Three camera features that would’ve let Galaxy S23 Ultra crush the next iPhone

This smartphone camera feature is not entirely new; in fact, the first attempts at this were made all the way back in 2009 with the Nokia N86. What’s even more interesting is that Samsung, of all companies, tried the feature on its Galaxy S9 series in 2018. Both models were able to switch between two aperture values: F/1.5 and F/2.4.

A quick side note on aperture: this is pretty simple; the aperture is the diameter of the hole through which the light passes in an optical system. DSLRs and other dedicated cameras use diaphragms to dynamically change the aperture, which leads to different effects in the resulting image.

One of the most visible effects tied to aperture is depth of field. A smaller hole (larger aperture numbers) results in a deeper depth of field, allowing focus on distant objects. And vice versa: a larger hole (smaller aperture numbers) makes background objects blurry because the depth of field is more shallow.

This leads us to the ever-sought-after “bokeh” effect in smartphone photography. It brings the main object of the photo front and center and adds a “professional” touch to the whole frame. Smartphone manufacturers have been trying to do this via software algorithms, mainly because it’s easier and cheaper than a dedicated variable aperture system, but there are artifacts and imperfections in such a solution, and nothing can rival a good optical bokeh.

Behold the Huawei Mate 50 Pro—the first phone with a truly variable aperture! This underrated and unpopular phone (mainly due to political reasons, but we won't delve into this) shoots the best bokeh ever. Period. Just take a look at a few examples below.

Now imagine this system on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, with its already benchmark-setting cameras. I just can’t wrap my head around this: Samsung is supposed to try and out-innovate Apple, beating the Cupertino company at its own game. And the expertise is already there: Samsung already has a working system in the Galaxy S9. With some tweaking, we could’ve gotten a great portrait mode on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Unrivaled (well, if we exclude the Mate 50 Pro, of course).

Variable optical zoom

All praise Sony for trying the unimaginable and bringing moving optics to smartphones! Well, that might sound a bit over the top, but the Japanese brand stuck to its guns and innovated the hell out of the camera system in the Xperia 1 series.

The Xperia 1 III was able to switch between two focal lengths, 70 mm and 105 mm, adding some flexibility to an already great camera system. Sony didn’t stop there. The next iteration achieved true variable zoom between 85 mm and 125 mm.



And it has nothing (or nearly nothing) to do with zoom. Yes, 125 mm is pretty good and can help with snapping a bird or other wildlife creature, but it’s much more about framing flexibility. You're effectively cropping in real time on an optical level. There's no need to imagine it in your head, do post-processing, or move around to get the perfect focal length. Now, if you apply the same technology to the Galaxy S23 Ultra and add the Space Zoom, you’ll get everything. The best of both worlds: insane zoom levels and increased framing flexibility.

Gimbal stabilization

Most people might be tempted to think that passive optical image stabilization, paired with some clever cropping, is good enough on a smartphone. That’s because they haven’t tried the Zenfone 9! Let me tell you a short story.

My wife works as a line producer at a movie studio. One day, after a late night shift, she called with an urgent and trembling voice. She needed some sample clips shot for a commercial to show the client locations and landscapes at night. It had to be done immediately and sent to the client the next day.

All the cameras and gimbals were unavailable at the time (being used in other locations), and we couldn’t buy anything on the spot as all shops had closed. I grabbed the Asus Zenfone 9 and we did all the samples with it, using the built-in gimbal.

My wife got the client, and she was so impressed with the Zenfone 9 that she bought one a few weeks later as a backup in case something similar happened again. Now, if the Zenfone 9 is good enough for a movie production studio, it should be good enough for everyone.