Samsung vs Pixel Camera: Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Pixel 11 Pro

Samsung released the Galaxy S26 Ultra in February, and on 12 August 2026, Google followed up with the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL.

We haven’t reviewed the Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL or Galaxy S26 Ultra ourselves, but we did take a look at what GSMArena’s review of each phone said about their cameras, as well as their results in DXOMARK’s camera tests. We’ve also included comments made about the cameras by other named reviewers. Please note that GSMArena’s launch report confirms the two Pixels have the same cameras, so everything we mention applies to both sizes. You’ll see the date of each of DXOMARK’s tests alongside the scores.

Camera specs side by side

The Pixel 11 Pro XL’s DXOMARK score also applies to the Pro, since they have the same cameras (just like in our Samsung vs iPhone camera comparison, we’ve applied the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera score to the iPhone 18 Pro Max). The Pixel does better than the Galaxy in every area DXOMARK measures, except telephoto video.

Processing style and colour

The Pixel’s colours were found to be lively but not too cartoonish by GSMArena, which also noted that images taken during the day with the main camera had a gritty film grain effect. DXOMARK praised the device for its natural skin tones regardless of lighting. Under certain street lights, colours can skew slightly warm according to GSMArena’s night shots.

By comparison, Galaxy images are typically processed harder. GSMArena’s Galaxy S26 Ultra review noted good colour saturation with the main camera but excessive sharpening in 3x and 10x images. DXOMARK’s negative comments about Galaxy photos included inconsistent exposure and colours depending on lighting and lack of facial detail. Android Authority’s Andrew Grush found images from Samsung’s camera slightly too saturated, and Android Planet’s Mike Peek also noted that colours and sharpening tend to be pushed a bit harder in Galaxy photos versus those from Google.

If you prefer your Galaxy photos to look more like those from the Pixel, you can soften harsh lines with Camera Assistant’s Photo softening feature. When we checked on One UI 9 running on a Galaxy S25 Ultra in November 2026, Samsung’s Photo enhancer setting also had Balanced and Prioritize speed options that didn’t process photos as much as the default Prioritize quality setting. Google’s answer is Camera Looks, a series of colour presets that according to its help page can be used on the Pixel 11 series when taking pics (not videos). Pixel Camera does not install natively on a Galaxy device, and our best camera app for Android guide explains more about GCam ports.

Zoom

In terms of hardware, the biggest difference is that the Galaxy has both a 10MP 3x telephoto and a 50MP 5x telephoto, while the Pixel just has the 5x (albeit on a bigger sensor than Samsung’s, which Google claims is 30% more light sensitive than last time around). All the other zoom options are crops from these cameras on both phones.

Samsung recommends keeping a distance of at least 80cm from objects when using the 5x zoom, so close-up shots will look better using either the main camera or the 3x zoom. Mike Peek of Android Planet awarded the zoom category to the Pixel, citing its larger 5x zoom sensor. Our S26 Ultra zoom guide matches each Galaxy lens to a working distance.

Low light

Meanwhile, according to GSMArena, the Pixel's main camera took top marks in its Pro XL review for night shots, producing excellent image quality and restrained sharpening with great detail. Google also claims Night Sight images can be captured up to 4.5x faster thanks to improvements in the image processor on the Tensor G6 chip. DXOMARK, however, still felt exposure levels could be unstable at times in low light scenes on Pixels.

GSMArena also liked the exposure and dynamic range of the main camera on the S26 Ultra at night, although images could be a bit soft in darker areas. When shooting in Photo mode, the Galaxy phone will determine when to use Night mode, which you can turn off or set one level higher, but can't force on. While the 5x camera performed well at night according to GSMArena, the 3x camera produced flat, desaturated shots, and GSMArena preferred the Pixel at 10x. Our night mode guide explains how the Galaxy merges frames after dark.

Portraits and selfies

DXOMARK slightly prefers the Pixel’s portrait blur (170 points vs 165 points). On the other hand, GSMArena preferred natural background blur from the Pixel’s 5x camera in Photo mode (compared to the slightly excessive blur effect at 1x in Portrait mode and softer subjects compared to Photo mode). It also liked the Galaxy’s 5x camera for portrait shots (compared to the 3x camera), praising the tighter crop and good skin tones.

The 17mm-equivalent 42MP front camera in the Pixel produced decent daytime selfies according to GSMArena, with good colour and wide dynamic range. However, it judged the night selfies as bad. The Galaxy’s 12MP selfie camera produced excellent selfies according to GSMArena, with good low-light selfies considering the sensor size. It has autofocus and a 23mm-equivalent lens. The Pixel’s wider selfie camera is better suited for group selfies.

Video

In terms of video, according to DXOMARK’s test results, the Galaxy does better with its telephoto (124 vs 119) but the Pixel’s main camera does better (173 vs 160), so all in all the Pixel does better for video (162 vs 153). DXOMARK also points out that some residual motion is still visible in some dynamic shots with the Pixel, whereas image stabilisation on the Galaxy is rather effective.

APV is Samsung’s intra-frame editing codec that GSMArena pegs at a hefty ~1.5GB per minute for 1080p30, hence Samsung’s recommendation to shoot long videos with external storage. On the other hand, if you’ll be editing on your computer, you’ll get more out of videos shot on the Galaxy. If you’ll be sharing straight from your phone, you’ll get cleaner results from the Pixel’s main camera. Our Samsung Log guide explains how to expose and grade footage shot in Galaxy Log.

Pro controls and RAW

If you often post-process your photos, we’d have to give this category to Samsung thanks to its greater number of manual controls and two ways of shooting RAW images. In the Camera app’s Pro mode all exposure-related controls are available to adjust manually (including a handy dial for white balance in Kelvin values), and One UI 9 even brings a histogram and Zebra exposure monitor to the party. Setting picture format to RAW in Pro mode results in Samsung saving a DNG file. The company’s Expert RAW app is free and offers even more controls and features (such as merging multiple exposures into a 16-bit linear DNG image and shooting stars with Astrophoto) plus experimental features under Labs. Our Expert RAW vs Pro mode guide explains when to use each.

According to its help pages, Google’s Pixel Camera app offers Pro controls for adjusting focus, shutter speed and ISO on its Pro models, as well as a way to enable shooting RAW + JPEG images from within the camera’s settings menu. Dhruv Bhutani of Android Authority adds that Pixel 11’s camera app also retains Pro mode and gains Quick Access, which lets you pin up to four camera controls of your choice to dials along the side of the display for fast access.

AI editing tools

On One UI 9, you’ll find Move and the AI eraser in the Photo assist section of the gallery, alongside a couple of other tools dubbed Create and Style. On its settings page, Samsung says that images you work on with Galaxy AI are processed but not stored by Samsung. There’s also a Process data only on device option in the Galaxy AI section of Settings, but Samsung notes that some of the more advanced Galaxy AI features still require processing online. Our Photo Assist guide walks through the Galaxy tools.

Google’s generative AI photo-editing features are spread between the Pixel Camera app and Google Photos. According to its online Google Photos Help page, Google Photos offers Best Take, Magic Eraser, Portrait Light and Photo Unblur on Pixel phones. There’s also an Ask Photos feature that can understand editing requests phrased in natural language, but you’ll have to opt in to use it, and it’s not currently available in all regions. In the Pixel Camera app itself, Magic Capture will capture a short video (Engadget’s Sam Rutherford reports the clips max out at two minutes) and pluck photos from it for you.

Which to pick for what you shoot

If you mostly shoot in good light and you rarely zoom in with your phone camera, either of these phones will take great pictures. But of course, it’s everything else that separates the two, and this is how the reviews above split by subject.

If you have a Galaxy S25 Ultra, there’s not going to be much of a step up here, as GSMArena notes there was no meaningful difference between the cameras on the S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra. For the iPhone side of the same question, see the Samsung vs iPhone comparison, and for every brand there's the best camera phone guide.

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