We have been bigger zooms on phones. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has 10x optical zoom, perhaps the best on a phone. Then there is the 30x digital zoom on the Pixel 7 Pro, which does lose some quality but is still very good when you look at the level of reach it gives you. You can actually get snaps of the moon with these. Check the sun snapped by the Pixel 7 Pro here. The iPhone 15 Pro Max's 5x zoom seems modest in front of these. But it works superbly.

For our subject, we choose pigeons feeding near a wall near a monument in Green Park. Pigeons are great subjects for a photo test. They are skittish and keep moving and are colourful. We snapped them from a distance of about 10 feet, which allowed us to photograph them without disturbing them. And well, the iPhone 15 Pro Max really surprised us - we got the textures of feathers and claws, different shades of grey, and even those orange beady eyes!

We know that we could have perhaps got closer with other phones, but honestly, we like these results a lot. And the iPhone trademark consistency is very much there. The pigeons were moving all the time, but our shots were clear with hardly any movement blur. Even the textured stone monument in the background was just the right bit blurred (not artificially so as seen in other phone cameras). This is classic iPhone - pleasant, close to realistic, consistent!

The Galaxy S23 Ultra would have allowed us to get even closer. The Pixel 7 Pro could have got more details, but there is a decent chance that both of them would have got a few shots wrong in the process, and even lagged a bit. This is where the iPhone 15 Pro Max's zoom shines - it is very swift, stable, and consistently delivers detail and colour. Take the shot above - one of the pigeons' eye is closed as it eats and you can see the textures on its lid!

It also can prove very handy for street candid snaps. We took this snap from about 20 feet away. Check the next bit to see what happened when we zoomed in 5x.