Today's smartphones deliver professional-quality shots in a pocket-sized package. Whether you need a pro-grade camera for incredibly complex shots or a simple device for snapping pics of the kids and pets, there's a smartphone option to meet your needs.
We compared the latest phones with great cameras and picked our favorites. We feel that the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the best overall smartphone camera, and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is our pick for the best Android camera phone.
Regular users will find the iPhone 17 has the best bang for your buck, and the Pixel 10a is currently the best budget camera phone.
Keep reading to see our picks for bargain hunters and feature-lovers alike, plus the optimal phone plans to get the most out of your high-tech lens.
Best camera phones
| Phone | Best for | Price | Shop this phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Overall | $1,199 | Go to phone |
| Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra | Best Android camera phone | $1,299 | Go to phone |
| Apple iPhone 17 | Value for the price | $799 |
Go to phone |
| Google Pixel 10a | Best budget camera phone | $499 | Go to phone |
Best Overall
Camera Phone
Apple | iPhone 17 Pro Max | $1,199—Best overall smartphone camera
The iPhone 17 Pro Max earns the top spot for the best camera phone on the market.
Apple gave the whole Pro camera system real hardware upgrades. All three rear lenses—main, ultra-wide, and telephoto—are now full 48MP Fusion sensors. The main camera itself is roughly 56% bigger than what shipped in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, allowing more light and detail than ever before.
Apple's telephoto lens is now pushing an 8x optical zoom, which the company likes to describe as carrying eight different focal lengths in your pocket. That's an incredible range for a phone camera, whether you're shooting a kid's soccer game from the sideline or a landscape from a scenic overlook.
All of Apple's iPhone 17 series received a new 18MP Center Stage front camera. It offers a square sensor that automatically reframes for solo shots or group selfies without you having to think about it.
The new A19 Pro chip also offers faster processing than ever before. Features like Night mode and Cinematic mode now pair with Action mode for genuinely stable handheld video.
To be clear, the 17 Pro and Pro Max share a camera system. We're picking the Pro Max because its larger 6.9-inch display is simply the better canvas for photographers. The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099. For more iOS photography and videography fun, learn how to add music to videos on iPhones.
- Pros: 6.9-inch display, A19 Pro chip, triple 48MP camera system with a 56% bigger main sensor, 8x optical zoom
- Cons: Very expensive, size may be too large for some users
Samsung | Galaxy S26 Ultra | $1,299—Best Android camera phone
If you're shopping specifically for the best Android camera phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is still the one to beat.
Instead of major changes, Samsung refined its camera hardware this generation. It offers the same specs as the S25 Ultra, including:
- 200MP main camera
- 50MP ultra-wide camera
- 50MP 5x periscope telephoto camera
- Secondary 3x telephoto camera
What was improved? The main camera's aperture jumped from f/1.7 to a noticeably brighter f/1.4 (Samsung says 47% brighter), and the periscope telephoto went from f/3.4 to f/2.9 (37% brighter). In practice, that means more usable light reaches the sensor before any processing has to compensate, meaning this device is a major upgrade for Nightography, Samsung's low-light mode.
Video shooters get a real upgrade too: the S26 Ultra now supports the APV codec for cinematic 8K recording. A new Horizontal Lock feature also keeps the footage level even if you tilt or rotate the phone mid-shot. All of it runs on the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which Samsung claims delivers double-digit gains across CPU, GPU, and NPU performance over last year's chip.
That said, the Galaxy S26 Ultra costs $1,299.99, a full $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. We also think the iPhone still edges it out on color accuracy and depth in tricky low-light scenes. If you're firmly in the Android camp, the S26 Ultra is an easy choice. If you're camera-agnostic and price-sensitive, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the better value at the very top of the market.
- Pros: 6.9-inch display, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 200MP main camera with brighter f/1.4 aperture, 5x periscope telephoto, APV codec for 8K video, Horizontal Lock stabilization
- Cons: Even pricier than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, hardware is mostly carried over from the S25 Ultra
Best Value Camera Phone
Apple | iPhone 17 | $799—Best value smartphone camera
Not everyone needs a Pro camera system. For everyday users, the base-model iPhone 17 gets you most of what makes an iPhone camera good for just $799.
Both the main and ultra-wide rear cameras are now full 48MP Fusion sensors. It means sharper crops and more detail to work with than the previous generation's iPhone 16. It also offers standard features like 2x optical-quality zoom, spatial photos, and macro shooting. The 18MP Center Stage front camera is new too, with a square sensor that automatically reframes for solo shots or group selfies.
The new A19 chip keeps everything moving quickly and processes photos with ease. Apple also killed off the 128GB storage tier, so $799 now gets you 256GB, double the starting storage of the iPhone 16 at the same price. That leaves plenty of space for more photos and videos.
Unfortunately, the iPhone 17 doesn't have a dedicated telephoto lens. If you're regularly zooming in on distant subjects, you'll feel that gap. That said, if you want one of the best cell phone cameras on the market without spending over $1,000, the iPhone 17 is the pick.
- Pros: Dual 48MP Fusion rear cameras, 256GB base storage at no extra cost, strong price-to-performance, upgraded 18MP Center Stage front camera
- Cons: No dedicated telephoto lens
Best Budget Camera Phone
Google | Pixel 10a | $499—Best cheap camera phone
For $499, the Google Pixel 10a is the easy pick for the best cheap camera phone.
Google didn't upgrade the camera hardware this generation. The 10a uses the same 48MP main sensor (f/1.7, optical image stabilization) and 13MP ultra-wide as last year's Pixel 9a. However, that doesn't mean nothing changed.
Camera software and editing features are where Google Pixels always shine. You still get Magic Eraser, Night Sight, and Real Tone for accurate skin tones across a range of lighting. New features include:
- Camera Coach: Walks newer photographers through better framing and settings.
- Auto Best Take: Allows the Pixel to take a burst of images and uses AI to merge everyone's best facial expressions into a single image.
The 10a runs on the same Tensor G4 chip as the 9a, rather than the newer Tensor G5 found in this year's flagship Pixel 10 series. That's a real trade-off on paper, but in day-to-day shooting, it's hard to notice.
Even without a hardware refresh, we're still comfortable calling the Pixel 10a the best budget camera phone you can buy. Just know you're paying for polish and consistency here, not a major hardware leap.
- Pros: Excellent value at $499, Magic Eraser and Real Tone included, new software features like Camera Coach and Auto Best Take
- Cons: Same camera hardware as the Pixel 9a, older Tensor G4 chip instead of the newer G5
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Choosing the right smartphone camera for your needs
How do you decide which camera phone is best for your needs? The two biggest factors are your budget and how you plan to use it.
Are you looking for a cheap camera phone to simply take a few quick photos of the kids and pets to post on Facebook? Or do you plan to replace your expensive SLR with your smartphone for most occasions?
Once you've pinpointed why you want a camera phone and how much you can spend on it, you'll need to analyze each device's hardware, software, and processor.
Hardware: The phone's physical parts
The hardware on your camera phone is its physical components. This includes the lenses, sensors, signal processor, and even the display that you're viewing the images on.
Different hardware setups affect what kind of images you're able to capture. For example, if you're into macro photography, you'd want to look for a camera phone that includes a telephoto lens like the iPhone 17 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. If you love selfies, you want to have a powerful front camera like the 18MP Center Stage Camera lens on the iPhone 17.
You may also need to analyze the balance between hardware and software. On some new smartphones, physical hardware has been replaced with software-driven features. For example, Samsung removed its 10x optical lens from recent Galaxy Ultra releases and replaced it with a 5x lens that uses software and cropping to create similar images. Some Google Pixels may now use generative AI to fill in the gaps and improve clarity on zoomed shots.
Software: The editing and post-processing features
While the hardware actually captures the image, the software interprets the image and gives you options for enhancing or editing it.
Things like Samsung's Nightography, Google's Magic Eraser, and Apple's Portrait Mode are all examples of camera software features. They're all the settings you can adjust to improve photos taken on your device. Remember that no smartphone system offers every editing feature or photo mode, so do thorough research on all of the different software options for the models you're interested in to see which ones appeal most to your photographic style.
You should also consider whether you want AI-enabled image editing for your photos. Currently, Samsung and Google devices offer many more AI features than Apple does. If you frequently use AI to touch up your photos, you'll need to pick an Android.
Processor: The computer running the whole phone
The processor is the "brain" of your smartphone. The hardware and software can't do anything without the processor leading the operation. Your phone's chip affects everything from how quickly it can capture the image—critical for action shots—to how efficiently it can edit out noise and blur or deliver deep, rich color. You should always aim to get the strongest processor you can afford.
As a rule, the premium/Pro models of the newest series will always have the most upgraded processors. That said, with advances in smartphone technology, even base-model and budget devices can have extremely strong processors. They may simply be a lower-powered version or from the previous year's model.
Best camera phone plans
While physically taking photos and videos and storing them on your device doesn't use up any mobile data, sharing those photos does. If you're an Instagram fiend or a TikTok queen, you'll likely use a good amount of data each month, so you'll want a phone plan that accommodates your photogenic lifestyle.
Unlimited data plans from carriers like Visible, US Mobile, and Mint Mobile each offer unlimited talk, text, and data for just $25-30/month. You'll find massive data allotments, mobile hotspots, and unlimited talk and text with all these plans.
Here are some of the most popular unlimited options to choose from.
|
Mint Mobile
Unlimited Data Plan
$15.00/mo
$45 for 3 months of service
|
|
US Mobile
Unlimited Starter Plan
$25.00/mo
|
|
Visible
$25 Visible Plan
$25.00/mo
Taxes & Fees included
|
Best camera phones: FAQ
What phone has the best camera right now?
The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the best camera quality overall. All three rear lenses are full 48MP Fusion sensors, the main sensor is about 56% bigger than the iPhone 16 Pro's, and the system supports 8x optical zoom.
Which Samsung phone has the best camera?
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has the best Android phone camera. It pairs a 200MP main sensor with a brighter f/1.4 aperture, a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, and a 50MP ultra-wide lens. Plus, it offers APV codec support for 8K video and improved Nightography for low-light shooting.
Which cheap smartphone has a good camera?
The best budget camera phone is the Google Pixel 10a. At $499, it carries over the same 48MP main and 13MP ultra-wide cameras from the Pixel 9a, but backs them up with Google's newest photography software, including Magic Eraser, Night Sight, Real Tone, Camera Coach, and Auto Best Take.
Which phone is the best for video recording?
The iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are the best phones for video recording. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has superior video processing with Cinematic mode and Action mode image stabilization, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra supports 8K video recording with its new APV codec.
Is a smartphone camera better than a standalone camera?
A smartphone camera is better than most midrange point-and-shoot cameras thanks to the innovative processing software found in most flagship camera phones. However, for serious and/or professional photographers, a camera phone cannot replace a top-of-the-line DSLR or mirrorless camera.
Max McCaskill
Sr. Staff Writer
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