Gear

Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Ultra

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Small dog resting on bed.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, portrait mode. Compare this with the following photo. The S23 Ultra's photo is impressively sharp if you zoom in all the way into my pup's face. It brightened up my dog and blew out the window a little bit, and the colors are a smidge oversaturated.
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small dog resting on bed
Google Pixel 7 Pro, portrait mode. The Pixel captured the colors in the room much more accurately and the windows aren't blown out. The brightness on my pup's face is more realistic since he's backlit, though if you zoom in, you'll notice it's not *as* sharp as the S23 Ultra's shot.
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Night shot with buildings lit up and traffic on a busy NY street.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, main camera with Night mode. Compare this photo with the following one. It's pretty dang sharp, but the Ultra doesn't quite nail the colors of the Knicks.
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Night shot with buildings lit up and traffic on a busy NY street.
OnePlus 11, main camera with Nightscape. The OnePlus 11 more accurately matches the colors I saw in real life.
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  • Small dog resting on bed.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    01
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, portrait mode. Compare this with the following photo. The S23 Ultra's photo is impressively sharp if you zoom in all the way into my pup's face. It brightened up my dog and blew out the window a little bit, and the colors are a smidge oversaturated.
  • small dog resting on bed
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    02
    Google Pixel 7 Pro, portrait mode. The Pixel captured the colors in the room much more accurately and the windows aren't blown out. The brightness on my pup's face is more realistic since he's backlit, though if you zoom in, you'll notice it's not *as* sharp as the S23 Ultra's shot.
  • Night shot with buildings lit up and traffic on a busy NY street.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    03
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, main camera with Night mode. Compare this photo with the following one. It's pretty dang sharp, but the Ultra doesn't quite nail the colors of the Knicks.
  • Night shot with buildings lit up and traffic on a busy NY street.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    04
    OnePlus 11, main camera with Nightscape. The OnePlus 11 more accurately matches the colors I saw in real life.
  • Night shot of a park playground surrounded by trees and buildings lit up in the distance.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    05
    Samsung Galaxy S23, Night mode. Compare this photo with the following two photos. The S23's image is solid but a little too warm.
  • Night shot of a park playground surrounded by trees and buildings lit up in the distance.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    06
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Night mode. The Ultra does a better job with the color temperature and it's slightly sharper too.
  • Night shot of a park playground surrounded by trees and buildings lit up in the distance.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    07
    Google Pixel 7 Pro, Night Sight. The Pixel overcorrects a bit and makes the scene too blue-toned, and the S23 Ultra's image is sharper by a hair.
  • Park bench along a path lined with trees and homes lit by a street lamp.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    08
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, 12-MP default camera. This is how photos are by default on the S23 Ultra. The pixels merge to become larger and absorb more light.
  • Park bench at night resting along a path lined with trees and homes lit by a street lamp.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    09
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, 200-MP mode. When you switch to 200-MP mode, you can get more detail and a higher-resolution photo, but it's not quite effective in low light. There aren't too many noticeable differences between these photos.
  • Selfportrait at night of writer Julian Chokkattu wearing a bike helmet and fleece sweater.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    10
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, selfie Night mode. The Galaxy S23 series has an improved 12-MP camera with autofocus that can take some pretty sharp selfies, even in low light.
  • Selfportrait at night of writer Julian Chokkattu wearing a bike helmet and fleece sweater.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    11
    Google Pixel 7 Pro, selfie Night Sight. It's a tiny bit blurrier than the Samsung photo, but the Pixel makes a pretty strong showing here.
  • Tower structure in a park lit at night.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    12
    Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, main camera Night mode. Compare this photo with the following image. The Ultra's shot is much sharper and overall does a better job with the colors and contrast.
  • Tower structure in a park lit at night.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    13
    Samsung Galaxy S23, main camera Night mode. The S23 almost looks like it's using a fade filter, though it's still pretty sharp.
  • Cars parked along a street with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge framed between two buildings lit at night.
    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
    14
    Samsung Galaxy S23, main camera Night mode. Compare this with the following photo. Here's an instance where the Pixel 7 Pro comes out on top. The S23's shot is oversaturated and just a bit too fuzzy.

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