The iPhone 13 Pro Max tops our best camera phone guide for good reason, but now it comes with a big caveat. We tested it against the just-released Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, and when the sun sets below the horizon, the new Galaxy seems to have the edge in photo quality.

Most strikingly, while the S22 Plus remains the premium flagship phone, it is not the best in the series. The Galaxy S22 Ultra has additional photography features that favor low-light performance, but even without them, the S22 Plus is better at low-light photography than the most expensive iPhone.

If getting the best low-light images with a few taps is a priority, the Galaxy S22 is better than the iPhone 13.

Both models automatically activate night mode when faced with a low-light subject, but the S22 is a bit more trigger heavy than the iPhone. The discarded shot I tried with the string of tree lights came up in night mode by default on the Samsung phone, but not on the iPhone. This probably won't be a problem for most users, but when I looked back at the images I had taken, I thought there was a big image quality gap between the iPhone and the Samsung phone, but when it turned out that the iPhone wanted to take a dark scene before going into night mode I was in a bit of a pickle.

Night mode can be enabled manually on either model, with slightly different conditions. To turn on night mode on the Galaxy S22, you have to go to the "Extras" menu, from which you can ask the phone to automatically adjust the exposure time or set it to the maximum exposure time. in the iPhone camera app, you turn on night mode yourself There is no option, but if night mode is enabled, you can choose the recommended preset exposure time or set it to maximum, or in between if maximum is more than 2 seconds. All of the images below were taken with automatic mode enabled, but if you decide to shoot at night, the iPhone has a little more control over night photography with its default app.

Enough preamble, let's check out my photos. First of all, this medium shot of the "green wall" at Paddington Central was captured in two very different ways on the two phones: more texture is visible in the iPhone image, but the resulting tints look a bit different. However, I really like the S22 image. Even if the details of the masonry and foliage are not the same, the tones are much more appealing and true to the impression I had of the scene.

Take the phone for a close-up of this image (and ignore the considerable difference in field of view) and we have closer competition; the S22 image is again brighter, more detailed, less noisy, and sharper when enlarged. But I also like the iPhone's images. But I also like the iPhone images, as I find the color accuracy to be better this time around.

This selfie portrait taken at the same location is another Samsung winner. For one thing, the S22 captures my hair better, and the overall border between me and the background is cleaner. The colors are more natural, too, because on the iPhone, me and the landscape behind me looked too warm again.

Finally, an interior shot of my roommate's beautifully decorated espresso cup on a low shelf in a dimly lit room. Neither shot is particularly good due to the overall lack of light, but the S22 image is less noisy and brighter than the iPhone image.

However, the iPhone does a better job of capturing the reflections on both the cup and saucer.

Even without the top-of-the-line hardware dedicated to the Ultra model, the Galaxy S22 Plus shows that Samsung's night mode is now on a par with, if not surpassing, Apple's. You have to weigh how realistic the photos taken with the S22 are compared to real-life subjects, but that won't always be an issue.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has not lost my respect as a camera phone as a result of this test, nor am I going to demand that TG's Council of Elders rescind its top spot in the Best Camera Phones Guide. I am, however, going to do two things. I will keep my fingers crossed that Apple improves the new night mode for the iPhone 14, and I will remember to carry the Galaxy S22 Plus in my pocket the next time I'm out at night.