Updated: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Exynos) Camera review: Samsung’s contender

Please note: In October 2020, we updated the DXOMARK Camera test protocol. Version 4 immediately includes visualize preview tests and a wide crop of new test scenes as part of our fresh trustability evaluation which measures the television camera ’ s ability to deliver reproducible still picture and video quality across all shooting scenarios. We have retested this device using the new version 4 of the test protocol and produced this completely update review. For more information, please see our article about preview, trustability and other version 4 updates of the DXOMARK Camera test protocol .
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G is the south korean electronics giant ’ south latest S-series top-end model and comes with a huge 6.9-inch AMOLED display, a high-end Exynos 990 chipset ( Snapdragon 865 in the USA ), and a massive 5000 mAh capacity battery. The S20 Ultra packs more photographic possibilities compared to its S20 and S20 Plus sister models, with a quad-camera configuration that features a time-of-flight ( ToF ) depth detector, a higher- resolution detector, and a long focal length tele-camera .
The standard-wide television camera offers an update version of the 1/1.33-inch 108 MP-resolution detector we saw on the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, with 3×3 pixel for a final examination 12 MP image output, a well as a consecrated 108 MP mood. The primary detector is coupled to a standard fisheye 26mm-equivalent lens with f/1.8- aperture. The tele-camera features a 103mm periscope-style f/3.5-aperture lens with a native 4x ocular rapid climb, and 10x “ hybrid-zoom ” images combine data from the 48 MP tele- and 108 MP standard-wide sensors. Both standard-wide and tele-cameras besides feature phase-detection autofocus ( PDAF ) and ocular image stabilization ( OIS ). The ultra-wide camera utilizes a 13 millimeter f/2.2-aperture lens and 12 MP detector, making it both lower resolution and not adenine wide as Samsung ’ s previous S10+ exemplary. ultimately, for stills, a 0.3 MP depth detector with ToF 3D technology for better bokeh simulation in portrait mode makes up the one-fourth camera in the S20 Ultra ’ s quad-cam shape .
For video, the 108 MP detector enables 8K get at 24 federal protective service, and there ’ s a lower resolution 4K at 30/60 federal protective service place setting, or up to 960 federal protective service at 720p. HDR10+ promises improved active range, color, and contrast in video march, and both EIS and OIS stabilization are available in all of the S20 Ultra ’ s video formats.

Read on to find out how the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G performed under the brand-new version 4 of the DXOMARK Camera screen protocol .

Update summary


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

126

camera

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

128
photo

88
zoom

106
video

With an overall DXOMARK Camera score of 126 the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G remains one of our top ranked devices for photography. Its Photo mark of 128 international relations and security network ’ thyroxine quite on par with the very best but the Samsung delivers reasonably reproducible results across the range of inactive test categories. The fresh Zoom score of 88 is based on an ultra-wide score that close to the best. however, the television camera is not quite as accomplished for tele-lens shots where it gets a dependable, but not outstanding, mark of 114. A Video score of 106 rings true with its overall ranking and again the S20 Ultra is a solid performer with moving image, with a particularly good score for video discolor .
Although very capable, Samsung ’ s much lauded S20 Ultra quad-camera falls short of offering a new standard for smartphone photography. The standard-wide camera delivers chiefly excellent results, with accurate aim exposure and across-the-board moral force stove in most screen conditions. Color interpretation is besides pleasant, with intense tinge and high saturation normally on usher. Some minor white balance casts are occasionally visible, with pink skin tones on portraits apparent, but nothing besides dysphemistic. noise is sanely well-controlled as well, although the S20 Ultra algorithms aren ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate quite arsenic effective as we ’ ve seen on previous Samsung flagships, with more noise visible in shadows as a leave. texture can be good, but a slenderly limited astuteness of battlefield frequently leads to lower detail in backgrounds, and some unnatural translate of ticket textures looks a little curious when viewing images at large scale .
very pleasant color rendering with eminent impregnation .
The device achieves a dear score for bokeh shots, thanks to a pleasant depth-of-field effect with well-contrasted spotlights and a realistic blur gradient. Depth estimate international relations and security network ’ metric ton arrant, with slender edge artifacts occasionally visible, but that away, portrait mode on the S20 Ultra is up there with the best. The quality of the S20 Ultra ’ s preview images is a little disappointing though, with pretty obtrusive variations in exposure and bokeh between the device ’ s on-screen preview and its final capture .
Nice indoor exposures with wide moral force compass and vivid color .
detail can be good in tele zoom shots, but fusion artifacts at close up range and lower detail at long rate compared to other long tele-lens competitors means that this Samsung flagship trails behind the top performers for tele in our psychoanalysis. At the other end of the soar spectrum the ultra-wide camera is one of the best devices in this category, though, offering a wide slant of position and good overall double quality .
Tested 4K/30 federal protective service video files display accurate target exposures in most conditions, but dynamic range is fairly limited. Video discolor is besides pleasant, with good impregnation for deep and bright movies, although some egg white balance wheel inaccuracies are discernible under artificial light sources indoors. The texture-versus-noise tradeoff is quite good in both outdoor and indoor conditions besides, so by and large the S20 Ultra nails the basics for nice-looking television exposure, color, and detail .
Problems with autofocus, stabilization, and artifacts cave its overall performance and quality, however. Focus instabilities with tracking failures are visible in low light, and often stabilization is not legato, with detectable deformation of videos on playback. Artifacts such as color quantization and hue shifts near saturation are besides quite park .

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, outdoor video recording

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, indoor video

Preview

The timbre of the S20 Ultra ’ s preview images is a little disappointing. Variations in exposure and bokeh between the device ’ s on-screen preview and its final capture are visible, and performance is mentally ill using emergency soar. In high-contrast scenes, the absence of HDR processing on the preview image means that highlights look like they ’ ll be wholly overexposed, but they actually record much better in the final image. Preview is better in flat light conditions, however, where it generally provides a more accurate theatrical performance of photograph in the shadow and mid- tone regions .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, preview : no HDR processing, overexposed highlights
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, capture : HDR process ensures good semblance in the sky
In portrayal mode, bokeh simulation is not always activated on the preview image, leaving photographers wondering if the effect will even be applied. When it is applied, it ’ second besides often deceptive, with the depth-of-field effect, blur gradient, and topic cleavage differing between preview and final capture. Preview much renders the depth-of-field consequence patchy, with varying levels of film over in the background and about no blur in the middle and foreground. The final capture is a lot courteous, however, with consistent levels of setting blur and a realistic blur gradient. This impacts subject division, besides, with preview indicating that areas of the portrayal such as the shoulder will be blurred, but in the final trope, the edges of our portrait are well defined .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, preview : patchy blur and inaccurate national cleavage in portrait mode
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, capture : resulting bokeh shots are much dainty, with consistent setting smear, a good blur gradient, and accurate subject cleavage .
The smoothness of the S20 Ultra preview picture while zooming besides international relations and security network ’ t perfect. It performs best using the on-screen exaggeration buttons, where field-of-view adaptation and focus are sanely stable, but abrupt changes in frame and dangerous focusing issues occur using touch zoom in all ignite conditions. Focusing is better at wide-eyed focal lengths, but at around 5x enlargement the device loses stress and its preview doesn ’ t snap sharp again until fully zoomed in at 100x. slender vulnerability and ashen balance instabilities are besides visible. so overall, it ’ s an underwhelming performance for soar suavity on the S20 Ultra .



Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, soar preview

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra camera review (originally published April 22, 2020)

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is the south korean electronics giant ’ mho latest flagship smartphone. It comes with some attention-getting basic spectacles : there ’ s a huge 6.9-inch AMOLED display, a high-end Exynos 990 chipset ( Snapdragon 865 in the USA ), and a massive 5000mAh capacity battery to keep you shooting all day .
The S20 Ultra packs more photographic possibilities compared to its S20 and S20 Plus sister models, besides, thanks to a quad-camera configuration that features an extra time-of-flight ( ToF ) depth detector, a higher-resolution primary television camera, and a long focal length tele-camera .
The S20 Ultra ’ s elementary television camera offers an update version of the 1/1.33-inch 108MP-resolution detector that we saw on the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro. The S20 Ultra now uses 3×3 pixel bin ( rather of the 2×2 of the Xiaomi ), combining 9 pixels into one “ super-pixel ” that results in a bigger effective pixel size of 2.4µm to help improve effigy quality in the 12MP image output. The primary detector is coupled to a standard fisheye 26mm-equivalent lens with f/1.8-aperture .
For the tele-camera, Samsung has implemented a periscope-style lens alike to that in Huawei ’ sulfur and Honor ’ s flagship phones. The S20 Ultra ’ s 103mm f/3.5-aperture lens provides a native 4x optical rapid climb. The 10x hybrid combines effigy information from the 48MP tele-camera and from the high-resolution 108MP chief television camera. Both the primary and tele-cameras besides feature PDAF autofocus and ocular persona stabilization ( OIS ) .
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra in the DXOMARK lab
Samsung has besides made some changes to the ultra-wide camera on the S20 Ultra compared to previous generations, although they ’ re slenderly less dramatic than the primary coil detector resolution and tele-camera upgrades. The newly model now features a 13mm f/2.2-aperture lens and 12MP detector, compared to the wide 12mm f/2.2 eye and higher-resolution 16MP detector on the S10 Plus. The lower settlement ensures a bigger pixel size of 1.4µm on the latest exemplary, and the 12MP resolution remains absolutely adequate for the majority of smartphone shooters .
last, the S20 Ultra ’ s rear quad-camera features an extra depth detector. Activated in Portrait mode, the 0.3MP depth detector uses ToF 3D engineering to help improve topic cleavage when applying a bokeh impression .
The newly-designed detector on the primary camera now enables 8K video recording capture on the S20 Ultra at 24 frames per second. While 24fps is the entirely frame rate available for 8K video, drop curtain to 4K and you can capture videos at 30fps or 60fps. frame rates of up to 960fps are available at 720p resolution. Video features besides include Samsung ’ s HDR10+ video work that promises better dynamic range, color, and line. For stabilization, both gyroscope-enabled electronic effigy stabilization ( EIS ) and ocular picture stabilization ( OIS ) are activated in all of the S20 Ultra ’ s video formats .
With that impressive align of smartphone camera technical school, it ’ second honest to say that this is the most progress Samsung smartphone for photography to date. Let ’ s find out how it performed in our DXOMARK Camera tests .
Key camera specifications :

  • Primary: 108MP 1/1.33″ sensor, 26mm-equivalent f/1.8-aperture lens with PDAF autofocus and OIS
  • Telephoto: 48MP 1/2.0″ sensor, 103mm-equivalent f/3.5-aperture periscope lens with PDAF autofocus
  • Ultra-wide: 12MP sensor, 13mm-equivalent f/2.2-aperture lens
  • Depth: 0.3MP ToF 3D sensor with f/1.0-aperture lens
  • LED flash
  • Video: 8K 4320p/24fps, 4K 2160p/60fps (2160p/30fps tested)
  • Exynos 990 chipset

About DXOMARK Camera tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone camera reviews, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 1600 test images and more than 2 hours of video both in controlled lab environments and in natural indoor and outdoor scenes, using the television camera ’ second default settings. This article is designed to highlight the most important results of our testing. For more data about the DXOMARK Camera test protocol, suction stop here. More details on how we score smartphone cameras are available hera .



Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Test summary

At 122 points, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra puts in a solid performance across our tests and nestles into joint 6th invest alongside the Honor V30 Pro in our DXOMARK Camera ranking. A very good Photo score of 132 means you can be assured of generally excellent even double choice, but a few child weaknesses means it doesn ’ triiodothyronine quite live up to the very eminent standards and consistency of the devices at the very exceed of our database .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra images show good exposure, pleasant color, and wide dynamic roll .
Images from the primary television camera display excellent vulnerability, moral force scope, and color in most light up conditions, with very few visible artifacts affecting image quality. noise is by and large well controlled indoors and in low light—as we ’ ve come to expect from flagship Samsung devices ; but although detail in the S20 Ultra ’ s 12MP images after pixel bin is by and large very good, it ’ s not quite adenine eminent as we ’ ve seen from devices with output at higher resolutions. As a result, very well details can be lost in very low alight, and a tendency to oversharpen images can lead to unnatural-looking detail in many shots. We besides found the S20 Ultra ’ s PDAF autofocus system accurate in most light conditions, but reaction times are quite slowly in humble light, where it takes a little longer to lock on than we ’ ve come to expect from acme performers .
The S20 Ultra ’ s fisheye taw is excellent, achieving a raw acme score in this category. Ultra-wide photograph and color are chiefly accurate in all unhorse conditions, and an expansive field of opinion ensures you can fit loads into the ensnare, with geometric distortion well corrected to keep lines uncoiled. The tele-camera besides performs well at medium and long range when the 4x ocular rapid climb lens is amply use. Again, exposure and color hold up well, and although details aren ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate quite equally well defined as on the best zoom devices we ’ ve tested, results are identical good, with any good make noise or artifact issues avoided. Problems arise on the S20 Ultra ’ s close-range rapid climb shots, however, where strong fusion artifacts frequently occur towards the edges of the skeletal system .
The S20 Ultra ’ s fisheye shots offer an expansive field of opinion, and geometric distortion is well controlled .
Medium-range soar ( 5x ) shots display excellent exposure and discolor, with acceptable detail .
Shooting in Portrait mood, the S20 Ultra ’ s bokeh images are among the best we ’ ve seen, with the Samsung device posting the top score in this class. excellent exposure and coloring material in all ignition conditions are a key persuasiveness in bokeh shots, and consistent noise, dear depth appraisal, and a strong smear impression with big spotlights ensure striking results. For night photography, the S20 Ultra remains a beneficial option, excessively. Its results aren ’ metric ton quite american samoa strong as those of the exceed performers, with noise often a little more prevailing, along with some photograph issues using flash, but overall results remain well .
Bokeh shots show full-bodied and pleasant color in all lighting conditions, and have a firm confuse impression .
The S20 Ultra ’ s night images maintain thoroughly exposure and well-saturated tinge, but noise is often visible .
Tested and scored at a context of 4K resolution and 30 frames per second ( which offers the best results ), the S20 Ultra achieved an overall Video score of 102 points. This ranks slightly behind devices towards the peak of our rankings, such as the Huawei P40 Pro and Oppo Find X2 Pro at 105 and 104 points, respectively. Although the Samsung device didn ’ thyroxine excel in any finical area for video, a reasonably solid and reproducible performance means it ’ s a capable device for shooting moving images. Outdoor videos are a key forte, with good target exposures, bright color, high levels of detail, and effective stabilization. Indoor video shows good exposure and low levels of make noise evening in depleted lighter. Our testers found the stabilization less effective indoors, however, with noticeable gesture even in static videos, in concert with some color rendering issues .

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, outdoor television

Photo scores explained

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra achieves a very dear Photo score of 132, but remains a few points behind the top performers for stills. Despite reasonably hearty results in most test categories, the S20 Ultra displayed flimsy weaknesses in a copulate of areas, which affected its overall Photo score. In this section, we take a closer search at how each sub-score was determined and comparison visualize quality against some key competitors .

Exposure and Contrast

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
97
111
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 111 )
With excellent exposures in all light up conditions, this category is a intensity for the S20 Ultra. Tested in the lab, target exposure and contrast measurements were excellent down to low-light conditions ( 5 lux ), and tied in near-dark conditions of just 1 lux, images remain functional. The S20 Ultra ’ s exposures are particularly commodity in bright conditions, with accurate prey exposure, high contrast, and wide dynamic range ensuring excellent images. You can see in the challenge high-contrast test scene below that the S20 Ultra delivers a bright overall solution, with details well preserved in both the shadows and highlights .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, accurate outdoor vulnerability with excellent dynamic scope
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, accurate outdoor exposure with dependable dynamic compass
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, accurate outdoor photograph with slightly clipped highlights
target exposures in well-adjusted indoor lighting remain excellent on the S20 Ultra by and large. Dynamic scope international relations and security network ’ t quite as wide, however, and although it normally recovers shadow areas well, we did experience flimsy foreground clipping in challenging indoor scenes. In our backlit portrait, the overall result is very acceptable, but the top-ranked Huawei P40 Pro captures a slenderly better target exposure for a bright portrait, together with less highlight nip in the flip .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, good prey exposure with slenderly clipped highlights
Huawei P40 Pro, excellent aim exposure and wide active range
Oppo Find X2 Pro, low target exposure and potent highlight clipping

Color

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
89
107
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Best : Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max ( 107 )
color try is another strength for the S20 Ultra, and it again gets very close to our exceed score. Colors are intense, with generally pleasant interpret and good saturation in both indoor and outdoor images. slightly cold or blue sky blank balance casts are visible in outdoor images, and although they are very obtrusive in challenging fall conditions, outdoor white proportion is acceptable and colors remain nice on the unharmed. In our fields-and-blue-sky test scene below, the S20 Ultra captured bolder tinge compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, with richer green and blue tones ensuring that the landscape actually popped .
Samsung S20 Ultra, excellent color rendition
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, estimable tinge rendition
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, slenderly warm discolor translate
Some minor pink color casts are apparent under different artificial unhorse sources indoors, but again, nothing excessively concerning. In our perceptual analysis of the indoor view below, the pink white balance did affect the hide tones a little, but they remain pleasant compared to the slightly green tones of the P40 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max, and overall color impregnation remains strong .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, nice saturation, pink skin tones
Huawei P40 Pro, dainty saturation, green skin tones
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, slightly less impregnate, green peel tones

Autofocus

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
97
109
Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
Best : Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders ( 109 )
Autofocus is a minor failing for the S20 Ultra and one of the areas it underperformed against the best competitors. In our benchmark lab screen, the Samsung device was excellent in both outdoor ( 1000 lux ) and indoor ( 100 lux ) lighting conditions, systematically delivering in-focus images with fast reply times. Its performance under low-light ( 20 lux ) conditions affected its final examination autofocus score, however. While accuracy remained commodity, with all shots in acuate concentrate, response times were much slower, with the device taking on average 300ms to lock focus and fire a shoot .
While we ’ ve surely seen bad in the lab, these times are a small disappointing compared to those of the best flagship devices, and users may miss shots while waiting for the S20 Ultra to find focus in low-light conditions. The S20 Ultra besides has a tendency to oversharpen images, resulting in acutance scores of over 100 %, which we ’ ll touch on a fiddling more in the texture section below .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, low faint ( 20 lux ) autofocus operation versus competitors

Texture

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
79
111
Xiaomi Mi 11
Best : Xiaomi Mi 11 ( 111 )

Noise

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
80
99
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 99 )
Analyzing the S20 Ultra ’ s default 12MP end product images, we find that Samsung ’ s latest device is a good performer for texture. It recorded high levels of acutance around 80 % in both hand-held and tripod shots between 5 and 1000 lux in our lab measurements. It ’ s not quite a estimable in extreme point low-light ( 1 lux ) conditions, which affected its final texture mark, but unless you ’ rhenium shoot in near-dark conditions, you won ’ thymine have besides many complaints. In our perceptual analysis, our top performer for texture, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, offers slightly better contingent preservation, thanks to its 2×2 pixel bin and subsequent 25MP output compared to the S20 Ultra ’ s 12MP .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, texture acutance analysis versus competitors
Oversharpening is discernible in both indoor and outdoor images from the S20 Ultra, however. While this can help the definition of some finely details, it besides makes intricate areas such as the hair’s-breadth on the subject in this portrait look slenderly affected .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, outdoor detail
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, crop : oversharpening enhances fine detail, but can look affected


Huawei P40 Pro, outdoor detail
Huawei P40 Pro, crop : politic detail but more natural look ( despite unnatural grey color quantization )


Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, outdoor detail
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, snip : lower level of detail, slightly plasticky skin rendering
The S20 Ultra achieves close to the top score for noise, and Samsung has slenderly improved performance over the Note 10 Plus 5G in all light up conditions, and particularly in extreme low light. Occasional structured noise in areas of uniform color in outdoor images and slight luminosity noise in the shadow areas of indoor images place the S20 Ultra fractionally behind the circus tent performers for noise, but broadly public speaking, Samsung controls the texture-versus-noise tradeoff well .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, ocular make noise psychoanalysis versus competitors

Artifacts

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
80
Highest score

The S20 Ultra controls all kinds of effigy artifacts very well. There were some minor point deductions for distorted shape, bluish green shift, ghosting, flare pass and ringing, but these are by and large discernible only at close inspection. The physically big 1/1.33-inch detector does make it challenging for beneficial edge edge, and we did observe a loss of texture in the corners, which is more obvious when viewing images at large scale or when printed. In very challenge backlit images shooting straightaway towards the sunlight, a potent hue lurch and erupt impression are besides visible .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, backlit artifact
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, crop : visible ringing


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, backlit artifacts
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, crop : erupt and imbue shift

Zoom

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
88

Zoom shots on the S20 Ultra can be a little disappoint, with fusion artifacts sometimes visible when the device combines images from the chief and tele cameras at magnifications below 4x. On a positivist note, exposure and semblance remain identical good in soar shots in all light up conditions, and details are broadly well preserved in medium- and long-range soar shots when the device uses alone the tele-camera. tied in the best examples, however, intricate areas aren ’ thyroxine american samoa well defined compared to the P40 Pro, which is our crown performer for zoom. The S20 Ultra remains sharper than the iPhone 11 Pro Max at long range, however .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, long-range zoom
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, cultivate : commodity detail


Huawei P40 Pro, long-range soar
Huawei P40 Pro, cultivate : excellent detail


Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, long-range soar
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, crop : low contingent
The S20 Ultra besides displays more noise in zoom images compared to the P40 Pro, with peculiarly coarse make noise visible in indoor or low-light zoom shots. Those fusion artifacts towards the edges of the frame are the most refer aspect of the S20 Ultra ’ s performance, however, often rendering odd-looking finely details, as you can see in the crop below .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, medium-range rapid climb
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, craw : potent fusion artifacts


Huawei P40 Pro, medium-range zoom
Huawei P40 Pro, crop : excellent ticket detail and low noise


Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, medium-range soar
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, crop : abject detail and visible noise

Bokeh

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
75
80
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 80 )
Portrait mode is a persuasiveness of the S20 Ultra, with bokeh images that display bright and pleasant color, accurate photograph with wide active range, and well detail. Fine details aren ’ thyroxine quite angstrom well preserved as on the P40 Pro or the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but it by and large controls noise better, with nice uniformity across both sharp and blur areas .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, outdoor bokeh
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, crop : some depth estimate errors


Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, outdoor bokeh
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, crop : flimsy depth estimate errors


Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, outdoor bokeh
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, crop : rebuff depth estimate errors
Repeatability is good, with the S20 Ultra applying bokeh effects systematically in Portrait mode, and results are pleasant in outdoor and indoor light conditions. Depth estimate is fairly accurate ; and although some slender cleavage artifacts, including aura, are occasionally visible, it does a pretty beneficial job on the whole. It besides applies potent blur effect, which can look quite outstanding ; and together with boastfully, well-contrasted spotlights and a good blur gradient impression, the overall results are excellent .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, outdoor bokeh
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, crop : thoroughly depth estimate


Huawei P40 Pro, outdoor bokeh
Huawei P40 Pro, crop : adept depth estimate


Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, outdoor bokeh
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, crop : visible depth artifacts

Wide

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
47
57
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 57 )
The S20 Ultra achieves a top grade for its ultra-wide television camera, thanks chiefly to its excellent exposure and color, vitamin a well as its effective geometric distortion correction. Although the spectacles tilt a 13mm lens, we measured it closer to 14mm, but even therefore, the S20 Ultra offers a identical wide field of position and allows you to fit more into the ensnare compared to the P40 Pro. Huawei ’ second device is a little better for texture, as identical all right detail is often lost in S20 Ultra ultra-wide images. Artifacts normally associated with ultra-wide shots such as tinge fringe and ring are slenderly visible, but are not excessively baffling .
Although anamorphosis, or stretching of elements towards the edges of the frame, international relations and security network ’ thyroxine a well controlled on the S20 Ultra compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max, control of geometric distortion is better on the Samsung device, with straight lines and less barrel distortion compared to the Apple device in the case below .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, 14mm
Huawei P40 Pro, 18mm
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, 13mm
It ’ second worth noting that detail deteriorates perceptibly when you zoom in equitable a fiddling bit and use the ultra-wide-angle camera at around 18mm. With digital soar applied to achieve an 18mm discipline of horizon from the ultra-wide camera in the example below, you can see that virtually all very well detail is lost .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, 18mm
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, cultivate, very low detail


Huawei P40 Pro, 18mm
Huawei P40 Pro, crop, good detail


Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, 18mm
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, crop, low detail

Night

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
64
82
Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
Best : Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ ( 82 )
Although not a top performer in our series of night photography tests, the S20 Ultra put in a reasonable performance. In auto-flash modality, the flash fires accurately when it detects a face, and the subject is by and large well exposed, with satisfactory color and adept detail. The P40 Pro exposed ambient light in the background much better, however, with slenderly less ostentation guarantee that the portrait international relations and security network ’ t quite as blunt. Switch to night mood on the S20 Ultra, and better dynamic range ensures courteous backgrounds, but prey exposure on the subject is generally low, most fine detail is lost, and noise is more prevailing .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, flash-auto, good submit exposure
Huawei P40 Pro, flash-auto, better background and subject vulnerability
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, flash-auto, dependable capable photograph
With the flash switched off, target exposure is normally good, with acceptable active image in low-light cityscape shots. The degree of detail remains high, excessively, but coarse luminosity noise is often visible in areas of consistent color .


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, flash-off cityscape
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, crop : strong luminosity randomness


Huawei P40 Pro, flash-off cityscape
Huawei P40 Pro, cultivate : well-controlled make noise


Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, flash-off cityscape
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, craw : strong luminosity make noise

Video scores explained

A device ’ s overall Video grudge is derived from its performance and results across a image of attributes in the same manner as the Photo score : exposure ( 88 ), Color ( 89 ), Autofocus ( 95 ), Texture ( 77 ), Noise ( 82 ), Artifacts ( 84 ), and Stabilization ( 91 ). In this section, we take a closer look at the device ’ s strengths and weakness for video, with some comparisons against its key competitors .
Under benchmark test in the lab, video target exposures on the Samsung S20 Ultra were broadly accurate, delivering bright and punchy videos in all unhorse conditions between humble light ( 5 lux ) and bright fall ( 1000 lux ). So it ’ s entirely in very extreme low light that videos are perceptibly underexpose. Shooting natural test scenes in high-contrast conditions, however, our testers found dynamic image to be a little limit and not quite equally good as on the P40 Pro and the Find X2 Pro, which resulted in slightly lower scores in our perceptual analysis of video exposure. On a more positive notice, exposure adaptation is immediate and smooth on the S20 Ultra, with minimal cycle or visible overshoots as the intensity of the lighting environment changes .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, television prey vulnerability
Vivid and pleasant color is a nice have of S20 Ultra outdoor videos. broadly, color saturation holds up o in lower light conditions, besides, but we did notice a render issue—a visible imbue chemise in the red tones under depleted tungsten ignite. As an detached exit, even though it reduced the S20 Ultra ’ s color grudge a small, it ’ s not excessively baffling, but it ’ randomness worth being aware of if you plan to shoot a bunch of video under artificial tungsten lighting. White balance wheel is generally accurate in all lighting conditions, however, which is a bonus, and white balance adaptation is promptly and polish as the color temperature of the light up changes .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, video color analysis by lighting circumstance
Video texture is satisfactory on the S20 Ultra, and tested at 4K, movies showed good detail conservation in most light up conditions. In very bright light, it ’ south broadly in tune with its winder competitors at the top of our database, but the Samsung device wasn ’ t quite a good in moo light, with a noticeable loss of texture discernible in many of our lab and lifelike scene video recording. ( Of course, end users besides have the choice of an 8K video setting on the S20 Ultra, which has the likely to yield better texture. ) equally well as maintaining effective detail in video, the S20 Ultra besides handles noise very well in all light up conditions. Samsung has made significant improvements in low-light video decrease since the Note 10 Plus, and with results similar to both the P40 Pro and the Find X2 Pro, television enthusiasts can be assured of clean video output signal from the S20 Ultra .
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, video spatial randomness comparison Autofocus is another effective point for the S20 Ultra ’ s video, and we didn ’ t very experience the same slow reception times as we saw with stills. Reaction times were fast in all ignite conditions, with good tracking capabilities ; furthermore, transitions are sanely smooth as autofocus shifts between subjects. overall, though, the stabilization system doesn ’ thyroxine quite live up to these high standards. While it ’ second fairly effective in static hand-held video in bright lighting conditions, unwanted motion—particularly on high-frequency signals—remains visible in all indoor and low-light television, even when the television camera is electrostatic .

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, outdoor video

Huawei P40 Pro, outdoor video

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, outdoor video recording

Conclusion

systematically good exposure, color, and detail make the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra a good all-rounder for smartphone photography. Its ultra-wide camera and bokeh effects in Portrait mode are peculiarly impressive ; and with good video recording performance in 4K modality, in concert with a host of other resolution and slow-motion read settings, there are plenty of possibilities for capturing moving images, besides .
Issues with close-range soar, boring autofocus in low light, and slightly underwhelming night shots prevented the S20 Ultra from challenging the best devices at the top of our database, however. Given the device ’ s impressive technical school spectacles, not to mention its high price tag, Samsung enthusiasts may find that a little disappoint. so while it ’ south true that the S20 Ultra is very capable in many shooting environments, it doesn ’ triiodothyronine set a raw standard for smartphone double quality .

Photo

Pros

  • Nice colors
  • Wide dynamic range
  • Well-controlled noise
  • Excellent exposure and color in ultra-wide shots
  • Good exposure and high detail using flash

Cons

  • Slow autofocus in low light
  • Occasional white balance casts indoors and outdoors
  • Strong fusion artifacts in zoom shots
  • Highlight clipping, low detail, and noticeable artifacts in ultra-wide shots
  • Underexposure and color quantization using Night mode

Video

Pros

  • Accurate target exposure down to low light
  • Very low noise in most conditions
  • Vivid and pleasant color outdoors
  • Good stabilization in handheld static videos outdoors

Cons

  • Limited dynamic range in high-contrast conditions
  • Visible hue shift in red tones with low tungsten lighting
  • Visible motion effects in indoor videos
  • Low detail in low light

Videos

In the Press

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