For many, choosing a phone with a camera that really delivers what it promises has never been so complicated. A few years ago the map was simple: the options were clear and each range had its well-defined place. Today that ground has moved. New players have entered, the level has been equalized above and It is no longer enough to look at the usual ones If what we are looking for is mobile photography at the highest level. This is even more noticeable when the focus is on the telephoto lens, one of the sections that most separates a “very good” mobile phone from a truly outstanding one. With so many alternatives on the table, the question arises: which one is worth buying?
in a new Versus from Xataka We wanted to respond precisely to that. We have faced seven of the best zoom phones of the moment so that you don’t have to, and we have put them against the ropes in a battery of tests designed to see both the muscle of the hardware and the weight of the processing. As is usual in this format, where we have analyzed products and platforms with very different approaches (of the AirPods Max versus the Sony WH-1000XM6 to the iPhone Air vs. the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge), the system is clear: each round adds points and, in the end, only one takes first place.
A zoom duel with very serious candidates
Ana Boria has been in charge of leading this comparison, with a lineup of protagonists who have already says a lot about the moment that mobile photography is experiencing: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, iPhone 17 Pro Max, Vivo X300 Pro, OPPO Find X9 Pro, Realme GT8 Pro and HONOR Magic8 Pro. The test starts with a relatively controlled scenario, daytime photos with good light and optical zoom, and then raises the level of demand as it progresses. the video we just published on our YouTube channel.
“In the case of the colors of this garden, it is the Xiaomi, the VIVO and the OPPO that I like the least because of their saturated and bright, somewhat artificial processing. On the other hand, with this sunset, precisely that play of saturation in the colors makes my eyes go directly to those photos,” says Ana while comparing results and showing some of the images captured during the test days.
Beyond the pure and simple zoom, there is a particularly revealing block: portrait-type shots without activating portrait mode. The idea is not to evaluate a software effect, but to check how telephoto lenses behave when asked the most difficult things, separate the subject from the background naturally. And there, as usually happens when the level is so high, it is not only important how close each mobile phone gets: it matters how it does it. A particularly interesting result appears in this section. which is detailed in the video.
From here comes the most delicate territory: the digital zoom designed to maintain detail without turning the photo into a pixel puzzle. It’s the kind of promise we’ve all heard, but only some phones manage to keep. “If we talk about colors, it depends a lot on the photography whether we notice more or less differences between the seven phones,” explains Ana. At this point, very different trends are clearly seen between brands: from models with “a more intense HDR” to more conservative and balanced proposals, with a more consistent white balance and a less aggressive final image.
And if there is a theme that runs through the entire video, that is the role of artificial intelligence. Because today zoom is not just optics. It is also an algorithm. It is also reconstruction. In this part of Versus it is appreciated which manufacturersThey put more into AI to “improve” the capture and what is gained (or lost) with it. Sometimes the result is striking, even spectacular. In others, excess translates into photos that are too artificial, with an aesthetic that may not be to everyone’s taste. “Although if we look at these portrait photos, and we look at my face, the Vivo photo is all AI and my skin has completely lost its texture,” says Ana about the Chinese brand’s mobile phone, although the video leaves more examples of the extent to which AI can mark the character of an image.
The comparison does not stop at photography. It also includes optical + digital zoom in low lighting conditions, video tests and, as it could not be otherwise, the section that arouses the most curiosity when we talk about telephoto lenses: the external accessories that allow you to take the zoom to another level. Only three of the models analyzed have this type of option, Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO, and it is one of those details that not only changes the final result, but also changes the experience. “The thing is, how do I get back to my iPhone now?” Ana asks herself after checking it out.
To know the winners of each round, see the complete tests and discover Ana’s final conclusions, we invite you to watch the video on the Xataka YouTube channel. And as we always do, you can leave us your opinion both here and in the comments of the video.
Images | Xataka
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