By way of comparison (and to illustrate how good smartphone cameras are), this was taken at about the same time as the previous shot, but on a Samsung Galaxy S4, which by no means has a top of the line camera. But the shot holds its own with the previous one, taken with a good Canon camera and a very good Canon lens (except perhaps in making a large print).
I like how this photo gives you more ready access to the buildings, even though I didn’t think I stepped in closer than on the other shot. Could just be that the Samsung has a 31mm lens, which brings you closer than the Canon lens, which was set at 26mm.