Is the 100X zoom capability of smartphones really useful?
Smartphones have come a very long way in recent years, especially when it comes to cameras. One of the latest features that some high-end smartphones have is 100X zoom. Brands like Samsung have made this feature popular with their flagship smartphones by promising the capacity to capture detailed photos from a very long distance. The 100X Zoom in smartphones? This sounds so great. But the question is, is the 100X zoom capability of smartphones really useful?
What is 100X Zoom and how does it work?
100X zoom means that the camera on your phone can zoom in 100 times. This is done using a mix of optical zoom and digital zoom. Before we check how useful 100X Zoom is, it is important to understand how smartphone zoom works. Smartphones use two main types of zoom:
i. Optical Zoom: This uses the phone’s lens to physically zoom in on the image without decreasing the quality.
ii. Digital Zoom: This uses software to zoom in on the image, which makes the image blur and decreases the quality.
So, when you see 100X Zoom on a smartphone, it uses a digital zoom, not optical zoom. That’s why the image quality on 100X Zoom is not great.
List of Smartphones that have 100X Zoom:
i. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra:
This phone features a periscope telephoto lens capable of 10X optical zoom and up to 100X digital zoom. To read more, click here!
ii. Huawei Mate X6:
This foldable smartphone has a high-quality camera system, including a 50MP main camera, a 40MP ultra-wide lens, and a 48MP telephoto lens. It also has 100X digital zoom. To read more, click here!
iii. Honor Magic7 Pro
This phone is equipped with a 50MP main camera, a 50MP wide camera, and a 200MP telephoto camera. The Magic7 Pro uses AI enhancements and features an AI Super Zoom with a range of 30X to 100X. To read more, click here!
iv. Vivo X90 Pro+
This phone features a periscope camera with a 64MP OmniVision OV64B sensor, this flagship offers 100x zoom capabilities. It also includes a 50MP Sony IMX758 sensor and is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
v. Honor Magic5 Pro
This phone features a triple camera setup with a 50MP primary camera, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens. This device has a 3.5X optical zoom and up to 100X digital zoom. To read more, click here!
How useful is 100X Zoom?
Use cases
i. Capturing distant objects
100X Zoom can be useful for capturing things that are very far away. For example:
· Concerts and Sports events: If you are sitting far from the stage or field then zooming in can give you a closer view of the event.
· Wildlife photography: If you spot or want to capture an animal that is very far away from you, then zooming in will help you see more details without getting too close.
· Landmarks and scenery: If you want to capture a mountain peak or any scene from far away, then zooming in can capture it better.
ii. Enhanced detail with AI Processing
Modern smartphones use AI-based image processing to increase the sharpness and improve the quality of zoomed images. Some smartphones also include optical image stabilization (OIS) to reduce shaky images due to shaky hands.
iii. Flexibility in Framing
With such a high zoom range, you can adjust your shots easily. You can zoom in on specific parts of a scene without getting close physically.
So, is it really useful?
The 100X Zoom feature on smartphones is a very impressive upgrade, but it is not very useful for everyday photography. For everyday users, zooming in up to 10X to 20X gives better quality photos because it relies on optical zoom. After that, the image quality decreases due to the digital zoom. However, if you want to capture images that are very far away, then the 100X Zoom can be beneficial, but don’t expect the DSLR-level quality. 100X Zoom is more of a fun feature than a daily use. It is good for showing off but not for capturing good quality photos. Zooming up to 100X decreases the quality of the image. It will be very difficult to hold steady, even a little hand movement can make the image very shaky. So, taking pictures in 100X Zoom without a tripod is very difficult, even on a phone with OIS.
Conclusion
The 100X Zoom is a very impressive feature on the smartphone, but it is not very useful for most people. If you enjoy taking photos that are very far then it might be fun to try out. But for daily use, zooming up to 10X or 20X is more than enough for good image quality.