Try zooming 100X with the camera on Galaxy S20 Ultra: how sharp?

Friday, 21/02/2020

Tram Ho

One of the most heavily advertised features for the new Galaxy S series is Space Zoom 100x. If previous smartphones were limited to 50x zoom, the S20 Ultra has “peaked” again when giving double the theoretical figure: 100x.

First of all, it should be noted that in this year’s S20 Series, only the S20 Ultra will achieve 100x zoom capability and this is also the phone with the largest size and weight in this family. The reason for the larger size is because Samsung has inserted a periscope design to increase the zoom ability further than the other two products, so that the weight is proportional to.

However, according to what I experience, this weight is not a problem, moreover it also helps me to hold the camera more firmly in the case of long zoom. Devices with far zooming, including professional cameras, will also have vibrations when using long focal lengths when holding hands. That’s why you often see birds, wildlife or sports photographers all need a tripod to attach.

Particularly with the Galaxy S20 Ultra, because to increase the challenge of how OIS optical stabilization works, during a walk in San Francisco I used it manually and zoomed to the maximum.

To better understand the ability to zoom, please read the short clip below:

Test zoom 100x on Galaxy S20 Ultra.

And here are some photos taken during the experience. The personal feeling is that when zooming from 30x or more will be very shake so you need to hold your hand, or lean on somewhere, it is best to put the machine on a point like handrails, tables … the 100x range will lose a lot of detail, so the AI of the machine will play a supporting role to compensate for more details but at an acceptable level, and in my opinion, the 30x or 50x range is too good.