Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Space Zoom: what happens when you photograph a river at 100x zoom?

Finally! I’ve got the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra lying in front of me on the table. I have one main question: is Space Zoom finally worth something? The S22 Ultra is the third Samsung flagship to boast a camera paired with software that promises to take pictures with a legendary 100x zoom – and all this in a device that’s only 8.9 millimetres thick.

Given the thickness, it’s clear that this isn’t a 100x optical zoom. There’s definitely software involved. It combines data from all the lenses, digitally magnifies and smooths the image, combats pixelation, and fills in missing data. It’s fair to say that the image is less a product of photography and more so proof of the camera system’s artificial intelligence (AI). The optical zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is only 10x. That’s respectable – but, marketing-wise, it doesn’t quite scream «100% epic».

So, I decided to take a short trip to the Sihl Valley in the Canton of Zurich. Camera out ... click! I want to see what the zoom can do when used normally – no tripod or artificial lighting.

0.6x: almost fisheye-free

The AI on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra intervenes in every picture. Even in this wide-angle shot, which doesn’t require much reconstruction of elements or colour correction at all. In wide-angle shots, the AI corrects the edges which would otherwise be distorted.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra does this masterfully. The crooked edges have been evened out, and the curvature is nigh unnoticeable.

1x: the standard shot – a must-have

If any shot has to turn out just right, it’s the one at 1x zoom. After all, that’s the zoom level you see when you open the camera app and tap the shutter.

There’s not much to say here other than: well done, Samsung!

2x: what’s the difference compared to 1x?

Looking at the 2x-zoom image above, it’s quite difficult to notice any difference in quality compared to the standard zoom. This is because the image above is smaller.

If you zoom in on it, you’ll notice that the AI has, in fact, started its work. Look at the background – the AI adds some texture to the sky. Now, look at the foreground – you’ll see the grass has been softened.

If I posted this picture on Instagram, no one would bat an eyelash. Works for me.

4x: losing colour

The 4x zoom is a strange in-between. Although the zoom level is quite low, the camera doesn’t rely on much optical zoom. You tell by the stones, for instance, which have clearly been softened by the AI.

4x is a zoom level I’d only use if I was completely out of options. For social media, I’d rather take a 1x image and post a crop of it.

10x: the limit of the optical zoom

In contrast to the 4x image, the 10x image is surprisingly good. This is undoubtedly because the AI uses footage from the 10-megapixel lens, which has 10x optical zoom. Mind you, this lens has an aperture of just f/4.9, so it needs more light to perform optimally. But in sunny March of 2022, that’s no problem.

This is why the 10x image appears significantly better than the 4x image – but only in terms of colour. When you zoom in on the screen, you can see that the phone has more and more trouble with the edges of objects. Grass looks fine in the small view; but viewed at full size, it morphs from a collection of blades into a greenish-blackish mass.

30x: AI at work

The optical zoom ends at 10x. Everything above that is pure AI. At 30x zoom, the result is actually a compilation of shots from multiple cameras on the Galaxy S22 Ultra – with lots of AI thrown in to make the image look tolerable.

It succeeds. Kind of.

Let’s say the image pops up in your Instagram feed. Works for me. you might give it a like, and then keep scrolling. Samsung’s 30x zoom is made for taking pictures you won’t be looking at closely.

If you’re not scrolling away through your Instagram feed, you immediately see that AI has been at work. The stone in the centre of the image looks more like watercolour than stone; the play of light on the water is lost.

30x zoom is respectable on a technological level, but it doesn’t provide an objectively good image.

100x: oof!

Space Zoom. The result is a picture that, according to Samsung, is «100% epic». The result is a picture after which an entire technology has been named. It’s the picture that Samsung hopes to impress you with. The picture that’s supposed to make you go, «Wow! We really are living in the future!»

Bullocks.

What exactly is okay in this picture? Yes, this is technically speaking an image taken with a hybrid zoom of 100x. Yes, it’s a JPG file that has colours and stuff.

But let’s be real: what possible use could you have with a picture like that? Why does Samsung advertise this so loudly? What does Samsung expect from us? That we think this watercolour hodgepodge is good? And if so, why?

100x is a hard pass.

The one thing I can give some praise to is the image stabilisation. Samsung has improved it massively. When shooting at 100x magnification, the tiniest of hand wobbles is disastrous for image detail. Since the final JPG is a crop of a much larger image anyway, the camera software stabilises the crop you see on the screen when shooting. It helpfully offsets minor wobbling.

Verdict: respectable up to 30x – after that, it’s marketing blah

Don’t get me wrong, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra performs well. At reasonable zoom levels, the pictures are at least social-media-ready – up to very nice.

What bothers me is that Samsung describes the Space Zoom as epic. I’m certain that the decision-makers in South Korea know exactly what they’re doing: they go ahead and advertise a feature that’s indeed a feature but, in practice, adds no value. Yes, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra generates images at 100x hybrid zoom. But what would you want to do with the shots?

There are a lot of improvements that need to be made before the marketing can be described as honest.