Best Camera Phone 2021

With so many different phone cameras from multiple manufacturers, how do you decipher which is the best camera phone 2021?

Looking at my earlier article, ‘Best Low Light Low Phone Camera, some of my findings here are in some ways similar; however, I wanted to go a step further and look into the specifications of the selected smartphones and provide a more detailed review. Before we begin, let me share some of the standout specifications across the models.

Best Camera Phone 2021

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

I admit that as an owner of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, I may be a little bias. Having said that, there is a lot to like about the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Also, having been a Samsung user for over ten years, there is nothing wrong with a bit of brand loyalty.

The Galaxy S20 is available in several models, but for the purposes of this article, I will stick to the flagship Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G.

The galaxy S20 Ultra is heavier than what I’m used to at 220 grams (7.83oz) and it is larger than any phone I’ve previously owned at 6.9 inches, 114.0 cm².

Galaxy S20 Ultra Specs

I enjoy using the Galaxy S20 and its camera features. I really liked the long battery life from the 5000 mAh battery which enabled the phone to remain powered up for 24 hours without charging, this is ideal if you are an outdoors person like me.

In deciding which camera phone is best, Android users should take a look at the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Google Pixel 4 Camera Specs

When the Google Pixel 4 first came out, reviewers raved about the camera and said that it saved what was an otherwise flawed phone.

This suggests that those in need of a high-end phone camera should check this out. It is immediately clear that you don’t get as many lenses on this camera as you do on some of the “Pro” models in other brands.

However, the Google Pixel 4 camera specs for the lenses and software show that quality is better than quantity.

For the Pixel 4, Google added a telephoto lens.

One of the ways that this smartphone camera stands out from some of the others on the market is the choice to focus on the telephoto lens.

Many of the other brands, like iPhone and Huawei, decided to go for wider shots rather than close-ups. The idea is that the second lens improves the portrait mode and improves focus. The Google camera lets you zoom in and take sharp portraits with little distortion on the final image thanks to the Super Res Zoom.

There are a few small technical differences between the two lenses. The main rear camera is 16MP with a 1.0-pixel width, f/2.4 aperture and a 52-degree field of view.

The secondary lens has 12.2MP with a 1.4-pixel width, f/1.7 aperture and 77-degree field of view. There is also a front-facing camera and while this isn’t as sharp and impressive, it does the job pretty well.

This is only 8MP, so weaker than the competition, with a 1.22-pixel width, f/2.0 aperture and 90-degree field of view. In addition to this, both of the rear cameras have autofocus and optical and electronic image stabilization. The main camera also has a spectral and flicker sensor.

The Pixel 4, may not have many lenses – but it has some great software.

The two key reasons why this phone receives so many great reviews when it has so few lenses is the quality of the tech and the user experience. There is great software here to create impressive portraits and night time shots.

The Night Sight feature brings clarity and a realistic tone to low-light shots. You can shoot without the flash for realistic tones. Portraits are sharpened nicely with minimal blurring and there is also the Frequent Faces tech that learns the faces of your more frequent subjects and captures the image when they are smiling and not blinking.

There is also a new, uncluttered interface when taking the photos, which many users will appreciate, as well as a smooth display for the camera reel. It is easy to scroll through, zoom in and appreciate your work.

The Google Pixel camera specs are still some of the best

There may be fewer lenses here but the two rear lenses work together brilliantly to enhance the photo capture and user experience.

You can create great portraits and night shots with fine detail and a simple process. It is a professional specification with attention to detail in a user-friendly system.

The Pixel 5 is available but Pixel users may still want to consider the Pixel 4 when deciding which camera phone is best due to the lower cost.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Camera Specs

When the new range of iPhone 11 models burst onto the scene, a lot of the focus for tech reviewers and consumers fell on the array of camera lenses on the back. Apple decided to spoil us by offering as much as possible crammed into the top left corner of the device.

They promised us a redesigned camera experience. But, what can you actually do with all of those cameras? Here are the iPhone 11 camera specs to help you get started.

The iPhone 11 Pro camera has three different camera lenses for different applications.

This Apple phone gives you the option to take a much wider shot with an ultra-wide lens in addition to the standard wide-angle. The ultra-wide lens takes the aperture from f/1.8 to f/2.4 with a 120-degree field of view. This is perfect for those wide group shots where you’re trying to cram everyone in or those vast panoramas.

The camera also gives this a 2x optical zoom and a 5x digital zoom so you can still get up close with the wide lens. Both cameras are 12MP. Then there is the all-important selfie camera on the front of the phone. This camera should offer the same quality for these images as those taken from the back and can be rotated to take wider-angle selfies than before.

The software for the cameras improves your chances of capturing the perfect image.

Of course, photography with an iPhone is as much about the software behind the lenses as the quality of the lenses themselves. Key features in this iPhone 11 camera specification include the Portrait and Night modes.

The bokeh system, depth control, red-eye correction, and stabilization all help with sharper, interesting portraits. The Night mode is clear and sharp and easier to use. The front-facing camera has a video recording mode with 4K 60p capabilities, slow-motion and TrueDepth image capture.

The cameras also benefit from auto adjustments for the best result, a True Tone flash, geotagging on the photos and Smart HDR. There is a lot to learn here and there will be regular software updates that can tweak the response of the phone and its capabilities.

But what about the 3rd camera lens?

Now, if you have been watching the ads for Apple’s new phones or seen plenty of social media influencers showing off their new tech, you may have seen a third lens. This is because the 11 Pro has an additional lens compared to the “standard” iPhone 11. The 12MP telephoto portrait lens is exclusive to this model. This is worth remembering if photographic capabilities are high on your priorities list when choosing a phone.

The iPhone 11 camera offers more than previous generations.

The iPhone 11 Pro may have that third lens but the standard iPhone 11 camera specs still have plenty to offer users. Each of the three cameras has its own purpose and software for a different experience. It may take some time to learn what it can do. However, automation and design mean that this is a pretty user-friendly smartphone camera.

Google Pixel 3 Spec

Camera specification for the Google Pixel 3:

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Spec

Camera specifications for the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus:

Apple iPhone XS Spec

Camera specification for the Apple iPhone XS:

Honor View 20 Spec

Camera Specification for the Honor View 20:

Galaxy Note 9 Spec

Camera specification for the Galaxy Note 9:

The models that stood out in my previous article still stand out to this day. What differs since the last article was the United States ban on Huawei. While it has previously had a mention, the US government decided Huawei would no longer be a competitor here, this is why I’m leaving the Huawei P30 Pro out of the mix.

The Google Pixel 3, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Apple iPhone XS, Honor View 20 and Galaxy Note 9 are the models I’ll look at, but overall do they rank the same for low light photography? More specifically, though is how would they rate for general photography or macro, landscape or portraits?

Overall, phone cameras offer extraordinary quality, especially if you are paying a premium price. It’s hard these days to get a lemon, but how can you trust what you are paying for will turn out to be a great phone camera?

To begin with, I’ll take you through my thought process and how I decide; First, you should bring up the manufacturer specifications and compare the technical information. For the majority of people out there these numbers are just jargon, but hopefully, by reading through this article, you can learn what the data means and in turn help you master phone photography. After all, it’s why I created this site.

So, without further ado, let’s jump in an look at what each of the listed phone cameras will be like for general photography.

Which 2021 Camera Phone Is Best For General Photography

Several specifications are essential factors to consider for general purpose photography. ISO, physical aperture, megapixels and pixel micrometres (µm) are worth comparing. Each specification has a specific part to play, I’ll go into these in more detail, but let’s start with ISO.

ISO for General Photography

ISO is a critical factor in determining how sensitive a phone camera’s sensor is to light. The lower the specification, most commonly benchmarked at ISO 50, the better the camera performs in image quality than those which contain a higher ISO in bright daylight conditions.

Looking across the rear cameras across the models, Google’s Pixel 3 maintains ISO 50 along with both Samsung models and the Honor View 20. Something surprising though is Apple’s ability to manipulate the image so that it produces little deterioration in quality for general photography.

The iPhone 11 Pro and XS have an impressive ISO at 24! What this means for your photography is the images are going to be much cleaner in terms of artificial noise when photographing in low light and bright situations. Apple is, therefore, a natural stand out winner for ISO – or is it?

Physical Aperture for General Photography

Let’s take into account some other specifications before we conclusively call a winner. How about we continue onto the physical aperture of the rear camera?

To explain aperture, all you need to do is look at your finger in front of your face. With both eyes open, focus on your finger, and you will notice the background becomes blurred. Following this, now focus on the background while keeping your finger in the same position. Notice your finger now becomes blurred while the background remains sharp?

What’s happening here is your eyes are determining the amount of subject in focus. The bits that are out of focus are referred to as ‘bokeh’. When looking at phone cameras, the lenses’ aperture does the same thing as what you would have seen with your finger.

Aperture is measured in strange numbers called ‘f-stop’, like f1.2, f1.4, f1.8, f2, f2.8, f4, f8. These numbers represent how much blur you can obtain in either the foreground or background of a photo (like in the example of your finger).

The smaller the number, the larger the opening of the lens. The benefit of a lower number is you get more significant blur in the foreground or background, making your photos look way more professional than the rest. This is commonly referred to as having the greatest depth of field. In summary, what’s best is a smaller aperture as you will get more professional photos with a greater depth of field.

Turning our attention to the list of smartphone rear cameras the apertures range from the following;

As you can see the Samsung’s stand out as the clear winners with an aperture of f1.5. Now when adding in the ISO sensor sensitivity, Apple no longer stands as a clear winner. It is at this point you have to understand that there is no such thing as the ‘perfect’ camera. Each model may offer a higher specification in one area than the other, so instead, we should find the best average balance based on the specification and that meets our requirements.

Taking this new thinking into account and weighing up the ISO and rear camera physical aperture, the clear winners are both Samsung models, then the Google Pixel 4, and then a bunch of the others.

Megapixels for General Photography

Megapixels is another specification I look at carefully to determine what phone camera is best. What the word megapixel means is 1,000,000,000 physical pixels. Each of these individual pixels is positioned in rows on the rectangular image sensor.

These pixels are essentially what capture your image; the ISO is how sensitive these pixels become to light. If you were to keep zooming into each part of the image, you would notice individual pixels. Therefore the higher the pixel count, the more the picture looks like it has more detail. The drawback is that each pixel needs to be tiny and therefore less sensitive to light.

Now that we understand megapixels, let’s take a look at how many megapixels each phone camera has.

12.2 megapixels is what Google rate their Pixel 3 at; it’s slightly more than what you see on the others (The Honor View 20 says 48 megapixels in the official specifications, but it uses a degrading algorithm called pixel binning to create an output of 12 megapixels).

Across the models, there doesn’t seem to be any significant stand out the difference. Looking back at the running commentary of the best phone camera for 2019, I believe the 0.2-megapixel increase from the Google Pixel 3 raises it’s level slightly.

Ultimately though, the Samsung models and Apple iPhone XS remain contenders for the best phone cameras for general photography and landscape. The Galaxy S20 Ultra and its 108 megapixels is the clear winner for pixel count.

Pixel Micrometres (µm) for General Photography

Pixel micrometers (µm) is most likely the geekiest specification out there. Not many people understand why it’s essential, so let me attempt to give you the quick definition. Pixel micrometers is one of the most critical factors in determining how a phone camera performs when gathering light. There you go, simple right? Let me explain further.

µm is calculated based on the size of the sensor and each photodetector on the sensor. The larger the µm combined with a larger sensor equals more light captured – ideally making the phone camera better at capturing light.

Now the technical speak is clear; let’s explore what µm each smartphone offers.

Looking across the line up of phone cameras, the Google Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus are the same when it comes to the µm and sensor size. I have included the Galaxy S10 Plus with Google’s specification, but something to note is the Samsung loses out if you zoom in or out as the images record on lower density sensors. The µm drops to 1.0µm on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

Comparing micrometers may seem such a small specification, but when combined with a large sensor such as the Google Pixel 3’s 1/2.55″ dual-pixel sensor in all focal lengths, the results stand out, which is why you will find Google’s smartphone topping our list for general photography in our running commentary.

Now the Google Pixel 3 has established its place as the best phone camera for 2019 for general photography what about for specialized photography modes?

Which 2021 Camera Phone Is Best For Macro and Portrait Photography

Macro and portrait photography requires a similar specification to achieve exceptional results. While megapixels always play a part what the crucial ingredient is the lens’s aperture. Being able to control the depth of field and how much of a subject remains in focus is key to isolating the subject from the background in other words obtaining the professional look.

Looking back at the difference in f stops on lenses across the models, both Samsung models stand out as the winner. But, you have to ask yourself what the visual distinction of f1.5 to f1.8 is?

There isn’t much difference. The only noticeable difference will be in low light when there isn’t much light around. With the three models in question sharing the same lowest ISO, an f1.5 aperture will let in more light than f1.8.

This could make a slight difference in a photo that’s sharp compared to the one that’s blurred. So realistically, either of these three models would do a great job at capturing a portrait; however, I would rule out the Galaxy Note 9 as the sensor size is smaller than that of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (without zooming) and Google Pixel 3. The Galaxy S20 Ultra takes the first prize again with the largest sensor and f/1.8 lens.

Which Camera Phone Is Best For Landscape Photography

Landscape photography requires all of the same features as I have outlined in this article, but also one other element. The focal length of the lens needs to be wider than the others to capture an entire scene. The focal length is the angle of view a lens can see; it’s measured in mm to make things even more confusing! To put it another way, the smaller the mm, the wider the lens, meaning you can capture more of the scene. As an example, 12mm is wider than 18mm and therefore can capture more mountains in our hypothetical example.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and S10 Plus stand out with an ultra-wide-angle 13mm focal length. So if you are after a phone camera that can capture entire travel and landscape scenes and you aren’t interested in obtaining the highest quality, then this is the smartphone for you.

The reason why you won’t get the highest quality is due to the focal length recording process on a smaller sensor and not the primary sensor. All in all, though, Samsung does take amazing images so if you do decide to go for one of these over the Google Pixel 4, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Which Camera Phone Is Best For Video

Finally, moving onto video, the other essential function of phone cameras in 2019. With such high-quality video available in the palm of your hand, it is no wonder that YouTube sees records broken with video uploads.

Determining the quality of the video of the primary camera is a two-step process. Resolution and frame rate are the two factors that determine the quality of the video. So for the final time, let’s break down the models and take a look at the specifications.

UHD Video Quality

Looking at 4K video across the five models each record at 2160 (4K) in resolution but only two differ in frame rate. Frame rate is essential for slow motion and realism in a video. The standard frame rate for video is 25 frames, but the majority of manufacturers have adopted 30 frames per second as it looks more realistic than 25 frames per second on television.

The two models which stand out as the highest resolutions with the greatest frame rate are the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and Galaxy Note 9. The downfall of these frame rates is storage space, so make sure you have a substantial memory card to record your footage otherwise the internal memory on your phone will fill up in a year if you record video every day.

HD Video Quality

If you are interested in recording HD video, then Galaxy S20 Ultra and Apple iPhone’s are no doubt the best in class. With an impressive frame rate selection, particularly at Full HD, slow motion is on another level. With the iPhone XS, you can record your footage at 5x (120 fps) or 6x (240 fps) slower than real life. The results from this feature are extraordinarily in quality. Although the phone records in 4K at 60 frames per second, it’s now considered an industry standard, with the added super slow motion frame rates at Full HD, it makes the iPhone XS an excellent video camera for serious consideration.

Conclusion

Smartphones seem to be at the peak of development. With multiple camera arrays being the newest race, it’s hard to determine what is going to be the best. However, if you take a step back and look at the primary camera along with other multiple specifications including sensor size, pixel micrometers, megapixels and resolution, then deciding which one averages as the best phone camera for 2019 is a whole lot easier.

What we were able to determine was the best phone camera in the following categories;

Best ISO Performance for General Photography

Category Winner: Apple iPhone 11

Close Contenders: Google Pixel 4, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy Note 9 and Honor View 20.

Best Physical Aperture for General Photography

Category Winners: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy Note 9

Close Contenders: Google Pixel 4 and Apple iPhone 11

Highest Megapixels for General Photography

Category Winner: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Close Contenders: Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy Note 9 and Apple iPhone XS

Best Pixel Micrometres (µm) for General Photography

Category Winner: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Close Contenders: Google Pixel 4

Best In Phone Camera 2020 for Macro and Portrait Photography

Category Winners: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Close Contenders:  Google Pixel 3 and Galaxy Note 9

Best Camera Phone Landscape Photography

Category Winner: Samsung Galaxy S20 ultra

Close Contenders: Honor View 20 and Galaxy Note 9

Best Camera Phone Video Recording in UHD

Category Winner: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Close Contenders: Google Pixel 4, Apple iPhone 11, Honor View 20

Best Camera Phone Video Recording in HD

Category Winner: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Close Contenders: iPhone 11 Pro

Therefore, understanding the running commentary throughout this article, it’s hard not to see familiar names featuring across the categories. Taking into account the category winners, the overall phone you might think stands out as the best phone camera for 2019 is the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

This listing isn’t accurate though when you look at the best performing phone across all categories. In this case, I would have to say the best phone camera for 2019 is the Google Pixel 3.

Which Camera Phone Is Best Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

The release of the Galaxy S20 ultra introduced a new step in smartphone photography and video. 108MP images, 100 times zoom and 8K video features are far in advance of other main smartphone manufacturers. The Galaxy S20 Ultra also introduced a 5G option future-proofing it on telecoms networks.

The only downside of the Galaxy S20 is its hefty price tag, but this seems to be the way flagship smartphones are going. An is somewhat understandable when considering the new technology developed for flagship phones. Even so, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is the best phone camera on the market today.

There is also a Google Pixel 4 XL that has a similar camera spec but has a larger battery and a larger screen. The reason the Pixel 4 XL is not our winner is due to the additional $150 price tag for the same camera spec. However, if you need the extra battery power or the larger screen and you don’t mind the extra cost, it’s certainly worth considering.

Hopefully, I have been able to take you on a journey to learn what some of the specifications mean and help you decipher what to look for. Over the next few years, I think we will see significant improvements in processing power and sensor design, which will again change my analysis in determining which phone camera is the best. Until then, enjoy your photography on whatever phone camera you decide to hold.