Tested Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge camera's telephoto lens capabilities at a live music event to determine if it's an unnecessary feature
Going Gadgetless at a Gig: My Unexpected Revelation with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Ever caught an epic concert on social media, thinking the person recording was smack dab in the middle of the action, only to realize they were really way up in the stands? Blame it on the technologies hidden in our smartphones – the modern telephoto lens. These bad boys offer optical zoom without sacrificing image quality, setting the stage for impressive shots and recordings.
But what about those smartphones that forego the telephoto lens for a slimmer design? Let's see how the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge fares when it comes to zooming in on the action. After testing top-tier phones like the iPhone 16 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Samsung Galaxy S25, I thought I'd miss that telephoto lens dearly. So I put the Galaxy S25 Edge to the test at a concert and here's what went down.
The Galaxy S25 Edge: Passable Zoom, Less Magnificent
Leaving my trusty telephoto-equipped phone at home, I packed only the Galaxy S25 Edge for some events at MetLife Stadium, including a concert and a FIFA Club World Cup match. So how'd it go?
Turns out, some of the criticism about the Galaxy S25 Edge lacking a telephoto camera might be a tad overdramatic. The gargantuan 200MP, f/1.7 main camera sensor lets Samsung perform a neat trick called sensor crop. Essentially, Samsung can use a piece of the large sensor to capture a close-up version of the photo without compromising quality.
At lower zoom levels like 2x or 4x zoom, you should get a high-quality image. Since 2x zoom uses only in-sensor crop, which is lossless, the results are pretty impressive and even beat those from telephoto lenses in some cases. In the gallery below, the first image is captured at 1x zoom, and the second was snapped with 2x zoom.
As you can see, there's no noticeable quality loss between the two photos. However, this only works at really low zoom levels, making it less ideal for concerts. Anything beyond 2x zoom is digital zoom with AI enhancements, which can vary in quality.
Be in the know in 5 minutes! Stay current with our latest Android updates
At longer zoom lengths, you can expect the quality to drop significantly. In the shot below, there's a huge difference between the first photo (1x zoom) and the second (~10x zoom). The quality loss is substantial, granted I was far away. Longer shots captured with digital zoom on the Galaxy S25 Edge are still passable, but fall short in terms of capturing the finer details.
There's not enough detail in the second photo to tell what exactly I was capturing, which was entirely dependent on digital zoom and AI enhancements. In reality, it was the DJ working under a clear tent near the center of the frame. The digital zoom quality just wasn't good enough at 10x zoom or higher to make that out.
In this case, a phone with a telephoto camera, like the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, would probably have given better results. Even though it maxes out at 5x optical zoom, its benefits would have also been noticeable at longer zoom levels.
Telephoto Cameras: Yea or Nay?
If you're curious about how much better a phone with a telephoto lens is at taking zoomed shots, let's compare camera samples from my iPhone 16 Pro. This is the phone I previously used, which has a 5x optical zoom telephoto camera. Unsurprisingly, the zoom shots from the iPhone 16 Pro turned out better, despite the fact that I was much higher up in the stands.
Images taken with the iPhone 16 Pro might not win any awards, but you can tell exactly who's performing and what's going on. This is even true when I zoomed in beyond the iPhone's 5x optical zoom capabilities to grab shots of Kendrick Lamar, SZA and DJ Mustard.
For perspective, I was sitting in the 200 level of MetLife Stadium when I took photos with the Galaxy S25 Edge, while the photos you see from the iPhone 16 Pro were snapped from the second-to-last row of the 400 level of State Farm Stadium. If you've never been to these venues, the primary point is that I was far higher up, but the photos still turned out sharper with the iPhone and its telephoto lens.
I wouldn't display zoomed shots taken at 10x zoom or higher on my wall from either camera, but there's no doubt that the telephoto lens on the iPhone 16 Pro improved concert photo quality. The same would be true for an Android phone like the Pixel 9 Pro XL or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Do We Really Need Telephoto Lenses?
Despite the Galaxy S25 Edge's less-than-stellar zoom shots, I was still able to snap some of my favorite concert photos ever using its 200MP main sensor. It even performed well in low-light conditions, a critical factor in concert photography.
So, do telephoto lenses make the cut on flagship phones in 2025? Not necessarily. While they're an impressive addition to the best camera phones, they're not always essential. A phone with a fantastic main camera like the Galaxy S25 Edge can prove more than capable in certain situations. It's also worth sacrificing a telephoto lens for a more compact design, better main camera, or other features that suit your needs.
They're not a necessity, but telephoto lenses definitely aren't overrated either. They're a fantastic addition to high-end camera phones, giving us the ability to capture incredible shots of performers from afar. Enjoy some of my favorite concert photos, taken with the telephoto-lacking Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge:
[Image Gallery]
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge may not have a telephoto lens, but it proved more than capable of capturing stunning concert photos in certain situations. Coupled with its sleek design and other features, I'm pleased with my decision to leave telephoto lenses behind... for now.
- Phone Deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Samsung | Amazon | Verizon | AT&T
- MVNO Deals: Mint Mobile | Visible | Boost | Tello | Cricket
- Carrier Deals: Verizon | AT&T | T-Mobile | Mint Mobile | Visible
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, though lacking a telephoto lens, uses sensor crop to emulate the telephoto effect, with impressive results at lower zoom levels.
However, beyond 2x zoom, the quality drops significantly, and the Galaxy S25 Edge struggles to capture finer details at longer zoom lengths compared to phones with telephoto cameras, such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL.
