Galaxy S23 Ultra Camera Samples Show Off Zoom, Low Light Capabilities

We were already pretty confident that the Galaxy S23 Ultra (reserve here) would feature a solid camera, thanks to the introduction of Samsung’s upgraded ISOCELL HP2, the 200-megapixel sensor we expect to see on the device’s backside. Thanks to Twitter user @edwards_uh, the same person who recently posted a hands-on with the device, it’s definitely looking like Samsung will ship this device with a camera that can take fantastic zoom shots, as well as really solid night time photos.

In the below samples, we have a few low light examples. In Samsung’s detailing of the HP2 sensor, a lot was said about its low light capabilities, whether that be indoors away from the sun or outside during night time. Similar to Google’s Night Sight, we can see that a standard photo is dark and you can’t see much. However, with the S23 Ultra’s night time mode enabled, more details come into light. We don’t know how long exposure was, but I’d assume it was at least 2-3 seconds. In the first photo, I couldn’t even tell there was a bike in the shot, so honestly, this seems like a good upgrade for the existing night mode feature and Samsung is finally catching up to what Google has been putting out for a while.

Next up is my favorite — astrophotography examples. On the left we have shots without any night time mode enabled, then on the right it’s clearly enabled. We can see that more stars and other details are clearly visible. Again, we don’t know how long exposure was, but even if it was just a few seconds, there is a ton of usable detail here. We go from a completely unusable dark shot to something that’s shareable. That’s the ultimate goal of taking pictures, so I’m excited to see what kind of star shots I can get once I get this device in my hands (aka my tripod for longer exposure times).

Last up we have a zoom shot example. My assumption is that this is the maxed out 100X setting, so I’d say that’s a pretty clear shot when compared to the original. You can see wires and bolts relatively clearly and we have to remember that this is a little camera that fits in our hand without a physically zooming lens. My Pixel 7 Pro can take some great zoom shots, but I’m not sure it would be able to capture this level of detail at its max zoom setting of 30X.

Again, if you’re thinking about snagging a Galaxy S23 Ultra once available, be sure to reserve one.

// @edwards_uh