You might really want to use the 22x zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S30 Ultra

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

There is no doubt that smartphone imaging has become a major marketing feature of flagships over the years. While Google has primarily focused on computational imaging, the likes of Vivo and Oppo have been champions of low-light photography. Meanwhile, with the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung has been completely taken aback by, well, zoom.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S22 Buyer’s Guide

OnePlus 5 Zoom Sample – FinlandOnePlus 5 Zoom Sample – SFOOnePlus 5 Zoom Sample – Finland

I’ve never cared much about telephoto cameras on smartphones. Sure, they’ve come in handy on occasion, especially when at concerts. My trusty old OnePlus 5 did a good job of capturing the moment while rocking the front row at multiple concerts. However, the significant drop in quality is hard to ignore, and I’ve never found the zoom range to be substantial. I usually find myself sticking to the primary and ultrawide lenses.

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

Last year’s Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra did little to change my view with its space zoom feature. Before this it wasn’t much of an upgrade over the S20 Ultra. The 10x zoom lens was hardly the sharpest, and the much talked about 30x and 100x zooms were effectively useless. Fast forward to 2022 and ten days later with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, I have just one conclusion left – boy, what a difference a year can make!

The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s improvement in zoom quality shows the power of an improved image processing pipeline.

While the camera sensors haven’t changed over last year’s model, the beefed-up image signal processor and improved algorithms made a world of difference. I can only attest to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-equipped S22 Ultra, but Samsung is clearly taking advantage of the strengths of the new 18-bit Snapdragon Sight ISP that captures a staggering number of data points. Pair that with better AI algorithms and more telling results. Yes, I know Google has done a great job with the Super Res Zoom, but it doesn’t have the range afforded by the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. It’s that versatility that got me reaching for the zoom toggle more often than I expected.

Deep Digging: How optical, digital and hybrid camera zoom works

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

30x shot of a cat

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Walking back from my car, I followed a cat perfectly positioned for a quick test of the S22 Ultra’s zoom capabilities. At 30x zoom, there’s more than enough definition and detail here to make for a great social media-ready shot.

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

30x indoor shot of restaurant menu

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Meanwhile, while waiting at a server to receive my menu, I stared at a table in the far corner of the restaurant. Obviously, I whipped the S22 Ultra to zoom in and hold the shot. It’s far from a perfect image, but there’s enough detail here to make brunch special. Victory.

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

100x shot of the monument

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You never know when curiosity strikes. Seeing the dome of a local monument, I decided to take a closer look at the architecture. The 30x zoom shot brings you close enough to create individual details in the construction. Time to get a little closer? Unsurprisingly, the 100x zoom is a blurry mess, but it’ll definitely get you noticeable detail when push comes to shove. Just make sure there’s enough sunlight.

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

30x shot of the park

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There are clear limits to what you can do here. Shutter lag aside, there’s an inherent slowness when capturing scoped-in shots. While my attempts to capture a husky squirrel in the park were a blatant failure, the 30x zoom worked in a pinch to get a little closer to the subject without moving from my position.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s zoomed-in shots aren’t perfect, but they’re a step towards better digital zoom.

Look, the digital zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra isn’t going to win any photography awards. There is a noticeable softness to the images and often, you will come across the limitations of AI algorithms. Bright colors often turn neon, and details become very blurry once the light goes down.

More Photos: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Early Camera Impressions

However, it’s hard not to be amazed at how often you can do Get a usable shot. I’m still not a big fan of Samsung’s saturation-heavy color science, but the company deserves credit for the year-over-year improvement it shows on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Ultra long-range zoom is no longer a gimmick and I can’t wait to see what Samsung does with the next generation of chipsets and sensors.

How often do you use Zoom on your phone?

22 votes

all the time

64%

Once in a while

36%

never

0%

notes

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