iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Samsung S24 Ultra vs OPPO Find X7 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro Camera Test Comparison

Key Concepts

• Flagship Camera Smartphones: High-end smartphones with advanced camera systems.
• Main Camera: The primary, usually wide-angle, camera sensor.
• Ultrawide Camera: A camera with a wider field of view than the main camera.
• Periscope Camera: A telephoto camera using mirrors to achieve longer focal lengths in a compact design.
• Telephoto Camera: A camera with a longer focal length, used for zooming in on distant subjects.
• Pixel Binning: Combining data from multiple pixels into one to improve low-light performance.
• Dynamic Range: The range of light and dark tones a camera can capture.
• HDR (High Dynamic Range): A technique to capture a wider dynamic range than a standard image.
• ISO: A measure of a camera sensor's sensitivity to light.
• Lens Flare: Artifacts caused by light reflecting within the lens.
• Focal Length: The distance between the lens and the image sensor, determining the field of view and magnification.
• Lossless Zoom: Zooming that maintains image quality by using optical zoom or intelligent processing.
• Digital Zoom: Zooming that crops and enlarges the image, reducing quality.
• AI Zoom: Zooming enhanced by artificial intelligence to improve image quality.
• Shutter Speed: The length of time the camera's sensor is exposed to light.
• Macro Mode: A mode for taking close-up photos of small objects.
• Portrait Mode: A mode that creates a shallow depth of field, blurring the background.
• Tonal Range: The range of tones in an image, from light to dark.
• Post-processing: Image adjustments made after the photo is taken.
• Action Stabilization: Electronic or optical methods to reduce blur in videos.

Selfie Camera Comparison

• Video Quality: All four phones (iPhone 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Oppo Find X7 Ultra, Vivo X100 Pro) record 4K 60fps selfie video. iPhone and Samsung have the most stable video. Samsung and Oppo look the most natural, while iPhone is oversaturated and Vivo is undersaturated.
• Portrait Selfie Video: iPhone and Samsung offer 4K portrait selfie video. Samsung is slightly dim but produces the most detail and looks the most natural.
• Ultrawide Selfie Photos: Oppo is overexposed but has fantastic white balance. Vivo is too smooth, and iPhone is too sharp. Samsung is the most balanced. Oppo and Vivo have the widest field of view.
• One-Time Selfies: Samsung continues its streak with one-time selfies but has a narrow focal length. Oppo has the most accurate edge detection in portrait mode.

Main Camera Comparison (Back Cameras)

• Natural Depth: Oppo and Vivo produce the best natural depth due to their 1-inch type sensors. Vivo has fantastic dynamic range, but Oppo looks cleaner and is on par with the iPhone.
• Portrait Mode: Samsung's colors are a bit odd. Oppo's edge detection isn't perfect. iPhone has the cleanest depth, and Vivo has the best HDR.
• Periscope Cameras: Vivo impressed with DSLR-like background blur, insane detail, white balance, contrast, and superior tonal range. Samsung and Oppo have secondary zoom cameras for greater flexibility. Oppo comes out on top in terms of minimum focusing distance.
• Maximum Megapixel Count Photos: iPhone looks the cleanest when cropping in by 400%. Samsung looks slightly better when cropped due to less sharpening.
• Native Shot (Object): Oppo captures all the foreground detail and still exposes the sky in the background. iPhone and Vivo look slightly better when focusing on the subject itself and not the sky in the background. Samsung has terrible overexposure.
• Cropping In (Object): Samsung packs in the most amount of detail, with Oppo seriously lagging behind.
• Native Shot (Palm Tree): Vivo stood out the most. When cropped in, Vivo and Oppo lag behind the Samsung. iPhone looks decent but is way too sharp, while the Samsung is filled with the most amount of detail.

Shutter Speed and Macro Mode

• Shutter Speed Test: Vivo is the only one with a dedicated mode for this known as snapshot. All of them managed to keep everything in focus.
• Macro Mode: All of them automatically shift to their Ultra wides for macro mode. Oppo lags behind. Vivo made this Cactus look most natural and balanced.

Ultrawide and Main Camera Shots

• Ultrawide Shot: Oppo and Vivo are the only ones with a high megapixel option for Pixel binning, offering more naturally processed shots. Oppo has the widest field of view and exposes things beautifully. Vivo packs in slightly more detail.
• Bin Shots (Main Cameras): Samsung is over saturated. Oppo and Vivo are slightly undersaturated. iPhone has the best overall balance. Vivo takes the lead in terms of overall detail and color.

Zoom Capabilities

• 2x Lossless Zoom (Main): Vivo takes the lead.
• 3x Zoom: Samsung and Oppo kick in their first telephoto cameras, so they naturally come out looking better than the iPhone and Vivo. Oppo has the Samsung B10 detail thanks to its first telephoto camera being a much larger Periscope sensor.
• 5x Zoom: Samsung's second zoom camera kicks in, which is the same as the iPhones, but the Samsung shot comes out better.
• 6x Zoom: Oppo has the furthest reach thanks to its six times Periscope sensor.
• Periscope Zoom: Vivo's Periscope only reaches a 100 mm focal length but looks the best.
• 10x Lossless Zoom (Periscope): Samsung packs in the most amount of detail.
• 25x Zoom: iPhone is the max Zoom and It suffers from the most noise grain, while the Oppo takes the best snap thanks to its AI Zoom feature.
• 50x Digital Zoom: Samsung is too soft. Oppo is too sharp. Vivo is somewhere in between. Samsung produces the most detail of the object, but the Oppo generates a more natural representation of the entire image.
• 100x Zoom: Samsung is the max Zoom for the Samsung and Vivo. Oppo can reach the furthest at 120 times, but it's not quite as good as it was at 100 times.

Video Recording

• 8K Video: Samsung is the only one that can record 8K video with its Periscope sensor, and it looks fantastic.
• 4K 60fps Video (Periscope): Samsung and Oppo are underexposed. iPhone is only slightly ahead of the Vivo.
• Additional Zoom Sensor: Samsung and Oppo are the only ones with an additional Zoom sensor. Oppo's tonal range is a bit off, but it's more exposed, packs in more detail, and has incredible natural depth.
• Portrait Video: Vivo is the only one which utilizes its Periscope in portrait video and can do so at 4K, but it struggles due to focusing issues. Oppo looks like a bit of a cut and Pace job. Samsung is way too underexposed. iPhone looks better than the rest but far from perfect.
• Portrait Video (Mains): Vivo keeps the subject in Focus the entire time and comes out looking slightly better than the iPhone.
• Video (Mains, Disabling Portrait): Oppo comes out on top with insane detail and natural depth despite it not offering 8K, which the Samsung does better than the Vivo.
• Focusing Speed: Oppo takes the lead, which is closely followed by the Samsung and Vivo. They all leave the iPhone in the dust.
• Slow Motion Video: They can all shoot 240 FPS slow motion video at 1080p resolution, but Samsung have stepped things up with 4K 120 FPS slow-mo video.
• Continuous 4K 60fps Video: They can all seamlessly switch from their Ultra wides to their Mains to their periscopes, but the Samsung switches between its lenses smoother and can zoom in the most all the way up to 20 times digital Zoom.
• Action Stabilization: They all offer action stabilization modes and are all just as stable even while walking very fast. iPhone and Samsung look the best as they offer the highest resolutions even when using their Ultra wides. Vivo cannot use its Ultra wide when using an action mode.
• Stability Modes: iPhone and Samsung once again come out on top when using their respective stability modes with their main cameras, but all of them crop in when using these modes.
• Standard Stability (Regular Video Mode): iPhone and Samsung offer the best stability, but the Oppo is not far off and offers the best video in terms of detail and exposure.
• Standard Ultrawide Video (4K 60 FPS): Oppo's field of view is the widest. They are all very stable, but the Oppo is just not quite as good as the rest. Vivo is the best in terms of video quality.

Night Photography and Videography

• 4K Ultrawide Video (Night): iPhone controls light noise the best. Samsung is the brightest. Oppo doesn't look terrible, but the Vivo looks the best overall thanks to Fantastic color minimal noise grain and loads of detail.
• 4K Main Video (Night): Vivo is the only one which drops its frame rate in order to brighten up the scene and it does just that without dipping in quality or suffering from noise grain. Oppo isn't far off in terms of detail.
• 4K Video (Mains, Night): Oppo completely forgets about the background. Samsung struggles to focus. Vivo has fantastic balance but is a tattoo Overexposed. iPhone is the best overall.
• Portrait Video Modes (Night): iPhone forgets to blow the background, so Vivo is the best.
• Cinematic Video (Night): Vivo is the only one which sticks to its Periscope sensor, but unfortunately it's far too underexposed. Oppo is limited to 1080p in portrait mode but easily takes the win.
• Cinematic Video (Night, Disabling Portrait): iPhone won't allow you to use the Periscope in such a dark boene, so it looks rather bad. Samsung is almost as terrible. Oppo looks absolutely incredible when using its three times Zoom Periscope. Oppo's six times Periscope sensor looks just as detailed, but unfortunately its tonal range is very off, which leaves the Vivo looking the best.
• Periscope Photos (Night): iPhone clearly looks the best.
• Portrait Mode (Night): Samsung looks great, but tonal range is very off, leaving me favoring the Vivo Which packs in slightly more detail in the Oppo. Oppo looks a lot better when using its three times Periscope lens in portrait mode, though the Samsung isn't far off. Oppo looks even better with portrait mode disabled at three times, which offers fantastic natural background blur.
• Night Mode Photos (Mains): Samsung produced a very dreamy photo but is held back by oversharpening. Oppo is way too soft. Vivo doesn't seem to increase its ISO levels enough. iPhone looks the most natural.
• Portrait Mode (Night Mode): iPhone underexposed. Samsung softens its image, which puts it on par with the Vivo, which almost looks Picture Perfect.
• Night Photos (Brighter Scene): iPhone due to its higher dynamic range and impeccable contrast.
• Light Noise Handling: Samsung is the only one which shows detail within the light bulbs.
• Overall Image (Night): Samsung is very off in terms of exposure and tonal range, which leans me more toward the iPhone, but then again that's a bit too underexposed. Oppo is more exposed, but most of the colors are muted, which leaves us with the vivo's seriously impressive image thanks to vibrant colors and incredible detail.
• Ultrawide Photo (Night): Samsung also had a hard time taking a decent Ultra wide photo at night, which once again makes the Vivo stand out the most.
• Main Photo (Night): iPhone suffer from terrible lens flare. Vivo also suffers from some lens flare, so the Samsung takes the win here.
• 2x Lossless Zoom (Night): Lens flare is store apparent on the iPhone and Vi, leaning me once again toward the Samsung.
• 3x Optical Zoom (Night): Samsung's three times optical zoom telephoto is very outdated when compared to the oppo's three times Optical Periscope shot.
• 6x Optical Sensor (Night): Oppo looks just as good.
• 4.3x Photo (Night): Vivo is not far behind.
• 10x Lossless Zoom (Night): Vivo shows the rest who's boss.
• 25x Digital Zoom (Night): Vivo is also my pick, which is where the iPhone caps off in Style No Doubt with such fantastic noise grain.
• 50x Zoom (Night): Samsung completely ignores the bricks in the background, leaning me more towards the Oppo.
• 100x Zoom (Night): You can still make out the bricks on the Oppo, the Vivo is the clear winner this time.
• 120x Zoom (Night): Oppo can reach even further, however that doesn't mean that it should.
• Ultrawide Selfies (Night): Samsung come out on top.
• Ultrawide Portrait Shots (Night): Samsung is the best, but it completely changes tonal range when the flash is on, leading me more toward the Vivo.
• One Times (Night): Samsung is the best.
• Portrait Mode (Night): Vivo looks a little more realistic, but the Samsung takes home another win.
• Flash Enabled (Night): Samsung once again changes up tonal range when the flash is enabled, so the vi strikes back.
• 4K Selfie Portrait Video Mode Options (Night): Vivo came out looking noticeably better despite the iPhone and Samsung having 4K selfie portrait video mode options.
• Selfie Video (Night): Let me know your thoughts of their video and microphone quality in the comment section down below.

Conclusion

• iPhone 15 Pro Max: Best video stability and consistency across all sensors. Main camera is often used instead of its Periscope, and when the Periscope is used, I find it to be too close to the subject.
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Fills that Gap with a slightly outdated three times telephoto camera, and while its new five times Periscope is great, it's not quite on the same level of the competition even with the latest software updates. Samsung have done wonders with their microphone this year, and it's still the best phone out there for selfie photos and videos. It takes the best 8K videos around, which can now be utilized with that new Periscope sensor, and its continuous Zoom performance in a single video is in a league of its own.
• Oppo Find X7 Ultra: The world's first smartphone to house two Periscope sensors, so it naturally takes the best zoomed photos in any lighting condition. It is certainly the most flexible device here since it Sports through three times and six times Zoom cameras, which is great for closer portraits or distant buildings, and while it can zoom in the furthest, it doesn't always provide the absolute best high-range zoom quality.
• Vivo X100 Pro: Comes out strong where it matters most, that being main camera performance as well as portrait photos and videos across multiple different focal lengths. Not only does it now have 4K cinematic video, but I found its main camera to produce better results than the Oppo, which actually has a new newer 1-in type sensor. It's also a great allrounder since its Periscope sensor sits in between the focal lengths of the oppos two zoom lenses, and even though it only has one telephoto camera, it still packs a serious punch at high Zoom ranges. It also recently received their software updates which added 4K selfie video, and the cherry on top of all of this is that it has incredibly fast shutter speed and a class leading Ultra wide camera which takes some of the best macro photos I have ever seen.