I Compared The Cameras Of Samsung And Oneplus' Flagship Phones - And It Went Down To The Wire

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The OnePlus 15 has officially launched, little than a twelvemonth aft its predecessor, and I've been testing it for respective weeks. As an Android flagship, it people draws comparisons pinch different flagships disposable successful nan United States. 

OnePlus has been peculiarly proud of its cameras successful caller years -- and rightfully so. The OnePlus 13, successful particular, was a awesome shooter, and 1 mightiness dream that this DNA continues for nan OnePlus 15. But location are immoderate differences from 10 months ago.

What's caller pinch nan OnePlus 15 camera

First and foremost is nan Hasselblad collaboration. The OnePlus 15 nary longer shares branding pinch nan photography company. It comes pinch XPAN mode, which is thing we worried astir erstwhile we first recovered retired that it was dropping its iconic partnership. 

Also: I tested nan OnePlus 15 during my travel to South Korea, and it did my Samsung dirty

Nevertheless, I've been moving pinch nan OnePlus 15 reappraisal sample provided by OnePlus to spot what nan telephone is tin of. When you want to find retired if a camera is nan best, you pit it against nan champion camera telephone of 2025 (so far) -- nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Here's nan hardware that these phones are rocking.

First, nan OnePlus 15 has a triple 50-megapixel camera setup connected nan back. The main shooter has an f/1.8 aperture and a 1/1.56" sensor, nan ultrawide sensor has a 116-degree section of view, and nan telephoto has a 3.5x optical zoom periscope lens. 

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Meanwhile, connected nan Samsung, you get a 200-megapixel main camera pinch f/1.7 aperture and a 1/1.3" sensor and a 50-megapixel ultrawide pinch a 120-degree section of view. For telephoto lenses, nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has 2 of them. 

There's a 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom lens and a 50-megapixel 5x optical zoom lens. Finally, connected nan front, nan OnePlus has a 32-megapixel selfie camera, and nan Samsung has a 12-megapixel selfie shooter.

Right away, Samsung offers you much options, and nan 200-megapixel main camera is peculiarly compelling. That being said, nan 50-megapixel shooters crossed nan committee should lead to a much accordant shooting acquisition pinch nan OnePlus phone. So I headed to my section Six Flags Amusement Park to spot really things turned out. Here are nan results.

1. Main camera (daytime)

OnePlus 15

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

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On paper, nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra outshines nan OnePlus 15's main sensor by astir 150 megapixels. That reflects reality. It's not that either of these shots is bad, per se, but nan Samsung telephone manages to seizure much item successful nan textures connected nan wall and much accurately reflects nan shows and dirt/grime connected nan wall, whereas nan OnePlus 15 smooths retired a batch of that. 

It astir apt makes for a much presentable photo, but nan S25 Ultra much accurately reflects nan reality of what's there.

2. Main camera (night)

OnePlus 15

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

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The problem pinch testing cameras astatine nighttime astatine a Halloween-themed amusement parkland is that you're going to get varying amounts of fume successful nan foreground, sloppy of really you sprout it. Nevertheless, nan OnePlus 15 gets nan motion for this photo. It whitethorn person been nan other fume coming successful beforehand of nan Rakshasa statue, but Samsung's changeable turned retired a tad blurry, while OnePlus's photograph came retired over-sharpened. 

Also: OnePlus 15 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: I compared nan 2 champion Android flagships

When reduced to nan size of a telephone screen, nan OnePlus 15 appears much presentable. There's besides nan matter of nan "Warning: Keep out" motion to nan near of our taxable -- you tin publication it successful nan OnePlus shot, but not successful nan Samsung shot.

3. Ultrawide (daytime)

OnePlus 15

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Right disconnected nan bat, we person a mixed bag. The OnePlus 15 is nan clear victor present -- pun intended -- because its sensor is capable to seizure much item successful nan maize stalks and nan trees surrounding nan carousel connected nan midway. Both of those features connected nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are blurry and low-res. 

Truth beryllium told, that astir apt won't matter overmuch connected a telephone surface -- you really only spot that erstwhile nan photos are blown up onto a 32" machine monitor. On a telephone screen, nan Samsung really captures much connected nan sides since it's a wider section of view, but overall, OnePlus gets nan motion for this one.

4. Ultrawide (night)

OnePlus 15

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Transitioning into night, this is typically wherever cameras will commencement to suffer their effectiveness considerably, particularly erstwhile dealing pinch auxiliary cameras (read: not nan main camera). In this case, neither of these photos is bad, but Samsung takes nan crown here. The specifications successful nan stairs and nan handrail visible successful nan changeable are a spot much defined, whereas they look much blurry successful nan OnePlus photo.

Also: The champion Android phones to bargain successful 2025 

That being said, nan smoothing of nan darker areas is smoother successful nan OnePlus shot, while Samsung's photograph appears much pixelated and botched. This mightiness erstwhile again beryllium a lawsuit of Samsung catering to its assemblage -- nan telephone surface crowd. 

5. Telephoto (10x)

OnePlus 15

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Going backmost to nan carousel for a moment, this is simply a bully illustration of nan OnePlus 15's photographic chops. These photos, taken broadside by broadside successful awesome lighting, show a flimsy advantage for nan OnePlus telephone because they were taken astatine 10x, which is not a autochthonal zoom solution for nan OnePlus 15. 

Yet, successful this case, nan OnePlus telephone managed to nutrient a amended photograph pinch sharper contrasts and greater depth. The Samsung telephone looks overprocessed and bland, particularly successful nan texture of nan maize and nan pumpkin man's face. This is simply a awesome photograph for OnePlus; good played.

6. Telephoto (100x and more)

The opinionated point. Captured pinch nan OnePlus 15's utlrawide camera.

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OnePlus 15

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

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Both phones transportation nan expertise to sprout triple-digit zoom. Samsung tops retired astatine 100x, while nan OnePlus 15 tin zoom up to 120x. Both of these cameras thin very heavy connected AI erstwhile you get to these extremes, and nan results are a small surprising. In some cases, nan OnePlus 15 produced a clearer image of some Foghorn Leghorn and nan Six Flags Fright Fest flag, which was, by nan way, 528 feet distant and connected apical of a 330-foot tower. 

Also: These Samsung Galaxy S26 rumors propose large changes that we didn't spot coming

Oh, and nan emblem was waving successful nan breeze. Despite each that, while nan Samsung changeable is small but a garbled mess, nan OnePlus 15 not only took a clear arsenic time photo, but besides managed to get nan fonts correct -- statement nan curl astatine nan apical of nan "g" and nan jaggedy "R". This is, put simply, a singular shot, and OnePlus should beryllium very proud. Of course, matter is comparatively easy.

Then there's nan Foghorn Leghorn statue, which was astir 250 feet distant from me. Despite that, you tin intelligibly spot nan meaning astir nan character's head, and there's moreover a small spot of extent from nan plants that were springing up successful beforehand of him. Samsung, meanwhile, captured a akin definition, but nan coloring is splotchy, and nan photograph wide looks blurry. This is simply a clear triumph for OnePlus, and good played again.

The bottommost line

Overall, some phones connection an fantabulous camera setup, and while nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra performs good successful astir usage cases, nan OnePlus 15 excels successful nan astir utmost scenarios. Both of these phones person superb main cameras, though nan S25 Ultra gains a flimsy separator owed to its expertise to seizure much information. 

But erstwhile it comes to telephoto, nan OnePlus 15, successful astir cases, is difficult to beat. That's surprising, considering Samsung has been offering AI-enhanced zoom for overmuch longer and moreover has 2 dedicated telephoto lenses.