Helicopter camera test finds Samsung S25 Ultra most versatile, Honor close behind

ZDNET's Adam Doud tested the cameras of the Honor Magic 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL on a helicopter tour that included the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam during CES, flying with Maverick Helicopter Tours. All three phones performed well in different areas.

The Honor Magic 8 Pro uses 50MP main, ultrawide and selfie sensors and a 200MP telephoto with 3.7x optical zoom; the Samsung S25 Ultra has a 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, a 5x optical zoom camera, a 3x optical zoom camera and a 12MP selfie; the Pixel 10 Pro XL uses mostly 50MP and 48MP sensors and a 42MP selfie.

Doud shot many images through the helicopter window and said the Pixel handled HDR for selfies best, the Honor produced punchier ultrawide colors while Samsung rendered colors he remembered more accurately, and the Pixel often looked drab. The Pixel also would not zoom past 30x during the test; 100x on Samsung and Honor proved poor, and Doud preferred keeping zoom to 30x.

For motion shots Doud credited Honor with the clearest logo detail but gave composition and steadier focus to Samsung, and for several sunset and city-strip shots he favored Samsung overall while a final strip shot showed the most detail and best colors on the Honor. His verdict was that all three phones captured the trip well but that he would likely leave the Pixel 10 Pro XL at home.

Key Topics

Tech, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Maverick Helicopter Tours