In recent years, the cameras offered in smartphones have made impressive progress. The quality and features have become more advanced than ever before. From extended lenses and megapixels, advanced software, magnificent zoom, excellent low light performance, and more, it appears as if nearly every high-profile smartphone has something to boast about related to the camera.
The finest cameras in smartphones bring together elaborate optics and sensors coupled with software algorithms that function based on math and science to ensure the best achievable lighting, colors, and details from every image. It is not only about the number of lenses on the phone anymore. Now some smartphone producers have started employing artificial intelligence to execute their post-processing even better.
Now that we know about the progress made by smartphone companies in the creation of cameras, let us find out the top players in the game. Here’s a list of some of the most advanced and high-quality smartphone cameras presently available:
iPhone 12 Pro Max
The latest iPhone 12 Pro Max may not be the best overall smartphone, but it is the closest one to have the best smartphone camera. The Pro Max stands out compared to any other phone’s camera. Its primary wide camera has a winning wide-angle lens coupled with a larger sensor and excellent lighting adjustment features. It also carries a sensor-shift image stabilization arrangement that ensures incredibly steady video shooting in Dolby Vision HDR. It has a 12MP f/1.6 primary camera, a 12MP f/2.2 telephoto lens with 2.5x and 12x optical and digital zoom, respectively, along with a 12MP f/2.4 ultra-wide camera and a LiDAR scanner enabling Night Mode portrait pictures. Apple’s computational photogrammetry abilities are awe-inspiring, including an enhanced Deep Fusion mode for precise details and Smart HDR 3 that presents well-balanced images even in testing lighting situations. Besides, the iPhone 12 Pro Max even shoots photos in the ProRAW mode to give shutterbugs the ultimate liberty in terms of editing.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is slightly underrated compared to the iPhone 12 Pro due to Samsung’s occasional unstable post-processing. However, everything else assured, it still manages to be an excellent camera phone. The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra carries an overall high-spec camera, but the telephoto camera shines differently, being the ultimate highlight of the camera system. It has a 12MP f/3.0 snapper comprising 5x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom. Apart from that, The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s 108MP f/1.8 primary camera along with 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide cameras perform exceedingly well. The phone’s camera is also amazingly easygoing and fun to use. It profits from additions like 8K video and Single Take modes, which take a stack of images and videos simultaneously with the various lenses and modes, increasing the odds of you catching something unique. However, Low-light photos are not quite as precise as other players in the game, like the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but apart from that, it is an outstanding camera setup.
Google Pixel 5
Google Pixel 5 is not truly a camera phone that triumphs with numbers. There are just two rear lenses, which gives you the option of a 12.2MP f/1.7 primary camera and a 16MP f.2.2 ultra-wide camera. That, too, prominently devises the Pixel 5 without any dedicated telephoto lens.
Despite such a short variety of cameras, the Pixel 5 can capture crisp pictures with a rich color palette, especially in favorable lighting. While the weak lighting performance is a bit of a step-down, it nevertheless captures perfect colors. The ultra-wide lens also produces lesser distortion at the edges of photographs than several other ultra-wide choices. Besides, Google Pixel 5 has a great range of editing mechanisms built-in. The Pixel 5 is a comparatively low-priced smartphone, contrasted to the company’s other smartphones.
OnePlus 8 Pro
OnePlus has boosted the competition when it gets to smartphone cameras, making the OnePlus 8 Pro closer than ever to the most high-grade smartphone compared to the rest. Big thanks to Sony’s latest 12-bit IMX689 sensor controls. With a vast 1/1.4″ size plus 1.12-micron pixels, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s main camera can catch excellent bokeh and same as daytime images, even in average lighting. Its 8MP, f/2.4 telephoto lens carries a 3x optical zoom along with OIS, bettering the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s focal length. Like the OnePlus 7 Pro, videos can be shot in a Super Stable video mode in Full HD or regular mode at 4K resolution. When it gets to advances on the OnePlus 8 Pro, the actual blessing has got to be the 48 MP, GoPro-Esque ultra-wide lens, which captures plenty in the frame and grasps added resolution than nearly any other ultra-wide camera in the game. Besides, OnePlus’s 12MP color filtering camera is an unusual bonus that catches a twisting take on what’s real, presenting regular colors a neon, nearly metallic screen-printed finishing, etc.
Huawei P40 Pro
The Huawei P40 Pro is, by far, one of the most reliable camera phones you can purchase under $1,000 with top-notch features. In fact, for a specific kind of cameraman who admires a telephoto camera, it is merely the most solid camera phone available today. The P40 Pro’s Leica-branded imaging operation is created by a new 50MP sensor, which utilizes RYYB (red-yellow-yellow-blue) sub-pixel arrangement. Huawei declares that such a system makes its cameras expertly able to manage dark views like a winner. Additionally, a 40MP f/1.8 ultra-wide camera lens, a 12MP telephoto camera lens that is proficient in 5x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom, along with a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor which creates the bokeh effects. Images shot on the P40 Pro are extraordinary in detail and limited in noise and distortion. Unlike Samsung, Huawei’s photographs do not appear exceedingly sharpened, and at the same time, they are not as authentic and neutral as the ones shot on the Oppo Find X2 Pro, as it maintains the desired balance.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus
Even though the Galaxy S20 doesn’t offer 100x Space Zoom or a 108MP primary camera, it still captures better images than the previous year’s S10 species. The primary camera over both- S20 and S20 Plus offers a regular 12MP resolution, coupled with a wide-open f/1.8 and a 26mm focal length. Samsung has enhanced the telephoto camera to fulfill fantastic accuracy far exceeding its predecessor. The S20 Plus has a 3x optical lens and a 64MP sensor, encouraging an enormous 30x digital zoom. Indeed, the details get a little muddy at the end of that zoom scale. The regular steps effectively present 2x, 4x, 10x, and 20x interim choices, making it much more comfortable to focus on the subjects of interest. Samsung has carried its usual slew of features such as Live Focus and panorama, with a new one-Single Take. It is like a predictive ‘panic button’ for snap shooting. Pick the mode, click on the shutter button, and the camera catches a collection of standard images, depth-enhanced Live-Focus stills, videos, and GIF-like quick animations.
iPhone 12 Mini
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini have similar camera specs features, and as expected, both are significantly less capable than the Pro models, which is quite understandable considering the price gap. Unlike the Pro, there is no dedicated telephoto camera in the iPhone mini, but it still profits from Apple’s highly efficient camera software and a neural engine. That involves prominent features like Night Mode, Deep Fusion, and Smart HDR. Here we have the 12MP f/1.6 primary camera, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, and a 12MP f/2.2 camera in the front as well. All three cameras perform exceptionally well. Just like the rest of the models in the iPhone 12 range, these two defeat most handsets in challenging light environments irrespective of which lens you are using, as Night Mode works amazingly in all of them. Like the iPhone 12 Pro modes, the iPhone 12 can film 4K HDR videos Dolby Vision videos, although captured at 30 FPS. The videos shot on an iPhone 12 Mini look much brisker than any other smartphone the prevailing Android flagships can offer.
Oppo Find X2 Pro
Oppo has been known for its innovative mobile imaging for a long time now, and the new Find X2 Pro lives up to the tradition. Its triple-camera specs look exciting, providing a standard-wide prime module, a 5x tele lens system for zoomed shots, and a 16 mm ultra-wide lens. The main camera has a substantial 1/1.4-inch 48 MP Quad-Bayer sensor, producing a 12 MP outcome and directs incoming light by a 26 mm-equivalent lens with a high-speed f/1.7 aperture. With a 16 mm-equivalent lens, the ultra-wide camera is not the most extended we have seen, but it is close to many of Oppo’s immediate rivals in the game. Besides, it offers a relatively sizable 1/2-inch sensor, including PDAF autofocus. The 13 MP tele-camera allows an impressive 5x optical zoom agent and visual picture stabilization, but the f/3 aperture is more hindered than most competing smartphones. All in all, the Oppo Find X2 Pro is improbable to disappoint, making it the go-to equipment for phone shutterbugs who depend on their smartphone cameras in a wide variety of conditions.
Sony Experia 1 ii
The Sony Xperia 1 II is a unique pick for video professionals and cinema lovers who desire to purchase a manual along with their smartphone videography. It can shoot footage at a maximum of 21:9 for a cinema-style outcome, offering complete hand-operated control, and highlights a stunning flat color silhouette, ideal for post-processing in software like Premiere Pro or Da Vinci Resolve. Besides, almost everything else regarding this phone is excellent, including a striking 4K HDR screen, a fresh UI, including a snappy chipset guaranteeing an abundance of control for the user. Sony has managed to optimize the complete camera heap for high-speed snap shooting, and it can focus at 60fps plus burst-shoot at 20fps. It additionally adopts the much-cherished autofocus trait from its Alpha cameras, continually focusing on a human or an animal’s eye. If you wish to have the ultimate cinema experience, both from a content creation and consumption perspective, the Xperia 1 II is the right fit.
Conclusion
These are some of the leading smartphones in terms of the camera’s qualities, specs, and other features. You may have noticed that almost every smartphone is equipped with an impressive camera now, while the quality, specs, and features are continually developing. Therefore, picking the right camera phone may seem a bit tricky. You should know that the fundamental principles that enable a camera to click great pictures and record footage remain constant. It should have an excellent lens to capture the light and a fine film to process the image, a small and good quality electronic sensor offering an impressive megapixel range. Other additional features may include the night mode, zooming qualities, quick and smart processing, color grasping quality, and so on. By considering these qualities and referring to the list above, you can undoubtedly get your hands on one of the best smartphone cameras.
