The Best Camera Smartphones

The time of digital compact cameras is over. Smartphone cameras and their sensors as well as the corresponding miniature lenses, but especially the picture editing software have improved so much by now, that smartphone cameras can easily replace average compact cameras. At least the best smartphones, because there are still big differences in terms of picture quality.

For this reason, we have this list of the best photo smartphones that are particularly well-suited for taking photos, and that have scored exceptionally well in this category in our tests. You will also find a photo comparison at the end of this article. Please also consider the following top lists before making any purchasing decisions:

Pos.	Date	Camera	Rating	Model	Height	Weight	Size	Resolution
1	11/2020 Neu	85 %	90 %	Huawei Mate 40 Pro HiSilicon Kirin 9000 ARM Mali-G78 MP24 8 GB Memory, 256 GB	9.1 mm	212 g	6.76"	2772x1344
2	07/2020	84 %	89 %	Huawei P40 Pro Plus HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G ARM Mali-G76 MP16 8 GB Memory, 512 GB	9 mm	226 g	6.58"	2640x1200
3	04/2020	83 %	89 %	Huawei P40 Pro HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G ARM Mali-G76 MP16 8 GB Memory, 256 GB	8.95 mm	209 g	6.58"	2640x1200
4	03/2019	81 %	88 %	Huawei P30 Pro HiSilicon Kirin 980 ARM Mali-G76 MP10 8 GB Memory, 256 GB UFS 2.1	8.41 mm	192 g	6.47"	2340x1080
5	12/2020 Neu	80 %	89 %	Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Apple A14 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic GPU 6 GB Memory, 128 GB NVMe	7.4 mm	228 g	6.70"	2778x1284
6	09/2020	80 %	89 %	Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra Samsung Exynos 990 ARM Mali-G77 MP11 12 GB Memory, 256 GB	8.1 mm	208 g	6.90"	3088x1440
7	10/2019	79 %	86 %	Samsung Galaxy Fold Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Qualcomm Adreno 640 12 GB Memory, 512 GB	6.9 mm	276 g	7.30"	2152x1536
8	04/2020	78 %	88 %	Samsung Galaxy S20+ Samsung Exynos 990 ARM Mali-G77 MP11 8 GB Memory, 128 GB	7.8 mm	188 g	6.70"	3200x1440
9	04/2020	78 %	88 %	OnePlus 8 Pro Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Adreno 650 12 GB Memory, 256 GB	8.5 mm	199 g	6.78"	3168x1440
10	04/2020	77 %	87 %	Huawei P40 HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G ARM Mali-G76 MP16 8 GB Memory, 128 GB	8.5 mm	175 g	6.10"	2340x1080

The table above contains an overview over the best camera smartphones reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.

Link: all devices in this class reviewed

Editors' Comments

As expected, both the Mate 40 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max made this list.

1st – Huawei Mate 40 Pro

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro's triple-camera array consists of a 23 mm wide angle with a sensor that we have already encountered in the P40 Pro, an 18 mm ultra-wide angle, and a 125 mm periscope camera. The latter translates into 5x optical zoom and is stabilized by an OIS. Digital zoom peaks at 50x. The ultra-wide angle sensor is brand-new and unlike its predecessor’s no longer utilizes pixel-binning. Instead, it features 1.6 µm large pixels.

The Mate 40 Pro achieved good or very good results on all lenses, and we were particularly impressed by the potent ultra-wide angle sensor. Our only gripe was the missing optical image stabilization for the wide-angle lens that is only available on the Plus model.

2nd – Huawei P40 Pro+

The Plus version of Huawei's P40 Pro is a well-made fine-tuned device. In addition to a larger internal storage and a ceramic backside it also supports wireless charging with up to 40 W. The camera was also upgraded, which is unmistakably obvious by the existence of a fourth lens. While the main camera, the ultra-wide angle, and the depth sensor are identical to its sibling the P40+’s zoom capabilities have been improved significantly. Thanks to a periscope zoom, the P40+ supports 10x optical, 20x hybrid, and 100x digital zoom. In addition, it also features a 3x optical zoom with the same OIS that can be found on all other lenses.

The penta-camera array performed very well in our test regardless of lighting conditions and offers enhanced versatility thanks to its improved zoom. The cameras are furthermore supported by smart software features that are capable of removing glare or other people in the background if so desired.

3rd – Huawei P40 Pro

The Huawei P40 Pro features a quad-camera with a brand-new 50 MP sensor, which just so happened to be the largest camera sensor in any smartphone at the time of writing. Unlike Huawei’s main Korean competitor, the Chinese manufacturer prefers larger pixels to jamming as many of those tiny pixels as possible into a photo, mainly in order to improve low-light photo quality. The secondary ultra wide angle lens features a 40 MP sensor, the same that was already included in the Mate and is not just the smartphone’s main sensor for video recordings but also allows for great panoramas. Further sensors include a 5 MP periscope zoom with 10x hybrid and 50x digital zoom, and final sensor for depth of field information. All three photo sensors feature optical image stabilization.

In our test, the P40 Pro’s quad camera took great photos regardless of lighting conditions, and its zoom made it even more versatile than ever. The cameras are supported in software by very clever and useful features, such as for example an algorithm to reduce reflections or one that allows you to remove people in the background.

4th - Huawei P30 Pro

The Leica quad-camera of the Huawei P30 Pro consists of four lenses: one ultra wide-angle (16 mm, f/2.2, 20 MP), the main camera (27 mm, f/1.6, 40 MP, 1/1.7" sensor, RYYG filter, OIS), one tele lens (125 mm, f/3.4, 8 MP, OIS), and the TOF camera. The main camera also offers a 10x hybrid zoom (270 mm) as well as a seamless 50x digital zoom (up to 1,343 mm). The Huawei P30 Pro offers an unbelievable range of focal length and is currently the most flexible camera in a smartphone.

The picture quality is really good and can beat the competition clearly, especially in low-light situations. The P30 also captures a lot of light in video recordings, but this affects the picture quality noticeably.

The previous models Huawei P20 Pro and the smaller P20 smartphone or its successor P30, respectively, are also strong alternatives.

5th – Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

When compared to its predecessor, the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max's camera updates seem fairly minor at first glance. It continues to feature a triple-camera array consisting of a wide-angle, an ultra-wide angle, and a telephoto lens each with a 12 MP sensor behind them. Zoom has been improved slightly to now 2.5x . Its special trick, however, is not the built-in LiDAR sensor but its new optical image stabilization technology. Instead of stabilizing the lens it now magnetically stabilizes the sensor itself, which is supposed to improve low-light photography and videos.

Generally speaking Apple’s iPhone offers a well-balanced and flexible camera producing very good to look at photos.

6th – Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s triple-camera features the exact same 108 MP sensor that we already encountered in the Galaxy S20 Ultra but with a vastly improved autofocus. The ultra-high-resolution camera is furthermore accompanied by a good ultra-wide-angle lens as well as a 5x optical zoom. In direct comparison with Huawei’s king of the hill its 50x digital zoom performed even better.

All things considered the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra offers a good camera with an overzealous HDR feature and noticeable sharpening applied during post-processing. In return, its video feature with support for 8K was excellent.

7th - Samsung Galaxy Fold

Contrary to some other Galaxy S or Galaxy Note model, the most expensive Samsung smartphone is not equipped with a quad, but only a triple-camera. The specs are very similar to the Galaxy S10+ and both offer an additional ultra wide-angle as well as a telephoto.

The picture quality is on par with the Galaxy S10+, and the naked eye can only notice slight color differences. The rating is a bit lower for the Samsung Galaxy Fold because the sample pictures show slightly more unnatural colors.

8th – Samsung Galaxy S20+

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ features a quad camera with a rather spartan 12 MP main sensor. However, right next to it is the zoom lens with a whopping 64 MP and a 30x zoom. Further lenses include an ultra wide angle and a depth of field sensor.

Photo quality was decent overall, but the smartphone’s zoom features where incapable of keeping up with its competitors. Nevertheless, the camera setup offered by Samsung is not half bad and offers a very balanced mix of lenses and sensors.

9th – OnePlus 8 Pro

The OnePlus 8 Pro's quad-camera features, among other things, two 48 MP sensors, one of which is equipped with an ultra-wide angle lens. It is furthermore equipped with a 3x hybrid zoom as well as a color filter lens. The built-in macro mode allows for a object distance of just 3 cm (1.2 inches). All things considered the photos turned out good but not great. Nevertheless, the camera’s usability spectrum is very wide.

Videos are recorded in UHD with up to 60 FPS, and you can choose between a 16:9 and a wider 21:9 aspect ratio. Autofocus was decent overall, but we did notice some pumping occasionally.

10th – Huawei P40

The Huawei P40’s triple camera features the exact same main sensors as the P40 Pro but differs in all other lenses and sensors. In the P40’s case they are a 16 MP ultra wide angle as well as an 8 MP zoom lens, which offers a 3x optical, a 5x hybrid, and a 30x digital zoom and happens to be the only lens supported by optical image stabilization.

In our test the Huawei smartphone performed very well under all lighting conditions as long as you restricted yourself to the main camera. The other two were nowhere near as light sensitive, and photo quality quickly deteriorated in low-light situations.

Top 10 Camera Smartphones Picture Comparison

Huawei Mate 40 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro+

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

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The Best Camera Smartphones