- What's up guys, Saf here on SuperSaf TV
and welcome to another SuperSaf
style camera comparison.
This time, it is of course,
between the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra
and the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
That has been the most requested
on the channel recently,
so a thumbs up for that
would be appreciated.
We're going to cover all
aspects of the cameras
front facing, rear facing,
images, video, low light,
portrait, everything.
I'll try to leave some
timestamps down below
because this will be a long video.
We're starting off with
the front facing cameras
and we're going to test
out stabilization so
walking and-
Well let's go ahead and run.
Both smart phones can also
film at 4K, 60 frames a second.
Dynamic range is usually affected
when we switch to 4K 60.
So this will be a good test
to see how much of the
cloud detail you can see
in the background compared
to when we were at 4K 30
and let's just test out
stabilization at 4K 60.
Now we've switched on to
the rear facing cameras.
Both smart phones do allow us to switch
to the ultra-wide as well as the zoom.
So we've got up to two times optical zoom
on the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
On the Note20 Ultra,
you've got up to five times
so look how much closer you can get in
with that five times optical zoom.
Let's go ahead
and test out stabilization
at a 4K 30
on the primary camera.
Test that stabilization with
the ultra-wide cameras as well.
So a walk into a run.
Now, 4K 60 from the rear facing cameras,
one thing to note is that
the iPhone does let you film
4K 60 from all the
cameras so that includes
the ultra-wide, as well as the zoom
but on the S20, sorry, Note20 Ultra,
you can only film at 4K 60
from the primary camera,
there is no option to film
4K 60 from any of the others.
So for the sake of it
stabilization at 4K 60,
so just walking, if you're
vlogging or something
and we can run.
You do have 8K video on the Note20 Ultra.
It does crop in quite significantly
when you are shooting at 8K
but it does give you
a lot more resolution.
Now because this video is at
4K, we can crop in further
and see that one-to-one 8K
resolution, which is insane.
And you'll notice, I'm not moving too much
and that is because there
is no stabilization at 8K.
Understandably so, it is using
a large part of the sensor,
but yeah, something nice to have.
So quick, low light video tests,
for those of you who like
to take videos in the dark.
It is raining a little bit.
See how the lights are handled.
Just going in here to pick up my next car,
not really.
(lighter clicking)
(lighter clicking)
Now testing the auto
focus of the Note20 Ultra.
Very, very fast.
This is something that
we were concerned about
on the S20 Ultra
but definitely seems to have been fixed.
Same test on the iPhone 11 Pro Max
and once again, working absolutely fine,
very fast and smooth.
Now that was the video
before we move on to images.
if you like what you're seeing so far then
please do consider
subscribing to the channel.
There's lots of SuperSaf style content
that I post on here very regularly.
And let's look at what we're
working with on both cameras.
For the front facing cameras,
the iPhone does have a high resolution
and for the rear facing cameras,
we have triple cameras on both.
They work similarly, in that
we have an ultra-wide camera,
a primary camera, as
well as a zoom camera.
On the iPhone, the 12
megapixels across the board,
on the Note20 Ultra,
the ultra-wide camera is 12 megapixels,
the primary camera is
actually 108 megapixels,
although you'll be
shooting at 12 megapixels,
99% of the time anyway
and that is where you will get
the best software processing.
And then we have a periscope zoom camera,
which gives you five times optical zoom,
and up to 50 times digital zoom.
The iPhone maxes out at
10 times digital zoom.
And on the Note20 Ultra this time,
you also have laser auto focus,
which definitely does
help with auto focus,
as you saw from the
video examples earlier.
The Note20 Ultra also has
a pro video and photo app
so you manually tweak settings,
including lots of different audio options.
This is something that's not available
on the iPhone, on default anyway
you will have to download an excel app
such as FiLMiC Pro in order to
have some of these features.
Now let's get to the images.
So what you'll notice from
many of these examples
is that both devices take
absolutely great images
in good light.
We've got lots of detail,
great dynamic range,
dynamic range does go back and forth.
Some situations I prefer the iPhone,
such as this one of my car.
If you look at the front of the car
and the shadow details,
those are much better
on the iPhone compared
to the much darker tones on the
Note20 Ultra, in my opinion.
But if you look at this
shot of this sunset,
the Note20 Ultra has
maintained a lot more detail
in the foreground without blowing
out the background at all.
So I do like this shot
on the Note20 Ultra.
So it is going to go back and forth.
Now, one thing to bear in mind is that
you do have a much larger
sensor on the Note20 Ultra
and let's just get this whole
108 megapixel thing out the way.
So here's a shot taken at 12 megapixels.
I do prefer the iPhone here actually,
does seem to have better dynamic range
but if you do go ahead
and switch to the 108
megapixels resolution
on the Note20 Ultra,
you'll immediately notice that the image
becomes a lot darker
and you lose a lot of
detail in the shadows.
And that is because, as mentioned,
it is not optimizing
the software performance
when you are shooting
at that insane 108 megapixels resolution.
This however, does mean
that you can crop in
much further to this image.
So if you look at both
images side by side,
at 100% on this 4K video,
you can see that we can
crop in much further
on the Note20 Ultra compared
to that on the iPhone.
Again, I think this is something
that you'll probably use
1% of the time, 99% of the
time to get the best results
from the Note20 Ultra,
you will want to shoot
at around 12 megapixels
and that is what it's set to by default.
Now there's a few other things
that you do have to bear in mind
when you're using such a large sensor.
The first thing is that
you are going to get
a shallow depth of field,
a blurry background.
So you can see these
shots here of these leaves
and both look absolutely great
but on the Note20 Ultra,
just look at the leaves
that are immediately
behind the ones in focus
and you'll see, on the Note20 Ultra
they're completely blurred out,
which gives you so much more isolation
for the subject that is in focus.
But having said that you do
have to also bear in mind
that the area of focus
with such a large size
sensor is very, very small.
So in this example, you can see that
we've only got a very few flowers in focus
because the other ones are kind of
a little bit more of the background,
they are completely blurred out,
whereas you're getting a
much more pleasing shot
on the iPhone here, so just
something to bear in mind.
Yes, that larger sensor
does have some advantages
but it can have some disadvantages too.
Now let's move on to
the ultra-wide cameras
and I have to say that both smartphones
have amazing ultra-wide cameras,
they take some great shots.
Now, as far as I can see,
the iPhone does have a
slightly wider angle of view,
it's only by like a couple of degrees,
I'm not sure it's really
going to matter to many.
And overall I did prefer the dynamic range
on the Note20 Ultra, I'll
show you a few examples here.
So in this shot,
we do have the sun
beaming in the background
but look at the foreground
elements on the Note20 Ultra.
So looking towards the
building, for example,
we do have a better shadow
details on the Note20 Ultra
compared to the iPhone.
And again, looking at that same
sunset with the ultra-wide,
we've got much, much more
brighter shadow details here
on the Note20 Ultra compared
to that on the iPhone.
It has overexposed the sun a little bit
on the Note20 Ultra
but overall I do prefer the dynamic range
on the Note20 Ultra when it
comes to the ultra-wide camera.
Now you guys might
remember me complaining,
quite a bit, about the
S20 Ultra's wide camera,
which didn't have great dynamic range.
So it looks like Samsung has
taken that feedback on board
and they've definitely
improved the dynamic range
on the ultra-wide camera
of the Note20 Ultra
so thumbs up for that.
Now, of course, we do
have to look at the zoom.
So here are a few examples
with the zoom capabilities
of both of these smartphones.
So initially going to 2X,
so this is what the iPhone has optically.
On the Note20 Ultra,
it seems to be using the primary camera
but it's kind of like punching in.
And this is definitely noticeable
because the iPhone is giving
you a sharper overall result
which you can definitely
notice when we do go 100%.
Now do keep this thought in mind
because we'll be touching
on that a little bit later.
Now, when we get to 5X, then this is where
the periscope zoom capabilities
of the Note20 Ultra really shine.
You can see that we've got a much sharper
and crisper image on the Note20 Ultra,
compared to the five times digital zoom
that we've got on the iPhone.
Now, if we do go in times 10,
which is the maximum
digital zoom on the iPhone
on the Note20 Ultra, it's
actually using a hybrid of optical
and digital zoom.
And you'll see, once again,
we have a much sharper image
on the Note20 Ultra.
The Note20 Ultra does go in even further.
So just trying out 50X here,
you can actually read this sign,
which is quite a way away.
Let's skip back to 1X
and back to here, 50X,
look at how much you can actually see.
It'd be impossible to read
this sign with your eyes
at that distance, so 50X is there
and I'm glad that
something haven't plastered
it on the camera like
they did on the S20 Ultra
so bravo Samsung for taking
that feedback onboard.
Now, testing out the zoom further
so using the primary cameras,
I actually prefer the iPhone shot here,
you've got better dynamic range.
Now, when you do use the 2X
optical zoom on the iPhone,
you can see that once again, it is sharper
compared to that on the Note20 Ultra
but then as soon as we go to 5X,
the Note20 Ultra, as expected,
is giving you a sharper image.
At 10X, once again, much
sharper compared to the iPhone
and then we can do 20X
and we can even go up to 50X.
Yes, it's not an amazing image,
it's not something that
you're going to share
on your Instagram grid.
And again, I want to emphasize that
because Samsung hasn't
really put an emphasis
on this 50X zoom as much
I'm okay with having it
you don't have to use it all the time.
The 5X works really well
and the 10X also works
really, really well.
Now let's move onto portraits.
So here's where we're going
to be talking about that 2X
in a short while.
So firstly taking a portrait shot
from the primary cameras on both,
I do prefer the dynamic
range on the iPhone.
You can see more shadow
details in my full black outfit
compared to that on the Note20 Ultra.
I think both are doing a good job overall
in terms of the edge detection.
One thing that I do like on the Note
is that you do have a
gradual depth of field.
So if you look towards the
floor of where my feet are,
that area is in focus, like
it would be if you were using
a regular mirrorless or DSLR pro camera,
but then the falloff of that blur
is a little bit more
natural on the Note20 Ultra
compared to that on the iPhone.
Now, if we go on and use the
2X portraits on both devices,
this is generally the focal length,
which gives you the
best looking portraits.
It's at around 50 mil,
which is generally the focal length
that works best on
smartphones for portraits.
You'll see that the iPhone
is doing much better here,
you've got much better dynamic range.
On the Note20 Ultra, you
can see the side of my head
is completely blown out.
Edge detection is actually
really good on both
but the Note20 Ultra is
also noticeably softer
compared to the iPhone.
Now, the reason why this seems to be is
because the iPhone is using optical zoom
to get this portrait,
whereas because there is no 2X optical,
as we saw earlier on the Note20 Ultra,
it seems to be punching
into the primary camera,
which is giving you an
overall soft result.
This is also noticeable here,
you'll see that the iPhone is giving you
a much sharper image.
Edge detection, I think is fine on both
they're both doing a very, very good job
but here's an advantage that you will get
on the iPhone 11 Pro Max
because of that dedicated 2X,
it is going to be better for portraits.
Now let's move on to low light.
So here is a shot taken
with no fancy modes,
it's just using the automatic
and both seem to be doing pretty well.
The iPhone does seem to be
doing a little bit better
but then when we do switch
on the respective night modes
on both, I think both are
doing really, really good.
The iPhone does appear to be brighter here
but I can see some more
noise in the cloud area
whereas the Note20 Ultra
is a little bit cleaner.
Another shot in low light,
I think both they're doing
absolutely fine here.
Very good results on both,
I'd call this one a draw.
Now this shot, I do
prefer the Note20 Ultra
because if look towards the Bentley sign,
this has been blown out on the iPhone
whereas that's been maintained
on the Note20 Ultra,
and you've also got more
detail in the tree areas
on the Note20 Ultra compared
to that of the iPhone.
Here's another low light shot
and again, I do prefer
the Note20 Ultra here.
If you look towards the slabs,
they are sharper on the Note20 Ultra
compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Now I think this might partly be
because you do have that larger sensor,
it is going to be able
to capture more light
compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Now let's look at the ultra-wide cameras
and this is where things
get quite interesting.
So taking the shots on both, on automatic,
the Note does seem to be
giving us a sharper result
and it's also brighter
but the Note20 Ultra does have night mode
for the ultra-wide camera.
This is something that's just
not available on the iPhone,
it's something that I
have talked about before.
So here it is night and day.
The Note20 Ultra, just giving
you a much better result,
thanks to the night mode that's available
on the ultra-wide camera.
Here's another example, once
again, just night and day here.
The Note20 Ultra just doing much better.
I don't know why Apple haven't included
the night mode for the ultra-wide camera
but it really does let it
down in low light situations.
One more example,
and again, the iPhone,
I mean the image is completely not usable
and it's just blurry
whereas the Note20 Ultra is actually
giving you a very sharp
and usable image from
the ultra-wide camera.
Now just testing out
the zoom in low light,
you do have night mode
on both the zoom cameras.
It's hard to really measure
because we do have 5X versus 2X
but I mean it's there and it
does work and it does help.
Now let's look at some selfies.
Overall, I think both do
a really, really good job.
We've got lots of detail,
slight differences in skin tone
but generally speaking,
they are absolutely fine.
One thing I do have to mention
is that I did have to switch
off the skin smoothening
on at the Note20 Ultra
because it did really struggle
and it seemed to mess up the images
so I did switch that off
and I would advise you to do the same.
Now both smart phones do have
a wide option for selfies,
and this will allow you to get
maybe more people into your shot,
more of your background into your shots
and you can see once again,
both are doing a very,
very good job overall,
the iPhone is wider
compared to the Note20 Ultra
something to bear in mind.
Now here again,
you can see that the
iPhone is slightly wider
but both are doing an excellent job.
You've got lots of detail,
you can see all the detail on my beard.
Dynamic range is also really good on both,
you can see a bit of the tree
detail in the background.
Now let's look at the selfie portrait mode
so this is where it's going
to try to blur the background
and here I think both doing
a really, really good job.
I do prefer the skin tones on the iPhone,
but I do prefer the edge
detection on the Note20 Ultra,
it's done a very nice sharp
edge around my glasses
and everywhere.
The iPhone is not really doing bad
but I do prefer the Note20
Ultra a little bit here.
And the Note20 Ultra
also gives you the option
of using portrait mode with
the wider field of view,
this is something that you
can't do on the iPhone,
as soon as you switch
to portrait it crops in,
and that is your only option
so the Note20 Ultra will give
you a bit more flexibility.
Although edge detection is not as good,
you can see towards the
edge of my sunglasses,
this has been blurred out a little bit
so just something to bear in mind
but I do like having that option here.
Now here's another shot
using the portrait mode.
Here, the iPhone has got
the side of my sunglasses,
but it has blurred out a lot of my hair
whereas the Note20 Ultra has
blurred out my sunglasses,
it has done a good job of my hair
but you've got quite a bit of the seat
in the back on the Note
whereas the iPhone has isolated
me a little bit better here.
Once again, the Note does have the option
of the ultra-wide from
the front facing camera
for portraits.
Again, it has missed the
side of my sunglasses
but it is doing a good job overall.
Now looking at some low light selfies
so neither are doing good here.
Lots of noise on the iPhone,
the Note20 Ultra is brighter
but you know, it's completely
lost all the color,
I'm looking like a zombie here,
the iPhone does have better colors.
Neither were amazing, now the Note20 Ultra
does have night mode from
the selfie camera as well
so if you do use this,
you'll see that we get
a much brighter image.
Once again, colors are a little bit off
but you know, I would prefer this image
compared to that on the iPhone.
And then we've got the selfie flash.
so this is where the front
screen is illuminated
to give you some more light.
The Note20 Ultra giving
you a sharper image,
it's a brighter image as well
but once again, I do prefer
the colors on the iPhone,
they are much more true to my skin tone
whereas the Note20 Ultra is washing things
out a little bit.
Right, so that was a lot to cover.
I think, overall both
are excellent smartphones
and you really can't go
wrong with either of these
for photography and video.
Now, if you ask me for
my thoughts and opinions,
of course, the Note20 Ultra
does give you the additional zoom
so you are getting the
advantage there of 5X, 10X,
if that's something that you're into
but the iPhone does give
you better images at 2X
and that's especially useful
when you are trying to
take portrait shots.
So if you are somebody who
likes taking lots of portraits,
then the iPhone is going to
be the better option here.
Now for images in good
light, honestly speaking,
you can't go wrong with either of these,
they both take excellent images.
Dynamic range, as mentioned,
can go back and forth.
You do have quite a large sensor
on the Note20 Ultra which, as mentioned,
can have some advantages as
well as some disadvantages.
In the low light, the Note20 Ultra,
I believe overall does get the advantage,
did give some better low
light images in my opinion
and that does seem to be thanks
to that larger sensor size.
And also you have the
option of the night mode
for the ultra-wide camera,
something that you don't have
on the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
And speaking of the ultra-wide camera,
I think both were very, very good
but I did prefer the Note20 ultra,
which I believe does have,
overall, better dynamic range.
Now, when it comes to video
it was very interesting
because I think both smartphones
give you great quality video.
When it came to stabilization,
the Note20 Ultra did seem more stable
but it does kind of make
the image a lot softer
because there are a lot more vibrations
whereas I believe the iPhone,
even though it might not appear as stable
does keep everything sharp
and in focus, which I do like.
Now the Note20 Ultra does have 8K video
so if that is something that you're into,
you might like that.
Now, as I mentioned earlier on,
you do lose things like stabilization
so it is going to be quite limited
to what you can do with the 8K.
You're going to have to use a gimbal,
you might have to have
it mounted on a tripod
but nevertheless, the option is there.
However, when you are shooting at 4K 60,
then the Note20 Ultra you can
only use the primary camera,
you can't use the ultra-wide camera,
you can't use the periscope zoom camera
and these are the things that you do have
on the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
So for video overall,
it does seem to be a little bit of a draw.
Even if you look at the low light video,
there were certain situations
where I liked the iPhone.
It did seem to be
brighter around the trees
but then it was a little
bit choppy when we moved
from one area to another
and it seems to be
dropping the frame rates
to capture more light.
So you know, again, it
did go back and forth.
Now for front facing video,
the iPhone was a little bit wider
but the Note20 Ultra was more stable
so it looks like I like the Note20 Ultra
does crop in a little bit to
achieve that stabilization
so that's just something to bear in mind.
And also it did seem to
have better dynamic range
when you are at 4K 60 from
the front facing cameras.
For selfies, I think both
did an excellent job.
The iPhone is slightly wider
but as soon as you go onto portrait mode,
you no longer have that
wider field of view
and then the Note20 Ultra has the option
for a wider field of view.
For low light, the Note20 Ultra
does give you a brighter image
but the colors are better on the iPhone.
Slow motion, both can do
up to 240 frames a second,
they do great.
The Note20 Ultra does
have super slow motion.
so that option is available.
Although this is just at 720PM,
it is just a small burst of slow motion.
And for audio, I'm
going to let you go back
and have a listen, I think both
record great quality audio.
Now, overall, I want to emphasize again
that both smartphones
are absolutely excellent
and you can't really go
wrong with either of these
for images and video, they
both take amazing shots.
Now I do also want to clarify that, yes,
I am fully aware that
the iPhone 11 Pro Max
is almost a year old now.
So some of you may say that
this comparison is unfair,
but if anything, I was very
impressed with the iPhone
and how it actually went
toe-to-toe with this newer device
and in some areas actually beat it.
But of course the real test
and real comparison will be
when the iPhone 12 Pro is out
in a couple of months
and of course we're going
to be doing a SuperSaf style
camera comparison, as soon as that's out.
If you want to see that first,
then be sure to subscribe
and hit that bell icon.
I also want to say that I'm very impressed
with the way Samsung has
taken a lot of the feedback
that I've been giving
and many others have been giving
such as the auto focus issues
that we had with the S20 Ultra,
the ultra-wide camera dynamic range,
not plastering, you know, 100X or 50X.
I like that they went down to 50X,
so props to Samsung for actually
taking that feedback onboard
and giving us lots of improvements
here on the Note20 Ultra.
Now, if you want to see
lots of images taken
from lots of different devices,
then do give me a follow on
Instagram, I am @SuperSaf.
I hope you enjoyed this
video and found it useful.
If you did then do it that
thumbs up button for me.
What did you guys think
of this comparison?
Which one would you pick overall?
Drop me a comment below and let me know.
Thanks for watching guys.
This is Saf on SuperSaf TV
and I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)
