Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is set to be the next flagship from South Korean giant Samsung, with its launch scheduled for January 2025, just next month. It is expected to be launched alongside the rest of the S25 models, the Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Plus. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is anticipated to bring a host of upgrades over the S24 Ultra, with one of the key areas of improvement being the cameras. According to reports, the camera capabilities could surpass those of the iPhone 16 Pro. Here are five reasons why the S25 Ultra could beat the iPhone 16 Pro when it launches:
Samsung To Sustain Its Telephoto Advantage
The telephoto lens on the Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to outshine the iPhone 16 Pro’s and this is because the telephoto lens you get with the S24 Ultra is already better than what you get with the iPhone 16 Pro. For context, the Galaxy S24 Ultra already features a 50-MP 5x telephoto lens with hybrid zoom capabilities up to 100x, while the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have a 5x telephoto lens limited to 12MP. This results in less detailed images and a maximum zoom of just 25x, far behind the S24 Ultra’s 100x. With anticipated hardware and software improvements, the S25 Ultra is set to further extend Samsung’s advantage in this area.
More Focal Length Coverage With “Optical Quality”
The S25 Ultra will also offer more focal length options. The iPhone 16 Pro features a triple-camera setup with 1x, 0.5x, and 5x telephoto lenses. However, when shooting between 1x and 5x focal lengths, the iPhone crops digitally. Phones like the S24 Ultra, on the other hand, offer much more versatility with a quad-camera setup, including both a 3x and a 5x telephoto lens, providing optical-quality images at both focal lengths.
New 50MP Ultrawide Shooter Expected
The S25 Ultra is expected to offer a superior camera experience than before due to its rumoured 50MP ultra-wide angle lens, an upgrade from the 12MP sensor on the S24 Ultra. This could make it a stronger competitor to the iPhone 16 Pro, which features a 48-megapixel ultra-wide lens.
Better Image Processing Could Make For Pleasing Images
Based on the expected image processing upgrades from the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the S25 Ultra could end up producing better images compared to the iPhone 16 Pro. This is because the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s image signal processor (ISP) upgrade is expected to boost image quality, further strengthening the camera capabilities, including results from the 200MP primary camera.
Galaxy AI Could Refine The Camera Experience For Samsung Users
Samsung has a history of improving existing hardware with software updates, and this trend is likely to continue with the S25 generation. Galaxy AI could play a key role in enhancing the camera experience. Over the past year, Samsung has focused heavily on artificial intelligence, particularly since the launch of the S24 Ultra. With the S25 Ultra, we can expect more AI-driven upgrades, making it a strong competitor to Apple, which currently offers limited AI features on its devices.