Xiaomi 14 Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

05 April 2024
Discover how the year's top cameraphones stack up in our comprehensive comparison across multiple disciplines.

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  • E
  • EugenM88
  • sph
  • 11 May 2024

For every S24 Ultra user, please take note that the 3x zoom camera including in this awesome comparison made by GSMArena takes horrible noisy photos even in daylight, which is quite unnaceptable for a phone costing 1500€.

I have just finished making a post in Samsung US Forums showcasing an easy fix for this issue and a workaround for S24 Ultra users untill Samsung fixes this issue, you can visit this thread here:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S24/3x-camera-zoom-of-s24-ultra-issue-easy-fix-for-samsung/td-p/2880185

    Anonymous, 09 Apr 2024You are clueless, everything what you said is rubbish excep... moreHe's not completely wrong.

    > The point of variable aperture is not DoF, if you want it just use fast, but fixed aperture.

    It is DoF as well. Sometimes you want less bokeh. This blurred look doesn't help when the whole frame is the subject you want in focus (like landscapes or street photography).

    >It's about letting more or less light in, e.g. long-exposure shot, have you ever seen f/4.0 main camera on a phone? me neither.

    It's only not going to be the main camera because these sensors need as much light as they can get. It's not from a stylistic point.

    >And F11-F18? what the hell are you talking about?

    You clearly don't know what's going on. DoF equivalence exists just like full frame equivalence (35mm) exists. When you have a smaller sensor, your DoF increases to a rate that mimics higher F numbers. f/1.8 will look different on Full Frame, APS-C, medium format, phones, etc. Phones are having bokeh equivalent to the look of letting LESS light in.

    >"little piece of glass as a lens"? clearly clueless, phones rarely uses glass lens, and if they do, only one out of seven or eight plastics.

    You know exactly what they mean. Stop being pedantic and focus on the claims. And yeah, these lenses are small as hell. You can only do so much with limited size in photography in general. That's why everything is bigger sensor, bigger lenses, more light.... you go the other way and you get screwed by physics.

    >"will artificially blue portraits"? for secondary telephoto with slower than f/2.0 sure, but the Mi at least have f/1.8 which is standard, but the Samsung uses f/2.4.

    Again, these numbers are USELESS, they are not the same "real" bokeh you get with traditional cameras. They are equivalent to much much less light coming in. F11? Not so sure but they are at minimum like f/4-5.6. This is why they have to come in with the artificial blur.

    >And if you love creaming your pants from natural bokeh that much the Xiaomi got one of the fastest lens around, only beaten by f/1.4, if you look at the samples from Xiaomi 14 or Honor magic6 Pro with f/1.4 you can see they can't do long shot at all, the subject in the back is soft a sign of legit bokeh from fast lens, if it were from artificial blurring from software that won't be the case innit

    Artificial blurring is for portrait mode. Sure, you're still going to be less sharp at a distance no matter the sensor size, but another part of it is that these lenses in any form will not resolve distance.

    >"variable aperture is a gimmick" is proven false, since then the Honor can switch to the slower f/2.0 to control the DoF unlike the Xiaomi 14 that stuck with f/1.4.

    I agree with this and think it's important too but the main point is also correct - small sensors give equivalent less light bokeh, but variable control can still make some difference and should be standard. Not everybody prioritizes light > focus.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • ibh
      • 12 Apr 2024

      Anonymous, 06 Apr 2024Based on sales number, people prefer the photo results of S... moreThis is like saying.... Based on sales numbers, McDonald sells more burger so it must make good burger?

        • U
        • U and Me
        • 7}Q
        • 11 Apr 2024

        😍 both phone are amazing it's WOW😍
        Thank you so much for comparisons of both smart device...

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 8v2
          • 09 Apr 2024

          Anonymous, 09 Apr 2024Yup, its basic science that a lot of smartphone geeks don&#... moreYou are clueless, everything what you said is rubbish except the sensor size is false.
          The point of variable aperture is not DoF, if you want it just use fast, but fixed aperture. That way you can save on size of the camera module since you don't need the blades and motor. It's about letting more or less light in, e.g. long-exposure shot, have you ever seen f/4.0 main camera on a phone? me neither.
          And F11-F18? what the hell are you talking about? "little piece of glass as a lens"? clearly clueless, phones rarely uses glass lens, and if they do, only one out of seven or eight plastics. "will artificially blue portraits"? for secondary telephoto with slower than f/2.0 sure, but the Mi at least have f/1.8 which is standard, but the Samsung uses f/2.4.
          And if you love creaming your pants from natural bokeh that much the Xiaomi got one of the fastest lens around, only beaten by f/1.4, if you look at the samples from Xiaomi 14 or Honor magic6 Pro with f/1.4 you can see they can't do long shot at all, the subject in the back is soft, a sign of legit bokeh from fast lens, if it were from artificial blurring from software that won't be the case innit? and that's where your trashy opinion "variable aperture is a gimmick" is proven false, since then the Honor can switch to the slower f/2.0 to control the DoF unlike the Xiaomi 14 that stuck with f/1.4.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • g4b
            • 09 Apr 2024

            unxpctd, 07 Apr 2024Both of these phones have awful details. Is anybody looking... moreYup, its basic science that a lot of smartphone geeks don't realize. It doesn't matter how many megapixels or AI algorithms you throw into a phone, a tiny sensor with a little piece of glass as a lens will ALWAYS cause compression issues.
            I personally find it hilarious that the chinese makers are using a variable aperture as a marketing gimmick, as if it would make any difference on a tiny sensor. Smartphones already naturally shoot at like F11-F18, but they will artificially blue portraits(which looks terrible btw) for the fanboys to blow their load while they scream "OMG BOKE"

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 61d
              • 08 Apr 2024

              NeonHD, 08 Apr 2024It shouldn't be the case for Xiaomi with that 1" ... more
              yeah, all the phone companies optimize the software processing for instagram/social media purpose for their point and shoot mode. at least with LEICA authentic mode it's less of an issue.
              but if you want to see the true hardware prowess of these phones, shoot PRO RAW mode, the xiaomi even got variable aperture in that, hope this thing got adopted more later! I heard huawei p70 already planned to have it

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • 61d
                • 08 Apr 2024

                unxpctd, 07 Apr 2024Both of these phones have awful details. Is anybody looking... moremy 1985 pentax still beat it to the ground, and it got character!

                  unxpctd, 07 Apr 2024Both of these phones have awful details. Is anybody looking... moreIt shouldn't be the case for Xiaomi with that 1" sensor. It must mainly be due to aggressive software processing. Sony gets it right by not relying much on software processing.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • SHp
                    • 08 Apr 2024

                    unxpctd, 07 Apr 2024Both of these phones have awful details. Is anybody looking... moreEver since we got those 50,100,200mp sensors that pixel bin we got this artificial look,like a painting.I hate it too.

                      Both of these phones have awful details. Is anybody looking at the foliage? Looks flat completely 2D, crunchy as hell, details annihilated.

                      My Canon P&S in 2008 captured better details and it had a massively smaller sensor and no computational photography.

                      These companies need to do better.

                        • L
                        • Lister
                        • pLd
                        • 07 Apr 2024

                        Anonymous, 06 Apr 2024People do all gymnastics here to justify xiaomi asks 1500 e... moreIt's because the Chinese government pays a lot of money to their top tech companies to encourage lower prices, in effect they are squeezing out foreign manufacturers. It's ironic, considering the investment those companies put into China to make their own smartphones.

                          • T
                          • Trofeo
                          • 7j}
                          • 07 Apr 2024

                          Anonymous, 07 Apr 202414 ultra is available for $900 for 12gb/256gb variant from ... moreWhat about shipping charges and customs?

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 61d
                            • 07 Apr 2024

                            Kim Jong-Un, 07 Apr 2024never heard any issue about foggy ultra cam, maybe the old ... morekim jong un from taiwan? :v

                              showstopper, 07 Apr 2024https://www.reddit.com/r/Xiaomi/comments/1b314x0/xiaomi_14s... moreSorry, but are you dumb or blind? the person you are replying did said the vanilla 14 have condensation issue, not the 14 ULTRA. The R*ddit thread you are mentioning doesn't mean anything because the Taiwanese guy already said the same thing.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 8t@
                                • 07 Apr 2024

                                14 ultra is available for $900 for 12gb/256gb variant from giztop.
                                That makes it a better deal than s24 ultra

                                  • K
                                  • Kim Jong-Un
                                  • 8un
                                  • 07 Apr 2024

                                  showstopper, 07 Apr 2024Best fogged camera never heard any issue about foggy ultra cam, maybe the old mi 11 ultra but 14 ultra don't fog
                                  the highest end foggy cam issue I have heard the small xiaomi 14 but it's super easy to fix
                                  how do I know? I run a phone repair shop in Taiwan and people who get foggy camera I "scam" them by making them pay NT$1,2k for super easy fix haha 😂😂

                                    • h
                                    • handyfan
                                    • HLj
                                    • 07 Apr 2024

                                    If you are only interested in a real world camera comparison between the two, watch this
                                    https://youtu.be/vVFQyb3b8Mo?feature=shared

                                    I can confirm what has been said in the video as I own the Xiaomi and previously owned the Galaxy S23 ultra. I think not enough praise is given to Leica. Their colour science is better than Samsung and the pictures look like taken with a real camera. Also the camera app is superb and lots of fun to use.
                                    And if you want to read details about the Xiaomi camera, go to amateurphotographer.com
                                    These are experts that go deeper into the photography aspect.

                                      • H
                                      • HP
                                      • 64i
                                      • 07 Apr 2024

                                      showstopper, 07 Apr 2024Please comment about the xiaomi camera fogging issue. What&... moreOverblown issue, just record something in 4k for 30min and it's gone forever (I'M SHOWME USER(100% REAL LIFE USER EXPERIENCE) keep krying hater you don't evem have a show me phone just repeatinf b*llsh*t comments