Smartphone Astrophotography

After iOS 26.5, the regular iPhone 17 may take better starry sky photos than the iPhone 17 Pro. Here is a real astrophotography comparison.

Samsung says the Galaxy S26 Ultra features its brightest camera system yet, but how much does that actually matter for night-sky photography? We tested the S26 Ultra against the S25 Ultra in both Pro mode and Expert RAW to see how much of a difference the new f/1.4 lens and updated image processing make in real-world astrophotography.

Side-by-side star photos from iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro look very similar on the wide 1× camera. 100% views from cropped sections reveal minor differences, and telephoto gains are limited.

A visual, step-by-step guide to shooting the night sky with Galaxy Expert RAW and Pro mode, including practical tips for shooting without a tripod.

A dark-sky field test on Galaxy Pro Mode: ISO 400 vs 1600 with a fixed 30s shutter. I show why exposing for a bright viewfinder can limit editing headroom, and I add a short Pro Mode vs Expert RAW zoom check for faint-star detail.

Step-by-step iPhone star photography guide for iOS 26, with screenshots. Includes both tripod and no-tripod workflows and the key stability tips to trigger longer Night mode exposures.

I tested five different iPhone 17 units on iOS 26.2 and found a serious astrophotography focus issue. Only about 9–20% of shots were perfectly focused on stars per unit, while iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 16 never missed focus under the same conditions.