DxOMark recently analysed the quad-camera setup on the Galaxy S25 Ultra (approx. $1,219 on Amazon), awarding it a score of 146. This puts the new Samsung flagship only two points ahead of its immediate predecessor. The result isn’t particularly great for a current-gen flagship, given the Galaxy S25 Ultra managed to reach only 24th place in DxOMark’s ranking by camera score, on a par with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.
In fact, the S25 Ultra even scored lower than several much older or cheaper competitors, such as the Google Pixel 8 (148 points), Apple iPhone 16 (147 points), and Huawei P60 Pro (156 points). Meanwhile, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra claims the top spot with 163 points. Nevertheless, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s camera system impressed us with its versatility during our review. DxOMark also praised it for producing detail images even at longer zoom ranges, natural skin tones in less-challenging environments, and videos with good colours and dynamic range.
Mediocre result due to many minor shortcomings
Even so, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has more missteps than you might expect from a flagship. For example, highlights are sometimes overexposed even with HDR enabled, whilst skin tones may look unnatural in images captured in poorly lit environments. Videos recorded in low light can also exhibit a rather noticeable amount of noise.
The portrait mode, which simulates bokeh, sometimes fail to be properly enabled. When recording videos, both exposure adaptation and autofocus may lack stability at times. As the analysis shows, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s camera doesn’t have a single major failing but rather many minor flaws that add up, allowing some competing devices to simply deliver better stills and videos under certain conditions.
