The 100x zoom of the Galaxy S21 Ultra camera is useless, but 10x? * chef’s kiss *

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is available for purchase along with the rest of the Galaxy S21 line, represents the pinnacle of what the company can offer on a phone, with its powerful processor, massive vibrant screen and 5G connectivity. But it’s the camera setup I’m particularly interested in, and this is where the S21 Ultra pushes the boat out. There are four lenses on the back: a standard zoom, an ultra large lens, a 3x optical zoom and a 10x optical zoom. Along with the huge 108 megapixel resolution of the main camera, the phone can achieve a large 30x zoom. (Here are all new features of the Galaxy S21 Ultra camera and how to use them.)

TL; DR: It is this zoom that is the hero here. Although the results at 30x are still very poor, the phone’s ability to take pictures with a 10x optical zoom means that it can take images that are simply not possible on rival flagships, such as the iPhone 12 Pro or OnePlus 8T.

Although I would have liked more main features of Galaxy S21 Ultra, what is here is still impressive. And I went out to Edinburgh to see what the phone can do.

I started in the beautiful Dean Village, with this classic view looking downstream. Taken with the standard camera, the phone captured a rich and vibrant scene, with many details in the foreground admittedly very gloomy.

Zooming in to the super wide view, there’s little noticeable change in colors, plus a little magenta in the upper right corner. It is a well balanced photo and contains many details.

With 3x zoom, the clock tower looks sharp and vibrant.

With a 10x zoom, the image is still perfectly detailed, with lovely contrast and no color changes.

With 30x zoom, things don’t look very good. Yes, it is perfectly clear what the photo is, but there is a general lack of definition. It’s hard to align your photo when zoomed in so far, but Samsung has a smart stabilization mode that helped me keep the entire watch face in the frame.

At their maximum zoom of 100x, these details are even more mushy, resulting in an image that is really good as proof of something you’ve seen, like rare wild animals. Yes, it’s a new feature that can be fun to try, but for most people, the quality is not good enough for an Instagram post, for example.

The 10x zoom is the sweet spot for me and is my favorite feature of the S21 Ultra’s camera. It allows you to capture photographic compositions that would require a large telephoto zoom lens with a DSLR. By zooming in on this beach, I was able to show the curves of the water, the concrete breakers extending through the scene and clearly show the walkers, who add a wonderful scale to the image.

And here I was able to fill the picture much more with the dramatic vision of Fettes College.

Taken with the standard zoom lens, this photo overlooking a golf course is not particularly exciting.

But activating the 10x zoom means changing the view completely, focusing on the Edinburgh skyline, with the monuments on Calton Hill clearly visible.

With a 100% zoom in the image with 10x zoom, it is clear that there are not many details captured. Realistically, images taken with a 10x zoom will not be of sufficient quality for printing – the crystal-clear zoom will remain the territory of a DSLR with a telephoto lens, at least for now. That said, most of the photos I took with a 10x zoom look good enough to post on social media or to send messages to friends, which probably counts for the vast majority of what anyone would like to do with their photos.

The 10x zoom was enough to accurately distinguish the details of this plane arriving to land.

And it was the 10x zoom that allowed me to isolate this couple from the disturbing elements of the scene, resulting in a shot that focuses only on them looking away.

Again, however, cropping this image to 100% shows that there is a definite lack of fine details when using this zoom level.

The super wide-angle lens captures a large part of the scene and I am really impressed by how vibrant and impactful this image is.

While this cannon shot has a great overall exposure, with a clear controlled sky and lots of shadow details on the gun itself.

Activating night mode, I was pleased to see the phone produce a clear and sharp image, even in an extremely dark room. The colors here are accurate and there is enough detail to be able to read the fine text on the candle. Awesome stuff.

It is the beginning of the phone, but I am already impressed with the photos I managed to get, with excellent dynamic range and accurate colors in most of the images I took. Zoom is the highlight feature here, but it is only impressive to a certain extent. I love some of the photos I took with a 10x zoom, but the details are still very close. Going beyond 10x reduces a lot and I still think the 100x space zoom is useless – I would have preferred Samsung to spend its time making the 10x zoom look even better.

Read More: Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. iPhone 12 Pro Max: Tested Cameras