Comparing the iPhone 11 Pro Max camera to the Galaxy S20 Ultra

We know that the Galaxy S 20 Ultra and the iPhone 11 Pro max have some of the best smartphone cameras sorry. We're gonna compare them and see which is best. [MUSIC] I've taken a lot of photos and videos with both of these very capable phones and I'm gonna share them with you and compare them side-by-side, running across every category, including landscapes, the ultra-wide angle camera, portrait. Selfies video and of course nightmodes sorry, let's get started. In ideal conditions with good lighting, it's so hard to separate these phones. They both do a great job with color, sharpness and dynamic range. Like all of these comparisons, it comes down to personal preference and the screen you're viewing on also does make a difference. When looking at them on the phone screens themselves the S20 Ultra photos looked supersaturated compared to the iPhone, but putting them on the same screen they become much closer. Overall though I think the S20 Ultra photos have a bit more contrast than the iPhone. The S20 Ultra also has 108 megapixel sensor and the level of detail is incredible when you shoot at this resolution But mostly I found it useful for when I was wanting to crop in, and still have enough resolution to get a usable shot. The iPhone shoots at 12 megapixels, so you are a little bit more limited when it comes to cropping or reframing. Pixel bidding on the S20 Ultra is also supposed to give you even more detail when you are shooting in just that 12 megapixel resolution which is on by default. Moving to the ultra wide camera what I was most surprised about was that the phones both do a really good job of keeping colors white balance and exposure the same. Between the ultra wide and the regular wide camera. On this shot, the iPhone does even out the shadows and highlights a little bit more on the ultra wide while the S 20 Ultra shot has a touch more contrast. It's no secret the S 20 Ultra has some incredible zoom capabilities. So I took both these phones to the top of one of the highest points in San Francisco and set them on a tripod to see what they could do. Here's what it looks like, on the S20 Ultra, zooming in to the Golden Gate bridge at the set increments in the camera interface, from 1.0x, through. 5.0x, 10.0x, 30.0x, and finally, 100.0x. So, once you hit anything greater that 10.0x, the image quality does start to deteriorate. And at 100.0x, it's not really usable. The iPhone by comparison only has a two times optical zoom, then it turns to digital to a maximum of 10 times. And if you compare them side by side the 10 times from the ultra versus the 10 times from the iPhone, it's not great to look at the iPhone image When it comes to the front-facing camera, I think this selfie looks a little bit more natural on the iPhone, as the S20 Ultra does have some facial smoothing on by default, although you can, of course, turn it off. But for the most part, they both look pretty good. You can also do portrait mode on the front-facing camera. And I really made it Hot on these cameras to test out the edge detection, as you can see neither really excel at separating the busy background from my head and sunglasses. But overall the S 20 Ultra does it a little better. Moving to the rear camera photos of people on both phones look great, although there were a few occasions where I was pointing and shooting when the autofocus on the S 20 entre didn't quite get the subject locked in As for portrait mode on the iPhone versus live focus on the S20 Ultra, you do get a couple more options like being able to adjust the characteristics of the blur on the S20 Ultra. But I do think the iPhone looks more natural in terms of lighting and coloring. That said, I prefer edge detection on the S20 Ultra as it's generally better with fine details like hair which can get a bit lost on the iPhone. [MUSIC] Now the night mode both look great, but the Galaxy S 20 ultras photos are a little bit more blue to my eyes then those from the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which is warmer in a lot of these shots, it really comes down to what you prefer as to what looks better In some shots I prefer the iPhone and in others, the S20. With a bright light source like in this shot, I prefer the S20 ultras version more than the iPhone as it just captures the detail a little bit better. And another differentiating feature is you can also use the S20 ultras ultra wide angle camera in night mode. Whereas the iPhone doesn't have night mode on the ultra wide. And don't forget the S20 Ultra Has a pro mode on it that actually lets you shoot and get more manual controls. So you can get raw images plus be able to change your exposure all within the default app. The iPhone 11 Pro does support real capture and of course manual controls, although not in the first party app or camera app. You do have to have a third party app to do that. Okay, let's move on to video. This is selfie video from the front of the iPhone 11 Pro max and the Galaxy S 20. Ultra birthing 4k at 30 frames a second no stabilization. I'm just holding it like you would if you were taking a selfie video. I'm in one of the highest points in San Francisco just to see how the camera deals with lighting, my face, backlighting of course, movements and audio. [MUSIC] Okay this is recording some handheld video versus the iPhone and the S20 Ultra In 4K 60 frames a second. [MUSIC] Something that I really did notice in watching back videos from the S20 Ultra is the focus hunting from the face detect autofocus that's going on in a lot of the videos that I filmed. You can see it a bit in that panning shot that we just saw, but it's most noticeable when you have a fast moving subject. Or something that comes in closer to the frame. This is a 1080 page 30 frames a second sample from both to test out stabilization. The iPhone has optical image stabilization while the S 20 Ultra also has super steady at this resolution which I turned on. You can see the S 20 is definitely smoother during the fast moving sections when I'm walking down the stairs or jogging but there is a little bit of a jello effect when you are panning fast. [MUSIC] But the big calling card for the S20 tronic ultra is that it records 8k Video. It does crop in a lot as the field of view is narrower than when you film in 4k or 1080 on the wide lens, and you don't have stabilization. Unlike these shots, I definitely suggest you feel me using a tripod. And a one minute video is around 600 megabytes so do expect to fill your storage quickly, but the fact that you can actually film in 8k and it's a very useable shot is incredible, you notice that I didn't really talk much about audio because To be honest, the audio on both these phones is great. I didn't have any complaints with either. [MUSIC] As is the case every year both these cameras have strengths in different ways and it really comes down to what you value the most as to which is the best camera for you. For zoom, there's no question that the S 20 Ultra pulls ahead. For ultra wide and general landscapes they are both super close. For video I prefer the iPhone as the motion is smoother particularly when it comes to focusing but the Sony ultra does have future proofing that is 8k. Samsung is also said to be releasing an update in response to the autofocus issues but at the time of recording this video, we haven't received the update. Stay tuned. Thanks for watching the comparison of the S20 Ultra versus iPhone 11 Pro Max. Of course you're gonna let me know which phone you preferred in the comments below. Please do, and if you have any questions about either of the cameras or how any of the features work that I didn't quite get to, let me know and I'll answer your questions below.