iPhone 17 Pro vs Samsung S25 Ultra Camera Comparison!

Mrwhosetheboss

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Transcript

00:00This is the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

00:01This is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

00:03I have taken and analyzed over 500 photos and videos on each

00:07to find out which of these cameras would I want to use.

00:10So, let's start with the front camera.

00:11Okay, so this is front camera footage taken on both phones

00:14and actually right off the bat, massive difference.

00:17So you can see this new front camera on the iPhone

00:19is quite a bit wider.

00:20So you're not just seeing my face and shoulders

00:22like you are on the Samsung,

00:23but also a little bit more of the scene on either side.

00:26But most of all, look at this.

00:28It's just completely blown out on the Samsung,

00:30but you can see so much more of the sky details on the iPhone.

00:33What about stabilization?

00:34So this is meant to be one of the key things

00:36that's improved with the iPhone camera this time.

00:38And to be honest, when you're just walking around,

00:40you can't really tell the difference.

00:42They're both pretty fantastic.

00:44If I start running, oh yeah.

00:47Okay, so I'd say the iPhone creeps in front,

00:49but there's still not a massive amount in it.

00:51They're both very serviceable at doing this.

00:54And I'm out of breath.

00:56So yeah, the iPhone 17 Pro's front camera experience

01:00is probably the best I've ever used on a phone.

01:02And it's partly wideness and stabilization.

01:05It's partly how well it works

01:06on third party social media apps,

01:08but also this new ability to rotate the camera to landscape

01:11without even needing to flip the phone.

01:13Which means when I wanna take landscape video on my iPhone,

01:16I can do so while still holding the phone upright

01:19so that my eyes are looking at the middle of the screen.

01:21But if I wanted to take that same video on the Samsung,

01:23then my eyes are looking at the screen,

01:25but the camera's all the way over here.

01:27So you notice the lack of eye contact.

01:30And when it comes to photos,

01:31Apple's image processing seems to have finally stabilized.

01:34You know, older iPhones used to make your skin look really rough.

01:37Not anymore.

01:38They used to have this weirdly warm tinge.

01:40Not anymore.

01:41The skin tone and color of these iPhone 17 shots is,

01:44well, I mean, it's a little boring compared to Samsung's vibrancy,

01:47but it is more technically correct.

01:49So Apple can take the overall win in front cameras.

01:52But what about zoom?

01:54Because while Apple has upgraded their zoom this time around

01:57to this four times optical zoom camera

01:59that has a 48 megapixel resolution,

02:01when I saw that, all I could think was,

02:03yeah, but Samsung's should still be better

02:05with its five times optical zoom camera that is 50 megapixel.

02:08So we found a massive pack of deer really far away from us.

02:12Let's zoom all the way in.

02:13And yeah, to be honest,

02:15I think Samsung's photo is a mile better here.

02:17This is a 40 times zoom.

02:18And while there isn't actually a massive difference

02:21in terms of the information being captured,

02:23it's Samsung's processing.

02:24It's the decision to crank up the contrast

02:26and add extra sharpening that in this case

02:28is a total game changer, but it isn't always.

02:31Let's try something.

02:32Okay.

02:33I'm going to flash two photos on screen quickly.

02:35Now you've got a second, which of these is better?

02:37Okay.

02:38So there's a decent chance that you like me

02:39initially sided with this one,

02:41because I mean, contrast and sharpness

02:43are like the first things your brain registers.

02:45This is Samsung's shot, but now look a little closer.

02:48And can you start to realize how that contrast

02:50has also come at the cost of the natural color

02:53and texture of the animals?

02:55Here's another example.

02:56I think Samsung is more immediately

02:57eye grabbing on first glance,

02:59but then you start to properly soak it in.

03:00And I'm pretty 50, 50 between the two.

03:02You could literally edit either one of these

03:04and turn them into the other.

03:06And just for fun, we did that.

03:08And the same is true for zoom video.

03:09So if you were at a concert or spying on a family of ducks,

03:13then I can't even see a slight difference in information

03:16being captured here at 10 times zoom.

03:18It's just more sharpness and more contrast on Samsung,

03:21which sometimes makes it better, sometimes makes it worse.

03:24I do think it's a pro that the iPhone zoom slider is smoother

03:27and it's more responsive, but then again,

03:29Samsung's screen is brighter in broad daylight.

03:31And that is just as useful.

03:33So honestly, give me either of these for zoom

03:35and I'll be very happy.

03:36But now that we've touched on video,

03:38I do just want to talk about video in general,

03:41because a few generations ago,

03:42this was a very easy thing to draw conclusions on.

03:45The iPhone just used to capture

03:46this whole extra layer of detail,

03:48but that's not really the case anymore.

03:50Like this is a 4K clip taken on the ultra wide cameras.

03:53And even though we are very far out,

03:55you can still fairly clearly see

03:57what this chimp is up to on both.

03:59Now, if we want to see clearer,

04:00we can switch over to the main one times camera,

04:02but again, there isn't a detail difference at all.

04:05The only thing that I can notice,

04:07and you will see this throughout the comparison in all areas

04:09is Samsung just isn't as consistent when it comes to color.

04:12Because have a look at the greenery in the shot,

04:14the trees and the grass,

04:15and see how much it changes

04:16as we move between the main camera and the ultra wide.

04:19Or here, if we take some slow-mo,

04:21it's very detailed on both phones.

04:22It's just look at all the animals on this merry-go-round.

04:25Can you see how Samsung's shot is quite overexposed?

04:28Whereas the iPhone 17 Pro has handled it.

04:30And yeah, don't look at me.

04:31The high-level summary though is,

04:33unless you have niche uses,

04:34like wanting to do extreme color grading stuff,

04:37like these are both really nice shots

04:38of some really nice parkour.

04:41These phones are so good now

04:42that we actually use both iPhones and Samsung's

04:45for different types of shots in our own videos.

04:48We use iPhones for most of the sections

04:50that are focused on me,

04:51just because of the reliability of the skin tones.

04:53But then we use Samsung for recording most of the time lapses

04:57of products because this phone shoots an 8K resolution,

05:00which gives you a lot more room after you've shot

05:03to be able to zoom in on the specific bits

05:05that you want to talk about.

05:06It's actually kind of sad that in 2025,

05:09the maxed out Pro iPhone still can't shoot 8K.

05:13Now, one of the other things that Apple said is that

05:14the iPhone 17 Pros should have next generation portrait mode.

05:18And to be honest, I feel like I've heard this sentence

05:20like six times at this point.

05:22So I was expecting this to be a bit of a nothing upgrade,

05:24but I can actually tell the difference.

05:27So both phones take 12 megapixel portrait shots

05:29at two times magnification,

05:31but the iPhone's 12 megapixel shots

05:32are substantially more detailed.

05:34I mean, just have a look here

05:35how every bit of the texture on my shirt

05:38has been preserved here.

05:39It's also the more color consistent camera.

05:40Like, can you see how Samsung's added

05:42a pretty strong blue hue to my shirt,

05:44which did not exist in reality?

05:46And I wanna stress, Samsung being more colorful

05:48does not always make its photos worse.

05:50Like even though the accuracy of the iPhone is useful,

05:53it can also be kind of bland.

05:55Like if you asked me which of these two photos

05:57I would rather post somewhere, it would be the Samsung.

05:59But if I were to recommend one of these phones

06:01for taking portraits,

06:03it would have to be the one that has better fundamentals.

06:05And that is the iPhone.

06:06The detail difference is substantial.

06:08And it also feels like Apple has caught up

06:10with the one thing that Samsung really had them on,

06:12edge detection.

06:13This is something that you can tell

06:14Apple has worked on this generation specifically,

06:17because Samsung used to be noticeably ahead,

06:19but now it's starting to feel like the iPhone

06:21is just as hard to catch out.

06:23And that's both for humans, but also animals.

06:25Like shockingly well.

06:27Animals that I can't imagine Apple and Samsung

06:30have sat there training their camera models on.

06:32It's just impressive.

06:33It's pretty close to a DSLR quality background blur effect.

06:36Normal photos are kind of the same story too.

06:39The vast majority of the time,

06:41you will look at what both phones take

06:42and you will think those are both sick shots.

06:44And so for a casual user, it doesn't really matter.

06:47Just pick the one whose style you prefer more.

06:49So that's the iPhone's more neutral look

06:50or Samsung's brighter, more vibrant one.

06:53But if we are getting out the magnifying glasses

06:55and analyzing, then just like with portraits,

06:57when you're taking one times normal photos

07:00on your main camera, then yeah,

07:01the iPhone does pretty consistently get more detail

07:04in your shots than Samsung does.

07:05I mean, it's essentially just the fact that by default on auto,

07:08Apple is shooting in 24 megapixel compared to Samsung's 12.

07:11So if we crop into this thing's butt,

07:14then you can see more of the wood grain on Apple.

07:17And it does that while shooting faster too.

07:19Not by a mile like it used to, it's pretty close now,

07:22but look at this shot.

07:23This flamingo here was just about to take off.

07:25And can you see how the iPhone has practically frozen

07:28each drop of water on the spot?

07:29Whereas on Samsung, there's a very slight drift

07:32from the fact that it's taking

07:33just a little bit of extra time to capture.

07:35And then as with every single other mode,

07:37skin tones are also more predictable.

07:38There's no weird blue tinges,

07:40like you can see on the Samsung here.

07:41I've always enjoyed having dinner and interacting.

07:44And so the other day I actually took these out with me

07:46to try some macro photos.

07:48And Apple is able to focus closer,

07:50which is I suppose technically the job of a macro camera,

07:53but Samsung makes the food look so damn appetizing.

07:56I prefer Samsung's processing for these shots.

07:59Okay, there's an incredibly loud train over there.

08:01So let's turn the cameras around

08:03and let's see which of these phones

08:04that she better able to remove that noise.

08:06So this is the iPhone.

08:08Now moving over to the Samsung.

08:09So listen to the background noise.

08:11How clearly can you hear my voice

08:13and how much does that sound disappear?

08:15So yeah, I do find that Samsung is usually better

08:18at getting rid of the background noises,

08:20but just also that something is usually lost

08:22in the quality of your voice while it is doing so.

08:25And yes, the iPhone technically has one extra microphone

08:28and yes, it has the whole audio mix feature set,

08:30but Samsung has actually been adding

08:32tons of stuff like this too.

08:33And I would say ultimately with audio,

08:35it is a bit of a toss up,

08:36but just generally with this generation,

08:38it does feel like Apple has really focused

08:41on ironing out their cameras weaknesses.

08:43Their zoom needed work.

08:44They've upgraded the zoom camera.

08:46The portrait mode had started falling behind.

08:48They've amped it up.

08:49I used to prefer Samsung selfies,

08:50but Apple's overhauled that experience entirely.

08:53But can Samsung turn the tables when things get dark?

08:57No, not really, but there are a couple of exceptions.

09:00So when you're taking videos at night,

09:01I would say both phones struggle an equal amount

09:04at correctly exposing the bright spots.

09:06Like, can you see how the name of this crepe cafe

09:08is practically unreadable on both?

09:10Sort of a crepe image, to be honest.

09:11And when you look close at the brickwork,

09:13they're also similar.

09:14Samsung is a bit grainier.

09:16Apple is a bit smoothed out,

09:17but I wouldn't say either is better.

09:19The detail level is pretty much the same.

09:21Like if we zoom into this sign over here,

09:23it's the same legibility,

09:25which I would say is a better indicator

09:27of information captured as opposed to sharpness or smoothness.

09:30But these are the key differences

09:32that I have noticed at night.

09:34One, Samsung's photos have better dynamic range than Apple's.

09:37Like this sign over here was super bright

09:39compared to the rest of the scene.

09:40Samsung could handle it, the iPhone couldn't.

09:43Two, iPhone's portrait mode holds its quality,

09:46whereas Samsung's falls apart quite a bit more,

09:48with it losing a grip on the way

09:50that colors should be presented

09:51and getting a bit too noisy.

09:53And three, that the iPhone is actually better

09:55at zooming in too when it's dark.

09:57Bear in mind with each of these things I'm saying,

09:59while I'm showing you one example,

10:01I have double, triple tested each finding

10:03and consistently Apple is better at producing natural detail.

10:07Whereas the S25 Ultra starts to scramble

10:09in these low light situations.

10:10It forces itself to have detail,

10:12even if it has to invent it to get there.

10:15So to bring this all together,

10:16if we just for a second put aside everything else

10:19about the rest of these phones,

10:20which of these two cameras would I choose and recommend more?

10:23I would say the iPhone.

10:24In my previous test, the iPhone 16 Pro Max

10:27just edged out the S25 Ultra.

10:29But now with the 17,

10:30I would say the gap has become significant.

10:32Now that doesn't mean that Android

10:34doesn't have great options.

10:35You know, Vivo is killing it.

10:36Oppo, these companies are both in this upper echelon.

10:40Xiaomi too, in some ways.

10:42But I think Samsung has to work on both color consistency

10:45and also detail in photos if they want to keep up with them.

10:48Oh, also, if you're wondering what I use to take that shot,

10:50it's literally my phone case.

10:52Because TORAS cases have these rotating stands baked into them,

10:55you don't need tripods or fancy equipment.

10:58You are just always ready to take the shot you want.

11:00They're also magnetic.

11:01So sometimes I'll just whack my phone onto a pole

11:03to hold it in place.

11:04And because this isn't just a stand, it's also a hook,

11:06you can wedge it into all sorts of pockets.

11:08And it's not even just about recording stuff.

11:10Like I use these cases to FaceTime my mom

11:13while I'm eating.

11:14All finished off by the fact that this one in particular,

11:16the Q3 Vegskin is the strangest named,

11:20but almost definitely most beautiful case

11:22I have ever put my phone in.

11:23I've literally ordered a second one already for Drisha.

11:26Link below to join the club.

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