Broadened Horizons with S21 Ultra, OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 14 Ultra

Best Camera - Duel with a Twist: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro

It's a close contest between the best camera phones and often personal preferences are the deciding factor. Therefore, we make the duel more exciting by including three additional camera phones.

Erik Mörner

Published 16 February 2025 - 20:47

Obviously, the development of the mobile camera has taken great strides in recent years and even more so before that. In some ways, the iPhone 16 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and their cameras are similar. They have invested for several years in higher resolution, better zoom, more attractive portrait photos, more usable night photos, and so on. They are also both highly priced. That is precisely why we are introducing some exciting challengers in the duel's categories. Where it adds something, you can see corresponding example images from significantly cheaper models, but also the new OnePlus 13, Xiaomi's camera phone Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and the four-year-old Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Samsung and Apple have in common that their camera setups have looked relatively similar in their phones in recent years. Samsung introduced its extreme zoom in the S20 series, and in the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the main camera was updated from 108 to 200 megapixels. Apple made a corresponding step when the main camera in the iPhone 14 Pro got 48 megapixels, compared to the 12 in the iPhone 13 Pro. Otherwise, the main updates in recent years have been focused on software.

Since the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Apple iPhone 16 Pro perform quite similarly in many of the comparisons, we focus on the differences that exist in our image examples and on the occasions when the result shows something particularly interesting, even with comparisons with Xiaomi, S21 Ultra, and OnePlus 13.

Images in the Dark

S25 Ultra on the left, iPhone 16 Pro on the right, showing only subtle differences

A somewhat classic shortcoming of mobile phone cameras is that they used to struggle to take useful pictures in poorer light. That shortcoming is largely overcome now. When we compare, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with the four-year-old S21 Ultra in our image material, there are rarely any real differences, and sometimes the differences even favour the S21.

Staty i mörker med (bildspel) Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Iphone 16 Pro och sist S21 Ultra

A significant part of the result also rests in your hands, you as the photographer. By choosing the focus point in the subject or directly in auto mode adjusting the exposure, you can get very similar results, so when we compare, we mainly do so by using auto mode and accepting the settings the phone app suggests. Then, as a user, you can of course also improve your images by holding the phone absolutely still so that shakes do not create unnecessary blur, and we have held as still as we could regardless of the camera. By taking many different test images, some of which we present here, we can also minimise the risk of random mistakes.

Zoom

This is obviously an area where Samsung has an advantage given its extensive focus on zoom, perhaps most clearly exemplified by the ability to take pictures of the moon. They are still clearly the best at this among all mobiles. Scroll between the images in the slideshow to see.

At the same time, it might not be so often that you utilise the full zoom range up to 100 times magnification, and when we take pictures with ten or 20 times magnification, it is therefore natural that several competitors perform similarly.

Zoom in urban environment at night, iPhone 16 Pro. Clear deficiencies in detail and prominent noise.

Zoom in urban environment at night, Oneplus 13. Extreme post-processing so details are blown away and the photo becomes more of a painting.

Zoom in urban environment at night, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Zoom in urban environment at night, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Sure, Samsung has something of an extra gear to use compared to the iPhone's zoom. We notice this when we zoom further into the tower in the middle of the picture.

Rapid weather changes with sun and clouds alternating make the examples a bit misleading, but in any case, it is clear that the Oneplus 13 also has considerable strength in this area.

Colour reproduction and detail

With colour reproduction as well as with night photos, the mobile camera apps often let you put a personal touch on the pictures. There are filters and styles you can use to give the pictures a special feel you are looking for, not necessarily consistent with how reality looked.

Colour reproduction and details, Oneplus 13

Colour reproduction and details, iPhone 16 Pro

Colour reproduction and details, S21 Ultra fails...

Colour reproduction and details, S25 Ultra also fails to get the sharpness or colours right

Apart from this, all manufacturers have certain signature characteristics. Samsung, for example, has been described by many as having a more saturated colour profile but has moved away from that in recent years. When we have been out comparing, the S25 Ultra often renders our grey-white winter skies significantly more bluish, while the S21 Ultra sticks more to washed-out white, closer to how we experience reality.

Colour reproduction, winter sky Xiaomi 14 Ultra

Colour reproduction, winter sky Oneplus 13

Colour reproduction, winter sky iPhone 16 Pro

Colour reproduction, winter sky Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Colour reproduction, winter sky Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Even the iPhone leans towards the washed-out white side, and it is the Xiaomi 14 Ultra with its larger sensor that we think does the sky the most justice and reproduces the colour shifts that actually exist there in the best way.

Summary, conclusion

The conclusions we can draw from this comparison are that the S21 Ultra in many aspects keeps pace with the S25 Ultra and that not much development has occurred in recent years. In comparison, it is clear given its unique hardware that Samsung often beats the others in extreme zoom, but as we have seen, Oneplus also has similar capabilities. In the duel between the iPhone 16 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the comparison is very even with pros and cons for both.