One-inch camera sensors want to be the norm. But they will be of no use if the failing key is not improved.
Camera sensors are one of the keys to why, in recent years, we have experienced certain advances in mobile photography. I am lucky to be able to analyze the vast majority of flagships that land on the market and my conclusion is clear: no matter how much sensors improve, mobile cameras are stagnant. A lot.
Every year it is more difficult to determine what has changed without having the previous model in front of you and, apart from some clear changes, everything goes through subtle changes in dynamic range, a little more detail when the image output resolution is increased (like Apple with its iPhone 15 shooting at 24 megapixels) and, perhaps, changes in the interpretation of tones.
The current processing is terrible. Nobody can convince me otherwise
The processing of most current cameras is terrible, I don’t take half measures. A Pixel 8 Pro, a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and an iPhone 15 Pro commit exactly the same sins, and it is no coincidence: the photographs are very overprocessed.
The main people responsible are the users themselves: we want colorful photographs, with lots of punch (that’s why Google processes so aggressively and the colors in the rest are usually oversaturated) and we don’t usually care that the images are far from reality.
Despite this, I am convinced that if users saw first-hand what our phone can really do versus what it does when processing, we would throw our hands up. This Samsung photo is a great example. If they don’t show you what RAW can do, I’m convinced that you would take the first one as a good photo.
When you see the results that can be obtained from RAW, things change. It is not an easy task, since our phones make it a priority to shoot as quickly as possible and process in the gallery before we even open the photo. However, there is still no middle ground: the photographs are still overprocessed in color, sharpness and contrast, year after year.
It is not something that can be solved with large sensors, in fact, there are very curious cases. When I reviewed the Xiaomi 13 Pro I was a little disappointed with the camera. It was a one-inch sensor, but the sharpening it added (artificial sharpness) was very exaggerated. In fact, it didn’t take better photos than some of its rivals with smaller sensors.
However, with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, there was no sharpening not even in this indoor photograph. I love this phone, because at the presentation in China they emphasized it: they wanted the photographs to be natural and, therefore, no sharpness was added artificially. So, yes, every time someone tells me that sharpening is inevitable, I mention this phone.
This reflection comes in relation to the new leaks regarding the sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is rumored to arrive with a 200 megapixel sensor and a size of one inch. I’m not excited about numbers, I’m interested in what the company will do with them..
The potential of our phones’ cameras is much greater than we think. When you enlarge an image, the effect wow Noting that the quality is very close to that of a professional camera is more impressive than we imagine. It is something possible, as long as the manufacturers want it.
Image | Xataka
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