Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. OPPO Find X10 Pro Max camera test: No contest

How many 200-megapixel cameras do you need? Samsung thinks one is plenty, so it used it for the main camera on the back of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. OPPO thinks this is a bit feeble, and put three 200MP cameras on the back of the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max.

Yes, three. The main, wide, and telephoto cameras all have 200 megapixels. What’s more, it has worked closely with Samsung itself developing one of them, and then with camera experts Hasselblad to tune the performance.

Let’s find out if three is better than one. Please note that in all the galleries below, the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max photos are on the left, and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra photos are on the right.

The Find X10 Pro Max’s main 200MP ISOCELL HPC camera was co-developed with Samsung, ironically, and in the first photo here, you can see what it can do with its 17 stops of dynamic range. The scene was shot with relatively bright sunlight off to the left, yet the Find X10 Pro Max captures accurate colors without overexposure.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 200MP main camera is an ISOCELL HP2 and is the same sensor found in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with an altered aperture. Its interpretation of the scene is as I expected, as the camera has some quirks around contrast and exposure levels. It lacks the atmosphere of the Find X10 Pro Max’s photo, and is noisier and hazier when you look closely.

Moving inside for the second photo, the warmth and impressive color accuracy of the Find X10 Pro Max’s camera shine through. From the wooden pews to the stone arches, the Find X10 Pro Max’s photo is vibrant and natural. The S26 Ultra’s photo is cooler and lacks detail. Look at the end of the choir pews in both photos for evidence.

In the third photo, see how the Find X10 Pro Max’s exposure and HDR are more effective at showing the detail through the tunnel entrance to the courtyard. From the color of the foliage to the detail on the roof, OPPO’s camera is beautifully balanced. The Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn’t do a bad job in any of these photos, but it lacks the character, warmth, and technical prowess of the Find X10 Pro Max.

The OPPO Find X10 Pro Max’s 70mm, 200MP telephoto camera uses its high megapixel count and some clever processing to deliver 3x and 6x shots at optical quality, plus a 13.2x zoom when you double-tap the 6x icon too. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 3x and 5x optical zoom, plus a 10x hybrid zoom. Remember all this when you see the framing differences in the photos.

This is evident in the 5x/6x photo of the blue Suzuki Jimny, but there’s a lot more going on than just that. The detailed ground in the S26 Ultra’s photo is the outlier, as the vehicle itself is far sharper in the Find X10 Pro Max’s photo. The Samsung camera suffers from haze and blur throughout, but it’s really noticeable when using the telephoto cameras.

The photo of the flower was taken at 3x zoom, and I tapped to focus. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s photo is bad. There’s pixelation in the background, the colors on the petals are blown out, and the image lacks depth. The Find X10 Pro Max’s photo is sharp, colorful, and balanced, with a beautiful depth of field. There’s no contest here.

In better lighting, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 3x zoom performs well, but as you can see in the photo of the buildings, the camera’s stability problems result in hazy detail. The Find X10 Pro Max is sharper every time, although here, the colors and balance are much more evenly matched.

Shoot at 10x and 13.2x, and the results are mixed from both. The Find X10 Pro Max does a good job for such a strong telephoto, but the images do look quite processed and slightly unnatural, depending on the subject, where smoothing is obvious. It’s different with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, where haze and stability continue to be an issue.

In the final image, I want to show that in the right circumstances, and when not looked at too critically, the pair can take similar photos. The vase and wild teasel were shot at 3x, and although I like the warmth of the Find X10 Pro Max’s image, this could be edited into the S26 Ultra’s photo too. Without looking too closely, the two photos look great, and that’s what will matter most to many people.

The 200MP ultrawide camera shows the remarkable consistency of the Find X10 Pro Max, retaining the color, vibrancy, warmth, and detail seen in the main and telephoto cameras. It’s rare to see the wide-angle given this much love, but it’s worth it. The level of detail in the first photo compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 50MP wide-angle camera is immediately noticeable in the grass and the wood grain.

In the second photo, the same differences can be seen in the signs hanging from the wall, and the sharpness of the road surface and markings. Samsung’s wide-angle camera amps up the contrast more than it does on the other two cameras, while the Find X10 Pro Max stays warm and natural. The 200MP wide-angle camera is far superior to the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s.

Take photos in low light, and some interesting differences emerge. The Find X10 Pro Max’s on-screen preview is useless, making it appear you’re taking photos of darkness, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra illuminates everything so it’s easier to frame shots. On a similar note, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s glorious, incredibly bright anti-reflective screen is fantastic for photographers, and seeing the viewfinder screen is much easier on it compared to the Find X10 Pro Max.

In the first photo of the Lego models, the Find X10 Pro Max’s processing produces a surprisingly sharp image, not the one I expected to see based on the preview. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s photo is grainy, and the boosted colors look unnatural.

The Find X10 Pro Max generally produces more stable low-light images, but it doesn’t capture as much light as the Galaxy S26 Ultra, so it must rely on post-processing to enhance sharpness. Shadows are more natural, but some may prefer the brighter images taken by the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

It’ll come as no surprise, if you read through the comparison, that the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max’s camera has beaten the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s. It’s hard to see where the Galaxy S26 Ultra has improved on the Find X10 Pro Max at all, such is the OPPO phone’s domination.

The scope of this comparison didn’t take in some other factors that make the Find X10 Pro Max’s camera so compelling either. There are a host of iPhone-style ‘looks’ to try, the chance to buy a teleconverter kit to extend the zoom, and a comprehensive editing suite with AI tools that are fast, easy to use, and very effective.

Three 200MP cameras may sound like overkill, and a way to make a spec sheet stand out in 2026, but this comparison proves it’s more than just marketing bluster. The OPPO Find X10 Pro Max’s camera is fantastic, and Samsung needs to try a lot harder to even come close with the future Galaxy S27 Ultra.