The 100x zoom of the Galaxy S21 Ultra camera makes no sense, but 10x? * kiss from the chef *

The Galaxy S21 Ultra from Samsung, that is on sale now along with the rest of the Galaxy S21 series, represents the pinnacle of what the company has to offer in a phone, with its powerful processor, tremendously vibrant screen and 5G connectivity. But I’m mainly interested in the camera settings, and this is where the S21 Ultra pushes the boat out. There are four lenses on the back: a standard zoom, an ultra-wide lens, a 3x optical zoom and a 10x optical zoom. Along with the massive 108 megapixel resolution of the main camera, the phone can achieve a massive 30x zoom. (Here are all new Galaxy S21 Ultra camera features and how to use them.)

TL; DR: It’s that zoom lens that’s the hero here. While the results at 30x are still pretty poor, the phone’s ability to shoot at 10x optical zoom means it can capture photos that simply aren’t possible on rival flagships like the iPhone 12 Pro or OnePlus 8T.

While I would have liked more headline functions for the Galaxy S21 Ultra, what’s here is still impressive. And I took off across Edinburgh to see what the phone can do.

I started in beautiful Dean Village, with this classic view of the river. Taken with the default camera, the phone has captured a rich and vibrant scene, with lots of detail in the admittedly very shadowy foreground.

When you zoom out to the super wide view, there is little noticeable shift in colors except for a bit of magenta hue in the top right corner. It’s a balanced recording and there are a lot of detail all over it.

At 3x zoom, the clock tower looks razor-sharp and lively.

At 10x zoom, the image is still perfectly detailed, with nice contrast and no color shift.

At 30x zoom, things don’t look that good. Yes, it is perfectly clear what the photo is from, but there is a general lack of definition. It’s hard to get your photo in a row when you’ve zoomed in so far, but Samsung has a smart stabilization mode that helped me keep the entire watch face in view.

At a maximum zoom of 100x, those details are even mushier, resulting in an image that’s only really good as evidence of something you’ve seen, like rare wildlife. Yes, it is a new feature that can be fun to try, but for most people, the quality is not good enough for an Instagram post, for example.

The 10x zoom is the sweet spot for me, and it’s my favorite feature of the S21 Ultra’s camera. It allows you to capture photographic compositions that require a large telephoto zoom lens with a DSLR. By zooming in on this beach, I was able to show the rippling water, the concrete breakers that stretch across the scene and clearly show the walkers, adding beautiful scale to the image.

And here I was able to fill the frame a lot more with the dramatic sight of Fettes College.

Taken with the standard zoom lens, this shot overlooking a golf course is not exactly exciting.

But when you activate the 10x zoom, the image changes completely, focusing on the Edinburgh skyline, with the monuments on Calton Hill clearly visible.

If you zoom in to 100% on the 10x zoom image, it is clear that not much detail has been captured. Realistically, photos taken with the 10x zoom will not be of sufficient quality to print – zooming of impeccable quality remains the territory of a DSLR with a telephoto lens for now. That said, most of the photos I’ve taken at 10x zoom look good enough for social media posts or messages to friends, which probably counts for the vast majority of what anyone would want to do with their photos anyway.

The 10x zoom lens was enough to accurately distinguish the details of this landing aircraft.

And it was the 10x zoom that allowed me to isolate this couple from the distracting elements in the scene, resulting in a shot that focuses only on those looking into the distance.

Again, cropping that image to 100% shows that there is an obvious lack of fine detail when using this zoom level.

The super wide lens captures much of the scene and I am really impressed with how vivid and punchy this image is.

Although this shot from a cannon has a great overall exposure, with a controlled clear sky and plenty of shadow detail on the gun itself.

When I turned on night mode I was happy that the phone produced a clear and sharp picture even in a room that was very dark. The colors here are accurate and there is enough detail to read the fine text on the candle. Impressive things.

It’s early days with the phone, but I’m already impressed with the photos I’ve been able to take, with excellent dynamic range and accurate colors in most of the photos I’ve taken. The zoom is the standout feature here, but it’s only impressive to an extent. I love some of the photos I took with 10x zoom, but even then the details are pretty rough. Going beyond 10x is a huge amount and I still think the 100x Space Zoom is pointless – I would have preferred Samsung to spend its time making the 10x zoom look even better.

Read more: Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. iPhone 12 Pro Max: Cameras are put to the test