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Galaxy S20 Ultra doesn't top DxOMark listings — you be the judge
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has one of the most impressive camera setups we’ve seen on a smartphone yet, packing a 108MP main camera with nona-binning tech, a 4x periscope camera, and 100x digital zoom.
Now, camera testing company DxOMark has put the Galaxy S20 Ultra through its paces, giving it an overall score of 122 points. This puts it in sixth place, just ahead of the Mate 30 Pro and just behind the HONOR V30 Pro.
Other phones ranked ahead of the $1,400 device include the top-seeded HUAWEI P40 Pro (128 points), OPPO Find X2 Pro (124 points), and the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro (124 points).
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra earned a photo score of 132 points, with DxOMark praising the colors, dynamic range, its handling of noise, exposure and color reproduction in ultra-wide shots, and pictures taken with the flash. But the testing firm lamented slow autofocus at night, “fusion artifacts” in zoom shots, detail in ultra-wide snaps, and aspects of the Night Mode.
The phone was awarded a video score of 102 points, with the testing company praising the level of noise in most situations, accurate exposure in low light, and the colors and stabilization when filming outdoors. It wasn’t all good though, as the company criticized the dynamic range in high contrast moments, a hue shift under tungsten lighting, low detail in low light, and motion effects when shooting indoors.
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“Issues with close-range zoom, slow autofocus in low light, and slightly underwhelming night shots prevented the S20 Ultra from challenging the best devices at the top of our database, however,” DxOMark concluded, while noting the variety of video settings, and the quality of its ultra wide shots and portrait mode.
It’s worth noting that DxOMark isn’t the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to camera capabilities. Between individual preferences and features not tested by the firm (e.g. Single Take mode, 8K recording, the ability to pull 33MP stills from said 8K clips), the S20 Ultra is still a standout performer for many users.