Best camera phone for photographers in 2024
DSLRs might be irreplaceable for now, but these camera phones go beyond your expectation.
Illustration: evgeniy jamart/Shutterstock
Looking for the best camera phone? We have listed some of the best options you can find now.
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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung just launched its S24 series, and it’s a stellar new phone with an AI boost. But since we are talking about camera phones here, the S23 Ultra still stands out for many reasons. The S23 Ultra boasts a versatile and reliable camera system. It uses a 12MP sensor for its front camera and has four rear cameras:
Courtesy of Samsung
On another note, the latest S24 Ultra has switched the 10X zoom with a 5X zoom. So if you are a telephoto kind of person, you won’t find the same satisfaction with the S23 Ultra when you’re snapping an object from afar with the S24 Ultra.
It has a Scene Optimizer that supports 30 modes: Face, Baby, Person, Dog, Cat, Food, People, Beaches, Sky, Mountain, Sunset, Sunrise, City, Snow, Waterfall, Watersides, Scenery, Stage, Vehicles, Drinks, Flowers, Trees, Greenery, Animal, Shoes, Backlit, Indoor, Text, Clothes, Night view.
It’s worth noting that the S23 Ultra has a great “nightography” capability as many users have reported taking impressive photos of the moon or the starry skies (you’d need a tripod of course).
However, one of the downsides of Samsung phones is that they tend to boost the color saturation (a bit too much) automatically. The front camera also adds a filter that smooths out facial features by default, although you can turn it off.
Samsung has also improved video stabilization on the S23 Ultra, making it one of the best you’ll find on an Android phone.
Specs
Dimensions: 78.1 x 163.4 x 8.9mm
Weight: 233g
Resolution: 1440 x 3088
CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Price: Starting at AED 4,149
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Courtesy of Google
Engadget dubbed it the “most powerful camera phone on the market.” Google’s Pixels are known for their high-quality cameras, and the Pixel 8 Pro is no exception. It comes with a triple rear camera system: a 48 MP telephoto lens, a 48 MP ultrawide lens, and a 50 MP wide lens that supports 4K 30x zoom.
The Pixel has a better dynamic range than most iPhones and delivers better results in low light. Its 48MP ultrawide camera delivers much brighter images with less noise than iPhones at night time.
Video-wise, the Pixel 8 Pro provides great 4K outcomes, including 4K timelapse, 4K Cinematic Pan, and 4K 30X zoom. You can record a Slo-mo video at 240FPS—isn’t that impressive?
The built-in Google Photos gets an AI boost. Useful tools like the Magic Eraser can help remove unwanted objects from photos with just a few taps. Not to mention the Google Photos on the Pixel 8 has features that don’t exist on other phones.
Specs
Dimensions: 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm
Weight: 213g
Resolution: 1344 x 2992
CPU: Google Tensor G3
Price: AED 5,299
Xiaomi 13 Ultra
Courtesy of Xiaomi
Chinese phones are obsessed with incorporating high-end lenses from Leica or Hasselblad, and Xiaomi is no exception. Xiaomi’s 13 Ultra has a camera module with four lenses and Leica branding. It even comes with the appearance of one of those digital cameras in the early 2000s.
In many ways, it seems like Xiaomi has designed the phone to be a camera phone. It adds not one, but four 50MP Sony sensors (one IMX989 and three IMX858s), each equipped with different specializations. The one main 50MP Sony IMX989 sensor comes with a variable aperture that goes from f/1.9 to f.4.0. One 50MP telephoto lens offers 5X optical zoom while another 50MP telephoto lens has 3.2X zoom. The last 50MP lens is a wide-angle lens with macro mode dedicated to close-ups.
Leica has helped Xiaomi to create various filters and effects via the phone’s camera app. Some of these features echo those like Magic Eraser from Google, which helps you remove extra objects from the photos.
This phone captures richly detailed shots with impressive depth of field. The default Leica Authentic style brings more natural colors than on other Xiaomi phones. However, the automatically brighter photos taken by its 32MP front camera spoil a bit of the natural look.
Bringing video recording to another level, the 13 Ultra can record 8K video at 24fps and 4K at 60fps.
Specs
Dimensions: 163.18 x 74.64 x 9.06mm
Weight: 227g
Resolution: 1440 x 3200
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Price: AED 5,409
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Courtesy of Apple
Apple’s new iPhone has taken a great leap forward in the camera department compared to its old models. It swapped the 12MP main sensors with a new 48MP main sensor. Meanwhile, it also has a 12MP ultrawide camera and a 12MP telephoto camera that offers 5X optical zoom, even in portrait mode.
There’s a clear improvement in its handling of very bright light. Shots are detailed and shop while the macro mode allows you to capture great details.
Many cite that Apple says the iPhone 15 Pro models have “seven lenses.” That’s one way to put it, but you can also say that about all the phones mentioned here. There are the denoted “24mm, 28mm, and 35mm” lenses, which are parallel to 1X, 1.2X, and 1.5X zoom. There’s also an ultrawide camera, a macro camera, and the 3X and 5X zooms. Apple claims that these numbers are more than the digital zoom we draw a parallel here because they are using a new image-processing mechanism to create sharp images.
Specs
Dimensions: 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.3mm
Weight: 221g
Resolution: 1290 x 2796
CPU: A17 Pro
Price: Starting at AED 4,899
OPPO Find X7 Ultra
Courtesy of OPPO
Like the Xiaomi Ultra 13, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra also closely resembles a camera just by its appearance.
Nicknamed the “camera with a phone”, Oppo’s latest Find X7 Ultra is the first smartphone to feature two periscope zoom cameras.
Similar to Xiaomi’s Ultra 13, the Find X7 Ultra also has four powerful 50MP lenses. The main lens boasts a 1-inch Sony LYT-900 sensor, an f/1.8 aperture, and a 23-mm focal length. The ultrawide packs a Sony LYT-600 sensor, an f/2.0 aperture, and a 14-mm focal length, and can focus on subjects as close as 4cm. One of the two periscope lenses offers 3X optical zoom with a Sony IMX890 sensor while the other offers 6X optical zoom with a Sony IMX858 sensor.
The phone has two “pro-grade” Hasselblad modes as part of the brand’s partnership with camera specialists Hasselblad. The Hasselblad Portrait Mode recreates a portrait shot style that echoes those of classic Hasselblad cameras, producing cinematic bokeh with a beautiful depth of field. The Hasselblad Master Mode is a shooting mode that matches the Hasselblad X2D 100C camera with a host of manual controls. While the color is natural and the details are sharp during the daytime, the outcomes during nighttime are also impressively detailed with little noise.
The front camera uses a 32MP f/2.4 lens for selfies and video calls. All five cameras can shoot video in 4K at up to 60 fps.
Specs
Dimensions: 164.3 x 76.2 x 9.5 mm
Weight: 221g
Resolution: 1440 x 3168
Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm)
Price: Starting at AED 4,599
