Best smartphone cameras in 2025

Picking the phone with the best camera used to be an easy exercise. In the early days of the smartphone, the iPhone's camera was leaps and bounds better than Android's offerings. Then big-name Android brands caught up, and for a couple of years in the mid-2010s, Samsung held the crown.

Towards the latter part of the decade, I'd argue Google and Huawei each respectively dominated the software and hardware part of mobile photography. But starting around 2020 or so, other brands stepped up their digital imaging game by investing more resources; Apple paid more attention to computational photography, and Samsung took a page or two out of Huawei's book in terms of camera hardware. Now, Vivo is in the mix as well, offering great cameras on some of its flagships.

Mobile cameras today have become so capable and diverse that it's impossible just to say one phone is the absolute best, as all the best smartphones have great cameras — many with a unique trick or two. So, in my opinion, the best way to evaluate these cameras is to break them down into different shooting categories. We here at XDA have tested almost every smartphone that sees release, and here's our breakdown of the best cameras for each specific need.

Our favorite smartphone cameras

Apple impressed us with the camera performance of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which held our top spot on this list for most of the last year. Now, with the iPhone 16 Pro series, it's even better. The best part of the iPhone 16 Pro series is that you'll get the same great rear camera system regardless of whether you like big or small phones. The $1,000 iPhone 16 Pro and the $1,200 iPhone 16 Pro Max have the exact same camera hardware and software features.

In terms of hardware, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max have similar camera tech to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with the exception of a new 48MP ultrawide lens. The main 48MP sensor and the 12MP telephoto lens — capable of 5x optical zoom — are unchanged. Aside from the minor bump in quality over the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which we raved about, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a great smartphone camera due to the addition of Photographic Styles.

Photographic Styles are film-like presets that can change the way your photos appear. They’re fully customizable, and let you make photos your own. Now that digital and film cameras are trendy, Photographic Styles are a fantastic way for users to get similar results straight from their smartphone. Thanks to the new A18 Pro system-on-a-chip, you can apply these Photographic Styles — and make other changes, like add bokeh — after you've captured the photo.

The following photos were captured with the iPhone 16 Pro Max:

Video recording is similarly improved, as there's now support for 4K 120FPS capture. The cool thing about shooting at that frame rate is that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will let you slow it down in post, allowing you to pick any speed you'd like. Additionally, there are "studio-quality mics" and an Audio Mix feature that makes it possible to separate your voice from background noise.

Although the Vivo X100 Ultra might beat the iPhone 16 Pro Max in a few scenarios, you probably can't buy it. What matters is that the iPhone 16 Pro Max beats the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and we think it does.

The Vivo X100 Ultra is the phone that you'll want to buy for its camera quality, but you probably can't. It's only available in China, so you'll need to import it yourself if you want to get it in the U.S. That will rule it out as an option for most people, but we can't have a best smartphone cameras list without including the Vivo X100 Ultra. The phone's main camera is a 50MP, and with pixel binning, it produces a 12.5MP image. This results in more detail and less noise in some situations, and low-light performance is great. Compared to the current crop of North American smartphone, the Vivo X100 Ultra is in another league.

From left: Vivo X100 Ultra, iPhone 15 Pro Max

Again, we won't spend too much more time on the Vivo X100 Ultra because you probably can't buy it. However, it should definitely be on your radar if you're interested in top-of-the-line camera tech.

Being that Samsung isn’t exactly innovating with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it’s between Apple and Google for the title of best smartphone camera system. While Apple is still ahead, Google isn’t too far behind with the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Like the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL both share the same camera hardware. You can pick whichever size you prefer and get the same great performance.

Google swapped two of the four cameras on the Pixel 9 Pro XL out for new sensors. The ultrawide lens now has a f/1.7 aperture for faster shooting, and the selfie camera is now best-in-class. That front camera jumps from 10.5MP to a 42MP f/2.2 shooter that produces excellent quality, even in low-light conditions. The 50MP f/1.7 main camera and f/2.8 5X periscope zoom lens are both unchanged from the Pixel 8 Pro, but are still impressive.

The following night shots were captured with the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL:

It's up for debate whether the color science of the Pixel or iPhone camera is better. The Pixel 9 Pro XL tends to produce vibrant images with bright colors that really pop, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max goes for a more subdued and natural look. However, we have to give the Pixel credit for its nighttime photography prowess. With fast apertures and Night Sight shooting modes, it takes the low-light smartphone photography crown.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of the most feature-packed smartphones in the world, and it's easy to recommend — unless you want the latest and greatest camera tech. Samsung left the main sensor alone while upgrading the Galaxy S24 Ultra this year, and that allowed the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro — now the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro — to leapfrog it in some areas. However, it's impossible to leave the Galaxy S24 Ultra off this list. It has a total of four rear cameras, so there'll be a lens on the Galaxy S24 Ultra that's perfect for just about every situation. With this phone, the name of the game is versatility.

The big change this year is that the 10x periscope zoom lens was swapped out for a newer 5x periscope zoom lens. That might sound like a downgrade on paper, but that isn't entirely the case. This new sensor is a 50MP lens, and that's upgraded from the old 10MP. The change means that you'll get more detail and quality from the 5x periscope lens. The best part is that you can always use digital zoom to crop in at 10x, and due to the larger sensor, the digital 10x photos will still look solid. In fact, the periscope zoom lens is one area where the Galaxy S24 Ultra outperforms the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro.

The rest of the Galaxy S24 Ultra's rear camera hardware is much of the same. There's a main 200MP camera, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP 3X lens. For what it's worth, based on our testing, Samsung's image processing has been tweaked to produce more accurate colors. So, photos snapped with the Galaxy S24 Ultra might look better than those taken with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, even though both phones use the same main camera.

Aside from the fact that the Galaxy S24 Ultra camera hardware hasn't changed much, video stabilization can be shaky when using optical zoom. It's also just hard to justify spending Galaxy S24 Ultra money on years-old camera hardware, which is why I'd rather pick the iPhone 16 Pro Max or Pixel 9 Pro instead.

Unfortunately, foldable phones still have middling camera systems that can’t compete with their flagship counterparts. That goes for the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, too, which sports the same exact camera system as the original Pixel Fold. Still, it’s better than most options in North America, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the OnePlus Open. You’ll have to look to the foreign markets, at phones such as the Honor Magic V3 or the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, to find better.

As for the hardware, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s main sensor is a 48MP main camera, f/1.7 lens. That’s paired with a 10.5MP, f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, plus a 10.8MP telephoto that can do 5x optical zoom. On the front, you get a 10MP selfie camera on the cover and main screens.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold's ultrawide, main, and telephoto camera performance:

The good news is that Google is making the most of its camera hardware with improved image signal processing, which we’ve found leads to better HDR performance. There’s also better video quality, generative AI tools, and more. You really shouldn’t be buying a foldable phone for the camera, but the Pixel 9 Pro Fold does have the best one (that you’re probably able to buy).

I'll start off this section by acknowledging that the main camera sensor in the Google Pixel 8a is the exact same as the one in the Pixel 7a. If you're only concerned about camera quality in a smartphone, pick up the Pixel 7a and save a few bucks. I tested the Pixel 8a and Pixel 7a side-by-side, and camera samples between the two phones were indistinguishable. However, the Pixel 8a packs so many more upgrades at the same MSRP as the Pixel 7a that it's our new budget camera pick.

The main camera is a 64MP, f/1.9 sensor that has a smaller sensor size compared to modern-day flagships. Despite the 1/1.7-inch sensor size, this lens still produces great photos, especially for the Pixel 8a's price point. This sensor is paired with the Tensor G3 processor and takes advantage of Google's advanced computational photography features. The Pixel 8a also has access to Google's AI-based photo editing features, like Magic Editor and Best Take.

It's worth noting that the Pixel 8a doesn't have a telephoto zoom lens. This isn't uncommon on a budget or midrange device; however, telephoto and periscope zoom lenses have become a staple of flagships in 2024. Some won't be willing to lose that by going with the Pixel 8a, especially if stunning concert or sporting event photos are what you're after. It does have a 13MP ultrawide lens that's decent enough for cropping out to 0.5x zoom. However, there is a clear drop in detail while using that lens. The main sensor is clearly the way to go on the Pixel 8a.

Here are a few photos shot on the Pixel 8a:

As you can see, the Pixel 8a's main camera produces solid photos in a variety of situations. With the Night Sight mode, the Pixel 8a performed better than expected in low-light situations. That 64MP main sensor also impressed during macro shots, providing quite a bit of detail. Considering that most flagships cost around $1,000 nowadays, the Pixel 8a gives you a lot of camera quality for half the price.

The final say

After extensively testing all the top smartphones, this is our pick

Last year, the Galaxy S23 Ultra was the easy pick for our top smartphone camera overall. Fast-forward to this year, and Samsung basically copied and pasted the camera system from the Galaxy S23 Ultra to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, save for a new telephoto lens. That enabled Apple — packing main camera, telephoto camera, and software improvements — to leapfrog Samsung with the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Now, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max share the same great camera system. For as little as $1,000, you'll get a point-and-shoot camera that can handle a variety of situations without much user intervention.

However, there are certainly cameras that beat out the iPhone 16 Pro Max for specific use cases. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is still versatile, offering a whopping five cameras. The Pixel 9 Pro is a strong competitor to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and performs excellently under low-light conditions. Google's computational photography prowess helps the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel 8a succeed for the same reasons. And if you're able to get it, the Vivo X100 Ultra has the best camera hardware we've ever seen.