The choice of a latest generation smartphone today is increasingly diverted considering some factors that seem to be essential. And in this case we speak first of all of the display which must still allow you to view multimedia content such as a TV series or a film well. So also of the battery , which is a focal point for the duration of the device given its ” mobile ” nature. In fact, what for some years now users have considered even more in the real choice of a smartphone concerns the photographic sector .

Manufacturers continue to indulge themselves and there are more and more smartphones with three or four photographic sensors that are positioned on the rear body to define the true nature of a top smartphone. range. There are so many differences that are enhanced: who points to the functionality of the lenses, who instead to the number of “ megapixels ” for the detail effect and who also on new and technological shooting modes capable of making the final photo more and more original and maybe even social.

Everyone tries to guarantee anyway the user has a product in their hands that can allow them to open the camera application, frame a scene or subject and shoot. Not everyone is a photography expert but everyone wants more and more to get a photo that can not only have the purpose of remembering that moment in the future but also of remembering it with a certain quality. And the so-called “ point and shoot ” is still undoubtedly the favorite by most users above all for a clear and consolidated reason: not to have too much time in?

In recent years the real top of the range have raised the bar from a technological and therefore also a photographic point of view. In fact, they also raised the price level since they are devices that cost even more than 1000 ?? and it is clear that those who buy a smartphone in this price range can only expect results, even at a photographic level, of some importance. The past year has clearly seen the mobile world move more and more in this direction with smartphones that are increasingly performing at a photographic level. The 108 megapixel but also many have thought of resorting to a solution with lenses periscope to be able to improve one of the only negative effects in smartphone photography: the zoom.

And here at the photographic level we thought to compare the two Android smartphones that seem being able to compete for leadership on a photographic level: HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. What are the differences between the two smartphones at a photographic level and above all how do they shoot in reality?

Camera specifications in comparison

HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro

HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro is undoubtedly a top-notch phone. Striking immediately the display – a 6-inch OLED, 76 inches that wraps around the sides of the device – just similar to what seen with Mate 30 last year. The back becomes even more unique this year because the photographic sector is proposed with an arrangement that certainly has no equal today. A hallmark of the new HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro and to whom the Chinese company also wanted to give a name: Space Ring Design . Three cameras were placed inside the circle with the main unit from 50 MP and a 5x periscope telephoto lens, both coming directly from HUAWEI P 40 Pro with the appearance of a new ultra-wide sensor from 20 MP.

Present the new chipset Kirin 9000 , the first 5nm production process SoC for Android (only Apple responded with its A 14 Bionic present in the new iPhone series 12). To power everything there is a 4 battery. 400 mAh which is charged for the first time by a 66 W via cable and up to 50 W wirelessly.

HUAWEI left nothing to chance and the new Mate 40 Pro is equipped with stereo speakers, two units located at the bottom and top of the smartphone. The front ToF cam provides secure facial recognition. IP certification is also present 68 which has become common practice in this segment. There is no 3.5mm jack, but this won’t negatively affect anyone. Moreover, in the sales package there are headphones with cable unlike other competitors who no longer put them.

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPARTMENT

The camera main of HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro is the one from 50 MP introduced on the P 40 Pro. It is therefore an ‘Ultra Vision’ that uses a new large 1/1 Quad Bayer sensor, 26″ from 50 MP, with a RYYB filter The sensor is physically larger eg de l sensor from 108 1/1 MP, 33 “of the Galaxy Note Ultra from Samsung. The same goes for the size of the embossed pixels: 2, 40 µm against 2.4 µm. The lens has an equivalent focal length of 23 mm and a aperture f / 1.9 and is stabilized.

The RYYB color filter has green sub-pixels replaced by yellow ones. HUAWEI claims that yellow allows the sensor to collect up to 40% more light than normal RGB filters and this change should result in better image quality in low light conditions. The camera has improved autofocus: it now has omnidirectional phase detection autofocus, which means it uses all pixels as focus pixels and this should contribute to faster and more accurate focusing. in low light conditions.

By default, the camera produces shots from 12, 5 MP with a declared focal length of 27 mm, different from the nominal focal length of 21 mm advertised that the camera should have. But when you switch from mode 50 MP a 12, 5MP (default), you can actually notice that the high resolution photos offer a wider field of view , which means some cropping is actually made to get the photos from 12 megapixels.

The telephoto lens also comes from the P 40 Pro . IS?? an imager from 12 MP but it is not visible on the back as it is possible to observe only the final part of its periscope lens . The refracted light passes through a series of additional optical elements inside until it reaches the sensor, which is located perpendicular to the plane of the phone. The system also provides optical image stabilization. The periscope lens on the Mate 35 Pro has an equivalent length of 125 mm and an aperture of f / 3.4 and should offer 5x optical zoom on the main camera from 23 mm / 27 mm. Well if you do the math, the optical zoom is not exactly 5x since 125 / 27 is equal to 4. 63 (if you shoot in default mode), but 125 / 23 is equal to 5, 36 x (for when shooting in high resolution mode). However, taking the average of the two you get exactly 5x even if perhaps it is not exactly exact but it does not matter. Finally, also the sensor from 20 MP ultra wide angle which has an equivalent length from 18 mm and a focal aperture of f / 1.8.

On the front , there are changes with respect to the configuration of the P 40 Pros: We have a fixed focus ultra-wide cam from 13 MP which replaces the Quad Bayer drive from 32 MP that had autofocus on P 40 Pro. Sounds like a downgrade on paper, even if the focal length of 16 mm has advantages c as we will see later on in practice.

Huawei’s camera app is pretty functional. You have a mode switch at the bottom that you can swipe left or right. Here we are faced with some improvements compared to the past thanks above all to Artificial Intelligence. The AI ​​recognizes and reproduces settings for over 1. 400 different scenes. IS?? You can now turn the switch in the viewfinder off and on directly without having to go into the settings. Also present is the Pro mode in which you can adjust the parameters yourself: ISO (from 50 to 338. 600), shutter speed (from 1 / 990 sa 30 s), offsetting exposure (-4 to + 4EV in 1/3-stop increments) and white balance (presets and specific light temperature). By the way, Pro mode is also available for videos and the maximum ISO is 51. 120 also unfortunately the desired shutter speed cannot be set.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is massive, huge, powerful and ” photographic ”. A phablet ready to return to the market as the only productivity tool to always carry with you. It has renewed colors but also a display now wider and above all with refresh rate at 120 Hz, a record-breaking photographic sector in addition to a hardware with record performance. That his being ” Ultra ” means possessing something that goes beyond being ordinary. And here to actually say there is so much in every single functionality of the phablet.

There are many points on which we will have to focus on this new Samsung device. The display, for example, is wider with its 6.9 inches, less curvature on the sides, fortunately, but with an exaggerated Quad HD + resolution and a feature common to a few others: the refresh rate capable of reaching 120 Hz. We will see what this means in daily use.

Basic the photographic sector which has always made the Galaxy Note a point of reference for the company and its supporters. Here Samsung decides to place a set of 3 sensors that we have seen working in a different but similar way on Galaxy S 20 Ultra. The main one is a well sensor 108 MP ready to capture more details as well as greater brightness. Then there is an ultra wide angle lens from 12 MP but also a telephoto lens with periscope characteristic from 12 MP but above all capable of zooming up to 50 X.

The technical sector is the one seen with other top of the range of the company: ie a processor Exynos 500 and not Snapdragon (for Europe), which on paper should currently beat everyone in terms of power but which we will see is not as optimized as its American competitor is. Then there are the memories, both RAM and ROM of the latest generation, capable of marking record after record. And let’s not forget that the smartphone is 5G, that is, thanks to its integrated modem, it guarantees that it is ready for the new generation of the fast network already partially present in Italy.

Unlike the Galaxy S 20 Ultra we will have to understand if the 4 battery. 500 mAh, very different from the record 5. 000 of Galaxy S 20 Ultra, will allow reach the evening without too many problems even with a display with a refresh rate at 120 Hz. Fast charging is present and perhaps the strong point in this field will be to recharge the phone faster, forgetting about consumption.

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPARTMENT

The main camera sees a nominal sensor from 76 MP from Samsung. The sensor is physically large and provides not only good light-gathering capabilities but also a shallower depth of field, which is desirable for subject isolation. Combined with a lens with a focal aperture of f / 1.8 it is clear that the result on the shots is ?? blurred ?? is high allowing you to say goodbye to the sensor with variable focal aperture that does not allow variations on the theme of brightness and detail.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also has a periscope telephoto lens. We already knew it on its brother S 20 Ultra but here the company decides to change the lens by proposing a sensor from 12 MP and not from 48 MP as before. In this case, the periscope sensors adapted to smartphones work by positioning the sensor on a plane perpendicular to that of the phone and with a reflecting prism the incoming light of 68 degrees laterally and to the inside. This gives you more room to spread a physically longer lens – no one wants a 2cm lens to stick out of their phones.

There is then a target from 12 MP with aperture f / 2.2 equivalent to 13 mm is very large and fast. Nothing exaggerated but good in its being the third of an exciting couple. Previously Galaxy Note 20 Ultra sees the presence of a sensor from 10 MP. The equivalent objective from 24 mm is wide enough and bright enough (f / 2.2) and above all it has autofocus.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra uses a slightly modified version of the camera application that Samsung places in all its smartphones with One UI 1 or 2. Everything is still familiar: swipe left and right to switch between available modes. Then an option to rearrange, add or remove some modes from the main bar. Vertical swipes in both directions toggle the front and rear cameras.

Zoom levels have been reevaluated and clearly redesigned. The tree icons are always present: three trees for the Ultra Wide Angle mode, two trees for the main sensor and a single tree for the telephoto lens. Once you hit the u icon n tree, an additional set of buttons appears, with additional preset zoom levels at 2x, 4x, 10 x, 20 xe 50 x. However, there is also the classic toothed wheel to set different zoom settings. The new functionality introduced with S is interesting 20 Ultra that takes the name of Single take. This new mode allows you to record up to 10 seconds with all sensors on the rear. Automatically the best moments are rendered by Artificial Intelligence which allows you to produce short video clips or even still images with appropriate filters applied automatically.

THE COMPARISON of the shots

Photo by day

In the photos taken during the day, who prevails between the two smartphones seems to be the HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro. Let’s say that the two smartphones are the same in some respects but in detail the cameras of the Chinese company offer a more real result in the colors and in the general scene scene than to Samsung. For both, however, there are excellent exposures in almost all situations. High dynamic range for the Mate 40 Pro with the ability to capture details in light areas but also in shadow areas.

In the full resolution shot (50 MP for HUAWEI and 76 MP for Samsung ) it is clear that the more details on the shot come from the Samsung phablet but it is equally true that users will hardly go to shoot in this way since in general the artificial intelligence for both does not proceed to a retouch of the photo and therefore to a true optimization of the shot.

Photo at night or under low light

On the night, today’s smartphones are able to obtain good results thanks above all to the use of sophisticated software that guarantees to have more ” brightness ” in the photo in post production. Clearly there is also to be considered as the use of a technically wider sensor or with more ???? valuable features ???? guarantees to reach a better result even in the dark where, we know, phones have always suffered for obvious physical reasons of the sensors.

The results of the shots see important work from both software of the two smartphone. There are Night modes for both that make shooting accurate and with well-maintained lighting details. In both cases the exposure in this mode is calculated in a completely automatic way by the artificial intelligence keeping longer and longer on the HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro (around at least 5 or 6 seconds average) compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (usually a 3 or 4 seconds).

Here, too, albeit slightly, HUAWEI seems to do better. The scene is illuminated not only more but also more precisely in detail. Good exposure with colors that are almost always real and better prepared on the scene, also underlining less noise. The shots from HUAWEI’s ultrawide camera are well balanced with high details and no noise, although perhaps the reduction here is a little too aggressive. The colors, however, are not faded. On Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Samsung to suffer is instead the zoom at night even if it is certainly a mode perhaps less useful for the user.

Photo with Ultra Wide Angle sensor

One of the modes most used by users is that of the “ expanded ” shot which is made possible thanks to the Ultra Wide Angle sensor capable of extending the shooting area with viewing angles up to 120 degrees. The problem here is to be able to produce a shot that yes, goes to broaden the field of action, but at the same time allows to compensate for that so-called barrel effect that tends to curve the extremes of the photo. The best software in this case has to work a lot on this effect to make it as linear as possible and therefore allowing the shot to be ???? normal ???? as if taken with the main cam.

Looking at the results of the shots it is difficult to decide a winner in this case. On the one hand Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra manages to widen the scene more than the Mate 40 Pro which has an equivalent length from 18 mm against 13 mm of the Samsung. Not only because the limitation in this case is also on the vertical with an aspect different from 3: 2 compared to the 4: 3 of the Galaxy.

However what the Mate 40 Pro lacks coverage on breadth the scene makes up for it with detail. In this case, in fact, the HUAWEI sensor as well as the algorithm allow to have a better resolving power with a shooting quality d really important.

Photo with Telephoto sensor

HUAWEI practically introduced first the periscope sensor that characterizes today is the P 40 Pro that the new Mate 40 Pro. But Samsung also wanted to follow the trend of this new sensor technology that allows you to go far where the classic sensors stop. The race here is won by HUAWEI which, albeit with a similar sensor in technology, above all manages to work better on post production. The Mate 2.5x zoom shots 40 Pros are really good managing to capture finer details and ensuring better definition even if perhaps in some situations some noise appears.

Even on magnifications up to 5x, the periscope of the Chinese company imports some more details, managing to make the shot better in general. And by increasing the zoom all this is amplified with a 50 x which is worked better by HUAWEI even if we know well that at these distances the ?? image is practically useless. For both interesting but above all comfortable the presence of a viewfinder that allows the user to be able to ???? navigate ???? on the scene without loss of orientation.

Portrait mode photo (Bokeh effect)

A mode that has become interesting in the latest generation smartphones concerns the so-called bokeh effect, i.e. the one that allows you to “ blur ” the background scene while keeping the subject in the foreground in detail. An effect that until a few years ago could only be achieved with professional machines but which in recent times can be easily achieved even from a small smartphone.

In this case the mode is used very well by both smartphones. HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro manages to capture many details in the isolation of the subject with some minor errors compared to the general shot. The bokeh is very realistic and you are able to model the most important points of the subject well and above all by minimizing noise and processing a wide dynamic range. Same thing happens with the Samsung Galaxy Note 18 Ultra which manages to separate the foreground subject from the background that is almost always precisely blurred. A tie with perhaps a very small advantage for HUAWEI for a slightly more realistic color.

Photos with Macro mode

The photographs on the Close-up objects, called macro shots, are increasingly well done by today’s top-of-the-range smartphones. These are shots that the latest generation sensors are working more and more well and some brands even decide to propose special sensors for this kind of shots.

The results obtained with the two devices seem to go more or less on the same quality even if what we have achieved previously is also confirmed here. HUAWEI mate 40 Pro tends to enhance the macro shot a little more with realistic colors. For both very good details. However, the shooting differences are very minimal as often happens in these situations.

Selfie photos

The photographic shots with the front camera are very good for the quality of the color balance as well as the details. Here HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro acts on the double sensor guaranteeing superior detail compared to others. In this case the strengths are the exposure but also the lack of noise and above all the good depth allowed with the 3D IR sensor. Also interesting to see good skin tone fidelity where others tend not to act in the same way. Compared to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from Samsung here c ?? is the potential of the variation of the amplitude d i field. The user can really play on the possibility of expanding the scene or not and allowing the entry of more subjects.

HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro

Conclusions

The photographic comparison of these two smartphones therefore saw the new HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro as the winning device in many respects as regards the photographic sector. A device that manages to put into practice a painstaking work of details in shots with natural light but also easily useful in reducing noise in night shots. On the zoom it works better than the Samsung even though both have a periscope lens. The level of shooting is important, which is higher than most of the contenders who do not insert it in their smartphones. There is a greater attention to detail here too with HUAWEI which, even with important zooms, keeps noise as low as possible and details high.

The battle, however, is really at the limit. Both smartphones are sometimes the same, a symptom that technological developments are perhaps today within the reach of more brands and making the difference is now the algorithm and the Artificial Intelligence that manufacturers must integrate. Both HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro than Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra still offer an important photographic behavior. The differences are often detailed especially at the software level, as mentioned, which is not always perfect in the management of shots in post production or to the choice of a different photographic philosophy.