Priced at $1,699 and $1,849 respectively, the OPPO Find X3 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra are the two priciest Android flagship smartphones you can buy in Australia. And as we know, when you buy a flagship smartphone, a lot of what you're paying for is the camera.
As such, it's natural to want the best when you're dropping top dollar on a new device. To help you decide, we've pit the Find X3 Pro and the Galaxy S21 Ultra head-to-head in a camera showdown. Every photo in this story was taken using automatic settings (other than night mode, when specified).
Before we start, here are a couple of key learnings:
- When it comes to the primary lens, the Find X3 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra both take impressive photos. The Find X3 Pro does a better job at handling dynamic range, and is less prone to blowing out highlights. The Galaxy S21 Ultra takes brighter images, however.
- There's a similar trend when you're using night mode on the primary lens. The Find X3 Pro is better able to handle highlights and takes more natural images, whereas the Galaxy S21 Ultra's night time shots can look artificially bright and lack contrast.
- While the Galaxy S21 Ultra can take brighter ultra-wide images in good lighting, the Find X3 Pro is a much better performer in lowlight. It can take clearish photos in environments where the Galaxy S21 Ultra struggles to get a shot.
- The Galaxy S21 Ultra is far more versatile when it comes to zoom, thanks to touting two zoom lenses: a 3x and a 10x lens. The Find X3 Pro only has a 2x zoom lens, which means it struggles to compete if you push the magnification much higher. When it comes to lowlight, zoom isn't great on either phone.
- If you're a selfie-fiend, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the clear winner taking more balanced photos - especially in portrait mode.
- The Find X3 Pro also has a 3MP microscope lens that can magnify a subject by up to 60x. We haven't covered it in this face-off (the Galaxy S21 Ultra doesn't have an equivalent), but it's very cool and we'll go into more detail in our upcoming review. But also, check out this photo of my guitar string.
Find X3 Pro vs. Galaxy S21 Ultra: Primary Lens
Remember when smartphone cameras maxed out at 12MP? Those days are long gone, with the Find X3 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra both packing generous primary lenses. On the Find X3 Pro you'll find a 50MP sensor, and on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, it's a massive 108MP sensor.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
At first glance, these photos might both look pretty similar. The Samsung image is however a tad brighter, while the OPPO has done a better job of preserving highlights. If you look at the lightbulbs and rear windows in the OPPO photo, you'll see more colour. In the Samsung, they're closer to white.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Both the Find X3 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra did a good job of capturing fast moving cars on a highway. There was very little motion blur in any of the images I took. Once again, the OPPO did however do a better job of preserving highlights - as you can see in the Samsung image, part of the sky is a little blown out. In the OPPO, you can clearly see the clouds.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Both these photos were taken without using night mode, with the Samsung image turning out brighter. Both photos have a similar level of sharpness, but the Find X3 Pro was a touch more reliable when trying to capture a relatively blur-free photo of Billie in a rather dull environment.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
In this test, I shot directly toward the sun to see what impact it would have on the cameras. The Galaxy S21 Ultra has the more attractive lens flare, but the strong backlight impacted the Find X3 Pro photo less. The palm tree on the left of the image is just that little bit clearer in the Find X3 Pro sample.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
These samples show how each phone blurs the background in images. Both create a similar result, although there's some weirdness happening in the top-left of the OPPO image. Not quite sure why, to be honest.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Not going to lie, I mostly included these images because the sunrise was pretty. The Samsung image is a little bit brighter, but the OPPO photo more accurately reflects what my tired eyes saw when I was rudely awoken by my alarm.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
This set of photos was taken against a rather strong backlight. Once again, the Galaxy S21 Ultra image is a bit brighter, but the Find X3 Pro did a better job of preserving colour in the background. The background blur is also much nicer on the Find X3 Pro, whereas the Samsung has seemingly tried to keep everything in focus.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
These images were taken using their phone's respective portrait modes. The blur is much nicer on the Galaxy S21 Ultra image, but it hasn't really handled the space under the pupper's ears very well.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Both these shots are very similar, but I prefer the colour of the chips on the Find X3 Pro image. They look just that little bit more appetising.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
This pair of photos was taken without using night mode on either phone. The Samsung image is much brighter than the OPPO and you can better see the building behind the long lamps, but lamps are also blown out and emit a rather unusual aura.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Both of these photos were taken using night mode, and are a lot more similar to the previous set. The Find X3 Pro wins out however due to the fact its preserved the long lamp highlights better. Night mode certainly helps the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but the lights are still more blown out than you'd like.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Once again, both of these shots were taken with night mode. Personally, I prefer the Find X3 Pro image. It has a more natural look too it, where as the Galaxy S21 Ultra image looks almost artificially bright and lacks contrast. If you look closely, you'll also notice a little bit of artifacting in the sky on the Samsung sample.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
This pair of photos are pretty similar, but you can see a slight difference in how the two phones captured the colour.
Find X3 Pro vs. Galaxy S21 Ultra: Ultra-Wide Lens
When it comes to ultra-wide lenses, the Find X3 Pro has a 50MP lens while the Galaxy S21 Ultra has a 12MP. Both phones say their ultra-wide lens is equivalent to an 0.6x zoom factor.
One fun fact about the Find X3 Pro ultra-wide lens is that it uses the same kind of sensor as the primary camera, theoretically should improve performance. Most ultra-wide lenses use a lesser sensor when compared to the primary camera.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Both these images are pretty similar for the most part, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra did a better job of preserving highlights in the light bulbs and rear windows.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
The Galaxy S21 Ultra camera sample is clearly brighter here, but you can see a touch of distortion on the pole where the software has tried to correct for the fisheye effect that ultra-wide angle cameras are prone to.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
If you get too close to a subject, both the Find X3 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra swap to their ultra-wide lenses in a sort of "macro mode". Both images are lovely, but the Find X3 Pro has a nicer background blur.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
This pair of images was taken in a dark hallway without night mode. Neither is great, but the OPPO ultra-wide lens was able to capture a lot more light than the Samsung.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
The images are a lot more similar when you turn on night mode. The OPPO shot is however a little bit sharper, while the Samsung photo is brighter. As with the primary lens on the Samsung, night mode does however hurt the image's overall contrast.
Find X3 Pro vs. Galaxy S21 Ultra: Zoom Lens
Comparing zoom is a little bit tricky, as the Find X3 Pro and the Galaxy S21 Ultra have very different configurations. The Find X3 Pro has a 13MP 2x optical zoom lens, and uses software beyond that point. On the other hand, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has two zoom lenses: 10MP 3x optical zoom lens and a 10MP 10x optical zoom lens. It uses software for getting between 1x and 3x, between 3x and 10x, and anything beyond 10x.
For the sake of fairness, this series of images have been taken at 2x, 5x and 10x zoom. Both phones get one "pure" sample and have to use software for the other two.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
These two photos were taken at 2x zoom, and to be honest, they're pretty hard to tell apart.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
As we move to 5x zoom, it's clear the Samsung image is sharper.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
At 10x zoom, there's no competition. The Samsung photo is actually usable, whereas the OPPO looks a little fake.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Lowlight zoom is a weird situation, as smartphones tend to crop in on other lenses to compensate for the fact telephoto lenses are slower to shoot. In this case, the Find X3 Pro has cropped in on its primary lens, rather than using the 2x lens. Both these shots were at 2x magnification. The OPPO shot is just that little bit sharper, especially on the tower.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
These images were taken at 5x zoom, and in both cases, the phones cropped in on their primary lens. Neither are great, but once again, the OPPO is that little bit sharper.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
These photos were taken at 10x zoom. The OPPO cropped in on its primary lens once again, while the Samsung cropped in on its 3x lens. Neither is great; the OPPO lacks detail, the Samsung is noisy and smudged. All in all, zoom in lowlight isn't great on either phone.
Find X3 Pro vs. Galaxy S21 Ultra: Selfie Camera
Sorry for all the photos of me you're about to see, but selfie cameras are important, I guess. In each of these tests, I tried to use a challenging environment. The Find X3 Pro has a 32MP selfie camera, while the Galaxy S21 Ultra has a 40MP selfie camera.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
This pair of selfies was taken against a rather strong backlight from the window. The OPPO did a better job preserving detail, but left me looking a it blurry. The Samsung is a more balanced image.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
If you swap to portrait mode, it's a whole different ball game. The Find X3 Pro simply can't handle backlighting - almost the entire background behind me is blown out. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the clear winner here.
OPPO Find X3 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
When you move away from a harshish background, portrait mode is similar on both phones - although you can see the OPPO still has some blowout. Neither did an incredible job with handling my hair frizz, but the Find X3 Pro image looks slightly more natural.
Alex Choros
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