12MP vs 24MP vs 50MP vs 200MP on Samsung: Which to Use

All current Galaxy phones default to shooting 12MP images even if the primary camera sensor is 50MP or 200MP. This is because binning (combining adjacent pixels) and frame stacking (combining multiple images) help to reduce noise and file size. Other resolutions trade off something for increased megapixels.

What is pixel binning on a Samsung camera?

Pixel binning combines several neighbouring pixels on the sensor so they act as one larger pixel, which improves light sensitivity at the cost of resolution.

Phone camera sensors are essentially grids made up of millions of tiny light-sensitive pixels. The smaller the size of each individual pixel, the less light each pixel is able to gather. This results in noisier images especially in low light situations. To combat this problem, a technique known as binning allows a camera to combine multiple pixels to act as one, essentially increasing the size of the pixel and improving light sensitivity at the cost of resolution.

Samsung refers to this technology as Tetrapixel and explains on the page for its 50MP ISOCELL JN1 sensor that four 0.64μm pixels can be binned to act as a single 1.28μm pixel to take brighter 12.5MP photos, whereas in brighter situations all 50MP can be utilised.

On any given 50MP enabled phone, photos taken in the default 12MP mode will use four pixels on the sensor to create one pixel in the final image, as 12MP is a quarter of 50MP.

Samsung’s 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor, which can be found in Ultra models, goes one step further. According to the company, 16 pixels are binned to create one pixel in photos taken in the default 12MP mode, four pixels are binned in 50MP mode and no binning takes place in 200MP mode.

According to SamMobile, Samsung uses 12MP as the default mode on its phones as it allows the company to use pixel binning as well as multi-frame processing, which mostly isn’t utilised in full-resolution shooting modes. This explains why a 12MP photo often looks cleaner than a 50MP shot of the same scene.

How do I change photo resolution on a Galaxy phone?

On the Galaxy S26, you can find the resolution setting by tapping the Resolution option in Quick controls (the four dots). Alternatively, tap the resolution button at the top of the viewfinder.

On One UI 9 on a Galaxy S25 Ultra, it defaults to 12M on the top bar. According to the Tips app, you can select 50 MP or 200 MP from the resolution menu at the top of the viewfinder (checked in November 2026).

On earlier versions of One UI, higher resolutions are listed in the Ratio menu, e.g. 3:4 50MP or 3:4 200MP.

Unless you change this setting, all photos will be saved at 12MP, regardless of the maximum resolution supported by the camera sensor.

Camera specs are based on info posted on GSMArena's spec pages.

As of right now, there's no confirmation from any source that we've seen that 24MP has made an appearance on any phones other than those in the S26 series, so do check your phone's resolution options after each update to see if anything's changed.

The 24MP option on the Galaxy S26

According to SamMobile, the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra are the first Samsung smartphones to offer 24MP images in the Photo mode. However, you have to install the Camera Assistant app to access this mode.

24MP mode captures both a 12MP multi-frame image and a 50MP image and combines them, according to SamMobile. Samsung calls this AI Fusion.

1. 1

   Install Camera Assistant

   Get the Camera Assistant app (free from the Galaxy Store). As of version 4.5.00.20, released in March 2026, the 24MP resolution option can be found right on the main list.

2. 2

   Turn on 24MP

   Select 24MP resolution. Then turn it on for Photo mode, and also activate Keep 24MP resolution to always launch the camera app with 24MP enabled.

3. 3

   Pick it in the camera

   In the Photo mode of the Camera app, hit the resolution icon at the top of the viewfinder and select 24MP.

That said, shooting in 24MP will allow you to make use of the 3x and 5x telephoto cameras on the Ultra, something you can’t do when shooting in 200MP. According to SamMobile, shooting in 24MP also avoids the overexposed highlights that higher resolutions can produce in brightly lit scenes. It’s worth noting that One UI 9 doesn’t bring this feature to the S24 or S25, where 24MP still means the Expert RAW app. See our Camera Assistant guide for more information about other settings in the app. See our Expert RAW guide for more information about that route.

What you give up at 50MP and 200MP

Lenses and zoom

200MP uses the main camera only. On the S26 Ultra, taking a photo in 200MP mode disables the 3x and 5x telephoto cameras (according to SamMobile). On the S23 Ultra, taking a photo in 200MP mode disabled the ultrawide camera (according to Digital Trends). Taking photos in 50MP mode is available on more than one camera on the S26 Ultra. In GSMArena’s review, they included photos taken in 50MP mode with the main camera, 5x telephoto camera, and ultrawide camera. 12MP means that all lenses are still available when shooting zoomed in. See our S26 Ultra zoom guide for more information on which lens to use when.

Night, Portrait and HDR processing

On the S23 Ultra, Tom's Guide discovered that Night mode and Portrait mode can’t be used with 200MP photos.

SamMobile recommended avoiding the 50MP and 200MP modes on the S24 series as they’re detrimental to dynamic range and low-light performance.

GSMArena found that unbinned 50MP and 200MP photos on the Z Fold7 look very soft and have a lower dynamic range.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra can shoot 200MP images with HDR processing, specifically multi-frame HDR, according to Samsung, and so can the Z Fold8 Ultra. That’s new for Samsung’s 200MP cameras: HDR wasn’t available for 200MP pics on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Z Fold7, SamMobile noted, leading to pics with blown highlights and crushed shadows. HDR images have a wider dynamic range, according to Samsung, leading to clearer pictures. How the phone stitches together photos is described in our HDR guide.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s Camera Assistant has a setting called Adaptive Pixel that may be worth seeking out on your phone. On One UI 9 on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it’s under Photos, then Advanced resolution options (checked in November 2026), and it promises to “reduce noise in low light shots by combining multiple lower-resolution frames into the final high-resolution picture.” Leave it enabled if you take 50MP or 200MP pics. Upscale digital zoom is also there, enlarging zoomed-in shots to match the selected resolution (it can’t recover details the camera sensor didn’t capture, of course).

Speed between shots

But that high-res imagery comes at a cost. According to Samsung’s support page for the S23, if you take a photo at 50MP or 200MP, it’ll take about 5 to 6 seconds before you can snap the next photo.

Tom’s Guide tested this feature on the S23 Ultra and found that the wait between photos at 200MP was around 2 seconds, still significantly longer than the half-second-ish wait the site saw for photos shot at 12MP.

So if you’re trying to get several shots in a row of a running kid or dog, you’ll want to forgo that extra detail.

Focus across the frame

Samsung has explained in its blurry photo help guide that certain areas may appear soft when taking 200MP photos with Ultra models. The company describes this as a “normal optical characteristic,” as focus can vary depending on the aperture used and the position and distance of the subject. The blurry photos guide covers the other causes.

File sizes and print sizes

Naturally, bigger files take up your phone’s storage quicker and take longer to share and back up.

Samsung’s numbers are for S23 models, and reviewers’ tests vary depending on what they were shooting. So consider these rough estimates.

A test posted by an S25 Ultra owner on Samsung’s community forum took identical pictures with the phone’s three different resolution settings, generating JPEG files that measured 5.97MB (12MP), 21.02MB (50MP) and 56.65MB (200MP). Those results suggest the file sizes for newer models could eclipse Samsung’s S23 figures. We couldn’t find specific file sizes published for 24MP images, but SamMobile says they’re still reasonable.

Our suggested maximum print sizes assume a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch (PPI), which PhotoWorkout’s photo printing guide recommends for photos you’ll be viewing up close, like at arm’s length. The site says images viewed from farther away, like posters, can look good at 150 PPI; at that lower figure, a 12MP image could stretch to 27 x 20 inches. For prints made at home, our photo printer comparison covers printers that work straight from a Galaxy.

Should I shoot 12MP, 50MP or 200MP on my Samsung?

Shoot one landscape at 50MP or even 200MP if you like, but make sure you’ve switched back before you try to capture a moving subject. For low-light technique beyond resolution, the Night mode guide goes further, and the camera settings hub lists every other setting worth changing.