Galaxy S20 Ultra camera comparison

Zooming in at night

The periscope lenses that will fit in a smartphone can't be made overly bright, so taking zoomed-in photos in the dark isn't a guaranteed success. In fact, you might actually get better results with the brighter f/2.1 2x lens you can find on the galaxy Note10+, albeit digitally zoomed in to match the longer teles.

Here are our test scenes, first shot with the main cameras.

Tip: On a desktop web browser, you can compare any two camera samples fullscreen by using the icon on the bottom right of each set of images.

Scene 1, 1x zoom: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

Scene 2, 1x: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

Once again, the Note10+ has an edge over the Ultra at 2x. Central sharpness is good on the latest Samsung, but it deteriorates towards the edges as the main camera fills in what the tele can't see, while the Note remains consistent across the frame. Dynamic range isn't as good on the Ultra either - apparently, all the processing required to stitch the views of the two cams doesn't leave much room for extra HDR processing. The Note shows how it's done delivering way better highlight retention. Weirdly enough, engaging Night mode on the Ultra doesn't help it much either.

2x zoom: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Galaxy Note10+ • Galaxy S20 Ultra (NM) • Galaxy Note10+ (NM)

We're here to see what happens at the higher zoom levels, so let's do that. At 4x in regular photo mode, the Ultra is easily the best. It delivers the sharpest image and has an excellent dynamic range (unlike in 2x). The Huawei struggles and it underexposes while also managing to blow out the highlights - dynamic range is spread quite thin.

Scene 1, 4x zoom: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

The Note10+ actually manages to hold its own, and despite higher noise levels, it still compares well in terms of exposure and dynamic range, while detail isn't terrible. That is to say, unless it decides to shoot with its main camera zoomed in to 4x, where things do go bad.

Scene 2, 4x zoom: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

The respective Night modes introduce some changes. On a global scale, the P30 Pro gets its exposure in check, though it's still pretty bad in terms of dynamic range and, zooming in at 1:1, there's not a lot of detail in there. The Ultra clears up some noise and brightens up its shadows nicely, revealing some detail that you couldn't see in the regular shot. Night mode is a nice way to get the Note10+ to shoot with its actual telecamera, and it produces a significantly better image that way in the second scene, compared to its effort in Photo mode.

Scene 1, 4x zoom, Night mode: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

Scene 2, 4x zoom, Night mode: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

Now let's give the P30 Pro a shot and go into 5x zoom. It does take more detailed images now that it shoots with its telephoto, but still struggles with dynamic range and underexposes badly while trying to preserve the highlights (and failing). Lifting the shadows in post-editing does help a bit, but it's not something you should have to do.

Meanwhile, the Note10+ is very noisy in the first scene (with the tele cam) and straight-up blotchy in the second (with the main module zoomed all the way to 5x). The Ultra retains a comfortable lead here in all observable aspects.

Scene 1, 5x zoom: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

Scene 2, 5x zoom: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

In Night mode, the situation is very much the same at 5x as it was at 4x. The Ultra is hands-down the winner, the Note is more likely to use its tele cam, but is now stretching that overly thin already. Sadly, the P30 Pro is struggling to gather light here as well, and is looking very underexposed.

Scene 1, 5x zoom, Night mode: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

Scene 2, 5x zoom, Night mode: Galaxy S20 Ultra • Huawei P30 Pro • Galaxy Note10+

So the takeaway is that if your low-light shooting happens around the 50mm equivalent (or '2x'), the Galaxy S20 Ultra isn't going to be better than a Galaxy Note10+ - in fact, the Note outperforms it in a meaningful way. On the other hand, if you like longer zoom levels around the 4x-5x mark (100-125mm), the Ultra is easily the best option and neither the P30 Pro with its 5x tele nor the Note10+ with its 5x digital zoom are a match.