The launch of the Galaxy S24 series is just days away, and with it the S24 Ultra, Samsung's all-singing, all-dancing 2024 flagship phone. It is guaranteed to have Samsung's best camera and should be a major competitor to the Google Pixel 8 Pro in that segment.
At least this is in America. Buyers around the world had a few more options thanks to the big Chinese smartphone players, and December's Vivo X100 Pro set a new benchmark for this generation of smartphone photography. The only question is whether Samsung has anything to match Vivo's unique offering, especially when it comes to telephoto lenses.
If you're not familiar with Vivo, it's one of the biggest manufacturers in the Chinese and Asian markets, limited in Europe. The company is known for the impressive photographic performance of its flagship X series phones, thanks in part to its long-standing partnership with lens maker Zeiss.
The X100 Pro is no different. It features a triple rear camera setup, with each of the three sensors having a resolution of 50 MP.
I spent most of December visiting family in Macau and China, and was happy to have the X100 Pro with us on the trip. Whether I was shooting fluorescent casino signs in Macau, a frosty mountain landscape in northern China, or endless food photos everywhere, Vivo always got the job done.
The main camera is surprisingly impressive, with Sony's famous 1-inch IMX989 sensor capable of capturing more light than smaller sensors, helping the phone perform in low-light conditions. The ultra-wide-angle camera is also impressive. It matches the main camera in pixel count and has a relatively wide f/2.0 aperture.
Both excel at low-light photography, especially when it comes to dynamic range, capturing details in the dark without color or blurring scenes. Each will compete with the Pixel 8 Pro or the S23 Ultra. But they don't make the X100 Pro unique or a contender for Samsung's future flagship.
Ultra phones have always had a lot of advantages, including larger sizes, S Pen support, and the ability to use multiple cameras. But since the original S20 Ultra was released four years ago, Samsung hasn't paid much attention to those phones' phone capabilities; That's since the first phone's impressive, if unreliable, 100x "space zoom."
Indications are that the same will happen this year. While the S24 Ultra's main and ultra-wide-angle lenses are expected to remain the same as those on the 2023 model, the company is said to be upgrading the telephoto lens to a 3x and 5x zoom lens. The latter may seem like a step down from the S23 Ultra's 10x periscope, but at 50MP it will have a much higher resolution, and with a larger aperture and wider sensor, it could represent a significant improvement.
However, it is unclear whether this will be enough to make Samsung's branding better. Oppo's first smartphone to feature dual periscope lenses, the Find X7 Ultra, made headlines this week, but even that will have some work to do to beat the X100 Pro's floating camera.
The X100 Pro's single telephoto lens, with an equivalent focal length of 4.3x100mm, sits between the 3x and 10x zoom lenses found on the S23 Ultra. However, it can do digital zoom up to the same 100x level that Samsung has limited itself to, and best of all, it looks cool at every turn.
This is partly due to the improved stabilization technology, which makes photos sharp and detailed, especially in low light, where many telephoto lenses struggle. See the sharp edges of neon signs in night photos taken at 4.3x zoom, where you can see every detail of each light source and make out the dull outline of building facades as the night sky turns pitch black. .
Best of all, a zoom lens can shift focus to create beautiful bokeh. This means it can pull double duty as a macro photographer, but when you're framing your shots, you can choose where you want the focus by choosing to blur the background or foreground using an additional slider: c Main interface. To adjust the focus manually.
A prime example are these two shots taken from the same location using a 4.3x optical zoom telephoto lens, but focused on each of the two antennas in turn. Especially in the second stage, although the back cup is the focal point, the background behind it is still blurry; Not only does it provide distance focus adjustment, but it also sets the depth of field I need, blurring everything that happens. Before and after.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a perfect camera. In the images above you can see that changing the focus immediately affects the brightness, and this is where the sensor sometimes fails. Sometimes images come out too dark and warm, especially in indoor lighting; This yellow color is sometimes intensified.
Either way, this is the best telephoto lens I've ever used on a phone. It's so good that when I return to shooting with this lens instead of a regular camera, I often find myself defaulting to the telephoto lens on the main sensor. This is absurd, unheard of. No other phone has a telephoto lens, let alone a better, primary camera.
All three lenses feature Vivo's proprietary V3 image processing chip, which works in conjunction with the MediaTek Dimensity 9300 chip to handle the processing part of the equation. That Dimensity chip may be the phone's biggest drawback, responsible for its questionable overall battery life, but if the X100 Pro+ comes with the rumored Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 this year, Vivo's next phone could struggle. hit
We'll have to wait a week to find out what Samsung has to offer with the S24 Ultra, but Vivo is in and the sub-oppo isn't far behind. Samsung will have to do everything not to give up the throne.
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