Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the new best smartphone camera: PhoneArena Camera Score

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the new champion in our PhoneArena Camera Score, outranking ever so slightly the previous leader, which was the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

While the S24 Ultra camera system consists of four lenses, just like its predecessor, a number of changes to image processing have been made and we have one important camera upgrade.

On hardware side, the big thing is the new 5X telephoto camera that performs very well and also does double duty for portrait headshots. The phone keeps the 3X zoom lens as well, so you have two native zoom lenses on board, a rare feature even for a flagship.

The main camera also receives a welcome update: it seems to use the same (or slightly improved) Samsung ISOCELL HP2 sensor, but the actual pictures are clearly improved in a number of ways. Chiefly, you get improved detail, Samsung has dealt with the strong oversharpening we witnessed in the previous model, exposure has improved and colors are fine tuned to be more balanced.

The ultra-wide camera seems to have remained the same on paper, but we see a slight boost in image quality there as well.

First, though, here is what camera specs we have on board.

With a total camera score of 153, the Galaxy S24 Ultra beats the previous champion in the PhoneArena Camera Score, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, by 1 point.

The new Galaxy scores 159 points for photo quality (up 2 points compared to the iPhone), and 157 points for video quality (tied with the iPhone).

The biggest difference is, unsurprisingly, in zoom quality where the Galaxy has the advantage of one more native lens. However, it also scores a bit more when it comes to the main camera, thanks to the big improvements that Samsung has made to the processing.

These are the top four phones out of more than 20 models we have tested currently. Soon, you will be able to see the ranking and scores for all models in a separate page at PhoneArena.

And below, you can find some sample photos taken with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung has made a big leap in photo quality: the Galaxy S24 Ultra receives a total photo score of 159 points compared to just 144 points for the S23 Ultra.

The majority of those points come from the improvements in the main camera, but we see each camera receive a noticeable upgrade in the new generation.

When it comes to video capture, the S24 Ultra gets a total score of 147 points, another leap compared to the 141 points for the predecessor model.

The majority of the improvements here come from the zoom camera, which is now able to provide detailed footage at the useful 5X zoom level. The new S24 Ultra also has excellent video stabilization and is able to maintain a steady shot at 5X and 10X zoom.

In the above video sample, you can yourself compare the photo and video quality of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max in a number of different scenarios, from daylight to night time pictures.

In our Camera Score, we found that the video quality out of the main camera was comparable on the Galaxy and iPhone as both had the same score in that category. The iPhone, however, scored higher for video shot with the ultra-wide camera, while the Galaxy came on top when it came to videos captured on the front camera.