How to Make Samsung Photos Look Natural (Less Over-Processed)

Galaxy phones often take photos that look punchier than the scene you were looking at, with lifted shadows and stronger colour, but that’s because the camera is doing exactly what Samsung expects it to do. The Galaxy phone’s camera will stitch frames together and change colours to match whatever it recognises.

If you want to capture photos that are more accurate to the scene you photographed, there are a few different settings you can tweak to make your Galaxy phone less aggressive with its enhancements, but some of them may sacrifice speed or dynamic range.

Why Galaxy photos can look over-processed

Scene detection analyses what the Galaxy thinks it’s looking at and adapts its colour and contrast choices accordingly. HDR has been switched on all the time on Samsung flagships since One UI 4.0 according to Samsung’s camera FAQ, meaning they will always merge multiple images together in Photo mode to make up for a comparatively small sensor. This combination of computational photography techniques ensures you’re less likely to run into problems photographing a scene with a dark foreground and bright sky, for example. However, it can also result in images that appear over-processed, with contrast being flattened and brightness added to shadows that should stay dark.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s main camera produces the same type of over-processed JPEGs found on most other phone cameras according to photographer Tyler Stalman, who worked around this by processing his own images from RAW files. There’s also a chapter on overprocessing and realism in Marques Brownlee’s Why New Smartphone Cameras Feel Worse video from May 2026, in which he makes the case that the latest phone camera isn’t necessarily going to capture the best image.

Match the symptom to the setting

Each of these examples of over-processing has different causes, so take a look to see which best describes your images, and turn off just the culprit(s).

Areas of fine texture, such as the lines in these hands, are the first to exhibit problems when aggressive noise reduction and sharpening are employed. With heavy processing, skin like this takes on a waxy appearance and you get telltale bright edges around the net that weren’t originally present.

Settings to change, in this order

The menu names listed below were verified on a Galaxy S25 Ultra device with One UI 9 installed (November 2026). Labels may vary depending on the version of the software you are using. See our Camera Assistant guide and the guide for Scene Optimizer for more information.

1. 1

   Set Photo enhancer to Balanced or Prioritize speed

   Go to your Camera settings and find Photo enhancer (under Intelligent features). Prioritize quality is explained as the highest image quality, Balanced as reduced optimisation for quicker picture taking and Prioritize speed as quicker still with less optimisation. Samsung adds it only applies to Photo mode. With the previous Minimum option Samsung’s camera FAQ mentioned the capture of fewer frames, so anticipate slightly noisier images in poor light.

2. 2

   Switch off Scene detection

   Scene detection, found just below that, is explained by Samsung as optimisation of colours and contrast based on subject matter. Turn it off for a more basic image, potentially better for skin tones or product pictures, but be aware in older versions of the software Samsung linked Scene Optimizer to its moon detail enhancement, so moon shots may appear less optimised.

3. 3

   Decide on Auto HDR

   For Auto HDR, head to the Galaxy Store and download Camera Assistant. You can now find this option in Camera Assistant accessed via the tail end of Camera settings (under Photos). HDR tries to balance out images with very bright and very dark areas by combining multiple exposures, so there’s nothing to gain by using it on evenly lit images and it may just brighten shadows you’re happy to leave darker. It can help with backlighting though, especially portraits and images taken into the sun.

4. 4

   Try Photo softening only if edges look crunchy

   Photo softening is again found in Camera Assistant under Photos. Samsung explains this reduces prominent textures and lines. Part of Samsung’s suggested settings for minimal image optimisation in its camera FAQ turn Photo softening off, so consider starting life that way. If you find fine details (think leaves or hair) get over-emphasised bright outlines, you could try switching it on and compare full-size images.

5. 5

   Leave the filter on Original

   Filters apply colour effects on top of everything else, so if you do want to use one and want to keep things realistic/natural (Samsung’s words), try Glow and use the intensity slider to keep effects to a minimum. Note Samsung’s CamCyclopedia says Scene Optimizer doesn’t work when a filter is applied. Our filters guide covers the rest.

6. 6

   Pick the resolution for the light

   12MP combines pixels and multiple images to provide the best noise reduction, so it should provide the cleanest images in poor light. 50MP (24MP on the S26) should retain more detail in good lighting conditions. SamMobile reported that before the S26 Ultra, 200MP images didn’t benefit from as much noise reduction or multi-frame HDR as 12MP images, so on previous Ultra models 200MP images may appear less refined (possibly more natural in strong light). Our resolution guide compares the options.

Pro mode and Expert RAW for the least processing

Pro mode is Samsung’s answer to shooting in a straight-ish format, as Samsung’s camera FAQ says HDR isn’t applied to images shot in this mode. You’ll need to make sure you’re capturing in both RAW and JPEG (head to Camera settings > Photo format > Pro mode picture format and select RAW and JPEG), and you’ll be able to retain Samsung’s colours on the JPEG whilst the accompanying DNG file will be less processed, giving you greater control over colours and contrast when editing. Just be sure to expose for highlights as there’s no HDR to save an over-exposed sky! Our RAW vs JPEG guide explains how much room the DNG gives you.

Expert RAW is Samsung’s answer to shooting in high-contrast scenes. Only available on S-series flagships and Samsung’s more recent foldables, Expert RAW stitches together multiple frames to create a 16-bit DNG image. Whilst it’s still processed, Android Authority discovered Expert RAW images have slightly less processing applied compared to shots taken in Pro mode. Our best camera app for Android comparison discusses Zerocam too if even that looks too processed.

Which route suits which photo

Editing a processed photo back toward natural

Some effects can be partially reversed once photos have been taken. Tap the adjustment icon in Gallery’s photo editor and use the Brightness and Contrast sliders Samsung lists (among other options, such as Saturation) to tweak photos (exact options can vary depending on which version of One UI you’re using).

1. 1

   Open the adjustment tools

   Open the photo in Gallery, and tap the pencil. Tap the adjustment icon. If you don’t want to edit the photo itself, edit a copy (you can Save copy when you’re done, from More options).

2. 2

   Bring back the contrast

   HDR photos compress the difference between highlights and shadows, so you’ll often want to increase the contrast a little. If skies or white shirts look grey, decrease the brightness until you see some texture, then increase the contrast until shadows actually look like shadows.

3. 3

   Take saturation down a step

   Decrease the saturation a little. Warmth and tint can be helpful, but don’t fiddle with them unless you’re sure something looks off – use something you have a good idea of what should look like (a white wall, a grey road).

4. 4

   Compare and save

   When you’re done, zoom in to full size and compare the photo with the original – small changes add up. On some models Samsung includes a Revert to original option if you’ve overwritten a photo. See Samsung’s documentation or our photo editor guide for details.

Samsung’s release notes indicate that, on the Galaxy S22 series and later flagships, One UI 7 added a RAW image editor to Gallery, with eight different types of image adjustments and a histogram for DNG files. Power users who routinely work with RAW files may prefer Lightroom, though.