108MP camera shootout - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Xiaomi Mi Note 10 - Android

In our Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Xiaomi Mi Note 10 shootout, we assess which has the better 108MP camera.

Most seasoned photographers will tell you megapixels aren’t everything — and they’d be right — but megapixels are exactly what matter here. This is a story about two sensors and the software that supports them. In our Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Xiaomi Mi Note 10 showdown, we assess how the 108MP sensors perform against one another.

As two of the first phones to reach the market with such pixel-rich cameras, it’s important to determine if we’re looking at the future of mobile photography or a marketing party trick. We seek to answer that vital question: Should you buy either of these phones for the megapixels alone?

Note: All the images in the article have been resized for publication purposes. Full-resolution samples are available in a Google Drive folder here.

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Xiaomi Mi Note 10: Specs

Both sensors are made by Samsung. The S20 Ultra relies on the ISOCELL Bright HM1 sensor and the Mi Note 10 makes use of the ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor. Spec for spec, the two sensors are almost identical, but important distinctions are buried deep in the feature list.

Let’s start with the similarities. Each has an effective resolution of 108MP, with a sensor size of 1/1.33-inch and a pixel size of 0.8um. The HM1 and HMX offer the same electronic rolling shutter, 10-bit color accuracy, super-pixel/PDAF autofocus systems, and 10fps shooting burst speed.

The most significant difference between the HM1 and the HMX is how the sensors factor in pixel binning. The S20 Ultra bins by a factor of nine, or nona-binning, which takes the 108MP count down to 12MP. The Mi Note 10 bins by a factor of four, or tetra-binning, which takes the 108MP count down to 27MP. There are other specs that separate the two sensors. For example, the HM1 can capture 240fps video at 1080p and supports 3D HDR, while the HMX can capture 148fps video at 1080p and does not support 3D HDR. Moreover, the HM1 supports the RAW8 and RAW10 output formats, while the HMX is limited to just RAW10.

Each phone has a multitude of other cameras on board. The S20 Ultra’s telephoto camera snaps 48MP shots at f/3.5, the ultra-wide snaps 12MP shots at f/2.2, and the selfie camera snaps 40MP shots (binned to 10MP) at f/2.2. A time-of-flight (ToF) sensor helps with depth information.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 has a 2x optical telephoto camera of 12MP at f/2.0, a 5x optical telephoto camera of 5MP at f/2.0, an ultra-wide 20MP at f/2.2, and a dedicated macro lens of 2MP at f/1.2.

While the sensors are relatively similar, the processors are decidedly not. The S20 Ultra relies on the newer Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 and boasts a massive 12GB of RAM. The Mi Note 10, on the other hand, uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G with just 6GB of RAM. Aside from clock speeds, the biggest difference here will be the image signal processor. The S20 Ultra’s Snapdragon 865 has a Spectra 480 ISP with hardware-accelerated computer vision, where the Mi Note 10 has a Spectra 350 ISP.

Yeah, that’s a lot to take in.

See also: Xiaomi Mi Note 10 108MP camera review

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Xiaomi Mi Note 10: Apps and features

Specs are important, to be sure, but Samsung and Xiaomi have their own camera apps and features therein. The real differentiator is how each phone maker chooses to process the raw data from the sensors. This is where the Spectra 480 and Spectra 350 play a role.

Both Samsung and Xiaomi have rich camera applications that make it fairly simple to find and use features. A double-press of the power button launches the camera app of both phones, though you have to specifically program this behavior on the Mi Note 10.

Samsung simplified its camera UI in One UI 2.0 and we appreciate that. The shutter button is located prominently, with camera modes and zoom tools nearby. I like that Samsung makes certain controls (flash, timer, aspect ratio, etc.) a breeze to adjust with a few quick taps. Shooting modes include photo, video, Single Take, pro, panorama, food, night, live focus (portrait), live focus video, pro video, super slow-mo, slow-mo, and hyperlapse.

Xiaomi’s camera app is almost identical. The shutter button, mode selector, and zoom controls are clustered on one side of the viewfinder, with other functions such as HDR, the flash, and AI assistant accessible on the far side. Shooting modes include slow motion, short video, video, photo, 108MP, portrait, night, panorama, and pro mode. I like that all of these are accessible without having to open a secondary menu, but swiping from one to the next takes time.

These apps are so similar that there’s no clear winner.

Winner: Tie

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Xiaomi Mi Note 10: Camera shootout

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108MP

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 108MP camera sample perspective Xiaomi Mi Note 10 108MP camera sample perspective

I gotta say, none of the images were as noisy as I was expecting them to be. Both Samsung and Xiaomi have done a respectable job of keeping the noise that might be generated by such high pixel counts in check. What I like about the 108MP shots are that they permit unprecedented levels of zoom. You can dial way in and still see a significant degree of detail. Take the tracks above. When you drill down on the foreground, you can really see the grain in the railroad ties as well as the shape of the individual bits of gravel. The Samsung shot looks a bit cooler than the Xiaomi shot and shows a bit more detail, particularly in the trees near the top of the image.