If you have ever wondered whether it’s worth getting the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra for its incredible zoom cameras or whether this one feature is a bit overly advertized, well, read on as we pit this zoom heavy-weight against the Pixel 7 Pro with its versatile 5X zoom lens and the iPhone 14 Pro which only has a regular 3X zoom camera.
And let’s see if the Pixel can get similar results with one zoom camera, and whether the iPhone can even keep up with those two. And also, finally answer once and for all, whether the Galaxy S22 Ultra zoom is indeed the ultimate camera experience.
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3X zoom
| Pixel 7 Pro | iPhone 14 Pro | Galaxy S22 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3X zoom | uses digital zoom from main camera | 12MP 3X lens, 77mm, f/2.8 | 10MP 3X lens, 70mm, f/2.4 |
We also like the white balance setting on the Galaxy and the Pixel, which is closer to what you see in real life, while the iPhone often gives you slightly yellow-ish colors.
The excessive sharpening on the iPhone is another thing that can look particularly bad in some shots.
On the other hand, it’s actually surprising to see how much detail the Pixel pulls at 3X by just using a crop from the main sensor and digitally zooming in. The photo of the monument at 3X is one good illustration of the Pixel’s capabilities.
Summing it up, if we had to just talk about 3X photos, the Galaxy usually has the most appealing look to our eye, followed by the Pixel and we would score the iPhone third. What is your ranking?
5X zoom
| Pixel 7 Pro | iPhone 14 Pro | Galaxy S22 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5X zoom | 48MP 5X lens, 120mm, f/3.5 | uses digital zoom from 3X camera in good light | uses digital zoom from 3X camera in good light |
This first picture of the building at 5X shows that the Pixel indeed takes the lead, and you can notice how the iPhone starts struggling even more with details at this zoom level.
In the rest of the 5X photos, again the Pixel pulled ahead, with cleaner detail and pleasing quality, but often the difference was actually not that huge.
For some reason, the difference in quality is actually most noticeable to use with shots of people or pets, like in this photo of me on the bench, where the Pixel clearly comes out on top.
10X zoom
| Pixel 7 Pro | iPhone 14 Pro | Galaxy S22 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10X zoom | uses digital zoom from 5X camera in good light uses digital zoom from main camera in poor light |
uses digital zoom from 3X camera in good light |
10MP 10X lens, 230mm, f/4.9 |
Finally, we have the ultimate test with 10X zoom pictures. The Galaxy is the only one in this bunch with a native 10X zoom lens, and this is the reason many people actually buy the phone, so let’s see how the other two can compare at this zoom level without a dedicated zoom lens.
This gives the Galaxy an easy win in most of the pictures in this round. In the first photo of the beach, you not only get far cleaner detail, but also colors look more impressive on the Galaxy and bleaker on the other two.
Another thing about the 10X zoom lens is that you can actually shoot completely unnoticed, which opens up a ton of possibilities.
In the next photo of the statue of the kids, you can see the more abundant detail on the Galaxy, but it is also a very soft image, while the Pixel has just a bit less detail, but a sharper look, and both are surprisingly close.
Overall, the Galaxy takes this round, but the Pixel also deserves a few good words for its surprisingly solid at this zoom level. It’s the iPhone that is lagging behind these two.
Conclusion
So… let’s sum it all up and draw some conclusions.
The big surprise for us was the Pixel as it did great at 2X, 3X, 5X and even 10X. It is a really competitive camera system using the main camera sensor and the 5X zoom one.
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