realme X3 SuperZoom vs Samsung Galaxy S20 - Quick zoom comparison

We pit the newly announced realme X3 SuperZoom's 60x digital zoom with the Samsung Galaxy S20's 30x digital zoom and see how far in performance a mid-range to a flagship is.

Superzoom fight!

First up is the PHP 24,990 realme X3 SuperZoom. To make the 60x zoom possible, realme loaded the handset 64MP f/1.8 main camera with EIS, an 8MP f/2.3 ultra-wide camera, an 8MP f/3.4 periscope sensor with 5x optical zoom and OIS, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera with LED flash. To date, this is the most affordable phone with a periscope camera responsible for the super zoom mode.

While the PHP 49,990 Samsung Galaxy S20 features a 12MP f/1.8 main camera with Dual Pixel, OIS, a 12MP f/2.2 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, 64MP f/2.0 3x Hybrid Optical Zoom with OIS, and dual-tone LED flash.

Because of its high-resolution 64MP f/2.0 3x Hybrid Optical Zoom camera, it can do up to 30x digital zoom.

For the full specs of realme X3 SuperZoom, read here. On the other hand, may visit this link for the full specs of the Galaxy S20.

How big is the gap between mid-range vs flagship zooms?

Disclaimer: We tried to keep the field of view of the images below to as close to each other as possible. Camera placement and size of the phone changes the perspective and may vary with each shot. We made sure that the target the same at maximum zoom similar. 

We also only used the different zoom multipliers with shortcuts on the camera UI as we wanted to let the auto-mode shine. The main difference is that the realme X3 SuperZoom has 5x and 60x instead of the Samsung Galaxy S20's 4x and 30x zoom.

Lastly, we were only limited to the following two scenarios as we wanted to stay in one place due to the current pandemic.

Makati Skyline

1x zoom

5x vs 4x

10x

60x vs 30x

As you can see, from the images of the Makati skyline view, both the realme X3 SuperZoom and Galaxy S20 perform well with images that are sharp with vibrant color.

In most of the shots, the Galaxy S20 was able to properly pick the correct white balance in most images while the realme X3 SuperZoom produced images with a stronger yellow tint. 

Both phones struggled in producing sharp and coherent images nor were the two phones able to attain correct white balance at their maximum zoom of 30x and 60x respectively. 

Ortigas Skyline

Ultra-wide

10x

60x vs 30x

In this set of images of the Ortigas Skyline, the white balance issue is no longer present with both smartphones. Like the Makati Skyline set, both phones produce images with super sharp images, vibrant color, and deep contrast but the 30x and 60x zoom images are still soft and hard to discern. 

We recommend using up to 10x zoom for the Galaxy S20 and the realme X3 SuperZoom.

Based on what we observed, the 20x zoom of the Galaxy S20 okay, but not as usable as the realme X3 SuperZoom 20x zoom.

Quick thoughts

In terms of zooming range alone, we find it impressive that a PHP 24,990 realme X3 SuperZoom can do up to 60x zoom. Even you won't use the superzoom regularly in real-life, it is a feat that even a few high-end phones like the PHP 49,990 Samsung Galaxy S20 doesn't have.

For zooming alone, it is safe to say that the realme X3 SuperZoom is the best in its class.

In terms of overall picture quality, the story will be a bit different. We can talk about that in a separate feature.