Galaxy S22 vs S22 Ultra: what’s the difference in everyday photos?

There are three devices in the Galaxy S22 series, two of which differ only in screen size and battery life, and the third is very different. Speaking of camera sets, Galaxy S22 Ultra I have a more complete set.

But will Galaxy S22 this is Galaxy S22+ far behind in photographic quality when we think about everyday photos? I took the base model and the S22 Ultra and did a few clicks and compared examples of different scenarios and framing to find out.

Let’s analyze what is the difference between everyday photos taken with Galaxy S22 this is Galaxy S22 Ultra.

How was the test

Just like I did in comparison of iPhone 13 Pro with Galaxy S22 Ultra and Motorola Edge 30 Pro, I took all the photos of this in automatic mode. I have always tried to place mobile phones in more or less the same place in order to bring light and composition as close as possible.

The idea was to point the phone and take a picture, but in some cases it may have been necessary to tap the screen to make sure the correct subject was in focus. I didn’t feel much difference in the two devices’ autofocus, which was fast and accurate most of the time.

No editing was done to any of the photos after the click. All night images were taken with night mode enabled to analyze possible differences in Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Ultra “night photography”.

main camera

The difference between the photo kit begins with the main one, in which there are different sensors. The Galaxy S22 has a maximum resolution of 50MP and the S22 Ultra has a maximum resolution of 108MP, but both use technology that combines smaller pixels to produce larger ones and thus reduces noise.

The results are almost identical when you shoot the same scene in the same lighting conditions. In fact, the S22 Ultra manages to register a little more fine detail with more textures.

For untrained eyes, the results are the same. On the screen of a cell phone, no particular changes can be seen in the photos taken by two mobile phones. Samsung.

That is, at least for a photo in good light with the main camera, it doesn’t matter if you have a Galaxy S22 or S22 Ultra in your hands: in the end result you will have a very good photo.

ultra wide camera

In a camera with a wider field of view, the difference is in focus, automatic on the Galaxy S22 Ultra and fixed on the S22. That is, you have a few more options for composing a shot in a more advanced model, in addition to the ability to adjust the point of the image, which will have some highlight.

This gives the S22 Ultra some features not found in the other two models, such as using this lens for macro photography as well. On the other hand, the ultra wide-angle S22 and S22 Plus models have slightly more depth of field.

That is, it is difficult to take a photo in which the subject of the image is blurred, or “blurred”. Regardless of the distance between you and what is being photographed, the chances of being within the focal length are quite high. The same does not apply to the S22 Ultra.

You will end up with relatively similar results with both devices. Again, untrained eyes will look at each image and say it’s the same.

camera zoom

It’s a little easier to tell from the close-up photos that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is better. After all, he has not one zoom camera, but two. One, with 3x optical zoom, is the same as on the S22, and the other, with 10x optical zoom, is one of the biggest differences of the device.

And if the cameras are the same, then the results, right? Not really. I noticed a slight difference in color temperature between the Galaxy S22 and S22 Ultra when I zoomed in in the same scenario. The second gave “warmer” results in some cases.

But, in general, these are really very similar photos. That’s if we stick with the 3x zoom, which uses the same optical approach as the same sensors. If you zoom in a bit, especially from 10x (which is the S22’s limit, by the way), the S22 Ultra already achieves higher quality in most cases.

In short, if you want to take photos at 10x zoom, the most advanced model in the line is best. If it’s limited to 5x, I think the difference would be minimal, if any.

night photos

I didn’t see much of a difference in the Night Scene capabilities of the two devices. Samsung’s algorithm manages to reduce noise well and even lighten it up a bit, without losing the low-light performance of the image.

So the small differences I noticed in each camera are repeated here. The main one has slightly more clarity on the S22 Ultra, while the ultra-wide focus on the S22 is harder to miss. But to the untrained eye, these are almost identical photographs.

Perhaps the biggest difference is in the selfie. I found the Galaxy S22’s colors to be a little less natural, even with a more vibrant low-light photo style. On the S22 Ultra, despite not being a very good image, the colors are more natural. It’s more like a scene that I saw with my own eyes.

Front-camera

Remember that thing about depth of field that I mentioned in ultra-wide? Well, in selfies, too, there is a considerable difference in this aspect from the Galaxy S22 to S22 Ultra.

Simply put, while the S22 has a wider focus, the more advanced model takes the natural blurring of objects a little further. This causes the eyes to quickly turn to the face being photographed rather than being a bit lost in the scenery.

And that didn’t happen using portrait mode, all photos were taken in auto mode on both devices. In fact, it is the depth of field that makes our face appear more natural in the S22 Ultra selfies.

But speaking of the quality itself, I found both very good. The Galaxy S22 can also be classified as one of the best selfie phones to date, as I’ve already mentioned the S22 Ultra in other texts here on Canaltech.

Galaxy S22 vs S22 Ultra: what’s the difference in everyday photos?

I did not think that the cameras of the two devices differ so much in photographic quality. Only the more trained eye will notice the differences, and it will stop to analyze each image more closely. On the screen of a cell phone, in photos posted on social networks, it does not matter one or the other.

What you need to keep in mind if you are in doubt between the Galaxy S22 or S22 Plus and S22 Ultra is that the latter has a more complete set. And I’m not even talking about the 108MP resolution on the main, autofocus on the ultrawide, or the 40MP selfie.

I’m talking about macro photography and even more magnification than 3x optical. The Galaxy S22 Ultra can take close-up shots of objects and capture incredible details, and it uses an ultra-wide angle to do so. Thanks to the variable focal length that its lens offers, not found in the other two models.

In addition, it has an additional sensor that optically zooms in on objects with 10x magnification. That being said, you can enjoy 100x hybrid zoom on the Ultra model. In the other two, the maximum magnification is 10x, which is done digitally.

However, if you ask me straight out which of the three Galaxy S22s to buy with only the camera in mind, I’ll say it doesn’t matter. For everyday use, they are basically the same.

Now, if you want superb quality in the finer details and more framing and resources, then you didn’t even need this comparison. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is your choice.