Technologies

Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Android Camera Battle

Commentary: Which top-tier Android phone offers the best camera system? I took hundreds of photos in and around Seattle to find out.

Smartphone cameras carry a lot of responsibility. They need to automatically make great images in any situation at a moment’s notice. They’re limited by the physics of small lenses, small sensors and less-than-ideal ergonomics. The photos they create need to be ready to share immediately, with no expectation that the images will be edited and refined later.

Many phones hit a few of those targets, but a small number strive to be the best smartphone cameras you can pocket. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is one that we’ve previously pitted against the iPhone 16 Pro, and now it’s time to see how that Android phone fares against its newest competition, Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL.

I took both phones to Seattle and nearby Mukilteo, Washington, to compare how each performed. Over hundreds of photos, I kept the camera settings as close to the defaults as possible, occasionally switching between the 12-megapixel shooting modes and the high-res 50-megapixel modes where available.

Because we’re talking about photography, my personal preferences as to which are the «best» photos might not be the ones you choose, and that’s fine. With either camera, you’re going to get good photos. But if you’re in the market for a new phone and pondering which high-end camera system is for you, or you want to check out the current state of the art for Android cameras, follow along.

And for even more Pixel 10 Pro XL photos, be sure to follow along with CNET’s Andrew Lanxon on his first-look photo walk through Paris.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Overall performance

I wandered around Pike Place Market, a haven for local shopkeepers and scores of late-summer tourists, where snapping smartphone pictures is part of the fabric of the experience. This nook — a bend in a stairway — is one of my favorite spots at the market in the morning when light comes through the window. Both cameras have done a good job balancing the exposure between the bright day outside the window and the mixture of bright sunlight and shadowy corners on the inside. Of the two, I prefer the Pixel 10 Pro XL because it’s a bit warmer.

Seattle is known more for its clouds than its sunny days, so when the sky is blue, the bright light can feel harsh. Here, the S25 Ultra photo pops more by lightening the shadow areas of the car, but almost too much. The Pixel 10 Pro XL image looks more natural, even though the car is darker.

Just down the street, though, the contrast between the cameras swings in the other direction. The Pixel 10 Pro XL brings out all the vibrant colors of the flowers, the orange awnings and the bright red umbrellas. The S25 Ultra’s shot is more muted. I couldn’t tell if perhaps some of the sunlight was hitting the lens from the side and causing that washed-out appearance. Both cameras still did a fine job of keeping details in the shadows, though.

Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Zoom quality

To be honest, zooming much past 10x on a phone always seemed like a futile gesture to me. Pushing past the optical range of the telephoto camera (5x on both cameras) puts you into digital zooming territory, where the camera upscales a small portion of the sensor so it fills the frame. Although digital upscaling has improved in recent years, when you get past 20x or so, photos tend to become a mess of fuzzy enlarged pixels — it’s rarely worth it.

Google decided to take a different approach to extreme zooming on the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL. Up to 30x zoom, it uses Google’s Super Res Zoom technology to upscale and sharpen the results, which generally turn out well.

In the extreme range from 30x to 100x, though, the Pixel 10 Pro uses generative AI to rebuild the image based on the original capture. It takes a few seconds for the processing to happen, and it’s all done on-device, not with assistance from cloud resources. The results can be impressive, particularly for static subjects like buildings or landscapes. But when you view them with any scrutiny, it’s almost always obvious that the photo has been treated with AI, with a flat, angular look — and it doesn’t handle most text in a photo at all. But that’s also me scrutinizing the image; it won’t look good printed or viewed on a large screen, but it comes across perfectly fine on a phone screen.

The Pixel 10 Pro keeps both versions of the image: The original capture and the AI-generated one.

Google says that if the camera detects people in a Pro Res Zoom image, it won’t attempt to use generative AI on them — it could easily create a person that looks nothing like the actual person in the image. When that happens, you can tell: In this shot, the sailboat has been rendered (complete with a nonsensical guess about lettering on the sail), but the people on board are sharpened but still fuzzy.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra shots at 100x are also a hot mess, but to be honest, not as bad as I expected. They’re heavily processed to compensate for the upscaling, but… not terrible? I feel like I’m giving the S25 Ultra a «good job, buddy!» for showing up and not face-planting when, in fact, the photos are objectively not great, but they’re better than I expected.

Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Low-light situations

Pike Place Market is a maze of levels and long, shop-lined corridors and alleys that don’t get a lot of direct light. The notorious Gum Wall — yes, an alleyway where people stick used gum on the brick walls — is dark at one end and brighter at the other depending on the sun’s position in the sky. Neither phone fell back into its respective night mode, and both made acceptable shots in the midst of a lot of color and texture. Here again, I give the edge to the Pixel 10 Pro XL for its warmth and brighter overall tone. However, in both shots, the details on the wall suffer — note the pixelated «Extra» wrapper at top left. My apologies if you’ve just lost your appetite; at least photos don’t include the specific aroma of an alley filled with thousands of fruity gum globs.

Speaking of colors and textures, this barbershop in a muted hallway lit by what look to be fluorescent ceiling bulbs and a prominent ring light is another example of each camera taking a mixed-light situation and making a good exposure. I give the edge to the Pixel 10 Pro because the neon Open sign hasn’t been turned into a flat red, as in the S25 Ultra photo.

Leaving the bustle of downtown Seattle for the beach near the Mukilteo Lighthouse about half an hour north, this beach at sunset looks much better using the ultrawide camera on the Pixel 10 Pro XL compared with the ultrawide on the S25 Ultra. And in this case, I can’t say that either picture impresses. The S25 Ultra shot is almost too dark, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL image is too bright, and the bro on the edge doesn’t survive the wide-angle edge of the frame too well.

But what about engaging the actual night modes? Here, back in Seattle, this guardian troll by Danish artist Thomas Dambo at the National Nordic Museum retains a lot of detail on the Pixel 10 Pro XL, while the S25 Ultra photo comes out a little soft and saturated. (The lights inside the museum change color, hence the blue versus purple hues behind it.) Advantage Pixel.

And for a true night test, I put both phones on a tripod to capture this section of Shilshole Marina. Once more, the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s Night Sight mode does a better job of getting a balanced exposure that mixes the artificial lights in the foreground and the darkness of the sky with some stars peeking through. The S25 Ultra looks like it’s throwing as much processing at the image as possible, making the brighter areas look overexposed and introducing a lot of noise in the sky.

Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Portrait modes

One of the improvements Google is touting for the Pixel 10 Pro is in the quality of portrait mode photos, specifically high-res 50-megapixel shots.

In this indoor cafe with screened window light, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is really trying to contain the flyaway wisps of hair, but it’s made them ghostly and more evident instead. Everything else about the photo looks good, from the colors to the soft background — in fact, the hair at her shoulders shows better separation than on top of her head.

On the other hand, the S25 Ultra’s Portrait mode photo has made the top hairs nicely distinct, but the falloff at her shoulders and the general smudge of background make the depth of field in this photo more obviously synthetic. Also, once again, I prefer the tone and warmer temperature of the Pixel photo.

Outside, the S25 Ultra’s Portrait mode is improved, with more natural blurred areas — note the hair over the subject’s left shoulder that’s slightly blurry but not as soft as the foliage in the background. The flyaway hairs at the top of their head also look natural. The high-resolution Portrait mode version from the Pixel 10 Pro looks entirely natural to my eye, with a soft background and all of their curly hair in focus. Once again, I prefer the Pixel’s version, but they both look good. (Although I probably should have tried Camera Coach to compose the portraits better in the frame without so much space above their head.)

Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Which is the better camera?

I’ve certainly come down on the side of the Pixel 10 Pro XL for most of these photos, largely due to the warmer white balance and better color fidelity. But as you can see, none of the photos are outright bad. If you’re looking for a new flagship Android phone, both models will fill that need. And if you specifically want a great camera system, right now the Pixel 10 Pro has pushed into the lead.

OK, iPhone 17 Pro, it’s your turn. See you in September.

I Still Love the Look of Google’s New Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 22

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 22.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a long one, since it’s Saturday, and some of them were tough today. (Two Bee clues?) Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Moves (over) in one’s seat
Answer: SCOOTS

7A clue: Capital of Taiwan
Answer: TAIPEI

8A clue: ___ Bee
Answer: SPELLING

10A clue: In the style of
Answer: ALA

11A clue: Device with a keypad that’s typed on discreetly, for short
Answer: ATM

12A clue: ___ Bee
Answer: SAMANTHA

15A clue: «Family Guy» baby
Answer: STEWIE

16A clue: Sings in the Alps
Answer: YODELS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Like some clams and freshly cleaned shirts
Answer: STEAMED

2D clue: What an online meeting invite gets added to, for short
Answer: CAL

3D clue: Vinegar’s counterpart
Answer: OIL

4D clue: Morphine and codeine, for two
Answer: OPIATES

5D clue: First inning in extra innings
Answer: TENTH

6D clue: Greek «S»
Answer: SIGMA

8D clue: Full of back talk
Answer: SASSY

9D clue: «Allegory of the Cave» philosopher
Answer: PLATO

13D clue: Wonderstruck feeling
Answer: AWE

14D clue: Nothin’
Answer: NIL

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 22, #425

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 22, No. 425.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a diverse one today. As a Seattle resident, I got a kick out of the purple category. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Gridiron numbers.

Green group hint: The Garden State.

Blue group hint: Guarding against scores.

Purple group hint: DC, or the Evergreen State.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Football defensive stats.

Green group: Teams that play in New Jersey

Blue group: US soccer goalkeepers.

Purple group: Washington ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is football defensive stats. The four answers are hurry, interception, sack and tackle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams that play in New Jersey. The four answers are Devils, Giants, Gotham and Red Bulls.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is US soccer goalkeepers. The four answers are Howard, Naeher, Scurry and Solo.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Washington ____. The four answers are Capitals, Huskies, Nationals and Spirit.

Technologies

The iPhone 17 Pro’s Cameras Take the Fight to the OnePlus 15, and There Are Bruises

Camera showdown: The OnePlus 15’s camera should have surprised me, but it really didn’t. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro keeps on delivering in terms of photography.

The OnePlus 15 impressed my excellent colleague, David Lumb, with its superb battery life and excellent performance, especially for gaming. I wasn’t as thrilled with the cameras in my early testing, but the proof of its photography prowess comes down to how it stacks up against the competition. In this case, the iPhone 17 Pro is one of our favorite phone cameras and indeed one of the best camera phones you can buy in 2025.

For years, OnePlus has partnered with the iconic Swedish camera maker Hasselblad to work on color science and image calibration for OnePlus phones. But that partnership has ended, which puts a lot of pressure on the Chinese company to impress with its camera suite on the OnePlus 15. Throughout all these changes, Apple released the iPhone 17 Pro, which has a brand-new 48-megapixel 4x telephoto camera and carries forward the company’s reputation for excellent photography.

I headed out to the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland, to test both phone cameras in a variety of situations. It’s important to note, though, that what I consider «better» might not be what you agree with. Photography, like all art, is subjective. While, as aprofessional photographer, I prefer more natural, true-to-life tones, you may prefer imagery with more pop and colors. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

Note, too, that all images were taken with each phone’s standard camera mode in JPEG format, and all images have been resized using Adobe Lightroom, with no additional edits or sharpening applied. Small print done with, let’s dive in.

Straight off the bat, I’ll admit a small mistake in the photos above. I took this shot using one of the iPhone’s Photographic Styles. I think it was Gold, and so it’s no surprise that it’s given the image a more vibrant, warmer look that suits the scene incredibly well. I only had the style active for this example and the ultrawide version below.

However, I noticed that the iPhone’s exposure is broadly better, while the OnePlus’ software processing had worked so hard in reducing image noise that a lot of the texture in the floor had been lost.

Switch to the ultrawide lenses, and things do change a bit. The iPhone’s exposure above looks preferable to my eye, but the OnePlus’ shot definitely has more detail overall.

This example above is quite classic of the problems I have not just with the OnePlus 15, but also with most of OnePlus’ phones. The image is quite heavily saturated, with an electric-blue sky and vivid greens that look unnatural to me. The iPhone’s image has a much better handle on color here.

My other problem with OnePlus’ phones is how hard they go with their HDR processing, brightening up shadows and pulling back highlights, resulting in images that quite often lack depth and believable contrast. The image above is a prime example where the deep shadows under this bridge have been maintained in the iPhone’s shot, but where the OnePlus 15 has tried to lighten them so much that the image looks very overprocessed.

And to prove it’s not a one-off, this example above is a real low point for the OnePlus. It really tried to eliminate any kind of shadows in this scene, while pulling back the highlights in the sky outside far too much. The image looks fake, overprocessed and exactly what people would think of if you told them a photo was taken on a phone. By taking a far more subtle approach, the iPhone’s image is much more to my liking.

The OnePlus hasn’t gone as hard with its vendetta against shadows in the image above, but it does look like it’s ramped that saturation way up. It’s not that I don’t like vibrant colors — I do — it’s just that I want to add in that saturation should I want to, rather than having it forced on me by default.

The images above show a more muted scene and a good effort from both phones. Although taken just nine seconds apart (I checked the metadata), I do think the sun may have slightly peeked out from behind a cloud a little more in the iPhone’s shot, as the front of the building does look quite a lot brighter. Or maybe the OnePlus is going hard on the HDR again. Who knows? Either way, good details on this image from both phones.

The same scene in ultrawide does arguably look a little muted from the iPhone, at least when compared with the bold blue of the OnePlus’ shot above. Somewhere between the two would be my sweet spot. After I zoomed in on the details, the iPhone’s shot is certainly clearer, but at full screen — or on your Insta feed — that difference is negligible.

That brightness and color difference persists when taking each phone to its maximum default telephoto zoom, so maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with the sun and clouds after all. Colors aside, the iPhone’s shot above is also clearer, and its details look sharp without being overly digitally sharpened. The OnePlus’ image does have something of a «crunchiness» to it from its software processing that I don’t like as much.

Peeping close up at the pixels on each phone’s telephoto zoom shot, I definitely think the OnePlus has gone too hard with its sharpening in the image above of a person in a window.

I’m slightly more torn on this nighttime scene. The OnePlus shot above has yet again gone big on the saturation. Look at the overcooked green on the grass — it looks like it was taken at midday in the spring. The iPhone’s colors look way more natural. However, the OnePlus’ sharpening works in favor at night, delivering a shot with crisper details throughout.

And in ultrawide, I flat out prefer the OnePlus image above. Those vibrant tones look much better here, especially as they make the oranges of the building in the background stand out more.

And if we peep at those pixels again, it’s clear that the details on the OnePlus’ shot (left) are far better. Finally, a win for the OnePlus.

This final indoor low-light scene is a bit more of a mixed bag. The OnePlus’ image above is unquestionably brighter — especially the people nearest the camera — but its noise reduction has gone a bit too hard in some areas, reducing textures on clothing and hair that the iPhone hasn’t done. Overall, though, I’d say this example is a close fight.

iPhone 17 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Which camera is better?

For me, it’s an easy victory for the iPhone 17 Pro. Almost across the board, its images are more natural looking with realistic colors, saturation levels and exposure. The OnePlus 15’s reliance on heavy-handed image processing has resulted in often garish-looking photos that are almost the opposite of what I look for in my photography. However, as I said at the beginning, that’s just my opinion.

As a photographer, I want my camera — any camera — to be able to capture the best-looking image straight out of the camera that I can then apply more edits to if I want to. But maybe you don’t want to do that and instead want a vibrant, punchy-looking shot that you can immediately share to social media. If so, maybe the OnePlus will be fine for you.

At the end of the day, deciding which phone to buy will come down to more than just the camera, so make sure to read CNET’s in-depth reviews of all of 2025’s best phones to decide which is the one for you.