I shot over 200 photos with the Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL — here’s the winner

When it comes to the battle for best camera phone, Samsung and Google are the two heavyweights in the Android world. That's why I’m doing a 200-photo shootout between the Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL — to definitely say which is the best camera phone between them.

Last fall, there was a big upset in my 200 photo shootout between the Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra, as the newer Pixel narrowly beat out Samsung’s best — namely due to the better performance from its ultrawide and selfie cameras. In fact, I was surprised by how their low light and telephoto performances were identical. But now that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is here with its own set of new upgrades, I’m eager to see if Samsung can retake the crown from Google.

Their camera specs indicate the obvious: they’re versatile and heavily lean on AI to process images. The Galaxy S25 Ultra features a 200MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 5x telephoto, and a 12MP selfie.

Meanwhile, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is armed with a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, and 42MP selfie. Both phones technically have upgraded ultrawide sensors, so I expect a more even matchup there — but that 48MP selfie on the Pixel looks hard to beat.

Naturally, I take the same snapshots with each phone and then preview them on the same monitor with both images side-by-side to inspect their differences. The outcome shows which of these best Android phones has the better cameras.

Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: Daytime

From a cursory look, my eyes are first drawn to the brighter overall picture of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It seems to also draw out the deeper green colors in the shot, adding to the overall pop of the photo.

In contrast, there’s a more neutral exposure with the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s shot. Clearly it doesn’t get my attention when it’s side-by-side against the Galaxy, but I could argue that the exposure is more true-to-life — whereas the highlights with the Galaxy S25 Ultra are a smidge overexposed.

This ultimately comes down to personal preference because both shots look fantastic on their own.

Winner: Tie

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: Ultrawide

As I’ve mentioned already, the ultrawide cameras on both phones are upgraded over their respective predecessors. Technically speaking, I can cover more of the scene thanks to the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s wider 123-degree field of view (versus 120-degrees with the Galaxy S25 Ultra). Even though it’s a small difference, it shows how I’m able to cover more in the side-by-shot of the Citibikes above.

The difference here is how the colors look a little more vibrant with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, whereas they’re flatter on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. For these reasons, I’m giving it to the Pixel.

Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: dynamic range

This is another area that’s tough to judge because I need to look into all the details to understand their dynamic range performances. Since the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a penchant for producing the brighter images, it does this by boosting the shadows throughout the image.

Notice how the grass in the foreground above has brighter patches compared to the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s shot, while the areas in the shadow are a smidge brighter with the Galaxy S25 Ultra as well. It’s close, but I’d say that the Galaxy is the winner here.

Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: colors

When it comes to reproducing colors with their main cameras, however, it also comes down to your personal preference. I like how the colors pop more with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, evident in the orange peppers on the top shelf and the shine that’s on the green Cubanelle peppers on the right.

Then again, some will argue that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s richer tones lean saturated — whereas the Pixel 9 Pro XL casts a neutral exposure throughout the shot. This manages to keep the details intact with the highlights, which are lost in the Galaxy S25 Ultra because of how they’re overexposed. As a whole, the colors look more true-to-life with the Pixel.

Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: macro

Unlike the other previous categories, there’s a more concrete winner when it comes to shooting macrophotography. While both phones have better macro performances over their predecessors, the added sharpening effect of the Galaxy S25 Ultra exposes more of the details in the flower shots above.

It’s hard to tell from just the overall shot, but zooming in shows how the petals have more definition with the shot from the Galaxy. Don’t get me wrong, the Pixel’s shot is excellent on its own, but the added sharpening effect makes all the difference here.

Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: selfie

I typically don’t shoot a lot of selfies, but if I did, I would pick the Pixel 9 Pro XL for the occasion. Not only does its beefier 42MP selfie camera have a wider view to capture the scene (also for group selfies), but its even exposure and skin tone reproduction are spot on at making it the more true-to-life shot.

While the Galaxy S25 Ultra comes up with a pleasant shot, it clearly brightens up my face more than the Pixel. On top of that, the details are much softer.

Winner: Pixel 9 Pro XL

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: portrait

I shot a bunch of portrait photos of my colleague at 1.5x zoom because that’s the minimum zoom available with portrait mode on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, along with 3x zoom portraits. In the comparison photos above, the Galaxy S25 Ultra draws out better detail and contrast.

I’m not too concerned with the intensity of the background blur because I can adjust them to my liking on both phones, but the Galaxy also does a better job at isolating subjects. Even though both phones don’t blur out the nearby light on the left side of the images, the Pixel 9 Pro XL fails at identifying the small background spots near where his arms are tucked into his jacket.

Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: zoom

For their telephoto performances, I captured shots at 3x, 5x, and 30x zoom levels — with the latter being the maximum for the Pixel 9 Pro XL. I think it’s almost a neck-to-neck tie when I look at their shots from 3x and 5x zoom, but the new advanced AI ProVisual Engine of the Galaxy S25 Ultra continually produces the stronger details.

It’s particularly really good at adding more definition to words, which you can see in the side-by-shot photo of the menu sign above. I was about 15 to 20 feet away from it, yet the words are more clearly defined with the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: Panorama

Initially I captured panoramas on a cloudy day, which seemed to impact the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s performance — resulting in a lot of blurring and softer details, which I suspect was due to the slower shutter speed. But after taking several more in brighter conditions, I think Samsung has the advantage.

One thing I like is that I have the option of shooting with either the main or ultrawide cameras on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, while I’m left with just the main camera on the Pixel. As a result, I much prefer how the Galaxy S25 Ultra captures more of the scene (including with the stitched pano with the main camera). They both have excellent details, but there’s this smoothening effect with the Pixel that softens them.

Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: Low Light

Apart from their telephoto cameras, the only other major area that has a lot of impact on their overall performance is how well they deal with low light. It’s the area that separates good cameras from the best ones, as it showcases how well they absorb as much light and then process the images.

Starting off with their main cameras, I prefer the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s shot in the photos above thanks to its better dynamic range, definition in the details, and its color reproduction. Google’s Night Sight mode does nicely to brighten up the scene, but the Pixel 9 Pro XL casts this odd greenish hue and the details are softer.

Using the same scene, but switching over to their ultrawide cameras, it’s pretty much the same story in the comparison shots above. The Galaxy S25 Ultra delivers the sharper details throughout the shot, whereas the Pixel looks flat and casts the same greenish color from before.

And finally, there’s the near pitch black conditions of the tree photos above that really highlights their image processing. The Pixel’s the brighter of the two by a little, but Samsung does better at sharpening the details all around the tree.

Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL: verdict

Google’s reign is short lived, as Samsung claps back with new improvements that allow the Galaxy S25 Ultra to beat out the Pixel 9 Pro XL in this photo shootout. The areas that help propel the new Galaxy to come out on top include its low light, telephoto, and macro performances. It’s remarkable to see how AI and newer image processing algorithms help enhance the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s photos in a big way, especially when it comes to the telephoto camera.

For Google, it’s a valiant effort and I know it’s an excellent camera phone despite coming up short in this shootout. However, I can’t stress enough about how it continues to have the best selfie camera phone around that I’ve tested. And even though there were categories where the Galaxy S25 Ultra clearly won, the difference between their performances wasn't night and day.

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