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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. Pixel 7 Pro: Which camera has better specs?

Which can see further into the distance?
 By 
Alex Perry
 on 
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera
This is how you achieve 100x Space Zoom, apparently. Credit: Kyle Cobian/Mashable

Who can zoom harder, Samsung or Google?

That question will certainly be answered in the coming weeks after the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the latest premium flagship smartphone from the Korean tech giant. Revealed at the Galaxy Unpacked livestream on Wednesday, the S23 Ultra’s big claim to fame is its powerful new camera system. 

But is it better than the best-in-class Google Pixel 7 Pro? Let’s look at the numbers. 


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Samsung’s major selling point this year is a brand new 200MP main sensor. Yes, two hundred megapixels. It’s a very big, impressive-looking number, and it’s joined by a 12MP ultrawide lens and a pair of 10MP zoom lenses. Samsung is promising that this new camera array can produce unparalleled zoomed-in photography, with its “Space Zoom” feature enabling up to 100x zoom.

Pixel 7 Pro zoom test with no zoom
This is the Pixel 7 Pro with no zoom. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable
Pixel 7 Pro zoom test with full zoom
And this is the Pixel 7 Pro with full zoom. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

However, it’s going to be hard to dethrone the Pixel 7 Pro. Its 50MP main sensor isn’t as big as Samsung’s, but it has a 48MP telephoto lens that can zoom up to 30x. Again, the numbers aren’t as big, but the results speak for themselves. Pixel 7 Pro takes some of the most impressive zoom photographs on any smartphone, so Samsung has a lot to live up to there.

Oh, and both phones have 12MP ultrawide lenses, in case you were wondering.

People around the tech world will need to do a lot of photo testing to find out which phone camera is truly better in practice, not just on the spec sheet. Samsung and Google both employ a ton of software processing to make photos look better, and there isn’t feature parity between the two. Google has the Magic Eraser tool and Samsung has 100x Space Zoom, for example.

But, at the very least, Samsung can say it has the most megapixels. Maybe that will count for something.

journalist alex perry looking at a smartphone
Alex Perry
Tech Reporter

Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.

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