Greatest digital camera telephones 2023: The highest selections we've examined and reviewed

We predict the iPhone 14 Professional is one of the best all-round digital camera telephone. It’s dependable in all situations, captures one of the best video out of some other telephone on this record, and boasts three distinct cameras for versatility, with every capturing completely different focal lengths.

Nonetheless, it’s not really one of the best digital camera telephone throughout each particular space. We a lot want the zoom expertise on the Galaxy S23 Extremely, for one factor, because it captures a a lot clearer general picture whenever you zoom in to a topic. However that mentioned, when taken as an entire, the iPhone 14 Professional comes out prime.

When it comes to the general spec of the digital camera {hardware}, the iPhone 14 Professional makes some drastic modifications to the system we’ve been aware of for various years. It’s the primary iPhone to maneuver on from the 12-megapixel sensor, change to a 48MP model for its important broad digital camera. This works in an identical technique to the S23 Extremely and others, binning down pictures to 12MP however utilising the bigger quantity pixels. You may shoot 48MP pictures if you need, however this can be a separate mode.

When in comparison with the Galaxy S23 Extremely and Oppo Discover X5 Professional, the pictures from the iPhone are somewhat extra reasonable and skins tones really feel extra pure. There’s some minor oversharpening on the iPhone, although for essentially the most half the picture processing churns out dependable pictures.

There’s a devoted Evening Mode for capturing in darker environment, and the results are nice, with loads of element retained and darkish spots stored principally freed from noise. That mentioned, it could nonetheless be good to have the ability to flip the Evening Mode on and off as you please, since with this telephone it simply bursts into life robotically when the digital camera can’t decide up sufficient mild. Evening Mode is way faster this yr and the 14 Professional is able to a few of the greatest evening pictures round.

The wonderful outcomes proceed after we have a look at video seize. Whereas it nonetheless doesn’t shoot video in the identical 8K decision because the S23 Extremely, the 4K seize we recorded was well-stabilised with out wanting faux, and packed the identical nice color replica because the photographs. The Cinematic Mode now helps 4K, and there’s a brand new Motion Mode that ups the stabilisation.

On prime of the digital camera itself, you’ll even be handled to good battery life, so that you received’t run out of juice on a busy capturing day, and a beautiful show to view the pictures again on.

Reviewer: Max Parker 

Full evaluate: iPhone 14 Professional evaluate

Whereas all of the cameras of Samsung’s top-end Galaxy S23 Extremely are of observe, its zooming prowess stays unmatched by the competitors. That’s notably true of the 10x optical zoom, which manages to seize a lot extra element than the digital zoom of the likes of the iPhone 14 Professional Max and Oppo Discover X5 Professional which had been comparatively blurrier in assessments.

There’s additionally a 3X zoom for portrait pictures and Samsung’s famed 100x area zoom that’s notably effectively suited to taking photographs of the moon – although admittedly not a lot else.

The primary 200-megapixel digital camera is one other huge purpose to go for the Galaxy S23 Extremely over the likes of the iPhone 14 Professional Max and Google Pixel 7 Professional. Utilizing 16-in-1 pixel binning tech, the telephone manages to seize vibrant, detailed pictures in each well-lit and low-light environments, with the latter representing an enormous step ahead in comparison with the already-capable S22 Extremely. It’s virtually easy to seize gorgeous pictures with the principle sensor.

It’s not simply {hardware} both; the digital camera app comes with a spread of capturing modes together with an upgraded Knowledgeable RAW mode that lets you seize RAW pictures at as much as 50 megapixels in addition to take long-exposure pictures of the evening sky. It’ll additionally document 8K video at 30fps at a wider angle than a lot of the competitors, excellent should you’re one of many few folks with an 8K TV to indicate it off on.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full evaluate: Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely evaluate

If you happen to’re purely wanting a telephone digital camera for stills pictures we expect the Pixel 7 Professional is the one to go for, identical to the Pixel 6 Professional earlier than it.

Whereas it disappoints a bit with video seize and lacks a few of the versatility of the iPhone 14 Professional or the S23 Extremely, the attractive pictures it captures are wealthy intimately and vibrancy and are essentially the most pleasing of all of the telephones on this record. The way in which it utilises HDR to stage out distinction and publicity is unbelievable, guaranteeing photographs taken on sunny days actually “pop”. We’ve taken lots of of snaps on the Pixel 7 Professional and really hardly ever get a dud.

Google’s Evening Mode stays sturdy – although not the quickest to seize – and does an incredible job at producing brilliant and detailed pictures in low mild.

The zoom expertise of this telephone are higher than the Oppo Discover X5 Professional and iPhone 14 Professional, however can’t examine to the S23 Extremely. Google’s software program can solely get you up to now, and the higher zoom {hardware} on the Samsung simply produces clearer pictures. It’s an identical story too for the ultrawide, which produces sufficient pictures that sit someplace within the center when it comes to high quality.

The Pixel 7 Professional additionally impressed our reviewer with its quite a few digital camera tips. Magic Eraser is even higher with the Tensor G2 chip, simply eradicating photobombers from photographs.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full evaluate: Pixel 7 Professional evaluate

Oppo has constantly impressed us with its telephones lately, with the agency’s ever-improving cameras being one of many greatest explanation why. The Discover X5 Professional disappoints with its zoom efficiency, but it surely boasts the strongest ultrawide digital camera we’ve examined.

Whereas different telephones on this record use inferior sensors for his or her ultrawides, the Discover X5 Professional makes use of the identical {hardware} for each the broad and ultrawide digital camera, providing you with far superior outcomes. Not solely are footage extra detailed with higher colors, however they lack the distorted edges and robust fish-eye impact we discovered on the S23 Extremely’s ultrawide digital camera.

That is the primary Oppo telephone to make use of the model’s personal MariSilicon X NPU and it helps the telephone have better management over the picture high quality. When in comparison with the outgoing Discover X3 Professional – which has very a lot the identical digital camera {hardware} – the pictures listed below are extra detailed, with nicer color replica. Low-light efficiency has vastly improved too.

Reviewer: Max Parker 

Full evaluate: Oppo Discover X5 Professional evaluate

In relation to low-light pictures, the Vivo X90 Professional is undoubtedly essentially the most succesful telephone available on the market proper now with some actually gorgeous low-light outcomes.

That’s largely all the way down to the inclusion of a 1-inch sensor and f/1.75 aperture with its important 50.3MP important digital camera which permits it to let in way more mild than the succesful iPhone 14 Professional Max and Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, and the outcomes are immediately noticeable.

Low-light pictures taken on the Vivo X90 Professional boast not solely extra mild than the competitors, however first rate element and color accuracy too.

Actually, Vivo’s claims that it may well take pictures with lower than 1 lux rings true in our expertise, with the flexibility to take a photograph of a backyard at 11pm with nothing greater than moonlight and make it seem like it was taken on a cloudy day. Some would possibly argue that it’s not true to life, and it’s definitely not, but it surely’s higher to have an excessive amount of mild than not sufficient for my part.

Apart from, the evening mode is cut up into two – commonplace and superior – that modifications the quantity of sunshine let into the lens. The previous gives one thing somewhat extra true to life whereas the latter produces one thing nearer to nighttime imaginative and prescient. You don’t want a tripod both, even when taking snaps of the celebrities.

It’s not simply centered on low mild although; the mixture of the principle 50.3MP sensor, a 12MP ultrawide and a 50MP 2X telephoto lens offers a flexible capturing expertise, although the 2X zoom does appear a bit restricted in comparison with most flagships available on the market.

Elsewhere, key specs together with a top-end Dimensity 9200 chipset, 5000mAh battery with 120W quick charging tech and a pixel-packed 6.78-inch AMOLED show make for a tempting flagship smartphone.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full Assessment: Vivo X90 Professional evaluate

The OnePlus 11 is a unbelievable all-rounder that hits virtually all of the factors anticipated of a flagship telephone in 2023, together with an incredible show, top-end efficiency, all-day battery life and an excellent digital camera. 

The smartphone has an attention-grabbing design with a barely sparkly end. On the entrance, there’s a 6.7-inch AMOLED display screen with a 2K decision, 120Hz refresh charge and LTPO 3.0 expertise, that means it may well drop as little as 1Hz to save lots of battery life on the always-on show. 

Flip the telephone round and also you’ll discover a triple digital camera, together with a 50-megapixel important sensor, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 32-megapixel telephoto lens. We discovered that the digital camera was able to spectacular color replica with 10-bit color, whereas HDR helped to sort out brilliant backlighting. 

Low-light efficiency is especially spectacular and you may even document video at 8K/24fps, although the reasonably aggressive crop signifies that most individuals will in all probability wish to persist with 4K/60fps. Likewise, the 16-megapixel selfie digital camera is nice sufficient for calls, however the 1080p restrict and lack of autofocus means we’d advocate utilizing the rear digital camera for video. 

The OnePlus 11 combines the flagship efficiency of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with its personal OxygenOS Android pores and skin, providing a extra user-friendly and intuitive expertise than software program from different Chinese language producers like Vivo’s FunTouchOS and Xiaomi’s MIUI. 

Widgets and music controls will be simply reached with the Shelf function and the telephone comes with 4 years of OS upgrades, that means you received’t want to fret about outdated software program this time subsequent yr. 

The OnePlus 11 additionally boasts an all-day battery life, and our reviewer was left with round 30% battery on the finish of every day. There’s assist for quick 100W quick charging, though wi-fi charging is unfortunately nowhere to be discovered. 

Whereas there are a variety of minor methods through which OnePlus might enhance this telephone, we’ve no main complaints after testing the OnePlus 11, making it among the finest all-rounders accessible proper now. 

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full Assessment: OnePlus 11 evaluate

Google’s Pixel line has constantly impressed us with its digital camera efficiency since we reviewed the primary technology Pixel all the best way again in 2016. Regardless of modifications in {hardware} this has largely been fueled by the road’s superior processing, which makes use of Google’s AI and machine studying to create greatest at school imaging high quality year-on-year, based mostly on our testing.

The Pixel 6a continues this legacy, however brings the model’s digital camera high quality to an atypically low worth level. The telephone options the identical rear digital camera setup because the common Pixel 6. It’s additionally powered by the identical Google-made Tensor chip, which lets it supply a couple of Pixel-specific options you possibly can’t get elsewhere. Probably the most helpful we’ve discovered is Magic Eraser, which helps you to use the 6a’s AI smarts to take away undesirable photobombers and parts out of your photograph in the principle digital camera app.

This plus the 6a’s small hand pleasant design and unbelievable picture processing powers let it ship unparalleled picture high quality that blew each different telephone we’ve examined out of the water when it got here to digital camera efficiency after we reviewed it.

Low mild photographs maintain higher distinction and stay noise free. Common photographs look reasonable, that includes impartial, correct colors and stay blissfully freed from the rookie errors we expertise on different telephones at this worth, like oversharpening. This earns it a spot on this record as our advisable digital camera telephone for patrons searching for one of the best worth choice.

Reviewer: Max Parker 

Full evaluate: Pixel 6a evaluate

Our decide for one of the best low-cost telephone is the Realme 9 Professional Plus, which prices lower than £350 but delivers wonderful photographic outcomes.

This mannequin is a big improve over the Realme 8 Professional because it contains the identical wonderful 50-megapixel important sensor that you simply’ll discover on the Oppo Discover X5 Professional. Pictures are remarkably clear and crisp in daylight, and whereas evening pictures can appear over-brightened they do nonetheless retain a formidable stage of readability that separates it from all different handsets at this worth level.

Admittedly the remaining sensors on the handset, specifically an 8-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and a 2-megapixel macro sensor, are simply bathroom commonplace and never something particular. However simply getting your palms on a flagship-level sensor at this worth is the cut price that makes this telephone price your consideration.

We reckon that you just received’t get a greater important digital camera efficiency for this worth.

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

Full evaluate: Realme 9 Professional Plus