The Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Pixel 10 Pro represent the best mobile cameras Samsung and Google have to offer. Samsung has the better hardware on paper, with a quadruple-camera rear system featuring a standout 200MP primary shooter. Meanwhile, Google is known for its computational photography and software tricks. This year, Samsung refreshed the main and telephoto lenses on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Google didn’t upgrade the physical camera sensors on the Pixel 10 Pro, but added a new Tensor G5 processor with an all-new image-signal processing pipeline.

If you want the best camera an Android phone has to offer, should you go with the Galaxy S26 Ultra or the Pixel 10 Pro? I spent about a month snapping shots with both flagship handsets to find all the differences, and how they perform in every situation. The results were clearer than I would’ve expected — one camera definitively outperforms the other more times than not.

How the specs compare

First, let’s review the camera specs. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra sports four camera lenses on the back: a main camera, an ultrawide lens, and two telephoto cameras. The primary camera is a 200MP sensor with a faster f/1.4 aperture compared to last year’s model. You also get a 50MP ultrawide lens with a 120-degree field of view. The 50MP telephoto lens also has a new f/2.9 sensor using Samsung’s new All Lenses on Prism (ALoP) design with 5x optical zoom. Rounding out the lenses is a 10MP, 3x optical zoom telephoto sensor.

While all four Galaxy S26 Ultra lenses have the same megapixel counts as their predecessors, the 200MP and 50MP telephoto lenses can take in more light as a result of the wider apertures.

The Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL both have a triple-camera setup on the rear with a main camera, ultrawide camera, and telephoto camera. The main camera is a 50MP, f/1.7 lens with a pixel size of 1.2 microns — for context, that’s double the size of the 0.6-micron pixels used by the Galaxy S26 Ultra. There’s also a 48MP, f/2.8 periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. Finally, you get a 48MP, f/1.7 ultrawide camera with a 123-degree field of view.

Both phones shine during the day

Daytime shots are crisp, but only Samsung nails the colors

Daytime shots with natural lighting typically showcase smartphone camera systems at their absolute best. The relatively small image sensors used by phone cameras produce better photos when the lighting conditions are favorable. In this case, I took photos with both the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 10 Pro main cameras during golden hour — the hour preceding sunset. That’s why, in the pictures above and below, you’ll see multicolor skies that test a mobile camera’s ability to accurately reproduce these colors.

In the first pair of photos above, neither camera does a perfect job at recreating true-to-life colors. The Galaxy S26 Ultra gets the colors of the lake, grass, and tree leaves right, replicating the clear water sprays and green leaves accurately. The apartment buildings across the water were a different story. They appeared too warm as captured by the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and only the Pixel 10 Pro could recreate the off-white paint and clay-colored roof. The problem? The Pixel 10 Pro also made the lake and tree leaves too dark, creating a dull and bleaker image than what I was seeing in real life.

The next set of photos were a clear win for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It perfectly colored the scene, with the various shades of green across the grass and tree leaves well-represented. The Pixel 10 Pro did a bad job here, specifically with white balance and color accuracy. Take a look at the path and the white building in the background. The Galaxy S26 Ultra camera recreates the pure-white building and the dirty concrete path, while the Pixel 10 Pro adds a bluish hue to everything. The entire scene is darker, from the grass and the tree to the lake and the sky.

It’s a common theme among the daytime shots captured with the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Pixel 10 Pro. The former is brighter, with better dynamic range and more accurate colors. The latter is darker with dull color reproduction, and more often than not, fails to accurately recreate the scene.

There’s no better example of this than the above comparison of a short palm tree captured in daylight. The Galaxy S26 Ultra nails the color of the palm tree bark and the leaves, and the brightness and color accuracy extend throughout the photo. The comparison to the Pixel 10 Pro photo, captured at the exact same time, is striking. The Google phone darkens everything, resulting in the palm tree, grass, and building failing to look true to life.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s zoom quality is unmatched

The Pixel 10 Pro looks alright until you compare shots against the Galaxy

Despite the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 10 Pro each offering camera lenses with 5x optical zoom, one was more detailed than the other. In the photo above, take a look at the banners hanging from the Madison Square Garden rafters. If you zoom all the way in on the banners, you’ll notice the years on each one are still legible on the Galaxy S26 Ultra version of the photo. You can still make out the years on the Pixel 10 Pro photo of the same banners, but they’re blurry and more difficult to read.

The blue New York Knicks banners to the left of the image really demonstrate the detail gap between 5x shots on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Pixel 10 Pro. The white lettering is super crisp on the Samsung shot, but the Google version doesn’t have the same punch.

Telephoto shots on the Pixel 10 Pro pass the eye test, but the detail gap is glaring when they’re viewed side-by-side against Galaxy S26 Ultra captures. Zooming in on the palm tree leaves or the man’s face in the Pixel 10 Pro shot above reveals a lack of sharpness compared to the same shot captured with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

The intense event lighting at Madison Square Garden is challenging for any camera, let alone tiny smartphone cameras. The Pixel 10 Pro handled it well in the sample below, correctly reproducing the hue of the wooden basketball court. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra made the court, and the photo overall, too warm.

Even in this example, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s telephoto camera produced a slightly sharper shot. If you look at the photographer’s yellow vest, you’ll see the Galaxy S26 Ultra photo offers clearer text than the Pixel 10 Pro — but not by much.

The Pixel 10 Pro shines under the stars

Google’s flagship beats the Galaxy S26 Ultra in low-light performance

The script completely flipped in low-light conditions. The Google Pixel 10 Pro crushes the Galaxy S26 Ultra while capturing night shots, providing brighter images with more detail and less noise. It’s somewhat ironic, because the Pixel 10 Pro struggles with brightness, detail, and color during the day, but it’s true.

In the photos above, you’ll see the Pixel avoiding light streaks or flares coming from the streetlamp while brightly depicting the road and bus stop. The Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn’t perform as well, succumbing to light flares and failing to color the sidewalk or road correctly. It has the same bluish, dark hue that plagued the Pixel in daytime shots. The complete role reversal demonstrates the Pixel’s strength in nighttime photography.

The next pair of photos feature similar results. While the Galaxy S26 Ultra shot is slightly brighter this time around, it’s much less detailed. Look for the reflections of lights in the water — they all blend together on the Galaxy photo, while the Pixel snap offers greater separation. In all the night shots I took with these two phones, the Pixel 10 Pro almost always came out on top.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra takes the crown

But it’s clear the Pixel 10 Pro has the advantage at night

Google can’t seem to get color science right with Pixel cameras. In the past, I’ve criticized Pixel phones for taking photos with too much vibrancy and over-saturation. With the Pixel 10 Pro, the cameras have the opposite problem. They capture pictures that are frequently dull with colors that aren’t true to life. You don’t need to be a photography expert to spot the issue — when a white building has a blue tint or a light green palm tree leaf looks almost black, it’s a problem.

I have to give credit where it’s due, because the Pixel 10 Pro is the clear winner in low-light and nighttime photography. It isn’t even really close. The Pixel 10 Pro turns in brighter images with more details and gets tripped up by bright light sources much less frequently than the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

That said, the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera system performed more consistently, and got color accuracy right most of the time. I care more about daytime quality and reliability than nighttime prowess, and I can’t stand inaccurate colors. I want a photo to accurately represent a moment, so I can go back and feel like I was there. The Galaxy S26 Ultra does that. The sharper zoom performance was certainly an added perk, too.

• 

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

  Display

  6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X

  RAM

  12 or 16 GB

  Storage

  256GB, 512GB, or 1TB

  Battery

  5,000 mAh

  The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t a massive leap in specs compared to the previous generation Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it boasts improvements in every aspect. It includes a standout camera system with improved primary and telephoto lenses featuring wider apertures.

  
  

• 

  Brand

  Google

  SoC

  Tensor G5

  Display

  6.3″ Super Actua display

  RAM

  16 GB

  Storage

  128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB

  Battery

  4870 or

  The Pixel 10 Pro is Google’s highest-end flagship smartphone. It features an improved rear camera system, the Tensor G5 chip, seven years of software updates, and a 6.3-inch Super Actua display. However, its camera color science leaves a bit to be desired.