The Galaxy Ultra telephoto: In 2023 it was 10x, now we're back to 5x. Is this what you call progress?

Going forward in reverse – is that what’s happening with Samsung’s Galaxy S24 line?

By now, even if you’re not a Samsung die-hard fan, you probably have heard that the newest champion from Samsung – the maxed-out Galaxy S24 Ultra – is getting a 5x optical zoom telephoto camera.

“So what? Both the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Google Pixel 8 Pro offer 5x optical zoom”, some would say.

Correct, but neither the iPhone 15 Pro Max nor the Pixel 8 Pro got their 5x optical zoom after a digit downgrade from their predecessors.

See, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offered a 10x optical zoom telephoto camera.

What happened?

On January 17, Samsung presented the new Galaxy S24 line at a 90-minute live demo in San Jose that focused heavily on the AI features of the Korean giant’s devices.

Of course, the camera setups were also highlighted in the presentation – these days, as the saying goes, “he who neglects the cameras shall not sell many phones, and will suffer greatly”.

In a short witty film, aimed more at the heart than the head, Samsung announced that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is getting a 5x optical zoom camera, calling it the “smartest AI-powered camera ever”.

What’s the difference between the 5x and the 10x camera (apart from the obvious one)?

So, what's the deal with the 5x camera that replaced the old 10x? Does this mean I don’t get 10x telephoto on the Galaxy S24 Ultra? Well, no. You get 10x zoom capabilities, just not 100% optical zoom.

Let’s zoom.

The new 5x optical zoom lens sits in front of a brand-new 50MP sensor. In contrast, the 10x optical zoom camera that the Galaxy S23 offers is built on a 10MP sensor. So, what the Galaxy S24 Ultra basically is doing with its new 5x telephoto in order to get to 10x zoom is… cropping.

Wait, isn’t cropping horrible?

By its nature, cropping is neither good nor bad – the results depend on the source. If you crop in a low-resolution image, you’ll get horrible results. If, in contrast, you get yourself a juicy, large-resolution image, you can crop a ton and still get nice final results.

Long story short, five times the megapixels is not to be underestimated. On a side note: there’s an ongoing discussion about the pixel size and its impact on the photo. Some like to use the latest sensor with the maximum pixels available, others prefer fewer, but physically bigger pixels. See, on a same-sized sensor, the greater the number of pixels, the smaller they get. For example, you can fit 20 basketballs on a large enough table. On the same table, the only way to cram 100 basketballs together is to make them five times smaller.

The thing is, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s sensor is larger than that of the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Sensor size (bear with me just a moment more)

The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x camera packs a 1/3.52” sensor, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 5x camera was said to have 1.6 times larger pixels than before. Although not confirmed at the moment, most probably the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a Sony IMX854 inside – a 1/2.52" sensor.

Apart from having a larger sensor and a greater resolution to crop from the Galaxy S24 Ultra has one more ace up its sleeve that the S23 Ultra does not – AI.

As Samsung has explained, the magical new “Galaxy AI” will not be limited just to Circle to Search features, but will also help the image processing – including the zoom capabilities.

Check this out