Samsung unveiled its new high-end smartphone series, the Galaxy S24, earlier today at the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event. The new phones bring some exciting displays, performance, software, and camera upgrades. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the one that's getting the biggest change in camera hardware. It has a 50MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom that replaces the 10MP telephoto camera with 10x optical zoom on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Even though it looks like a downgrade at first glance, it actually isn't. The phone will likely perform similarly (or even better) in good lighting conditions and better in low-light conditions.
Galaxy S24 Ultra's 50MP camera has faster focus and better low-light quality
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has the Quad Pixel Autofocus (also called multi-directional autofocus) lens mechanism for the 50MP telephoto camera. It is an upgrade over the Dual Pixel Autofocus seen on the 10MP telephoto camera on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S21 Ultra. According to Samsung's own claims, Quad Pixel Autofocus can detect phase differences in both horizontal and vertical directions, while Dual Pixel Autofocus can detect phase differences only horizontally. This results in faster autofocus speeds and more reliable focusing in more varied lighting conditions and distances. That's beneficial for both still images and videos.
The newer 50MP telephoto camera that debuted on the Galaxy S24 Ultra also has 25% bigger pixels at 1.4µm (in 4-in-1 pixel binning). The 10MP telephoto camera used in the Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S23 Ultra has 1.12µm pixels. Since bigger pixels can absorb more light in the same conditions, images and videos should theoretically be brighter and have less noise. This camera sensor is also equipped with OIS that can compensate for wider degrees of shake. Moreover, the shutter doesn't need to be open for as long, so the Galaxy S24 Ultra's zoom camera should be able to suffer with fewer instances of blurred images.
Samsung also says that the Galaxy S24 Ultra's 50MP telephoto camera can capture good portrait images in low-lighting conditions thanks to bigger pixels, wider OIS, improved ISP, and AI. Videos captured using this camera in low-light conditions are also better than the Galaxy S23 Ultra or previous phones, thanks to AI that takes information from the gyroscope, analyzes movements of the subject and the phone in real-time, and uses that to reduce noise.
With faster and more reliable autofocus, bigger pixels, and a better ISP (thanks to the newer processor), the Galaxy S24 Ultra's new 50MP telephoto camera should offer improved (or at least on par) image quality compared to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Watch the Galaxy S24 Ultra in action in our detailed hands-on video below. Click the button below the video to pre-order the Galaxy S24 Ultra and be eligible for exciting pre-order benefits.
