The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Pixel 4a are two of 2020's newest phones, but they're almost polar opposites.
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a feature packed behemoth of a phone, with a price to match starting at $1,849. The Pixel 4a focuses on the essentials, and will only set you back $599. Despite the Pixel 4a's comparatively cheap price tag, it has one hell of a camera.
It might seem weird pitting a $599 phone against a phone that starts at $1,849, but hell, we're doing it anyway.
We set a couple of rules for our testing: all photos were taken on auto, the flash was kept off, and the majority of our shots were from the primary camera (unless stated otherwise). These photos were all taken handheld, and while we did our best to try and get an identical shot on both phones, the images don't always line up exactly. Some are worse than others. My bad.
It is of course worth noting that the Pixel 4a has just a primary camera, while the Note 20 Ultra also has a zoom lens and ultra-wide lens, but we've done our best to still provide some comparisons.
Before we get into a shot-by-shot breakdown, here are a couple of our key findings:
- The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra primary camera takes brighter, warmer photos than the Pixel 4a, with a shallower depth of field
- The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra primary camera can struggle to focus on fast moving subjects, while the Pixel 4a does a pretty decent job
- The Pixel 4a tends to be sharper in lowlight. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra does better in extreme lowlight, however, while the Pixel 4a struggles
- The Galaxy Note 20 can suffer from artifcating - blocky looking splotches - in some lowlight photos, while the Pixel 4a doesn't
- The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra selfie camera has better dynamic range than the Pixel 4a selfie camera, but the Pixel 4a selfie camera can take sharper photos
- While the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a dedicated zoom lens, the Pixel 4a can go toe-to-toe with it at 2x zoom. The Note 20 Ultra is clearly better once you get to 5x, however
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Camera samples
To start, this image illustrates one of the clear differences between the Note 20 Ultra and Pixel 4a camera. Images taken by the Note 20 Ultra are a little brighter than those taken by the Pixel 4a, and have a shallower depth of field. This means that the background behind your subject has a more apparent blur to it - also known "bokeh".
I'm a big fan of the Note 20 Ultra's bokeh, but the shallower depth of field can also mean less of the object you're shooting is in focus. The part of the flower closest to the stem is far clearer on the Pixel 4a photo. There's nothing wrong with how the Note 20 Ultra shot this photo - I think it looks lovely - it's just a case of highlighting the difference in how they handle this situation.
Here's a 100% crop of the previous image. Both are similarly detailed, but the same trends are even more evident. The Samsung image is brighter, with shallower depth of field. When observed at 100%, the shallower depth of field almost creates a halo effect around the flower, which in turn softens the image.
Once again the Samsung image is brighter here, which is especially notable in clouds. What's more important however is the cars. In the Note 20 Ultra photo, the cars in question all exhibit motion blur. On the Pixel 4a, the cars are sharp. While the Pixel 4a was able to consistently capture a crisp highway shot, the Note 20 Ultra struggled to lock to the cars.
This image was shot in the evening under standard LED bulbs. In indoor conditions, you can see the Note 20 Ultra photo is still just a little brighter than what you get on the Pixel 4a.
Both these photos were taken using their respective phone's portrait mode. While portrait mode isn't exactly designed to take photos of a This Is Fine dog plush, I didn't have any human subjects to experiment with thanks to COVID. Both the Note 20 Ultra and Pixel 4a tastefully blurred out the clutter of my apartment, but the Pixel 4a did a better overall job of accurately analysing the subject. If you look at the hat in the Note 20 Ultra image, you can see parts of a shelf that haven't been blurred. The same issue doesn't exist in the Pixel 4a image.
Photos taken on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra tend also tend to be a tad more saturated. The flower in question is redder on the Note 20 Ultra photo than it is on the Pixel 4a photo.
I've not had a haircut since February, so I feel like a bit of a mess in these selfies thanks to sideburn regrowth going everywhere. I should probably also trim my beard. But let's put grooming aside, because I'm already regretting these photos.
The Note 20 Ultra image exhibits better dynamic range. While the Pixel 4a has blown out the sunset, you get a lovely yellow hue on the Note 20 Ultra. However, the Pixel 4a image is sharper - my face comes across as somewhat soft on the Note.
Now for some lowlight. Both phones did a good job in illuminating this scene, but the Note 20 Ultra did a better job of preserving highlights. If you look at the green lights to the right of the shot, they're true to life. On the Pixel 4a shot, they've been blown out. That being said, the Pixel 4a shot is sharper overall, with more definition to the rain.
Here's a 100% crop of the previous shot. It's pretty clear that the writing on the sign in the Pixel 4a image is a lot sharper.
These photos are pretty similar, but the Pixel 4a image is just a tad sharper.
This shot is a bit of an odd one, with the phones rendering the light in entirely different way. The Note 20 Ultra image is true to life, accurately capturing the orange tinge cast by the streetlights. The Pixel 4a image is a lot more neutral, capturing how you'd expect it to look if it weren't under tinted bulbs.
Both images here are pretty similar, but you can notice the Note 20 Ultra managed to get a little bit of cloud detail in, while the Pixel 4a didn't. On the other hand, the apartment lights in the Pixel 4a image are more visually pleasing.
The big difference between these photos (other than the fact I had to swap what phone was in the tripod) is that the Note 20 Ultra kinda ruined the sky. The photo features prominent artifacting, which takes away from the overall image. This is something the Note 20 Ultra is susceptible to when shooting in low light - especially with night mode. The Pixel 4a didn't quite do as good a job of compensating for how bright the Note 20 Ultra's screen was, but it's a more pleasing photo overall.
Not too much to say about this one, but it showcases the Note 20 Ultra's tendency to skew a tad warmer in terms of colour balance.
Where the Pixel 4a will really struggle is ultra lowlight. These were shot in all but pitch black room. Neither photo is great, but the Note 20 Ultra's image is much, much better.
The Pixel 4a obviously doesn't have an ultra-wide lens, but here's how a shot from the Pixel 4a compares to an ultra-wide image from the Note 20 Ultra shot in the same position.
And here's another. The Note 20 Ultra image is ultra-wide, while the Pixel 4a is standard.
The Pixel 4a doesn't have a zoom lens either, but it can do a pretty decent job of software zoom. This image is shot at 2x zoom, where the Note 20 Ultra is also predominantly using software (optical doesn't kick in until 5x). Other than the standard difference in brightness and colour temperature, the photos are close to being on par.
The differences in zoom become a lot more apparent when pitting the Note 20 Ultra's 5x optical zoom against the Pixel 4a's 5x software zoom. The Pixel 4a image is brighter, but the Note 20 Ultra image has a lot more detail.
Similar holds true here. There's a lot more detail in the Note 20 Ultra's 5x optical zoom, whereas the Pixel 4a has clearly lost detail. This is especially prominent when you look at lights above the sign.
Alex Choros
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