Modern phones are excellent video creation tools, but if you want to give your content that polished Hollywood look, there’s arguably no better phone for the job than an iPhone .
Apple puts a lot of work into making its phones suitable for professional video production: they feature ProRes recording, Log capture and support frame rates up to 120fps at 4K, at least on the latest Pro models . Now, though, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series phones have arrived, and they’re looking to challenge Apple’s standing as the pocketable filmmaking device of choice.
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Last year, Samsung beat Apple to the punch by offering 4K 120fps recording on the Galaxy S24 series , well before the iPhone 16 Pro landed. However, while that made for some beautifully cinematic slow-motion shots, Samsung has never offered a Log profile, frustrating pro users. That changes with the S25 series.
Luke Baker / Foundry
What is Galaxy Log?
The latest flagship phones from Samsung offer a new recording mode within the Pro Video section of the default camera app. It’s called Galaxy Log and it’s Samsung’s answer to Apple Log – as well as the Log profiles offered by rival Android brands like Vivo and Honor.
If you’re not familiar, Log is a recording format commonly used by professional video production companies and Hollywood filmmakers. It’s designed to give the most flexibility during editing, a bit like the way a RAW photo allows for more drastic edits than a JPEG.
Luke Baker / Foundry
The footage has a very washed-out and low-contrast look, but that’s just for editing, when it’s finished, it’ll look however the creator wants it to. It’s especially useful on a smartphone, as it allows you to bypass a lot of the sharpening and image toning that phones apply by default, and you can decide exactly how much you want to apply to your final footage.
To edit Log video, some creators rely on LUTs. These are preset colour adjustments, and you can think of them like Instagram filters. Some LUTs are designed to convert Log footage back to normal colours, while others apply a more dramatic stylised look to the footage. Of course, LUTs are optional, and if you have the time, patience and expertise, you’ll get the best results by manually tweaking all the parameters yourself.
Which phone is best for mobile filmmakers?
I had the chance to play with the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra ahead of launch, and while I didn’t have long enough with it to reach any conclusions, I did get a little glimpse at the phone’s capabilities.
It turns out the S25 Ultra can record at up to 8K 30fps in Log using the main lens. This is a pretty exciting development, as iPhones can’t record in 8K, regardless of if you’re shooting in Log. I only had a quick play with the phone, and I wasn’t able to take the footage with me, so whether it’s actually worth shooting in 8K remains to be seen.
Luke Baker / Foundry
Samsung is also one step ahead with high frame-rate recording. The iPhone 16 Pro can capture 4K 120 fps in Log, but only using the main camera, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra can use the new 50Mp ultrawide or the main camera. So you get a bit more versatility with your framing, and that’s always a good thing.
However, there’s a lot more to the story. It’s well documented that Apple Log holds up to rigorous editing, but as of right now, Samsung’s profile remains untested. It could be a game changer, or it could be a total flop.
Then, there’s the fact that iPhones can record in ProRes, which is a format that makes video clips even better for editing (at the cost of some very, very large file sizes). Samsung doesn’t seem to have an answer for this, and the best you’ll get is high-bitrate HEVC. It could prove good enough, but we’ll only find out how much it matters when we get our hands on a review unit.
Luke Baker / Foundry
For now, one thing’s certain, it’s a great time to be into mobile filmmaking. The tools are better than ever, and if manufacturers keep pushing to one-up each other, we’ll all have a miniature Arri Alexa (if you know, you know) in our pockets sooner than you might think.
Keep an eye out for our full review of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is coming soon, and in the meantime, check how the competition compares with our guide to the best camera phones .
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Author: Luke Baker, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Luke is a freelance journalist who has been working in consumer electronics for over a decade. Previously Features Editor at Pocket-lint, Luke can now be found contributing reviews and features to a variety of publications, as well as running a YouTube channel called Neon Airship in his spare time. Luke loves anything that takes pictures, whether it’s a smartphone, camera or drone, and he also gets very excited about the latest VR and AR tech.
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