Camera phone heavyweights — the Apple iPhone 13 Pro and new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — fight it out in a photo shootout, to see which one comes out on top.
Samsung and Apple will always have a heated rivalry, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s natural opposite is the Apple iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro Max. The camera is a major selling point for both these phones, and even if someone considering the S22 Ultra would maybe never buy an iPhone (and vice versa), it’s always good to know if one is better than the other. I took a selection of photos over a few days with both smartphones to see which one wins the bragging rights of having the best camera. The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s headline 108-megapixel camera is joined by a 12MP 120-degree wide-angle camera, a 3x optical telephoto zoom camera, and a 10x optical zoom telephoto. The iPhone 13 Pro is quite different on paper from the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It has three 12-megapixel cameras: A main camera, one providing a 120-degree field-of-view wide-angle shot, and another for 3x telephoto optical zoom. There are a lot more differences when we look at special features. The iPhone has a 15x digital zoom maximum, while the S22 Ultra can reach up to 100x digitally. Apple debuted its Cinematic Mode video feature on the iPhone 13, while Samsung has its excellent Single Take mode, plus both have a pro-level RAW format video-editing mode. Both can also shoot macro photos. Video performance is different, with the iPhone shooting at a maximum 4K resolution at 24 or 30 frames per second (fps), while the Galaxy S22 Ultra shoots at up to 8K and can manage 4K at 60 fps. Both also use complex stabilization techniques to keep your videos free of blur. It’s also important to note that although I used an iPhone 13 Pro for the following test, the camera on the iPhone 13 Pro Max is exactly the same. You can also see how the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera compares to the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s and to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s, and also how the iPhone 13 Pro’s camera performed against the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s. There’s a considerable difference between the two cameras here, with the iPhone 13 Pro exposing the scene in a darker fashion than the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Take a look at the tree on the left of the photo. While it’s still obviously green, the S22 Ultra’s tree is less shadowed and the green is much brighter. There’s no real additional detail, just a different treatment of the scene. The sky has been balanced in a similar way, and the blue hasn’t been oversaturated in either, but the S22 Ultraimage has a warmer, more spring-like overall tone than the iPhone 13 Pro’s. I’d also say the S22 Ultra captured the scene more accurately based on what I was seeing. The iPhone 13 Pro makes it less visually appealing than it was in real life. Neither photo is bad or technically superior to the other, and your choice will come down to your own taste. I personally prefer the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s photo, although would be able to change the tone of the iPhone 13 Pro’s photo with a little editing or a filter. But straight off the camera, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the winner here. Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra This is an interesting comparison because while the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera did a better job of capturing the landscape scene above, the iPhone 13 Pro takes the superior photo here. The car is black in color, and the iPhone gets the balance and exposure exactly right to show it off.
