Technologies

Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Secret Weapon Could Be This New Samsung Chip

Exclusive: Samsung’s Isocell HP2 image sensor can shoot photos at 12.5, 50 or even 200 megapixels thanks to new pixel binning options.

With its new 200-megapixel Isocell HP2 image sensor, Samsung will try to give smartphone photographers the best of both worlds: high resolution and good image quality in challenging conditions.

The HP2 is in mass production. Samsung has neither announced its shipment date nor confirmed which phone it will arrive in. Still, the sensor is expected to power the main camera on the company’s flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra phone, likely to debut Feb. 1.

Image sensor designers face a tradeoff. Increasing resolution means each pixel on the sensor is smaller, and smaller pixels aren’t able to gather light as well. That means shots taken in low light are marred by noise speckles. They lose detail in shadowed parts of a scene. And they suffer blown-out highlights in bright areas like skies.

The HP2, though, brings new methods to counteract those problems and make the most of each photon of light, Samsung revealed exclusively to CNET.

The South Korean electronics giant’s sensor can gather light more effectively in the first place, boost high dynamic range (HDR) photos to cope better with scenes with dark and bright elements, the company said. And when shooting at the full 200-megapixel resolution, Samsung uses AI technology to help render the finest details.

It’s not yet clear how well the sensor will perform in real-world testing. But it’s no surprise Samsung is focusing on the technology. Camera improvements are a prime reason to upgrade phones, with better photos and videos more noticeable than marginally better processors, battery life and network technology.

«The full 200MP resolution especially shines when shooting at concerts or outdoors where there’s lots of detail to be captured,» said JoonSeo Yim, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ sensor business. «It may not be the predominant setting for most consumers, but we definitely see the need for highly detailed images.»

Apple, Samsung’s top smartphone rival, is likewise investing heavily in its cameras. Comparatively large lens elements protrude from the back of iPhone 14 Pro models to show off camera performance, and Apple has upgraded its sensors for better high-resolution and low-light shooting.

Better pixel binning options

One of the headline techniques for improving smartphone photos is called pixel binning. With it, groups of physical pixels can be combined into larger virtual pixels that gather more light when it’s dim, trading off resolution for lower noise and better color.

Samsung isn’t alone in using pixel binning. You’ll see it in the Apple iPhone 14 Pro, Google Pixel 7, Xiaomi 12T Pro and other phones, but the HP2 sensor is one of the most advanced. Apple and Google, for example, use 2×2 pixel binning that turn four physical pixels into one virtual pixel. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S22 phones have offered 3×3 pixel binning since 2019, offering 108 megapixel photos in good light and 12-megapixel photos when it’s dim.

Samsung’s HP2 can take 200-megapixel photos under good conditions. When it’s dimmer, pixel binning groups pixels into 2×2 chunks for a 50-megapixel image. And when dimmer yet, Samsung’s 4×4 «Tetra2pixel» chunks take a 12.5-megapixel photo.

The two levels of pixel binning were available on the 200-megapixel HP3, announced in 2022. However, the HP3 uses smaller pixels that, while minimizing camera bulk, aren’t as good at capturing light in the first place. The HP1, announced in 2021, also had it. But the HP2 adds some other tricks the HP1 lacks.

Pixel binning ups and downs

Pixel binning has some other advantages. Cameras can crop in on the central portion of the image to zoom into more distant subjects. It’s a key foundation to the effort to give smartphones zoom abilities like traditional camera lenses. Pixel binning also opens up new options for high resolution 4K and 8K video.

Pixel binning has downsides, though. It takes a lot of battery power to process all those pixels, and storing high-resolution photos gobbles up a lot of storage space. And high-resolution sensors, while nice in principle, don’t achieve top image quality unless they’re paired with high-quality lenses.

«The full 200MP mode does require more RAM and power,» Yim said, which is why such high resolution sensors are only found on high-end smartphones.

One complication with the HP2 is figuring out color when shooting 200 megapixel photos. Digital cameras capture either red, green or blue light for each pixel, but the Tetra2pixel design means each 4×4 pixel group captures only one of those colors. To help fill in the color detail needed within those 16-pixel groups, Samsung uses an artificial intelligence algorithm, the company said.

Samsung HP2’s image quality improvements

The sensor has other tricks to boost image quality, particularly with high dynamic range scenes with both bright and dark details. Here are a few:

A technology called Dual Voltage Transfer Gate (D-VTG) gives each pixel a 33% better ability to gather light, which should improve image quality in dim scenes and cut back on washed-out white patches in bright skies.
Samsung’s Dual Slope Gain (DSG) feature improves HDR photos by digitizing each pixel’s exposure data at two different scales to gather bright and dark data when shooting in 50-megapixel mode. The abundant pixels on the sensor mean some pixel quartets are tuned for bright light and others for dimmer light.
A related feature called Smart-ISO Pro is a separate HDR technology that adapts to different scenes, employing different combinations of sensitivity settings appropriate for the different frames used to build the HDR photo.

Another new feature in the HP2 is an improved autofocus with a technology called Super QPD. It can spot either horizontal and vertical lines across 2×2 pixel groups, helping the camera lock onto details like horizons or tree trunks even when it’s dim, Samsung said.

Each HP2 pixel is 0.6 microns, or 6 millionths of a meter, wide. That’s a shade narrower than the 0.62 microns of the HP1. For comparison, a human hair is something like 75 microns across. Combined into a 2×2 array for 50-megapixel photos, the pixel width increases to 1.2 microns, and in 4×4, to 2.4 microns.

«We expect that high-resolution image sensors will become a standard feature in future flagship smartphones,» Yim said. «Because of that, we think it’s important to continue our efforts, from advanced pixel processes below 0.5 microns to pixel performance and algorithms.»

Larger sizes are better at gathering light. The Samsung pixel sizes are pretty similar to the iPhone 14 Pro’s main camera sensor, which uses 2.44 micron pixels in 12-megapixel mode and 1.22 microns in 48-megapixel mode.

When it comes to video, the HP2 has many options. It can shoot 8K video at 30 frames per second by using the sensor in its 50-megapixel mode. It can shoot 4K video at 120fps, or, if Smart-ISO is engaged, at 60fps. For 1080p video, the sensor will shoot at 480fps without autofocus and 240fps with autofocus.

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Technologies

Camera Champions Face Off: iPhone 16 Pro vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra

When photo quality is a top consideration, the best phones from Apple and Samsung are amazing. But which is better? It’s time to find out.

When you’re looking for the best camera to carry in your pocket, you need to consider today’s top-tier phones. The imaging capabilities of the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S25 Ultra are among the best money can buy. And with travel season ramping up, carrying a phone may be the most convenient camera. But for photo details how do these two mobile titans compare?

To find out, I shot hundreds of photos using both phones in a variety of conditions to see which phone takes the best-looking images. What’s «best» is often down to personal perspective so while I’ll be giving my personal take on each test as a professional photographer and giving my reasons why I prefer one over the other, you may well find that you prefer the other. So have a look through the range of examples here and see if you come to a different conclusion.

Read more: Best Camera Phone of 2025

All images shown have been taken using each phone’s default camera mode using default settings, unless otherwise stated. While images from the Galaxy S25 have been uploaded as taken, the iPhone’s images have had to be converted through Adobe Lightroom as our publishing platform doesn’t support Apple’s default HEIF image format. This process doesn’t affect the image in any way.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

Starting out with an easy outdoor scene. Both phones have done a great job capturing an even exposure here and both images are packed with detail. It’s difficult to choose between them, but the iPhone has the edge for me as it’s achieved a slightly warmer image with more natural-looking tones. The S25 Ultra’s image looks too saturated, especially in the blue sky, which I find quite distracting.

It’s much the same story when we switch to the ultrawide lenses on both phones. I prefer the warmer tones in the iPhone’s shot, which makes the S25 Ultra’s look quite cold by comparison. I also prefer the lighter shadows on the iPhone’s image, making it an easy win for the iPhone here. Notably, both phones are doing a good job of compensating for the ultrawide lenses at the edges (a function turned on by default on both phones); the railing remains straight in each shot and not curving as you’d typically see using a lens this wide.

There’s almost no difference between these two outdoor scenes. The blossom looks crisp on both images, with excellent overall exposure. The iPhone’s image is again slightly warmer in tone but it’s negligible.

The Galaxy S25 takes an easy win with this image of bluebells. The colors are much more vibrant, especially in the greens on the blades of grass, which look quite washed out on the iPhone’s image. It actually looks like the S25’s camera lens is slightly polarized to reduce reflections and increase saturation, but I don’t know if that’s the case. Either way, Samsung takes the win here.

At 5x zoom things get worse for the iPhone. Despite the bluebells being reasonably far away, the phone seemed unable to achieve a sharp focus on the flowers. The S25 Ultra, meanwhile, managed to achieve a sharp image with richer colors.

I prefer the iPhone’s image here though. It’s brighter and the warmer colors on the bricks on the surrounding buildings look much more true to life.

The iPhone’s image is again brighter here and I prefer its colors too. The Galaxy S25 Ultra does have the edge in fine detail, though. You really need to zoom in to see it but the tiny lines on the building are slightly sharper on the S25.

The S25 Ultra does have a physical advantage over the iPhone with its 10x optical zoom lens, which allows it to zoom in even further while still maintaining a pin-sharp image.

You can still digitally zoom in with the iPhone to 10x, and the results aren’t bad. I prefer the colors of the S25 Ultra’s shot here, but the difference in detail isn’t that noticeable.

Zooming in close to see the fine details, the S25 Ultra’s optical zoom image definitely has a bit more clarity but the digital upscaling on the iPhone’s shot has done a great job here, as the difference isn’t immense.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Night modes compared

At first glance, the only real difference between the iPhone’s 5x shot and the S25 Ultra’s 5x shot is the color balance. And honestly, I don’t have a preference between the warmer tone of the iPhone or the more magenta bias of the S25.

However, when you zoom in close to the details, the iPhone has produced a sharper image here, with an odd sort of digital blurring around the lamp post in the S25 Ultra’s image. So sometimes the S25 Ultra’s zoom is sharper, other times it’s the iPhone’s. I’m glad they’re making this easy for me.

Again, the only real difference here is in the color balance and I don’t really know which I prefer. The exposure, noise levels and amount of detail are practically identical.

Things changed when I switched to the ultrawide lenses, though. The S25 Ultra’s shot is definitely brighter, capturing more detail in the cobblestones in the foreground and in the buildings in the distance. The iPhone’s image is much darker overall.

Just to confuse things further, the iPhone’s nighttime image with its ultrawide lens is noticeably brighter than the S25 Ultra’s in this example that I shot in the Arctic. I actually had to double-check the image metadata to make sure I hadn’t mixed these up, but I haven’t. The iPhone’s image has captured more light information here and produced more detail on the ice door to the right.

The iPhone’s nighttime image is again slightly brighter here but it’s also kept the bright highlights on the pub sign under control. On the S25 Ultra’s image, those highlights are almost lost to pure white but the lovely green and yellow tones have been retained in the iPhone’s image. The colors overall are noticeably warmer on the iPhone’s shot, however, which may not be to your taste. Here, I think they work well.

But in this example, the iPhone has produced a weirdly warm-looking image that I really don’t like. Those warm colors were not present at the time of capture and it doesn’t work for the scene, especially not with such strong orange tones in the sky. The S25 Ultra’s image is much more balanced overall and it’s a slightly sharper image too. It’s a very easy win for Samsung here.

Things don’t improve for the iPhone when using the ultra-wide lens. Its image is again plagued by overly warm tones, while the S25 Ultra’s shot is both more color-accurate and brighter.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Which takes better selfies?

While the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s selfie is slightly brighter, I don’t like what it’s done with the colors. My face has been made a weird shade of orange and my denim jacket is a much deeper blue than it really is. The skin tones on the iPhone’s shot are much more accurate, and its shot is sharper as well.

Both phones have a wider-angle mode for the selfie camera, although the iPhone’s seems to be a lot wider. That’s definitely worth keeping in mind if you frequently like to cram lots of friends into your group pics. You could probably squeeze at least one or two extra friends in if you used the iPhone, or have to decide who you like least and leave them out of frame if you used the S25 Ultra. Otherwise, the image differences are the same as before.

iPhone 16 Pro Vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Which camera is better?

I’ve written many of these comparison pieces on various generations of phones in my 14 years at CNET and I don’t remember having done one that’s felt this close. The problem is that neither phone excels consistently in one area; the iPhone 16 Pro’s ultra-wide shots aren’t as bright as the S25 Ultra’s, except on those occasions when they actually are, confusingly. I’ve taken many more images not included here that both support some of my conclusions and argue against them. Go figure.

But there are some takeaways I can give with confidence. Generally speaking, the iPhone’s colors are more natural than the S25 Ultra’s, which can sometimes look overly saturated. This has been the case with almost every Samsung phone since the company started putting cameras in them and it’s still the case today. Those looking for a more natural base image to apply your own filters and effects over will be better suited with the iPhone 16 Pro.

But that’s less the case at night, when the iPhone more consistently delivers warmer tones that look less natural than the S25 Ultra’s. So, if night photography is important to you, the S25 Ultra may be the better option. Overall, its night mode images from all lenses were brighter and sharper.

Sure, the S25 Ultra has the extended zoom range but you’d really need to know you’ll make the most of a 10x zoom to justify picking one over the other. Personally, I find the 5x zoom level a perfect sweet spot and here the phones are pretty much on par. And on those rare occasions you may want to push things further, the iPhone’s digital zoom can still deliver sharp results.

There are other things for photographers to consider too: Apple’s ProRaw is superb and while the company’s Photographic Styles can be good for adding a creative look to your images, Samsung’s new tool for mimicking the color grade from example photos you feed it works surprisingly well — I actually think I might get more use out of that overall. I haven’t even gone into video quality either, which is a whole other article, especially when you consider both phones shoot Log video, although only the iPhone uses ProRes.

Deciding between the phones based solely on the cameras is nigh on impossible. Which one you should get will instead come down to the bigger question of iOS versus Android; which platform you’re already using and which one will work best with other pieces of tech in your life. But for simple picture quality, you may as well toss a coin.