HUAWEI, then Samsung, debuted 10x cameras several years ago, offering a still-unprecedented level of reach for even the best modern camera phones. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S23 Ultra was the last of Samsung’s flagships with this far-reaching zoom. It’s a bit of a shame that the Galaxy S25 Ultra has stuck with the 5x option. I enjoyed my time with the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra’s long-range lenses and had hoped that manufacturers would build on this tech by now.
It hasn’t been doom-and-gloom on the zoom front, though. We’ve since seen several phones boast 200MP periscope cameras that might make up the shortfall. One of these is the vivo X200 Pro, and I thought it was arguably the best of the bunch thanks to its 200MP 3.7x camera. But I was curious to see how this camera held up to the S23 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom. Fortunately, I have both phones on hand to see which approach reigns supreme.