While it’s the camera spec that’s grabbing attention, there are now several smartphones available with 200-megapixel cameras, the most notable of which is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. But just because it’s the most famous, does that also mean it takes the best 200MP photos? To find out, we pitted it against the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra, Xiaomi 12T Pro and Redmi Note 12 Pro+, all of which also have 200MP main cameras.
It is 800 MP total it’s flexible, and because there are significant differences between camera sensors, processors, software and pricing, the winner isn’t as clear-cut as some standard camera comparisons between two competing phones. Let’s see how everyone is doing.
200MP cameras
Usually, when we compare smartphone cameras, we take a close look at all the different features to see which one takes the best photos.
In this test, we were only going to examine the 200MP camera. We’ve already covered the Galaxy S23 Ultras 200MP camera in detail in a separate test, but this is the first time it goes up against three other phones, all with 200MP cameras, that have significant differences between them.
Starting with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it uses Samsung’s ISOCELL HP2 200MP camera, which was announced in early 2023, making it the latest camera in our test. The 1.1.3-inch sensor is packed with smart technology and unless you manually switch to 200MP mode, it takes 12.5MP photos by merging multiple pixels into one. This applies to all cameras in our test.
The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra also has a Samsung ISOCELL camera sensor, but it’s the HP1 version that was announced in late 2021. It’s slightly smaller than the HP2 at 1/1.22 inches and was the first 200MP camera to be available. The ISOCELL HP1 is also inside the Xiaomi 12T Pro, but in the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, its camera is the Samsung ISOCELL HPX 200MP. The HPX arrived in late 2022 and was only announced in China at the time.
Other specifications affect camera performance. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for Galaxy and Android 13 with one UI, while the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra has a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 with Android 12 just like the Xiaomi 12T Pro. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has MediaTeks 1080 processor with Android 12. Both it and the Xiaomi phone have Android 13 with MIUI 14.
12MP photo comparison
Before looking at the 200MP images, it’s worth comparing the standard 12MP photo taken by each phone to establish a performance baseline and get an idea of photo quality under normal circumstances.
The Motorola Edge 30 Ultras photo is a bit washed out, lacking vibrancy in various places in the photo, but still quite attractive. It’s the same for the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, but its natural tones and good balance really appeal to me. The Xiaomi 12T Pro approaches the style of the Galaxy S23 Ultras, with bold colors but toning down the sky significantly.
There is a surprising amount of noise in the Galaxy S23 Ultras photo, especially in the clouds. Otherwise the photo looks great. Ill select Xiaomi 12T Pros photos as one Id to share without editing; However, I’m sure some will prefer the more saturated style of the S23 Ultras.
Cutout of a scenic 200MP photo
One of the main reasons to take a 200 megapixel photo is to be able to crop the image from the full 16230 x 12240 pixel resolution to something more manageable without sacrificing much quality. The first gallery shows all four 200MP photos resized for easier viewing online.
They are all very different. None expose the scene the same, some saturate colors more aggressively, and the white balance is very different for each. For once, it’s clear that the photos come from different cameras, and that’s not always the case in these tests. I like the Galaxy S23 Ultras photo the least. It’s surprisingly dark, and although it wasn’t a bright day, it was much less oppressive than the Samsung camera shows.
The Xiaomi 12T Pros photo has a noticeable blue tint that reduces its appeal, but there is more detail in the shadows than the S23 Ultras photo. The photo of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+s is better balanced, but a little overexposed and lacks detail in the foreground. The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra took the best all-round photo, but don’t think that means it also wins when we examine them in more detail.
Also in the gallery above are the cropped 4000 x 3000 images, which is the same resolution as a normal 12MP photo taken by all four cameras. It is a zoomed-in view of the pub taken from a much larger initial image, rather than zooming in on the subject and retaking the photo. You can immediately see where the Galaxy S23 Ultras photo is darker, but now more details shine through.
Look at the smaller sign. Text is legible and clear in the Samsung photo, and pub roof tiles and brick walls have texture and detail, and there’s far less pixelation and artefacts than other photos. Yes, it was smoothed out, but it doesn’t look artificial. The Xiaomi 12T Pros photo is noisy, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ image was over-smoothed, and the Edge 30 Ultras image has a lot of edge enhancement, color aberrations, and bizarre visual issues like treetops.
The way the Galaxy S23 Ultra exposed the whole frame doesn’t depict the scene as I saw it with my own eyes, but when you look at the photo up close, it’s much more detailed, has much less noise, and doesn’t aggressively use digital enhancements to ruin the overall look.
Crop a 200MP close-up photo
200MP photos usually make sense when shooting scenes like the one above, but what about close-ups that include objects or food? Some cameras with large sensors struggle to focus close up, but the extra detail on a 200MP photo lends itself to interesting macro shots after cropping the image.
The gallery above shows 200MP photos from our four test cameras, and the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra once again takes a better-balanced and more immediately attractive photo. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+s photo is a close second with its natural tones, while the Galaxy S23 Ultras photo is darker than the others, and the Xiaomi photo overexaggerated the colors.
Now allows you to crop another 4000x3000px image. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ photo doesn’t quite have the depth of detail you see in other images, and it looks a little washed out when you get that close. The photography of the Xiaomi 12T Pros is good, with sharp focus and lots of detail and texture in the photo. It could easily be used as a standalone image, unlike Redmis photo.
The photo of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultras has an incredibly artificial look, a strange digital network appears on the image, which is only visible at such a zoom. the focus is not as accurate as the Xiaomi 12T Pros photo. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a lot more detail in the image, but it can’t quite match the Xiaomi photo because the focus is too tight.
Like the first photo example, the Edge 30 Ultra can’t keep up with its well-balanced full photo with detailed cropping, and the closer you look, the worse its photos look. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is in a similar situation, while the Xiaomi phone has attracted more attention this time and the Galaxy S23 Ultra has shown its reluctance to approach the subject.
Crop a 200MP photo in low light
Our last comparison photo is a photo taken at night, where the scene is only illuminated by the surrounding street and building lights. All four used a longer exposure time to capture the image, but it’s worth noting that the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra takes noticeably longer to process a 200MP image after pressing the shutter button than the others, even in normal lighting conditions.
As before, the gallery above shows all four 200MP photos (resized) in full. The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is by far the worst, and is the only one that hasn’t used night mode enhancements in its 200MP setup, while the other cameras have, and it really shows. The photos of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ look great, with much better balance than the Xiaomi 12T Pro and much more detail on the ground. There isn’t much to choose between the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and Galaxy S23 Ultras photo, at least at first glance.
The gallery below shows a cropped 4000×3000 image from the large photo above, and unsurprisingly, the unaided photo of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultras looks the worst with noise, pixelation and a lack of detail. Next up is the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, mostly due to noise in the image, which otherwise looks decent, with good white balance and plenty of brightness.
That leaves the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Xiaomi 12T Pro. They are pretty close, but the Galaxy S23 Ultras extra sharpness, less noise and more accurate colors make it the winner. The combination of camera and processor undoubtedly plays a role in the S23 Ultras’ excellent low-light capabilities, even in 200MP mode.
Not all 200MP cameras are created equal
All of these phones may say 200MP on the box, but that doesn’t mean they all take the exact same photo. In fact, there is a huge difference between the two, and the differences in quality and scene control show that there is still a lot of work to be done on the software side to get the best out of all of them. It also made picking a winner very difficult.
We didn’t add a winner for each section because the results varied greatly between the full and cropped images, and the same phone didn’t always win both. But we’re going to pick the overall winner, and that has to be the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It won’t come as a surprise, but the fact that his opponents really got close to him and even beat him a few times shows that he didn’t have it easy.
The Xiaomi 12T Pro came close to winning but couldn’t match the consistency of the S23 Ultras, while the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra lacked luster and really disappointed in the low-light category. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, as it has always been firmly in the mix. It uses a different processor and sensor than the others and costs just £450 (or around $550) in the UK, less than half the cost of the phones it competes with. The 200MP camera isn’t perfect, but considering how much cheaper the phone is, some people might be willing to make the trade-off. Or at least rest assured that if they buy it, the 200MP camera isn’t a disaster.
Editor’s recommendation
