei.
Even though its camera King is now facing difficult competition, it is one of the most versatile cameras in the market. The only problem is that it has gone from being invincible and the camera should always be placed on you, to be a good camera with a better option.
After taking 4,000 photos with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, there are some major takeaairs. Its camera is excellent, and the portrait mode is the best of any phone. As I discovered in Dubai, it can take stable videos with excellent zoom features. Although not the highest quality, selfie cameras have the most versatile camera options.
It does well for all, it is no longer the best zoom camera. It is still one of the best smartphone cameras, and is definitely the most versatile. However, if zoom performance is your top priority, the camera can be disappointing, especially if you have used other smartphone cameras.
For portrait photography alone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will remain in my phone stable. While this was the phone that I always changed, it is now one of the collection which includes many best smartphones.
