Prolific tipster pops the Galaxy S25 Ultra camera bubble and praises the Xiaomi 17 Ultra zoom

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a mighty photography tool: despite lacking super large sensors for its cameras, it performs great in everyday use… and it's outstanding in the right hands.

What happens when you zoom past the generally accepted telephoto levels, though? What happens when you go to 30x? What happens when you test it against a dedicated camera phone?!

"Can you read me now?"

None other than the prolific industry insider Ice Universe shares a thing or two about the S25 Ultra on the social media platform X:

Ice Universe puts Sammy's current high-end flagship against the recently released Xiaomi 17 Ultra (unveiled on Christmas day) in ultra-zoom territory for this test.

Here, take a closer look yourself:



The Hisense logo on that air conditioner is clearly visible in the shot by the Xiaomi phone, which can't be said about the other picture. Overall, Xiaomi's photo strikes with a better white balance and much cleaner, sharper edges. Interestingly enough, the image doesn't seem oversharpened and artificial, which, at 690mm equivalent focal length, is simply a game-changer.

The tipster's point is that many Galaxy S25 Ultra owners overrate its camera because they never see strong alternatives. In markets where Samsung dominates, the phone is treated as the benchmark by default, even if its results are only average by today's flagship standards.

That perception changes once side-by-side comparisons enter the picture. Zoom photos that seem fine in isolation start to look clearly weaker next to rival flagships like this one.

I'm sure it's not that often that people resort to 30x, but it's good to know you're going to get a clearer picture.