Flash Samsung Note 20 Ultra
Ben Hollinbeck
I have the galaxy s22 ultra. When taking pictures where I want flash to be required, it instead seems to be using some calculation like auto mode does (but not the same one because they engage flash at different light levels) instead. When I choose to use flash, it should use flash. Not decide whether it thinks the shot needs it or not.
For photography, Samsung has dropped the time-of-flight (ToF) sensor found on the S20 Ultra and made some changes to the tele-camera setup on the Note20 Ultra. The primary camera looks essentially the same, featuring the same 1/1.33 MP, 108 MP-resolution sensor, with 33 pixel binning for outputting a 12 MP final image. This is coupled to a standard wide-angle 26 mm-equivalent lens that features an f/1.8 aperture, laser and PDAF autofocus, and optical image stabilization (OIS).
Our experts also observed slightly low target exposures under very low-light conditions. Below, the S20 Ultra provides a brighter target exposure with a little more detail in the shadows, and preserves more highlight detail in the lamp compared to both the Note20 Ultra 5G and Mi 10 Ultra.
Color rendering is a strength for the Note20 Ultra 5G, where it achieves another excellent score. Colors are vivid and pleasant in most tested conditions, with high levels of saturation. In outdoor sunny conditions, color on the Note20 Ultra 5G is more vibrant compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max, and although similar to the Mi 10 Ultra, greens and blues are slightly richer on the Samsung device.
The Note 20 Ultra 5G achieved another good score for artifacts, which it controls reasonably well overall, but there are a couple of key issues to look out for. Fairly heavy ringing is prominent along contrasted edges when viewing images at large scale, and a cyan shift near saturation renders skies a little unnatural in some examples. We applied other artifact penalties for a loss of acutance in the outer field, geometric distortions and moir patterns in high-frequency areas, and some color quantization. Probably the most problematic issue, however, is a strong fusion artifact that results in alignment issues in some images. In the DXOMARK chart example below, the device was on a tripod and the test chart was affixed, but some significant ghosting is evident around the text.
The Note20 Ultra 5G delivers very effective bokeh shots and achieves close to a top score in this category. Bokeh image quality is good in both indoor and outdoor conditions, as well as across the numerous factors we evaluate, when the effect is successfully applied. Unfortunately, activation is not as reliable as many other top-tier devices, however, and our testers observed failures in a range of lighting conditions when shooting consecutive images using portrait mode.
Highlights in very bright conditions are often slightly clipped, like we saw with the main camera, but exposures are very nice overall from the ultra-wide module. Artifacts commonly associated with ultra-wide cameras, such as color fringing, ringing, a loss of sharpness, and anamorphosis of faces in the outer field are slightly visible but not too concerning. Noise is usually visible in low light, however, and the level of detail in all tested conditions is a little behind the Mi 10 Ultra.
Capturing night portraits in flash-auto mode, the performance of the flash is good, recording accurate exposure of the subject, nice color with pleasant skin tones, and a high level of detail. Dynamic range is quite limited using flash, though, so backgrounds tend to be noticeably underexposed. This means flash-off or night mode generally captures a more atmospheric night portrait, with nicer overall exposure and good color, but detail on faces is lower and more noise is visible. So if the subject is important, flash-auto delivers better detail and noise on the face, but flash-off or night mode will deliver nicer exposure and color overall.
The device scored well for indoor and outdoor exposure in our perceptual analysis, with generally pleasant brightness and fairly wide dynamic range. Videos are particularly successful in bright sunny conditions, thanks to rich and pleasant color, accurate white balance, and good detail. Samsung has achieved an excellent texture-versus-noise tradeoff in the implementation of 4K/30fps video on the Note20 Ultra 5G and the S20 Ultra. Exceptional levels of detail, measured at over 90% acutance between 20 lux and 1000 lux in our lab analysis, put the Samsung devices on par with the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra for detail.
Video autofocus is excellent, with fast reaction times and good tracking capabilities, although the same focus breathing issues we observed when shooting stills on location were again evident with video. We applied small penalties for frame rate instabilities, as well as for ringing and judder artifacts, but on the whole, video performance is stable and avoids any serious problems. The stabilization system is also very effective for static handheld videos in both indoor and outdoor lighting conditions, where unwanted residual motion is well controlled, frame sharpness is consistent, and videos remain stable during scene changes.
After big marketing fanfare around the new photographic capabilities of the S20 Ultra, the end results were slightly disappointing. For the Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, Samsung engineers have tweaked the camera setup again, opting for a different sensor and lens configuration for the tele-camera and dropping the ToF sensor for bokeh shots.
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