
Some call such a strong approximation useless, others call it a little intimidating, but the function will definitely be remembered.



February 11, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S20 Ultra – the flagship model of the line. Unlike the S20 and S20 +, the phone received a 100x zoom: according to the company, the device uses a combination of optics and digital AI processing for this.
This feature has become the main distinguishing feature of the S20 Ultra – such an approximation has not yet been announced in popular smartphones. In 2019, there was already a Huawei P30 Pro with a “periscope” camera, but even there, the maximum digital zoom was 50x. Therefore, journalists and bloggers, having received the S20 Ultra, immediately began to experience the function.
As a result, opinions roughly converged: a hundredfold zoom really works, allowing you to view from the phone what is not possible with the human eye. Another thing is how useful this feature is. The author of Android Central called this approach “a little scary, but almost useless” if the owner of the phone is not going to follow someone.
During testing already at 5x zoom level of detail allowed me to look into someone’s balcony. Theoretically, owners of the S20 Ultra can look into the windows of apartments. Most people do not follow others, but the Galaxy S20 Ultra – like any phone with a similar approximation – eases this task compared to a DSLR camera.
Nirav Godia
author of Android Central
CNet noted that a hundredfold zoom is only suitable for demonstrating the technological capabilities of a smartphone. And the Slashgear editor came to the conclusion that such an approximation is fun, but in fact it is worth paying attention to the quality of the 10x zoom, which was also praised by other journalists.
Más pruebo el Galaxy S20 Ultra me doy cuenta que el zoom de 10X es hasta donde va bárbaro. 10X es un MONTÓN vs una cámara normal. Acá descubriendo que caras te hace @marcosbouthemy a lo lejos 🤪 pic.twitter.com/6BhKVKjjhr
— Federico Ini (@fechu) February 21, 2020
10x zoom
But in social networks, they were still more interested in a hundredfold zoom. Therefore, the owners of smartphones began to share examples, comparing the standard camera and the maximum zoom.
In the pictures you can see. that you can, for example, see people on a bridge that is very far away. Moreover, the quality of parts, of course, is greatly deteriorating. Some journalists complained that it’s difficult to handle a hundredfold zoom even when using a tripod.
S20 Ultra
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) February 22, 2020
1X
5X
30X
100X pic.twitter.com/96iyQm1J0C
/rlt/ hasil 1x, 10X, 30X and 100X zoom di S20 Ultra. Bisa buat nguntit jir pic.twitter.com/yZrcnbwsSw
— /rlt/ – ON – RULES BARU DI LIKES❗ (@rlthingy) February 20, 2020
Straight from the S20 Ultra. 1X, 5X and 100X. What do you think? @SamsungMobile @SamsungMobileUS pic.twitter.com/9n6ebo5CWC
— Jon Rettinger (@Jon4Lakers) February 21, 2020
1x 10x 30x 100x
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 22, 2020
S20 Ultra pic.twitter.com/5lt3Qf7YA9
Sample shots from my @SamsungMobileUS #galaxys20ultra (no edits) 🙌
— David Cogen (@theunlockr) February 20, 2020
0.5x > 1x > 5x > 10x in this post
30x > 100x in the next one 👇
What do we think? pic.twitter.com/mKUK6qJNXg
And here is the 30x > 100x pic.twitter.com/udSdwxLaUF
— David Cogen (@theunlockr) February 20, 2020
Argentinean journalist Federico Ini demonstrated the power of zoom with an airplane flying through the sky.
Primeras pruebas de las posibilidades de zoom que brinda el Galaxy S20 Ultra
— Federico Ini (@fechu) February 20, 2020
1X
10X
30X
100X
(Obviamente no es el mejor ejemplo porque el avión se mueve) pic.twitter.com/try1dzDSFY
Ice Universe techno blogger noted that with a hundredfold zoom, digital optimization for areas with text is preserved. Even if during the shooting it seems that the labels are blurry, the letters can be distinguished in the final image.
The Samsung S20 Ultra space zoom 100X has a special optimization for text. Even if the shooting interface looks blurry, the actual photo has been greatly improved, and it can even read a lot of information. pic.twitter.com/viEAVTMQhs
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 21, 2020
Twitter noted that this works even with captions that are not visible at all in the “normal” shooting mode.
Galaxy S20 Ultra first photos from me: ultrawide, wide, 30x, 100x zoom. What do you want to know for the review? pic.twitter.com/LVAqbMGCg9
— Dieter Bohn (@backlon) February 20, 2020
Correct. This is the 1x zoom picture pic.twitter.com/zPL5cjDxxP
— Kok Kee (@KokiYaps) February 21, 2020
Yep, can confirm pic.twitter.com/CDyJf7CtRh
— Kok Kee (@KokiYaps) February 21, 2020
Some journalists have shown the operation of the zoom using videos.
The Samsung Electronics Galaxy S20 Ultra 100x Zoom Is…insane! pic.twitter.com/mdyMd7d7Fr
— Ken Rutkowski (@kenradio) February 20, 2020
Phone camera zooms now.
— Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) February 20, 2020
Just got Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra. (With its 100x zoom.) pic.twitter.com/S3Tu8dS77N