Vivo Just Set The Telephoto Standard — Can The S24 Ultra Keep Up?
The launch of the Galaxy S24 series is just a few days away, and with it comes Samsung's flagship phone, the S24 Ultra, in 2024. This is almost guaranteed to be Samsung's best camera to date, and that's as it should be. The main competitor of Google Pixel 8 Pro in this section.
At least it is in the USA. Buyers elsewhere in the world have always had a few extra options thanks to the big Chinese smartphone players, and December's Vivo X100 Pro set the bar pretty high for this generation of smartphone photography. The only question now is whether Samsung has anything to match Vivo's excellent offering, especially when it comes to phone photo lenses.
If you are not familiar with Vivo, it is one of the leading manufacturers in the Chinese and Asian markets with a limited presence in Europe. The company first gained recognition for the superior photography performance of its flagship X series phones through its partnership with lens maker Zeiss.
The X100 Pro is no exception. There is a triple rear camera system where each of the three sensors has a resolution of 50MP.
I spent most of December visiting my partner's family in Macau and China and was glad to have the X100 Pro with us on the trip. Whether it was the fluorescent casino signs in Macau, the chilly mountainous landscapes of Northern China, or the endless food photos, wherever I went, Vivo always delivered the goods.
Unsurprisingly, the main camera is impressive: it features Sony's renowned 1-inch IMX989 sensor, which is capable of capturing more light than smaller sensors and helps the phone perform in low-light conditions. The wide-angle lens is also impressive: it matches the main camera in terms of pixel count and has a fairly wide f/2.0 aperture.
Both excel in low-light photography, especially when it comes to dynamic range, bringing out highlights without creating glare or exaggeration, preserving detail in the dark. Each of them will be compatible with the Pixel 8 Pro or S23 Ultra. But that's not what makes the X100 Pro so special and makes it a contender to be Samsung's next flagship.
Ultra phones have always had many advantages, including size, S Pen support, and overall camera quality. But since releasing the original S20 Ultra four years ago, Samsung has focused more on those phones' telephoto lenses, starting with the first impressive, albeit rugged, 100x "space zoom" phone.
Leaks suggest it will be the same this year. While the S24 Ultra's main and wide-angle lenses are expected to be similar to the 2023 model, the company has reportedly upgraded the telephoto lens to a pair of 3x and 5x zoom lenses. The latter may seem like a step up from the S23 Ultra's 10x periscope, but it will have a higher resolution (50MP) as well as a larger aperture and wider sensor, which could be a significant upgrade.
However, it is unclear whether this will be enough to make Samsung's flagship the best on the market. Oppo made headlines this week when it announced Find
The X100 Pro's single telephoto lens, with a 4.3x100mm equivalent focal length, sits between the S23 Ultra's 3x and 10x zoom lenses. However, it supports Samsung's limited 100x digital zoom and, more importantly, looks great at every turn.
This is partly due to improved stabilization technology, which keeps photos crisp and clear, especially in low light, which is something most telephoto lenses struggle with. Look at the sharp edges of the neon signs in these night photos taken at 4.3x magnification, where you can see every detail of every light source and the details of the dark building facades, as well as the night sky itself. black ink remains. .
Most importantly, a zoom lens can change focal length, creating beautiful bokeh. This means it can do double duty as macro photography, but also allows you to choose exactly what to focus on when cropping photos, choosing background, foreground or foreground blur using an additional slider in the main user interface. so you can adjust the focus manually.
A prime example is these two shots taken at the same location using a 4.3x telephoto lens, but focused on each of the two antennas. Especially notice the second example: although the bowl in the background is in focus, the background behind it is still blurry - it doesn't just set distant focus, it sets the exact depth of focus I want, it's blurry, right. everything before and after.
Make no mistake, this is not a perfect camera. The photographs above show that changing the focus immediately affects the brightness; the sensor sometimes glitches. Sometimes photos come out too dark and too warm, especially in indoor lighting; Sometimes yellow tones are visible.
However, this is the best telephoto lens I've used on a phone. It's so good that I've often opted for the telephoto lens on the main sensor instead of using a regular camera to crop photos again with this lens. This is absurd, unknown. No other phone has a telephoto lens like the main one.
All three lenses support Vivo's V3 imaging chips, which work alongside the MediaTek Dimensity 9300 chip to handle the processing part of the equation. That Dimensity chip is perhaps the phone's biggest drawback - it's likely responsible for the questionable battery life - but if the X100 Pro+ arrives with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor later this year, Vivo's next phone will be hard to come by. win.
We'll have to wait a week to see what Samsung has to offer with the S24 Ultra, but Vivo has nailed it and its subsidiary Oppo isn't far behind. Samsung will have to do everything it can to avoid abdicating its throne.
