There’s a lot to uncover from Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra launch. The sensor sizes, the camera samples, and now some interesting camera details.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a surprisingly capable videography phone. It can capture both 4K at 120fps and 8K video from its 5x zoom camera. Those two abilities alone make the Galaxy S24 Ultra one of the best phones for video – shooting 4K at 120fps isn’t meant for extremely fast playback but rather for extremely smooth slow motion – capture in 4K at 120fps and then slow down the video four times and run it at 30fps. Shooting at 5x in 8K gives you a very high amount of detail at a high zoom range – you could then choose to either show a very detailed 5x video or zoom in beyond 5x and still have enough detail in a 4K video.
There are only a few flagships that have had those features earlier. Sony’s Xperia 5 V and Xperia 1 V can both record 4K (21:9 3840x1644px) video at 24, 25, 30, 60 and 120 frames per second through Sony’s Cinema Pro app. Moving to the Video Pro app unlocks 4K up to 120fps across all rear cameras on both phones.
Sony’s two pro phones also potentially have the upper hand when it comes to video editing software thanks to Sony’s Video Creator app (though Samsung’s Studio Video player, albeit capped at 1080p, is also great).
Then there’s the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, which has an 8K-capable 50MP telephoto as well. However keep in mind that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra can only record 8K at 24 frames per second, whereas the Galaxy S24 Ultra captures at a more conventional 30fps.
Sony’s two Xperias and Xiaomi’s latest Ultra may match the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s video prowess in parts, but none of them has both 4K at 120fps and 8K zoom video on hand – giving Samsung’s latest Galaxy an edge, for now.
