Every year, cell phone cameras get better and better. Improvements include better detail, better zoom, greater dynamic range, better resolution, smoother video, and more. We guarantee. But so far, only one company has successfully earned the title of “Best Phone for Parents and Pet Owners” for its ability to capture moving objects and provide sharp images. .
Of course, I’m referring to the Pixel series of phones with cameras that I regularly present with this prestigious award every year. (opens in new tab) and a year (opens in new tab)Samsung has seriously impressed people with its high-quality video capture and incredible ‘space zoom’ in phones like the Galaxy S23. (opens in new tab).
So can the Galaxy S23 capture moving objects better than the Galaxy S22? Start with macro mode.
macro mode
Capturing macro images of wildflowers and other nature is notoriously difficult. These are subjects you don’t want to sit still, especially on windy days. Last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra was pretty bad at this task, often taking out-of-focus shots or overexposing images, ruining much-needed detail in macro shots.
It’s pretty wintery and windy where I live now, so I don’t have any wildflowers to capture, but there are many details left in the evergreen vegetation and the remnants of autumn leaves that never left their summer resting place. .
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All three examples above highlight the monumental improvements Samsung has made in macro mode on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Just open the camera app, get close to your subject and tap the shutter button. I didn’t tap the viewfinder to track the object. It was just a simple autofocus like someone would do on a normal day.
Note that this is an indication of how much wind was blowing at a particular point, making macro photography even more difficult for these cameras.
Capturing more detail, better dynamic range, and a more appealing color palette, the Galaxy S23 Ultra easily wins this competition. I didn’t say it was a perfect color palette. The Galaxy S22 Ultra basically ends up washing out every shot to some degree, and has a really hard time focusing on the first subject in particular.
It’s also worth noting that the Pixel 7 Pro’s image wasn’t as focused as the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s. ) does a great job of keeping the subject evenly in focus. We saw this last year, and this year it’s even better.
kids and pets
My favorite camera test of any review is the test where I take pictures of my son and pets and see which phone captures them the sharpest. Any smartphone is good enough for capturing mountain landscapes and gourmet food photos, but what happens when your subject isn’t well lit or stationary?
In this test, I held up two phones and tapped the shutter button at the same time. One on the left and one on the right. The differences in shots range from a thumb press to a few background processing tasks that modern phones do. In other words, when you tap that shutter button, you get the final result of AI combining multiple photos taken by the camera in an instant.
First, let’s compare the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
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The first test was indoors and my son jumped off the couch. This is fun as it tests movement in harsh lighting conditions. Yes, it’s midday with the sun shining in a cloudless sky, but it’s still difficult for phone sensors.
Looking at both, we can see that both the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra did a poor job of capturing the moment. The exposure in both photos is pretty bad, with both images being largely overexposed and blowing out a lot of the highlights. My son is also incredibly blurry in both phone pics, but they move really fast in real life, so you might argue that this is fine.
Both the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra did a poor job of capturing the moment.
The second test is outdoors in bright sunlight. My son is jumping with a skipping rope and I’m taking pictures of him twirling around, with an emphasis on grabbing shots of his face.
Again you can see that both shots are very overexposed. I don’t know why Samsung’s camera software keeps repeating this, but it’s a constant problem in all kinds of lighting conditions. However, the S23 Ultra’s exposure is definitely better than his S22 Ultra, and the dynamic range is definitely improved.
See the son’s face in both shots to see the biggest (and most important) difference between the scenes. The Galaxy S22 Ultra completely blew the moment here, but the S23 Ultra’s shot is at least salvageable.
Well, what about the Pixel 7 Pro? Will you continue to be the champion of capturing action in photography?
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I hate to say it, but as usual, there is no real competition here. Google’s AI smarts in the Pixel 7 Pro are so good that they often outperform their best competitors in tough situations. Literally every Pixel 7 Pro photo outperforms the Galaxy S23 Ultra . Exposure, motion blur, sharpness, detail, dynamic range. All.
Things are much more even when you move outdoors. Google’s Pixel 7 Pro still beats the competition, but not by much, especially when compared to its indoor test win rate. Google’s shot is much better exposed and has much better dynamic range. Both did a good job of capturing the face, but the Samsung shot is slightly overexposed because the face is so bright and in direct sunlight.
Even if taking pictures of your pet or child in motion is of paramount importance, you should choose the Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 over any other smartphone on the market.
But Samsung has one little trick that comes in handy when you’re not sure you have time to retake your shot. Burst mode. All phones support burst mode in some way, but for Samsung it’s easier in that you press the shutter button, slide it down and hold it until the moment is over. This makes bursts of shots faster, so you can sort them later and pick better moments. Will bursts save Samsung’s bacon on indoor shots?
To prove a point here, just tap the Pixel 7 Pro’s shutter button. On my Galaxy S23 Ultra, I turned burst mode on all the way. Unfortunately for Samsung, this doesn’t help much.
A single tap on the Pixel 7 Pro produces sharp, clean images with gorgeous exposure. On the other hand, bursting 30+ photos on the Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t give you better quality than a single tap.
I was really hoping Samsung would improve on this particular shortcoming this year. In short, even if taking pictures of moving pets or children is paramount, you should choose a Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 over any other smartphone on the market.
But what if you set the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s sensor to capture at full 200MP resolution instead of the default 12.5MP resolution?
Well at least I TRUE A clear image of the cushions on my sofa.
If you have kids, pets, and love taking pictures, the Google Pixel 7 is for you. At half the cost of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, you’ll get better shots of your favorite little ones every time.
