I tested the camera of the latest Samsung, Google and Honor phones on the air – this model wins the most

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A key component of a modern phone is the camera setup. Most phones have multiple cameras, and their quality can vary, which is why we love to pull out multiple phones and shoot simultaneously whenever we get the chance.

While photos and photo quality are often subjective, this helps us determine which phones can really deliver results from a megapixel perspective.

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So when Honor gave me the opportunity to shoot with the Magic 8 Pro in one of the most beautiful places in the world – the Grand Canyon – I jumped at the opportunity and I even brought a few phones with me. It was at CES when I found myself at Maverick Helicopter Tours just south of the Strip, ready to check two items off my bucket list (and even get a little work done along the way).

Dana, our very capable pilot, whose playlist game is also on point, flew us at about 120 mph and an altitude of 1,800 feet on our 80-mile round-trip.

meet the contenders

The phones I brought are honor magic 8 proThe Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultraand this pixel 10 pro xl. All of these phones have excellent photographic reputations, so I wanted to see how they compared. On its part, Honor is packing 50-megapixel sensors for its main, ultrawide, and selfie cameras, while the 200-megapixel telephoto sensor offers 3.7x optical zoom.

Samsung goes a different way, with a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 5x optical zoom camera, and a 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom camera, as well as a 12-megapixel selfie camera on the front.

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Meanwhile, the Pixel 10 XL has the most consistent sensor sizes with a 50-megapixel main camera, 48-megapixel shooters for ultrawide and telephoto lenses, and a 42-megapixel selfie camera on the front. But cameras are more than just megapixels, as we’ve learned in the past.

Since this was a helicopter tour, some of these photos were apparently taken through the helicopter windows. For some reason, they wouldn’t allow me to get down the window and shoot normally – strange, I know. While it should be self-evident which shots came from inside the helicopter, I’ll be sure to note them. If I didn’t do that, you might believe I was standing on terra firma. So let’s dive in.

Selfie before takeoff

Before we took off, I took the opportunity to take a quick selfie. Well, I had to snap three quick selfies (one for each phone). All three photos are great, but (as you’ll see later) the Pixel handles HDR much better than the other two, letting the sunlight fall on my face.

If I’m being honest, the less you see my face, the better. Everyone else, use the Pixel 10 Pro XL for your selfies.

Main cameras at Hoover Dam

Our first stop on this tour was the Hoover Dam. I say “stop,” but we don’t stop; We hovered. We didn’t stay long enough for me to take photos with all three phones, so only the Samsung S25 Ultra and the Honor Magic 8 Pro are shown here – obviously shooting through the window.

Also, I didn’t capture exactly the same angle from both; We didn’t stay long.

While the Honor Magic 8 Pro captured a little more detail in these shots, overall, I liked the look of the Samsung S25 Ultra. Magic 8 Pro photos appear more blurry and don’t capture the rich earthy colors of the surrounding landscape. I admit this may be due to the change in angle, but I still came away more satisfied with the Samsung’s shot.

Testing the camera’s versatility in the valley

We continued on our way and eventually reached the Grand Canyon. This is an area of ​​the Grand Canyon that can only be reached by helicopter – or a lot of rope and pain. I started by taking a few full photo sets – basically, I grabbed the phone and took a photo at every default zoom level from ultrawide to maximum zoom.

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The Honor Magic Pro 8’s ultrawide camera produces a more attractive photo, in my opinion, but Samsung makes a strong case as well. However, Google does not do this.

Both the Honor Magic Pro 8 and S25 Ultra capture a lot of detail. As I remember today, the colors seem more accurate on the Samsung, while the Honor picture seems a bit “holey”. Pixel photos are quite dull and borderline dull.

Excessive zoom on a telephoto lens has similar results. I need to mention that, the Pixel 10 Pro XL won’t zoom more than 30x, and, being in the middle of the Grand Canyon, I couldn’t search the internet to find out why. I knew there was a condition under which it would stop at 30x – stability or resolution settings – but try as I might, I couldn’t find it, and neither could anyone else in our group.

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That said, the 100x zoom wasn’t amazing on both the Samsung and Honor phones. So, we’re sticking to 30x!

Here also you get the same story. The Pixel 10 Pro XL came out duller, the Samsung phone captured more details, and the Honor phone captured colors better. I also preferred Samsung Photo here, although Honor is well represented.

Turn the phone around, and you’ll get the opposite effect. In this case, the Pixel has the best photo ever. Both Samsung and Honor struggled with the dynamic range of light behind me, so it completely destroyed the valley wall. Pixel had no such problems.

Finally, for macro shots, there’s a beautiful Bokeh effect behind the subject on both the Honor and Pixel phones… Whatever plant it is – I’m from Chicago. The Samsung phone captures much more depth than the other two. I’m not entirely sure this is for the best. A little foreground soft focus can make a photo look crisp, and I enjoy that.

motion capturing

On our way back to town, I noticed another copter flying alongside us, so I took the opportunity to try and catch it. Truth be told, when shooting through plexiglass at 120 mph, when shooting any other moving thing at 120 mph, and at 10x zoom, neither phone did a very good job. Let’s just say this was predictable, but all is not lost.

Generally, if you are looking at another helicopter and want to read the “Honor” logo on the side, Honor has worked best. In terms of overall structure, I’d give the nod to Samsung. The focus is a little faster, and there’s less decision-making overall. This was about as challenging a shot as I will attempt, so overall, I’m quite satisfied.

winding down

Finally, as we flew back to the city, we got to see an absolutely amazing sunset and a great view of the strip through the window. Frankly, all three are amazing shots. Of the three, I’d say Samsung wins here too. There’s more detail, and the colors are more accurate than what I saw that evening.

As we came up the strip I fired three more shots, although we were moving very fast. Honor came to play for the last shot. This final shot, taken before landing back at the airport, captured the strip in its full glory, and the Honor Magic 8 Pro captured the most detail and best colors. It was a great way to end the evening.

my decision

All three phones did a remarkable job at capturing this trip and each had their own strengths and weaknesses. I wasn’t thrilled with the Pixel 10 Pro XL overall, so if there was an option, I probably would have left it at home. Of the remaining two, I prefer the versatility of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – one reason we’ve chosen it as the best overall Android phone.

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That said, the Honor Magic 8 Pro can perform quite well. The 200-megapixel telephoto sensor allows the phones to capture longer zoom ranges, though both are very good up to 30x. The price of both is also the same.

According to rumors and the general timeline, the wild card is the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is likely to launch in the next month or two. Whether or not the S26 Ultra will have a better set of cameras is speculation, but it’s a pretty good bet too. In this case it may be wise to wait and see.