iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra Camera Comparison: Which Phone Takes the Prize?

It’s always a fun challenge to see how two of the best smartphone cameras stack up. I spent a week shooting photos and videos with the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the Galaxy S24 Ultra to compare everything from sharpness to color contrast to zoom capabilities. If you’re a creative type, like a photographer or filmmaker — or if you simply want to take the most eye-catching Instagram photos — choosing the best phone camera can feel daunting, but these takeaways should make decision-making easier. Both devices certainly pulled their weight, but there were moments when each stole the spotlight.

Let’s start off with some specs. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 48-megapixel main camera with a wide-angle lens, a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. It also has a 12-megapixel front-facing camera. The iPhone 16 Pro Max can shoot up to 4K video at 120fps.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra, meanwhile, sports a 200-megapixel wide camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 10-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. It also has a 12-megapixel front-facing camera and can shoot up to 8K video resolution.

It’s important to note that more megapixels don’t automatically mean better photos, as a phone’s software plays an important role too. The best way to get the full picture is to test out the cameras in the real world. Also, while I’m comparing photos taken at the default setting on each phone, customization is becoming a bigger focus through tools like the new Photographic Styles feature and tone mapping on the iPhone. That way, you can bump up saturation or contrast however you’d like. 

Price-wise, the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,200 for 256GB of internal storage, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra will cost you $100 more for the same storage amount. 

What’s new on this year’s iPhone lineup is the Camera Control button, which sits on the right side of the phone and lets you trigger the camera, snap photos and swipe to change settings like exposure, aperture and zoom. I’ve enjoyed using it as a shortcut to summon the camera, but don’t yet see the appeal of doing much else with it, especially when using the touchscreen (the old-fashioned way) works just fine. (My colleague Bridget Carey has similar thoughts.) Thankfully, iPhone case makers like Speck and Otterbox have quickly developed cases to make that new button easily accessible, if you’re like me and are trying to warm up to the concept while keeping your phone protected.

Now, let’s get into the photos.

Favorite iPhone 16 Pro Max photos

Before jumping into the comparison, here are a few shots from the iPhone 16 Pro Max that really show how it shines.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra photo comparisons

To compare the cameras on these two phones, I toted them around San Francisco, brought them along on nighttime strolls and used them to shoot concert videos.

During an afternoon walk at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra both captured this satisfyingly crisp cascade. The S24 Ultra image is slightly brighter throughout, especially among the trees and shrubs in the background. 

These shots of a mural show a slightly higher overall brightness on the iPhone 16 Pro Max photo and deeper shades of each color on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Both are beautifully eye-catching, and I’m impressed with how little variation there is between them. 

My favorite way to test portrait mode is by photographing a plant to see whether the camera picks up on any stray leaves of flowers and keeps them focused in the foreground. In this comparison, each phone does a comparable job in that regard, but I like how the S24 Ultra brightens the overall image and reduces a lot of those harsh shadows.

Applying Portrait mode to pictures of people, these shots of my colleagues Faith Chihil and Jessica Fierro demonstrate that same brightness in the S24 Ultra photo, and the telephone booth in the background is a more vibrant red than in the iPhone photo. I actually prefer the iPhone 16 Pro Max image; the colors are darker but more true-to-life, bringing richness to the image by playing up the black of Faith’s shirt and the blue of Jessica’s jeans. Both photos feature a clean background blur.

One of the features I was most eager to play with was camera zoom. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has .5x, 1x, 2x and 5x optical zoom, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra has .6x, 1x, 3x, 5x and 10x optical zoom.

The S24 Ultra’s 10x zoom really is quite impressive, as it preserves the quality of the shot and its sharpness. The 5x zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro Max also showcases stunning detail and crispness. In these images of a skyscraper captured at a distance from Salesforce Park, the S24 Ultra again brightens up the overall shot, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max brings a sharpness that can best be seen by looking at the more defined windows of the building ahead. 

Flipping to the front-facing cameras, the biggest difference is in color, as the S24 Ultra brightens up my face and black shirt a bit more, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max depicts deeper colors throughout, from the green of my couch to my complexion. Even the wall behind me takes on more of a beige hue, as opposed to the grayer, more muted shade in the S24 Ultra image. Both photos are pleasingly sharp and focused. 

One of the areas in which I feel the iPhone has significantly improved over the years is with nighttime shots, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max did a great job of brightening up low-light images and making them pop. I still prefer this nighttime shot taken on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, since the sky is a more vivid blue, but the colorful lighting is similarly punchy in both photos.

I brought both phones to Hans Zimmer Live to test out not only the quality of video footage but also zoom capabilities as I sat way in the nosebleeds. Both delivered crisp footage, despite all the flashing lights and my distance from the stage, but the S24 Ultra really came in clutch with that 10x optical zoom; I could clearly see Zimmer’s face even from so far away. Other folks had their binoculars, I had the S24 Ultra. 

The iPhone 16 Pro lineup introduces 4K slow-motion recording at 120fps, while the S24 Ultra has a UHD slow-motion setting at 120fps. That 4K setting on the iPhone brings a crispness and higher level of detail that makes these videos pop — even if you don’t really find yourself recording in slow motion all that often.

In other, more everyday instances, I still prefer video on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, as footage looks sharper and colors are more true-to-life. You’ll get smooth shots, especially when set to 60fps, on both devices.

Final thoughts

Given the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are some of the best camera phones you can get your hands on today, which images are “better” often comes down to personal preference.

I’ve always admired the vibrancy of photos captured on Galaxy phones; the higher saturation and brightness can offer richer-looking images, especially out in nature and with photos of people. I also admire the sharpness of photos and videos on the iPhone, and how images tend to appear more true to real-life colors.

Night mode used to be something that clearly set the Galaxy apart from the iPhone, but Apple has upped its game in recent years, and images shot at night on both devices are almost indistinguishable in terms of quality. Portrait mode also matches up more on both devices, as the iPhone used to be leagues ahead of its competitors in that regard. Both devices offer impressive zoom capabilities, though the S24 Ultra still takes the cake with that 10x optical zoom. Selfies are equally flattering — despite minor color differences — on both devices.

All this to say, no matter which phone you choose to spend your hard-earned money on, you hopefully won’t be let down.