Smartphone cameras continue to advance. Some, like Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, boast 200MP sensors and offer up to 100x digital zoom.
Consider your usage and spending limits before selecting a camera phone.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra is an impressive flagship phone and is worth its starting price of $1,300. Its large 6.8-inch display, quad-lens camera system and S Pen stylus set it apart from competitors; additionally, this year saw hardware enhancements like flat display technology and cameras with improved colour reproduction; plus, it boasts intelligent software features to make this handset even more helpful than before.
Its rear-facing quad camera system boasts a high-resolution 200MP wide sensor, 50MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom lens, 12MP ultra-wide and 10MP telephoto lenses for an incredible photographic experience. The primary lens captures intricate details with vibrant hues, while its telephoto lenses zoom in without losing clarity, providing closer shots at distant objects or subjects without losing clarity. Furthermore, new generative AI capabilities add extra detail to pictures and videos for creative uses beyond photography alone.
Even with its impressive performance, some software features on the Galaxy S24 Ultra could use some improvement. For instance, bright scenes and outdoor shooting with lots of white detail (e.g. patches of snow or fur on a cat) may result in overexposure due to generative image editing features that work best when used on small details – large ones tend to trip up or look odd or out of place when using more significant details as these tend to trip up its editing features and become out of sync with each other. It lacks features like Pixel 8 Pro’s Photo Unblur feature or Best Take feature, which automatically combines multiple images and removes closed eyes and nasty expressions by automatically combining multiple photos and automatically combining numerous images so as to remove closed eyes from various pictures taken of individuals. At the same time, they face each other without closing eyes or insight.
Google Pixel 6 Pro
Google refreshed their Pixel smartphone lineup for 2021 and introduced the Pixel 6 Pro, featuring an advanced camera system. It features a larger primary sensor than previous phones, in addition to ultra-wide and tele modules for full coverage.
Google recently unveiled a feature that makes capturing moving subjects without using a tripod much simpler. Tap on the shutter button to take a series of images that will be combined into a video with background blur, producing natural-looking motion videos that can be watched either on your phone or uploaded directly to YouTube.
The Pixel 6 Pro also boasts an expansive colour gamut and excellent dynamic range, producing brighter and more colourful photos than most of its rivals. Portrait photos taken with it allow users to easily differentiate foreground from background, while its natural-looking bokeh is superior compared to most Android devices.
The Google Pixel 6 Pro can be purchased through Google’s website, carrier partners, and significant electronics retailers. Starting at $899 for its 128 GB model, this phone offers exceptional camera quality but at a more reasonable price point than both the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. For even cheaper options with similar performance and capabilities, consider either the OnePlus 10 Pro or Sony Xperia 1 IV, which offer excellent performance while boasting great cameras at lower cost points.
iPhone 15 Pro
Twenty24 phones boasting excellent camera lenses can produce photos that will awe both Instagram followers and family members, from flagship models from Apple and Samsung to high-end Android Pixel phones and OnePlus. Each offers advanced photographic features with various camera lenses and megapixel counts, but keep in mind that more pixels don’t always translate to better image quality; instead, what matters is the software behind these images.
Google’s Pixel phone is an outstanding choice for anyone who values computational photography. Featuring an exceptional primary camera that can shoot at up to 200MP resolution using pixel-binning, this stunning smartphone also offers numerous photographic features. It will receive updates for seven years from its manufacturer.
The new iPhone 15 Pro is an outstanding camera phone for both stills and video recording, boasting an excellent primary camera as well as a superb telephoto zoom capable of competing with even the highest-end camera models available today. But what really sets this device apart is its outstanding video recording, which delivers superior dynamic range and detail capture.
OnePlus 12 Pro
With its new flagship phone, OnePlus finally delivers an experience that is on par with that offered by Apple and Samsung phones. Furthermore, this flagship provides:
- Top-of-the-line displays.
- Gaming performance.
- Impressive battery life and software smoothness at an incredibly reasonable cost.
This phone maintains the familiar design of its predecessor with its prominent camera hump and see-through back glass while providing an enhanced camera experience. Together with Hasselblad, OnePlus refined its cameras’ colour accuracy, tuning algorithms, and overall algorithms. In addition to offering a more refined camera experience, there is now also Master Mode, which provides fine-tuning of shots (think Pro Mode with a new name), and portrait mode has additional settings that help users achieve better results.
The OnePlus 12 features three cameras: a 50MP primary sensor with PDAF and OIS, a 48MP ultrawide camera at 114 degrees with an F2.2 lens aperture, and a 64MP 3x periscope telephoto lens with 14mm equivalent magnification. Furthermore, 4K and 8K Dolby Vision recording capability has also been enabled on both lenses for improved video quality.
My tests demonstrated that the OnePlus 12 cameras provided excellent photos and videos. Unfortunately, however, they fell short in some areas compared to Google Pixel 8 Pro when it comes to zoom magnification and software updates; therefore, if you prefer Pixel or want over four years of free security updates, then iPhone 15 Pro may be your preferred option.
Huawei Mate 60 Pro
Huawei has yet to enjoy an easy couple of years, but their premium Mate 60 Pro phone has shown they remain an elite innovator. Boasting one of the best cameras on any smartphone – equal or surpassing those found in iPhones and Pixels due to class-leading hardware as well as innovative imaging features like its Tele macro lens – Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro phone has once again established itself as an elite innovator.
The Mate 60 Pro is an ultraslim powerhouse featuring a Kirin 9000 processor, 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 storage. Additionally, this smartphone offers fingerprint display recognition and a hybrid SIM/Nano Memory slot capable of taking up to 256GB cards to expand onboard storage capacity. HarmonyOS 3.0’s user-friendly operating system also boasts several privacy and security features to meet every need.
Image quality was outstanding across most use cases, featuring exquisite natural texture rendering and high levels of detail in both bright and dim conditions. The camera’s variable aperture excelled at optimizing depth-of-field for group photos while still providing a sharp focus on all subjects in its frame.
Video performance was outstanding as well, demonstrating smooth video shake, an impressive dynamic range and accurate colour rendering. Furthermore, the Mate 60 Pro’s telephoto lens produced excellent close-focus results, while its fast autofocus provided easy capture of moving scenes.
- Xiaomi 13 Ultra
Xiaomi’s 13 Ultra leaves no doubt of their intent to compete for mobile photography supremacy. Boasting quad 50MP cameras and extensive tuning tweaks by Leica, this phone makes a statement about Xiaomi’s goal.
Our tests with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra revealed its ability to quickly and consistently lock on focus for portraits and macro shots, rendering detailed images with vivid hues that look realistic while providing plenty of contrast.
Its wide dynamic range enabled it to capture both shadow and highlight details in backlit portraits while offering great depth-of-field for subjects at a distance – maintaining sharpness when zooming.
On the telephoto end, this phone offered one of the highest optical zooms we’ve tested – maintaining great detail at 3x and 5x zoom levels compared to hybrid zooms found in other phones that quickly degrade after 10x magnification. This was a massive advantage over hybrid zooms, which promptly diminished after that threshold had been crossed.
Xiaomi stands out in its camera array by being capable of shooting 8K video at 24fps simultaneously on all four cameras. It also features Director mode, which enables recording from multiple angles before merging them later. Leica styles and movie effects help add personality and make for a great video editing experience on smartphones. It makes an ideal option for anyone who enjoys shooting and editing video on mobile phones!