Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs iPhone 11 Pro Max Camera Test Comparison

- What's up guys? Saf here at SuperSaf TV and welcome to another SuperSaf style

camera

comparison

. This time, of course, it's between the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. This has been the most requested thing on the channel recently, so a thumbs up would be appreciated. We are going to cover all aspects of front

camera

s, rear cameras, imaging, video, low light, portrait, everything. I'll try to leave some timestamps below because this is going to be a long video. We're starting with the front cameras and we're going to

test

the stabilization, so we walk and...

Well, let's go ahead and run. Both smartphones can also record in 4K, 60 frames per second. Dynamic range is generally affected when we switch to 4K 60. So this will be a good

test

to see how much detail of the clouds can be seen in the background compared to when we were at 4K 30 and let's just test the stabilization at 4K 60. We have now switched to rear facing cameras. Both smartphones allow us to switch to both

ultra

wide angle and zoom. So we have up to two times optical zoom on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. On the Note20 Ultra, you have up to fivex magnification, so see how much closer you can get with that fivex optical zoom.

Let's go ahead and test the stabilization at 4K 30 on the main camera. Try that stabilization with the

ultra

-wide cameras, too. Then a walk towards a race. Now, 4K 60 from the rear cameras, one thing to

note

is that the iPhone allows you to shoot 4K 60 from all cameras, so that includes ultra wide and zoom, but on the S20, sorry, Note20 Ultra. , you can only film in 4K 60 from the main camera, there is no option to film in 4K 60 from any of the others. So for the sake of 4K 60 stabilization, just walk around, if you're vlogging or something, and we can run.

You have 8K video on the Note20 Ultra. It does crop quite significantly when shooting at 8K, but it gives you much more resolution. Now that this video is in 4K, we can crop it more and see that one-to-one 8K resolution, which is crazy. And you'll notice that I'm not moving too much and that's because there's no stabilization in 8K. It's understandable that it's using a lot of the sensor, but yeah, it's nice to have some. Quick, low-light video testing, for those who like to shoot videos in the dark. It's raining a little. See how the lights are handled.

I'm just coming to pick up my next car, not really. (lighter click) (lighter click) Now testing the Note20 Ultra's autofocus. Very very fast. This is something we were worried about on the S20 Ultra, but it definitely seems to have been fixed. Same test on the iPhone 11 Pro Max and, once again, working absolutely fine, very fast and without problems. That was the video before moving on to the images. If you like what you're seeing so far, consider subscribing to the channel. There is a lot of SuperSaf style content that I post here very regularly. And let's see what we're working with in both chambers.

For the front cameras, the iPhone has a high resolution and for the rear cameras, we have triple cameras on both. They work in a similar way, as we have an ultra wide angle camera, a main camera and a zoom camera. On the iPhone it's 12 megapixels across the board, on the Note20 Ultra the ultra wide camera is 12 megapixels, the main camera is actually 108 megapixels, although you'll be shooting at 12 megapixels, 99% of the time anyway and that's where you'll get the best software processing. And then we have a periscope zoom camera, which offers five times optical zoom and up to 50 times digital zoom.

The iPhone maxes out at 10 times digital zoom. And this time on the Note20 Ultra, it also has laser autofocus, which definitely helps with autofocus, as you saw in the video examples above. The Note20 Ultra also has a professional photo and video app so you can manually tweak settings, including many different audio options. This is something that is not available on the iPhone; Anyway, by default, you'll have to download an Excel app like FiLMiC Pro to have some of these features. Now let's get to the images. So what you'll notice in many of these examples is that both devices take absolutely excellent images in good light.

We have a lot of detail, a lot of dynamic range, the dynamic range comes and goes. In some situations I prefer the iPhone, like this one in my car. If you look at the front of the car and the shadow details, in my opinion, they are much better on the iPhone compared to the much darker tones of the Note20 Ultra. But if you look at this shot of this sunset, the Note20 Ultra has kept a lot more detail in the foreground without blurring the background at all. So I like this photo of the Note20 Ultra. So it's going to come and go.

Now, one thing to keep in mind is that you have a much larger sensor on the Note20 Ultra and let's get this whole 108 megapixel thing out of the way. Here is a photo taken with 12 megapixels. I actually prefer the iPhone here, it seems to have better dynamic range, but if you go ahead and switch to the 108 megapixel resolution on the Note20 Ultra, you'll immediately notice that the image becomes much darker and you lose a lot. of detail in the shadows. And that's because, as mentioned, software performance isn't optimized when shooting at that incredible 108-megapixel resolution. However, this means that you can crop this image much more.

So if you look at both images side by side, at 100% in this 4K video, you can see that we can crop a lot more on the Note20 Ultra compared to the iPhone. Again, I think this is something you'll probably use 1% of the time, 99% of the time to get the best results from the Note20 Ultra, you'll want to shoot at around 12 megapixels and that's what it's set to. default. Now, there are a few other things you need to keep in mind when using such a large sensor. The first thing is that you are going to get a shallow depth of field, a blurry background.

You can see these photos here of these leaves and they both look absolutely great, but on the Note20 Ultra, just look at the leaves immediately behind the ones in focus and you'll see that on the Note20 Ultra they are completely blurry. , which provides much more isolation to the subject in focus. But having said that, you also have to keep in mind that the focus area with such a large sensor is very, very small. So in this example, you can see that we only have very few flowers in focus because the others are a little bit more in the background, they're completely blurred, while you get a much nicer image.

Taken with the iPhone here, so that's something to keep in mind. Yes, that larger sensor has some advantages, but it can also have some disadvantages. Now let's move on to the ultra wide cameras and I must say that both smartphones have amazing ultra wide cameras and take great pictures. Now as far as I can see the iPhone has a slightly wider viewing angle, it's just a couple of degrees, I'm not sure it really matters to many. And overall I prefer the dynamic range of the Note20 Ultra. Here I will show you some examples. So in this shot, we have the sun shining in the background, but we look at the foreground elements on the Note20 Ultra.

So looking towards the building, for example, we have better shadow details on the Note20 Ultra compared to the iPhone. And again, looking at that same sunset with the ultra wide angle, we have much, much brighter shadow detail here on the Note20 Ultra compared to the iPhone. It has overexposed the sun a bit on the Note20 Ultra, but overall I prefer the dynamic range of the Note20 Ultra when it comes to the ultra-wide camera. Now you may remember that I complained quite a bit about the S20 Ultra's wide-angle camera, which didn't have a lot of dynamic range.

So it looks like Samsung has taken that feedback into account and definitely improved the dynamic range of the Note20 Ultra's ultra-wide camera, so we approve of that. Now, of course, we have to look at the zoom. Here are some examples with the zoom capabilities of both smartphones. Initially we're going to 2X, so this is what the iPhone has optically. On the Note20 Ultra, it appears to be using the main camera, but it's like pinching. And this definitely shows because the iPhone gives you a sharper overall result that you can definitely notice when we go to 100%. Now keep this in mind because we'll get into it a little later.

Now when we get to 5X, this is where the Note20 Ultra's periscope zoom capabilities really shine. You can see that we have a much sharper and sharper image on the Note20 Ultra, compared to the five times digital zoom we have on the iPhone. Now, if we multiply by 10, which is the maximum digital zoom of the iPhone on the Note20 Ultra, it is actually using a hybrid of optical and digital zoom. And you will see, once again, that we have a much sharper image on the Note20 Ultra. The Note20 Ultra goes even further. So just by trying 50X here, you can read this sign, which is pretty far away.

Let's go back to 1X and come back here, 50X, see how much you can actually see. It would be impossible to read this sign with your eyes at that distance, so 50X is there and I'm glad something didn't stick it to the camera like it did on the S20 Ultra, so bravo Samsung for taking those comments into account. . Now testing the zoom more to use the main cameras, I actually prefer the iPhone shot here, you have better dynamic range. Now when you use the 2X optical zoom on the iPhone, you can see that once again, it is sharper compared to that of the Note20 Ultra, but as soon as we move to 5X, the Note20 Ultra, as expected, is giving you a sharper image.

At 10X, again, much sharper compared to the iPhone and then we can do 20X and we can even go up to 50X. Yeah, it's not an amazing image, it's not something you're going to share on your Instagram grid. And again, I want to emphasize that because Samsung hasn't really put that much emphasis on this 50X zoom, I'm okay with having it, you don't need to use it all the time. The 5X works very well and the 10X also works very, very well. Now let's move on to the portraits. So this is where we're going to talk about that 2X shortly.

So firstly, when taking a portrait with both main cameras, I prefer the dynamic range on the iPhone. You can see more shadow detail on my all-black set compared to the Note20 Ultra. I think they are both doing a good job overall in terms of edge detection. One thing I like about the Note is that it has a gradual depth of field. So if you look down at the floor where my feet are, that area is in focus, like it would be if you were using a professional mirrorless camera or DSLR, but then the decrease in that blur is a little more natural on the Note20 Ultra compared to the of the iPhone.

Now, if we go ahead and use the 2X portraits on both devices, this is generally the focal length, which gives you the most attractive portraits. It's at around 50k, which is generally the focal length that works best on smartphones for portraits. You'll see that the iPhone does much better here, you have much better dynamic range. On the Note20 Ultra, you can see that the side of my head is completely destroyed. Edge detection is really good on both, but the Note20 Ultra is also noticeably smoother compared to the iPhone. Now, the reason this appears to be the case is because the iPhone is using an optical zoom to get this portrait, whereas since there is no 2X optical, as we saw previously on the Note20 Ultra, it appears to be punching a hole in the main camera, which which is giving you a smooth overall result.

This is also noticeable here, you will see that the iPhone is giving you a much sharper image. Edge detection, I think it's okay on both, they're both doing a very, very good job, but here's an advantage that you'll get on the iPhone 11 Pro Max because of that dedicated 2X, it'll be better for portraits. Now let's move on to the low light. So here's a photo taken without fancy modes, just using auto and they both seem to work pretty well. The iPhone seems to be doing a little better, but when we turn on the respective night modes on both, I think they're both doing really well.

The iPhone appears to be brighter here, but I can see a bit more noise in the cloud area, while the Note20 Ultra is a bit cleaner. Another low light shot, I think they both do absolutely fine here. Very good results in both, I would call this a tie. Now in this shot I prefer the Note20 Ultra because if you look towards the Bentley sign, this has disappeared on the iPhone while it stayed on the Note20 Ultra, and you also have more detail in the tree areas on the Note20. Ultra compared to that of the iPhone. Here's another low light shot and again, I prefer the Note20 Ultra here.

If you look at the slabs, they are sharper on the Note20 Ultra compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Now I think this might be partly because if you have that larger sensor, it will be able to capture more light compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Now let's look at the ultra-wide cameras and this is where things get quite interesting. So,When taking pictures in both, in automatic, the Note seems to give us a sharper result and is also brighter, but the Note20 Ultra has night mode for the ultra-wide camera. This is something that simply isn't available on the iPhone, it's something I've talked about before.

So it's day and night here. The Note20 Ultra simply gives you a much better result thanks to the night mode available on the ultra-wide camera. Here is another example, again, here only day and night. The Note20 Ultra simply performs much better. I don't know why Apple hasn't included night mode for the ultrawide camera, but it really lets it down in low light situations. One more example, and again, the iPhone, I mean the image is not usable at all and is just blurry, whereas the Note20 Ultra actually gives you a very sharp and usable image from the ultra wide camera.

Now that I'm testing the low light zoom, you have night mode on both zoom cameras. It's really hard to measure because we have 5X versus 2X, but I want to say it's there, it works, and it helps. Now let's look at some selfies. Overall, I think they both do a really good job. We have a lot of details, slight differences in skin tone, but overall, they are absolutely fine. One thing I have to mention is that I had to turn off skin smoothing on the Note20 Ultra because it really struggled and seemed to mess up the images, so I turned it off and I would recommend you do the same. same.

Now both smartphones have a wide option for selfies, and this will allow you to include perhaps more people in your shot, more background in your shots and you will be able to see once again, they are both doing a very, very good job overall. , the iPhone is wider compared to the Note20 Ultra, something to take into account. Now, here again, you can see that the iPhone is a little bit wider, but they are both doing a great job. You have a lot of details, you can see all the details in my beard. Dynamic range is also very good on both, you can see a bit of detail of the tree in the background.

Now let's look at the selfie portrait mode, so this is where we'll try to blur the background and here I think they both do a really good job. I prefer the skin tones of the iPhone, but I prefer the edge detection of the Note20 Ultra, it has a very nice, sharp edge around my glasses and everywhere. The iPhone doesn't really do bad, but here I slightly prefer the Note20 Ultra. And the Note20 Ultra also gives you the option to use portrait mode with a wider field of view, this is something you can't do on the iPhone, as soon as you switch to portrait mode it crops out, and that's your only option . then the Note20 Ultra will give you a little more flexibility.

Although the edge detection isn't as good, you can see towards the edge of my sunglasses, this has blurred a bit so it's something to keep in mind, but I like having that option here. Now here's another shot using portrait mode. Here, the iPhone has the side of my sunglasses, but it has blurred my hair a lot, while the Note20 Ultra has blurred my sunglasses, it has done a good job with my hair, but you have quite the back seat of the Note , while the iPhone has isolated me a little better here. Once again, the Note has the option of the ultra-wide camera from the front for portraits.

Once again, it was missing the side of my sunglasses, but overall it's doing a good job. Now look at some low light selfies, so neither of them fare well here. A lot of noise on the iPhone, the Note20 Ultra is brighter but you know, it has completely lost all the color, I look like a zombie here, the iPhone has better colors. Neither thing was surprising, now the Note20 Ultra also has night mode from the selfie camera, so if you use this you will see that we get a much brighter image. Again, the colors are a little off, but you know, I'd prefer this image to the one on the iPhone.

And then we have the selfie flash. This is where the front screen lights up to give you a little more light. The Note20 Ultra gives you a sharper image, it's also a brighter image, but again, I prefer the colors on the iPhone, they are much truer to my skin tone, while the Note20 Ultra lightens things up a bit. Okay, so there was a lot to cover. I think overall they are both great smartphones and you really can't go wrong with either of them for photography and video. Now if you ask me for my thoughts and opinions, of course the Note20 Ultra gives you the extra zoom, so you get the advantage of 5X, 10X, if that's something you like, but the iPhone gives you better images at 2X and that's especially useful when you're trying to take portrait photos.

So if you are someone who likes to take a lot of portraits, then the iPhone will be the best option here. Now to get images in good light, honestly speaking you can't go wrong with either of these, they both take excellent images. Dynamic range, as mentioned, can come and go. You have a fairly large sensor on the Note20 Ultra which, as mentioned, can have some advantages and disadvantages. In low light conditions I think the Note20 Ultra overall has the advantage, in my opinion it delivered some better low light images and that seems to be thanks to the larger sensor size.

And you also have the option of night mode for the ultra-wide camera, something you don't have on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. And speaking of the ultra wide angle camera, I think they were both very, very good, but I prefer the Note20 ultra, which I think has, overall, better dynamic range. Now, when it comes to the video, it was very interesting because I think both smartphones offer great quality video. As far as stabilization goes, the Note20 Ultra seemed more stable, but it makes the image much softer because there is a lot more vibration, whereas I think the iPhone, although it doesn't seem as stable, keeps everything sharp and in focus, which I like.

Now the Note20 Ultra has 8K video, so if that's something you like, you might like it. Now, as I mentioned above, you lose things like stabilization, so what you can do with 8K will be quite limited. You're going to have to use a gimbal, you may have to mount it on a tripod but still, the option is there. However, when you shoot in 4K 60, on the Note20 Ultra you can only use the main camera, you can't use the ultra wide angle camera, you can't use the periscope zoom camera and these are the things you need to do. have on the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

So for the video overall, it seems to be a bit of a tie. Even if you watch the video in low light, there were certain situations where I liked the iPhone. It seemed to be brighter around the trees, but then it was a little choppy when we moved from area to area and seemed to be lowering the frame rate to capture more light. So you know, again, it went back and forth. Now for the front video, the iPhone was a bit wider, but the Note20 Ultra was more stable, so it seems like the Note20 Ultra crops in a bit to achieve that stabilization, so that's something to keep in mind.

And it also seemed to have better dynamic range when you're at 4K 60 from the front cameras. For the selfies, I think they both did an excellent job. The iPhone is a little bit wider, but as soon as you go into portrait mode, you no longer have that wider field of view and then the Note20 Ultra has the option for a wider field of view. In low light conditions, the Note20 Ultra offers a brighter image, but the colors are better on the iPhone. Slow motion, both can do up to 240 frames per second, they do great. The Note20 Ultra has super slow motion. then that option is available.

Although this is right at 720 PM, it's just a short burst of slow motion. And for the audio, I'll let you go back and listen, I think they both record great quality audio. Now overall I want to emphasize again that both smartphones are absolutely excellent and you can't go wrong with either of them for images and videos, they both take amazing pictures. Now I also want to clarify that yes, I am fully aware that the iPhone 11 Pro Max is almost a year old. So some of you may say this

comparison

is unfair, but if anything, I was very impressed with the iPhone and how it actually lived up to this newer device and in some areas even surpassed it.

But of course the real test and comparison will be when the iPhone 12 Pro comes out in a couple of months and of course we'll do a SuperSaf style camera comparison as soon as it's available. If you want to see that first, make sure you subscribe and hit the bell icon. I also want to say that I'm very impressed with the way Samsung has taken a lot of the feedback I've been giving and many others have been giving, like the autofocus issues we had with the S20 Ultra, the ultra-wide dynamic range of camera, unplastered, you know, 100X or 50X.

I like that they went down to 50X, so kudos to Samsung for taking that feedback into account and giving us a lot of improvements here on the Note20 Ultra. Now if you want to see lots of images taken from lots of different devices, follow me on Instagram, I'm @SuperSaf. I hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful. If you did, please do it with the thumbs up button for me. What did you think of this comparison? Which one would you choose overall? Leave me a comment below and let me know. Thanks for watching guys. I'm Saf on SuperSaf TV and I'll see you next time. (upbeat music)