Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max Camera Test Comparison

Hope you enjoyed the comparison 😎 #SuperSafStyle Which is your overall pick? 🤔

I'm a Samsung fan and I have placed my S23U pre-order. However, you can't go wrong with both phones, if you look at the camera photos you will see they are both nice but different, it's more like a personal preference. Not to mention that most of the time before you post a picture, you would edit it or click on Auto edit in Adobe which corrects all the colours and you will end up having almost similar pictures. The zoom details in the S23U and night shots are out of competition for sure.

What I love about your videos is that it never (rarely) feels like you personally prefer one side over the other. Both devices have advantages and disadvantages and I think you always bring that across very neutrally :)

There is now a setting on s23 ultra where you can toggle quick tap shutter. Meaning it should reduce shutter lag as Samsung tries to take picture when finger lifts off button rather than at first contact

Great video, lots of points compared.
I think that you should have mentioned that you can use the pen stylus to take photos on the Samsung s23 ultra, which is very convenient for selfies and when using a tripod. Triggering from stylus removes any trepidation or blur that you may introduce when hitting the phone with your finger specially in long exposures (low light). Thatb isn't really a feature of the camera quality, but helps a lot taking photo.

Given Samsungs extensive history with early on post release patches and updates, i'd be interested to see this one revisited say 3 or 4 months down the line to see if anything changes. I reckon it could have some quite suprising results

SuperSaf thanks for getting this comparison out so quickly and for doing a thorough job. We can see that there are big improvements in thr S23 camera and these are likely to get further improvements with updates. The buying decision comes down to whether you are in the Apple Camp or the Samsung one.

Well done comparison, I appreciate the useful bits you have mentioned like the varying shooting styles of the iPhone (I had forgotten about them!) and the option of longer shutter time for night mode - I feel like most users who know their phone even a bit in detail will actually use them (as I would). Can you please also cover the x90 pro plus global variant when it comes out? Would love to know the difference between that and the S23 Ultra, since my brother needs to upgrade his OnePlus 5 and the Vivo and Samsung are looking good!

You never disappoint!! I couldn't wait for this video. I'm going to pre-order the s23 Ultra but I think I prefer a lot of the images from the iPhone when compared side by side. Overall, I'm still impressed with the s23's photo and video capabilities. Looking foward to taking some comparison shots with my wife and her iPhone 14 pro max. 😉

Samsung included an extra camera menu that includes shutter, it comes by default to prioritize quality, but you can toggle to be balanced between quality and speed or toggle to prioritize speed (in which I believe they use less images in the stack to make it faster and might sacrifice a little the quality in some situations). I would like to see how much shutter lag the camera would retain in these other two modes, versus their respective photo quality.

They should had implemented 2x crop option. As S23U got 200mp, it's the only one I can expect to give best output in crop 2x mode. That would've been exciting. Let's hope they bring it through update.

They seemed to have perfected anything that was wrong with the S22. They did a really great job with the cameras this time.

I really enjoyed your review! Like others have mentioned, however, I was expecting you to say (or even better: test) the option to enable a quicker tap shutter (with Camera Assistant). The result would be very interesting to see, especially when compared with the iPhone! But really interesting review.

Based on what you show, I prefer the S23U for photos and the 14PM for video. Would like to see how it compares to the Pixel 7Pro.

They’re both brilliant phones, but the zoom camera on the s23 ultra is the best just amazing for a smartphone & I do like the better noise cancellation mode on the s23 ultra when filming a video, so I’ve pre ordered the s23 ultra with the 512 gb double the memory in dark green & I got £400 off for part exchanging my s21 ultra 128gb memory which is full, so I great upgrade & specially now that we finally getting the latest Gen 2 Snapdragon processor & no more Exdynnos slower processor absolutely brilliant cheers Supersaf and peace ✌️

Cameras on both phones are great and with the editing on the s23 ultra it makes it pretty stunning, with the night mode it's incredible with the 200x zoom is brilliant, I'm a huge fan of the note series but both phones are definitely great.

It depends on what kind of photos you will be taking. The 14 pro 48MP doesn’t look good to me sometimes on people’s faces because it kind of over-processes them. I like the 14 pro for video because it has rlly good microphones and stuff like that. MKB said he thinks it takes the best video. I think they are both great cameras overall. I feel like at this point when I’m buying a phone I don’t look at how good the camera is because most cameras are good now.

Remember that Samsung always update the camera software which results in more features and better processing/image quality every few months. This has been a trend since the S10 series and has not changed in any flagship Galaxy S since then. So I fully expect that the S23's cameras will look even better in 3, 6 and 9 months time. We are unlikely to get any further quality improvements with the S22 Ultra, maybe a last effort from OneUI 5.1 in terms of features, but that's it for the camera.

Both are great devices. They have their own strengths and weaknesses. I like that Samsung refined what they already had instead of adding a whole lot of unnecessary stuff like other android manufacturers. Would like to see how it compares to the Pixel 7 Pro

As Samsung S23 was just released, won't there be software improvements to its camera performance and overall picture quality? I guess it might be interesting to do the comparison after 3 months after the release...

Also, Super Slow Motion looks much better now! It was so soft and pixelated it was basically unusable. Now it is essentially on par with the iPhone's 240FPS... Very impressive indeed

Just pre-ordered the Ultra. Pretty excited to see the front facing video camera quality for video chats. Also very excited about that 200x zoom. Looks like something out of a sci-fi movie for sure

I'd love to see a comparison between the S23 Ultra and the Pixel 7 Pro as it always seems to be Samsung vs Apple. I'm interested in both the aforementioned phones and going to be buying one so would like an idea of which is best. 👍

They definitely both have their differences but dang, i never thought iPhone would be catching up to Samsung when it comes to camera, I've always chose samsung over their camera when it came to iphone. I really like the way iPhone is handling the shading and colors now. It's probably because the s23 isn't fully released, but some of the S23's photos are giving off this Cloudy film compared to the iPhone, which is presenting darker, and more vibrant colors. Hope it's situated when the phone is fully released!

SuperSaf, once thing Samsung use to have on their cams is Dual Pixel Auto-Focus which made focusing really fast and the shutter speed was also faster. It seems that since they have removed DPAF from the cams, this has resulted in more shutter lag too.
There is a benefit to some shutter lag. A shutter that closes to quickly, won't fill the "pixel tank". What this means is, each pixels has a small cavity underneath it. This cavity is what gets filled with light when the shutter is open, so that the sensor can try to get color accuracy. This "tank" fills with light. The more full it is, the more accurate the color is. Samsung mentioned in their presentation, that the tank on the S23U is much deeper than on the S22U, to allow for more light to hit the sensor to get a more reliable color image.
Because it may take a few more seconds of the shutter being open to fill this tank, this has surely increase shutter lag. But should lead to a better result. The downside is, a single photo taking longer means you could miss a chance to take another photo really quickly. This is where burst mode my come in handy. or you can simply adjust the ISO to speed up the shutter. But this could result in fuzzier pics as the shutter could close to fast to get an accurate color shot to the sensor which would give a noisier, less sharp and lass contrast do to the shutter closing to quick.
Any thoughts on this?

I'm very excited for this one. Based on other vids I've seen, the S23 Ultra has had huuuge improvements

One thing will be good to mention is you can get faster shutter speed with samsung goodlock module.. i used it and i noticed no quality decrease in normal conditions, of course there is tight scenario where sensor need more light to enter.. so at that state you can turn of the faster shutter speed feature..

More supersaf style goodness as always. Loved these camera comparisons for so long. Keep up the good work

About the the shutter lag and bad focus with moving objects, there are some settings you can turn on to reduce shutter lag and focus moving objects better. Tracking Focus is one of them, i think that was the name.

S23 Ultra looks amazing this year. I had S22 Ultra for two weeks, and enjoyed it and its cameras, so I can see they upgraded the Ultra this year.
Great comparison. Gave a sub.

Samsung seems to have dialed down saturation. Side by side, I prefer the iPhone 14 Pro Max overall. That said, the Samsung is not blown away, and takes lead in some things. Don’t think one could go wrong with either device. Thank you for the great video!

Already I think it would have been more interesting to wait for the first updates before making this comparison.
Then, it's good to talk about the ''Photographic Style'' option of the iPhones (an option that I find very good by the way), but it would have been also interesting to talk about the Samsung options, the personalized filters (which are the equivalent of Photographic Style), the fact that Samsung allows you to choose between Vivid and Natural modes...
Choosing the Natural mode for the screen and in the camera settings allows you to have colors very very close to reality.
It would be really interesting if youtubers, especially big channels like yours, also think about talking about the options available on smartphones other than iPhones.
Ps: I hope there will be another comparison after the Samsung has received 2 - 3 updates.
🙏🏽

It’s really minor differences between the 2 and it goes back and forth we’re one performs slightly better than the other in different areas and settings. I think people are gonna be happy with either one so I’d say stick with whatever eco system you’ve been with and are comfortable with unless you’re balling 😅 then by both and have the best of both worlds 😂

top job!
Pleased to see zoom and wides giving good results, as having that capability in something you carry around in your pocket day to day is pretty amazing.
Also pleased as I ordered an ultra yesterday but have had my finger on the cancel button if bad camera reviews started coming in so...phew 👍

The S23 ultra's battery backup has been improved a lot as compared to S22 U and it has came close to IP 14 Pro max . I skipped the S22 U just bcauz of the same camera setup, same feature and mirror software tweaking compared to S21 U . But In S23 U has improved a lot in camera, battery and softwares.

I thought there was an option on the S23 Ultra to speed up the shutter speed? And another option that made the phone take the picture when you touched the shutter button, rather than after the finger is released? I'd like to see the comparison when the Samsung gets these options optimized for shutter speed. It's nice to see that these options are a thing so the user is given the choice. Might be a good option for people with young children or pets.

You can use 'Pro' Mode on the s23 ultra which you can use to increase/decrease ISO, Shutter Speed, or Aperture. This feature in itself is what deems the phone to be withhold its name; ULTRA, and makes it the more superior smartphone.

Always my fave dude to follow when making phone choices. You never fail to be as detailed as possible!

Thank you so much for this I’m debating between the two, my only concern is malware, I only stick with iPhone because it’s waaaaay better at protection but I really like Samsungs camera.

I think that a lot of the color problems with the S23 can be solved with some actualizations, it's just a matter of time because that camera is really good.

For the shutter lag topic. You just swipe down on the button(for s22 series.. used to press and hold for earlier models) and it'll take a series of burst shots. Not sure if people forgot about this feature on phones. But the button isn't intended to be spammed

I did not wait for S23 ultra. I still have my S21 ultra and I rarely used my 10x zoom camera so I went with iPhone 14 pro max. It's good to know that the s23 ultra is a good upgrade from its predecessor.

One thing I found in the iphone 14 pro is that the minimum focus distance is really pretty bad with the main camera... That is something that should be looked at in future comparisons

I do have a question: I have heard there will be an optimization update on the S23 series phones at release and was wondering if your test phone had that yet or if it was still the unoptimized version?

This is the first time I’ve ever agreed with every one of someone’s choices in this type of video. Very unbiased, great video!

I don't mind either side. Just don't forget to talk about the edit settings on the iPhone camera we can change the brilliance, noise reduction etc to make it a lot better too even if it already looks good.

Very nice and detailed review, all important points were addressed and tested, I think it's good!
I like Samsung and until now I have only ever ordered Samsung phones and I also have the S23 Ultra, but after seeing your and other videos I am considering whether to buy the iPhone 14 pro max because I think the photos and videos just look more natural and realistic on the iPhone. Of course, Samsung can always improve this with updates, but at this point in time I find the photos and videos on the iPhone 14 better. What I like about the S23 Ultra are the 100x Zoom and the warm colors, but you have to ask yourself the question: do I want photos with warm colors or photos with realistic colors?

I've definitely seen elsewhere that the S23 has a "fast shutter" mode to capture photos faster: Samsung's default set the camera to capture the photo when the finger lifts off the shutter button rather than when you initially press it down to reduce movement blur from your finger nudging the phone.

Fantastic comparison. Everything covered from every angle.

In regard to shutter speed. There is a camera setting that allows you to prioritize speed and takes the shot more instantly

In reference to (shutter lag) on s23 u can hold down camera button and do burst shots to capture fast moving objects in pics, or use track focus as well and can remove shutter. So there's not shutter lag actually.

I do prefer the 14 PM in most shots and videos and I'm an S22+ user. However, the 14PM has had some OS updates and that S23U review model hasn't had any. I would like another comparison in a few months.

Already pre ordered the s23 Ultra 🔥 cant wait to make some content with it!

Good video. Imagine how much better when the S23 gets some updates to the cameras.

That microphone audio quality. How does it sound so open and airy, without sounding artificial or thin?... That's fantastic! 👏👏

I do not often react to review videos, i just watch them but i just wanted to thank you for pointing out the shutter lag. I see there are alot of reviews coming online that do not even mention it, they seem like straight up promotion videos and not reviews. For reviews it is essential to also point out negative things so thank u sir for standing out with top notch content.

Thanks, its just so hard to separate them, it'll really depend on personal preference and what situation is most important to the user .

I'm more interested in a S22 vs S23 camera test. But other than that, another great unbiased review.

For me, I pre-ordered the S23 after using solely Samsung for my whole Cell phone owning life, but cancelled and actually went with the switch to Apple. The shutter lag has been a constant annoyance for me on Samsung and the better video on iphone is also cause for celebrating, since most of my pictures are of kids and animals shutter lag is a hard No for me at this point. On to new experiences with an iPhone!

This test definitely needs to be done again after some updates from Samsung

i think the better way to avoid shutter lag for taking continues photos of kids or pets is to use the burst shot which is way faster and better than the manual click as it avoids device shaking as well while clicking.

S23 Ultra has reduced shutter lags post 1st update as well.

I love the s23 ultra improvements but I am disappointed that there is still shutter lag.

also, for some shots, more blown out sky or other stuffs looks good rather than toning it down to have good dynamic range.., but in others, less blown looks better, so i think it depends upon situation..

The s23 has ultra-good shots, although some portrait shots are wrong, sometimes something can come in front of the lens.

Currently thr photo lag is due to the picture only being taken when your finger releases from the button and it prioritises quality over speed. Both options can be changed in the settings to get practically instant photos if that's your jam. 👍🏼

Good material Saf, as usually! I'm wondering how come that Samsung can not get rid of this shutter lag....

Excelent work. Love it. But i wanted to see the new Astrophotography mode on the Samsung. And with the shutter lag, you can use burst mode for moving objects.

Wow! Big improvements from Samsung!
I’m not an expert at any of this but it always seems like it’s a ‘ processing ‘ problem for Samsung… it’s like the data coming from the cameras get used better by the iPhone. Almost as if Samsung has a harder time getting information and processing it. With that being said it looks like Samsung is getting better with the processing!

Can’t wait to see how it does against the iPhone 15 ultra this year 😊

With my S22 Ultra I swipe the shutter button downside and it takes a lot of photos very fast. It won't work on full resolution but it's very useful with moving subjects

Regarding the colors of cinematic mode. I tend to say the Samsung has a bit more flat mode, it's actually more useful when editing in post

Those night shots on galaxy 🔥🔥🔥

Samsung nailed it this time for sure! People need to realize that all the kinks will be smoothed out with the 1st update. This is prerelease software and it is doing amazing already! Can't wait for mine to arrive!

The shutter lag is a deal breaker. Seems like this will always be the bane of Samsung.
You should do a comparison of the camera between the S23 Ultra and the Pixel 7 Pro.

S23 Ultra was Insane ⚡️♥️

I'd love to see a comparison between s23u and s22u! Thanks!

I have one question about this. There is the comparison about HDR to SDR exporting at 11min 43sec. I wonder what u did for exporting test exactly. Did u share HDR to PC through the cable or u share it online or something? Thanks:)

Would like to see a comparison of 1080P 60fps from each phone. Also, is Pro Video full-featured in 4K 60fps on the S23U. It's limited on the S22U. Great comparison. Thank you!

Saf, thank you for getting this video out so fast. I wasn't expecting Samsung to fully catch up to IPhone on videos but it's nice to see how close they've gotten.

I think iPhone will always be there for a really awesome picture taking and social media phone. For Samsung I really like it because it comes with the stylus it is more of a business phone. I always loved iPhone for the camera specifically and whenever I go to Samsung I always get sad and want my iPhone camera quality back lol I honestly think at this point it is worth it to have 2 phones for me just because I really don’t use much social media on my iPhone

Very useful comparison as usual. Thanks Sofian.

I wanted to say I really appreciate your very fair and impartial comparison. Great job!

Finally a major reviewer covering this very important issue of shutter lag which has been neglected for so long! Please keep this part of the test in all your reviews!
IMO this is that makes the iPhone cameras so unbeatable, that ability to just quickly whip out your phone and take a photo of the moment or a fast moving kid or pet and to capture a decent shot without blur or lag ... That's the essence of smartphone photography no?
Samsung flagships have failed for so long in this aspect and it looks like this year is no different. Despite all that marketing hype of 200mp blah blah, it doesn't mean anything if they can't get the basics right.

So basically both the cameras have gotten crazy good in there respective fortè. It all boils down to what OS you want use.😅

Thank you so much for addressing taking photos of kids. Both phones take stunning photos in bright natural light, but nowadays the majority of my photos are indoor/lowlight pics of my two active kids and my husband's iphone does so much better in those conditions. I always upgrade to the flagship samsung every 2 years and never had an iphone, but for this time in my life, I may have to make that switch just for that sole reason.

This is the expected review every year ❤

I much prefer the pixel4 XL my current pixel 7 pro. I’d love to hear an explanation as to why the older pixel device is took better portrait mode photos than even their latest phones!

S23 melhorou bastante mas ainda prefiro a coloração do iphone

For camera, the iPhone 14 has a pretty good color density, but from camera technology to zoom in detail and other features besides the camera, I hold the S23 ultra respectively.

The photo and video is top notch and look miles better compared to the S22 Ultra. I hope software updates will make Instagram more optimized, it sucks whenever I have a great picture or video to post but Instagram compresses it to oblivion.

You might forgot the burst shot by just holding the camera button to give you better result in moving subjects. Always using it (S9 plus user here) ;)

WOW. Thank you for the shutter lag comparison. Finaly someone who understands what we or at least i wanted. More youtubers should do that so we can expect better results from the S24 Ultra.

Great review and showcase as always. I would have loved to see more 8k video comparisons as they were the most improved feature along with night photos. It looked amazing in other reviews.

TBF, the S23U is still on the prerelease software during this preorder period. I've tested the demo sets. They have promised to release a huge patch to optimize the ISP and shutter lag after release so it's only going to get better so take this early comparison with a pinch of salt.

Great video! Personally with two young kids even though I prefer Android the shutter lag in S23 is unfortunatelly a big stopper. How this lag compares to the S22 ones? I have a S22+. Does the new main camera has a positive or negative effect? What about other phones at the top lines here? Thank you mate.

S23 low light video is more detailed if you hold the camera steady. When you pan the camera it becomes a bit smeared and noisy.
Overall the S23 is amazing. Video zoom is especially amazing.

I tried out an S23 Ultra on demo and the shutter lag is noticeably lesser than what is shown here

That's probably the most unbiased camera comparison right now. Love it.

Thanks for the video.
To be honest, for most people the choice is already predetermined.
I’m completely into apples ecosystem. We have a total of 4 iPads, 4 HomePods, 2 MacBook Pros and 2 Apple TVs. All light bulbs, LEDs, socket switches and so on are controlled via HomeKit.
I subscribed to the Apple One Family plan and there is nothing like that on the Samsung or android side - afaik.
I tried the S20 Ultra and the Fold 2 two years ago - but it was painful.
My favourite complaints where the battery life and the software quality overall. Much better on the iPhone.
I think the camera systems are great on either of these phones. So you don’t make any mistake on either of these.
Maybe you can test the software and app quality too, SuperSaf? Maybe even an ecosystem comparison?
I know, that’s hard and things can change fast. But a comparison of todays status would be nice. :-)