20 best smartphones with a good camera

No matter how much the Motorola brand fans scold Lenovo, its concept of modularity is much more practical than LG solutions. Mods change elementary, without turning off the smartphone and other "dances with a tambourine." You need a powerful sound - you attach the JBL column, the battery sits down - you take out the battery cover, you have turned up an interesting story - the Hasselblad True Zoom photo module will allow you to capture it in all its glory. Actually, Moto Z and he can do it well. But one thing is the matrix with elements of 1.12 microns, and the other with 1.55. Plus, another 10x optical zoom, a wide range of adjustment of the aperture, a powerful xenon flash or the ability to save the result in an uncompressed format. Of course, this pleasure is not cheap, but a more practical option for amateur photographers is not easy to pick up.

By the way, with the help of decorative linings, the appearance of the smartphone changes to suit every taste. And now there are several types and colors. Including leather, wood, fabric and plastic. Finally, for car owners, a fastening module with a fast recharging function may be of considerable interest.

Developing this model, the manufacturer decided to use the far from the most common scheme for constructing a dual main camera. Instead of the usual tandem of modules with “normal” and long-focus / wide-angle optics or a combination of RGB / monochrome, the Mi A2 smartphone was equipped with sensors with different light sensitivity. Note that this is a fairly simple and effective way to improve the quality of shooting in adverse conditions. Naturally, detailing in the dark suffers somewhat, he does not provide an optical zoom or a wealth of shades of black and white photos, but he copes with his main task successfully. Well, along the way, it allows you to blur the background, and there are no manual settings for the portrait mode - full automatic. Recall also that the feature of the Mi A * line is work on a “pure” Android. In addition, the recommended phone does not allow the use of memory cards.

A good inexpensive cameraphone with 4-axis optical stabilization, an honest 2-fold zoom, a very decent modern filling and a spectacular design in glass. Immediately we warn you - when choosing Mi Note 3, you should be ready for a meticulous study of the profile branches of well-known forums and experiments with installing alternative applications for the camera. Of course, if you are interested in maximizing the potential of this phone. The fact is that in the normal state, the images are obtained with a noticeable overexposure, and the consequences of the aggressive work of the shumodava are associated with clay. Naturally, we are talking about shooting in conditions of lack of light - otherwise everything is fine with the quality of photos. However, there are enough owners who are completely satisfied with the results of the pictures “in stock”.

This model can only be called a camera phone conditionally, and it got into our review due to the presence of an advanced “night” shooting mode. The essence of the latter is that the Honor 8X automatics takes a series of shots and tries to “assemble” one of them, as clear and detailed as possible. If you fix the smartphone for about five seconds, this trick succeeds. If we recall the excellent implementation of the digital zoom, the conclusion suggests itself - the software algorithms for the main camera of the phone really worked well. It is also worth noting that photo-abilities and close are not the strength of the Honor 8X. It takes to others: premium appearance, productive filling (including in the game sense), support for contactless payment technology, a capacious rechargeable battery, and a separate slot for a memory card, finally.

If the 3T version was really perceived as an improvement of the base model, then the 5T is already a completely different smartphone, which could be called differently. The larger screen diagonal, the changed ratio of its sides, the moved scanner and the new chamber formula are quite weighty arguments “for”, isn't it? The main module is now very strange, with the same focal length and aperture, but different resolution of the sensors. Those. The phone does not have an optical zoom, but the quality of shooting in difficult conditions has slightly improved. It is interesting that different sensors are used in different modes of operation. Compared with the first generations, the latest OnePlus do without optical stabilization, which does not prevent them from showing good results. However, in the process of shooting, everything looks awful (on the screen), but the final material is almost devoid of shaking and jerking.

If a good camera is your priority, but there is not enough money for a photoflagman, pay attention to the smartphone HTC U11 EYEs. The smartphone has the same basic module as the older models of the U11 line, and according to the authoritative resource DxOMark, today it is one of the best on the market. Among its technical advantages are large pixels, impressive aperture and optical stabilization. It is unlikely that anyone will argue that the second component of the quality of camera phones is the software used, but with HTC everything is fine. And the phone is able to decently shoot Slow Motion and 4K-video, as well as save photos in an uncompressed format. It is noteworthy that the U11 EYEs is positioned as a selfie solution and even has a dual front-facing camera. A weighty argument in favor of the smartphone being reviewed can be support for Edge Sense (control of the sidewall compression method) and Usonic (sound adjustment taking into account the peculiarities of the auricle structure). True, the implementation of the latest chips implies a USB connection of headphones, so the device does not have a classic audio jack.

First of all, the phone attracts attention by the fact that there are practically no new components in it, but there are decent results. For the camera part, this means using a pair of IMX258 sensors. In essence, these are components that are far from the flagship level, and the G6 model got into our rating of the best camera phones due to its next feature. If the most common “tandem” implies a conventional / television lens combination (respectively, a focal length of 26-29 / 56 mm), then the first company is a wide-angle module (16 mm). In other words, this smartphone is ideal for non-professional panoramic photography and allows you to capture both the interesting architectural ensemble and the interior of your imagination in its entirety without any problems. Well, returning to the above-mentioned decent results of the device, we note its compliance with the US military standard MIL-STD-810, elegant sound due to a separate four-channel DAC, progressive aspect ratio of the screen (18: 9) and the latter’s high resolution.

This model received a place in the ranking of the best smartphones with a good camera rather in terms of the total characteristics.Of course, first of all, it is interesting with an attractive price / performance ratio, but experts in the same DxOMark rated the photo-abilities of the Pocophone F1 smartphone quite high. With their cameras, the phone resembles another representative of the company in this category - Mi8. But the existing optical stabilization is not involved, the auxiliary sensor is used more simply (only to determine the depth of the scene), and we paid less attention to the specialized software. In principle, Pocophone F1's abilities roughly correspond to expectations: excellent shots in normal conditions and with a noticeable loss of detail in low light. Zoom, of course, purely digital. In addition to the powerful gaming potential, the recommended device is the presence of a sensitive flagship IR scanner identification system.

The following model is interesting in that it is a simplified version of the company's flagship device (ZS620KL). Moreover, the main differences of the chamber parts of these smartphones are more related to software. That is, if you have the desire, ZenFone 5 ZE620KL is easy to turn into a fairly advanced camera phone. Moreover, it is completely unnecessary to be a master of getting root-rights and replacing firmware, as far as Camera2API is supported by the phone. And the temptation is great. The mere possibility to save pictures in RAW is worth something. Well, the presence of 4-axis optical stabilization in this price range can not boast of every smartphone. Note also the ability to shoot video in 4K and 1080 @ 120 format. Another advantage of the recommended smartphone is the high-quality acoustic path, built on a steep 5-magnetic speaker with a clever resonant camera, and a well-thought-out energy saving system.

Fans of this brand have become accustomed to the fact that the OnePlus models with the 'T' index are noticeably more interesting than the "normal" versions in terms of photo capabilities. Unfortunately, the situation with the latest incarnation of the "killer flagships" is not so straightforward. In fact, the company practically left unchanged the constructive implementation of the cameras and focused on finalizing the corresponding software. For consultations, they even invited a famous professional photographer to help him “bring to mind” the “Studio Light” mode. The second feature of the camera is the Nightscape mode, the simplified analogue of which we considered above (with Xiaomi Mi A2). In general, the quality of shooting at OnePlus 6T has really grown, but whether it is worth hanging you a drop-shaped cut-out for the front-end, a fingerprint scanner built into the screen and an increased battery capacity. Specify that the new modes will be available for the first "six".

The chip of this smartphone, in addition to a good camera, is unrealistic high-quality sound, achieved with the help of the premium ESAP18 + DAC and professional tuning thereof. And the well-known company Bang & Olufsen was engaged in the last. As for the photo part, it could be just as “cool”, use the developers instead of the Sony IMX351 better sensor. You must admit that the combination of a 1/3 inch matrix with an f / 1.6 aperture looks very strange. Nevertheless, the abundance of settings for manual shooting mode, literally lightning-fast focusing, extremely accurate post-processing and high-precision glass optics save the situation and the V30 takes a worthy place in our ranking of the best camera phones. By the way, “plus” means just more internal memory. Unpleasant moment two. The first is that because of the small pixel, the quality of shooting in difficult conditions suffers. The second - the front camera of the smartphone class is clearly not consistent.

Samsung's first experience with a tandem of wide-angle and television cameras has been very successful. Most experts agree that the Galaxy Note 8 cameraphone has a very good zoom, providing high-quality images, even with an eight-fold increase in the picture. Naturally, with good lighting. To the above, you can add praise to the user interface of the camera part, as well as the presence of the HDR mode in front of the module. Well, the smartphone itself is damn good.This also applies to the good ergonomics of the device, despite its huge screen (6.3 inches), the electronic pen capable of recognizing 4,000 pressure levels and even “working” under water, and top filling that supports the most advanced standards and communications. Another thing is whether you need this whole set, which is attached to really great photo / video capabilities, because the cost of the last “laptop” is also impressive.

The first ever smartphone in the history of the Japanese manufacturer with a tandem main camera. Moreover, as an additional, the designers of the "premium" XZ2 decided to use a monochrome sensor in order to surely solve the problem with photosensitivity and they were completely successful. The ISO range of the camera is 100-51200 (when taking pictures), which is only twice as high as the Huawei P20 Pro records. In addition, the captured signals in XZ2 Premium are processed by a special image processor, and the indirect benefit of such a “strip” is the ability to see the expected result in real time. Of the nice features, we note consistently excellent sharpness even at the edges of the frame, a good ability to produce high quality backlit, confident work at night and readiness to write video in 4K HDR format. Of the unpleasant - unwillingness to save images in the RAW and poor location of the lenses.

Very difficult case for adequate evaluation. On the one hand, the camera part of this smartphone is “cool” and, in some places, innovative. The switchable diaphragm (f / 1.5 or f / 2.4) has not yet been put in the flagships, and the chip is definitely valuable. The same memory built into the photosensor allows not only to shoot video in a huge slowdown mode, but also provides a significant reduction in noise due to the operation of the Multiframe Noise Reduction technology (multi-frame averaging). On the other hand, manually the aperture switches only in PRO mode, the actual recording time at a speed of 960 fps is 0.184 seconds, video in 4K / 60 is written only 5 minutes, and at half the lower frame rate - 10. Finally, the corresponding software from Samsung is traditionally oriented to get beautiful pictures, often even to the detriment of realism. Well, with the white balance on the phone is not all right - there is a clear bias in warm colors.

Still relatively recently, iPhones were a priori considered to be the pinnacle of perfection in every sense, and fans of this brand argued with foaming at the mouth - if any chip in them is not implemented, it has no practical value. The changes that have occurred with the camera part of the XS line convincingly prove that the “apple” still has something to borrow from Android-smartphones. For example, the HDR + function, which appeared long ago in GCam (recall that this processing technology allows you to increase the dynamic range and detail of images when there is a lack of light). Or the ability to adjust the degree of blurring the background after shooting. Yes, take the same stereo sound when recording video. Well, how can you surpass competitors in terms of video quality and use only one sound track? Now all of the above is available for the iPhone XS, and we recommend the “maximum” version, based on the theoretical availability of two-part designs.

The camera phone from Google has received its 98 points rating DxOMark deservedly so. Virtually the only “discipline” in which Pixel 2 lags behind classmates is the bokeh effect. There is nothing surprising here, as far as using a single camera and software, it is very difficult to correctly estimate the depth of the scene, especially if there is a large number of small objects in it at different distances. For high-quality tandem implementations, smooth background blur is more accurate. Compared with the first generation of the pixel, the camera of the "two" has acquired optical stabilization. Rather, she added to the previously existing electronic and is now called a hybrid. Not to mention, and support for the latest service Google Lens. If in a nutshell - it allows you to identify information that gets into the camera lens. Starting from the text, and ending with the receipt of detailed descriptions of anything (theoretically). For example, plants, sculptures or monuments, books on the cover and so on.