Best camera phone

Main camera quality is the most heavily weighted criterion because the primary sensor handles the vast majority of photos taken on any smartphone. Sensor size, lens quality, dynamic range and colour accuracy all contribute to the final result.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max scores 10/10. Its 48MP main sensor sits on a 1/1.28-inch chip, one of the largest in any smartphone. Apple's colour pipeline produces images with natural saturation, accurate white balance and excellent dynamic range. Highlights are preserved without clipping, shadows retain detail without noise, and skin tones look genuinely flattering rather than artificially smoothed. The default 24MP output from pixel-binning strikes an ideal balance between detail and file size.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra scores 9/10. The 200MP sensor on a similarly sized 1/1.3-inch chip captures extraordinary detail at full resolution. However, Samsung's processing leans toward vivid, saturated output that can make greens look electric and skin tones slightly orange. The default 12MP pixel-binned mode produces excellent results, though the colour tuning remains punchier than Apple's natural approach. For landscape and architecture photography where vivid colours are desirable, Samsung often produces more impactful images straight from the camera.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro scores 9/10. Its 50MP sensor on a 1/1.31-inch chip produces detailed, contrasty images with Google's signature processing. Colours tend toward a slightly cooler, more contrasty look compared to Apple's warmer, neutral rendering. The Pixel excels at HDR scenes, intelligently balancing bright skies with shadowed foregrounds. Portrait mode edge detection is the most accurate of any phone.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI scores 8/10. Its 52MP 1-inch type sensor captures excellent detail with the most neutral, unprocessed look of the four. In automatic mode, images can appear slightly flat compared to the computational enhancement applied by Apple, Samsung and Google. However, shooting in RAW with the physical shutter button gives photographers complete control over the final result.

Low light performance is rated critical because some of the most important moments people photograph happen in challenging lighting: evening dinners, concerts, pubs, birthday celebrations and travel scenes at dusk.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max scores 9/10. Night mode activates intelligently and captures images that retain the atmosphere of the scene. A dimly lit pub looks warm and moody rather than artificially bright. The large sensor gathers plenty of light, and Apple's noise reduction preserves texture in fabrics and skin while smoothing noise in flat areas like walls and skies. The 5x telephoto also performs surprisingly well in low light thanks to the tetraprism design's optical stabilisation.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra also scores 9/10. Its Nightography processing produces bright, detailed low-light images, though the results tend to look more processed than the iPhone's. Samsung's approach brightens shadows more aggressively, which produces images that are technically impressive but sometimes lose the moody atmosphere of the original scene. The 200MP sensor's large pixel-binned output captures excellent detail in darkness.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro scores 9/10 and arguably produces the most impressive night mode images of any phone. Night Sight was the feature that made computational night photography mainstream, and it remains the benchmark. The Pixel captures extraordinary detail in near-darkness, though the results can look slightly processed with Google's characteristic contrast boost.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI scores 7/10. While the 1-inch type sensor gathers plenty of light, Sony's less aggressive computational processing means low-light images have more visible noise than the competition. Manual mode with a tripod produces excellent long-exposure results, but for handheld shooting in pubs and restaurants, the iPhone and Pixel are more reliable.

Video capabilities are rated important because smartphone video has become the primary format for social media content, travel documentation and even professional production. The quality gap between phones is widest in video.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max scores 10/10 and is the undisputed leader. ProRes recording to external storage delivers broadcast-quality footage that professional editors can work with in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve without transcoding. Cinematic Mode produces convincing shallow depth-of-field effects with adjustable focus points in post-production. Action Mode provides gimbal-like stabilisation without any accessories. The colour science produces footage that grades beautifully, with natural skin tones and accurate highlight roll-off. Log video recording is also available for maximum flexibility in colour grading.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra scores 8/10. It offers 8K recording at 30fps, but the heavy crop and massive file sizes make this impractical for most users. At 4K 60fps, the footage is excellent with Samsung's vivid colour processing. Stabilisation is good but not as smooth as the iPhone's sensor-shift system. The lack of a ProRes equivalent limits professional use.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro scores 7/10. Video quality has improved significantly with the Tensor G3 chip, producing well-exposed footage with reliable stabilisation. However, dynamic range in video trails the iPhone and Samsung, and there is no professional codec option. The Pixel remains better suited to photos than video.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI scores 8/10. It records 4K at 120fps for genuine slow motion and offers Videography Pro with manual controls including focus peaking and zebra patterns. For videographers who want camera-like control, the Xperia is excellent. However, the auto exposure and colour processing are less polished than Apple's for casual shooting.

Zoom range determines how effectively a phone can capture distant subjects with optical quality rather than digital crop. This matters for concerts, sporting events, wildlife and architectural details.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra scores 10/10 and leads decisively. Its 10x optical zoom (230mm equivalent) captures sharp, detailed images at distances where every other phone produces a digital crop. The 100x Space Zoom is a gimmick, but the 10x to 30x range produces genuinely usable images. For anyone who regularly photographs distant subjects, the Samsung's zoom system is transformative.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max scores 8/10. The 5x optical zoom (120mm equivalent) is a significant improvement over previous iPhones and produces excellent results at its native focal length. The tetraprism design maintains sharpness and manages chromatic aberration well. Beyond 5x, digital zoom quality drops off more quickly than Samsung's.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro scores 8/10 with its 5x optical zoom (112.5mm equivalent). Google's Super Res Zoom uses computational techniques to improve digital zoom quality, producing surprisingly good results at 10x. The 48MP telephoto sensor provides plenty of detail for cropping.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI scores 7/10. Its variable 3.5x to 5.2x optical zoom is unique, offering smooth zoom transitions like a traditional camera lens. Maximum reach is shorter than the competition, but the optical quality at all focal lengths is consistently excellent.

Computational photography covers the AI-powered features that enhance images beyond what the hardware alone can capture. This includes night mode, HDR stacking, portrait edge detection, object removal and scene optimisation.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro scores 10/10 and leads the field. Magic Eraser removes unwanted objects and people with remarkable intelligence. Photo Unblur rescues blurry old photos using AI enhancement. Best Take lets you choose the best expression from a burst of group shots. Night Sight remains the benchmark for low-light computational photography. These features are genuinely useful daily tools rather than novelty gimmicks.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra both score 8/10. Apple's Deep Fusion and Photonic Engine deliver excellent detail enhancement and noise reduction, and the new Smart HDR 5 produces natural-looking high dynamic range images. Samsung's AI-powered features include scene optimisation, object eraser and enhanced zoom processing. Both are capable but less innovative than Google's offerings.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI scores 6/10. Sony deliberately takes a more restrained approach to computational processing, preferring to present the sensor's raw output with minimal AI enhancement. This appeals to purists who want to control their own processing, but it means the Xperia lacks the convenience features that make the Pixel, iPhone and Samsung so accessible for everyday photography.