Smartphone Astrophotography

We compare the iPhone 17 Pro, Galaxy S26 Ultra, and Pixel 10 Pro in real-world astrophotography. The results reveal major differences in how each phone reduces noise and preserves faint stars, Milky Way detail, and the Andromeda Galaxy.

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.