Best camera phones 2023: The top choices we’ve tested and reviewed

We think the iPhone 14 Pro is the best all-round camera phone. It’s reliable in all conditions, captures the best video out of any other phone on this list, and boasts three distinct cameras for versatility, with each capturing different focal lengths.

However, it’s not actually the best camera phone across every specific area. We much prefer the zoom skills on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, for one thing, as it captures a much clearer overall image when you zoom in to a subject. But that said, when taken as a whole, the iPhone 14 Pro comes out top.

In terms of the overall spec of the camera hardware, the iPhone 14 Pro makes some drastic changes to the formula we’ve been familiar with for a number of years. It’s the first iPhone to move on from the 12-megapixel sensor, switch to a 48MP version for its main wide camera. This works in a similar way to the S23 Ultra and others, binning down images to 12MP but utilising the larger amount pixels. You can shoot 48MP shots if you want, but this is a separate mode.

When compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Oppo Find X5 Pro, the shots from the iPhone are a little more realistic and skins tones feel more natural. There is some minor oversharpening on the iPhone, though for the most part the image processing churns out reliable images.

There’s a dedicated Night Mode for shooting in darker surroundings, and the effects are great, with plenty of detail retained and dark spots kept mostly free of noise. That said, it would still be nice to be able to turn the Night Mode on and off as you please, since with this phone it just bursts into life automatically when the camera can’t pick up enough light. Night Mode is much quicker this year and the 14 Pro is capable of some of the best night shots around.

The excellent results continue when we look at video capture. While it still doesn’t shoot video in the same 8K resolution as the S23 Ultra, the 4K capture we recorded was well-stabilised without looking fake, and packed the same great colour reproduction as the photos. The Cinematic Mode now supports 4K, and there’s a new Action Mode that ups the stabilisation.

On top of the camera itself, you’ll also be treated to good battery life, so you won’t run out of juice on a busy shooting day, and a gorgeous display to view the images back on.

Reviewer: Max Parker 

Full review: iPhone 14 Pro review

While all the cameras of Samsung’s top-end Galaxy S23 Ultra are of note, its zooming prowess remains unmatched by the competition. That’s particularly true of the 10x optical zoom, which manages to capture plenty more detail than the digital zoom of the likes of the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Oppo Find X5 Pro which were comparatively blurrier in tests.

There’s also a 3X zoom for portrait photography and Samsung’s famed 100x space zoom that’s particularly well suited to taking photos of the moon – though admittedly not much else.

The main 200-megapixel camera is another big reason to opt for the Galaxy S23 Ultra over the likes of the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Google Pixel 7 Pro. Using 16-in-1 pixel binning tech, the phone manages to capture vibrant, detailed shots in both well-lit and low-light environments, with the latter representing a huge step forward compared to the already-capable S22 Ultra. It’s almost effortless to capture stunning images with the main sensor.

It’s not just hardware either; the camera app comes with a range of shooting modes including an upgraded Expert RAW mode that allows you to capture RAW images at up to 50 megapixels as well as take long-exposure shots of the night sky. It’ll also record 8K video at 30fps at a wider angle than much of the competition, perfect if you’re one of the few people with an 8K TV to show it off on.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full review: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

If you’re purely wanting a phone camera for stills photography we think the Pixel 7 Pro is the one to go for, just like the Pixel 6 Pro before it.

While it disappoints a bit with video capture and lacks some of the versatility of the iPhone 14 Pro or the S23 Ultra, the beautiful images it captures are rich in detail and vibrancy and are the most pleasing of all the phones on this list. The way it utilises HDR to level out contrast and exposure is fantastic, ensuring photos taken on sunny days really “pop”. We’ve taken hundreds of snaps on the Pixel 7 Pro and very rarely get a dud.

Google’s Night Mode remains strong – though not the quickest to capture – and does a great job at producing bright and detailed images in low light.

The zoom skills of this phone are better than the Oppo Find X5 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro, but can’t compare to the S23 Ultra. Google’s software can only get you so far, and the better zoom hardware on the Samsung just produces clearer images. It’s a similar story too for the ultrawide, which produces adequate images that sit somewhere in the middle in terms of quality.

The Pixel 7 Pro also impressed our reviewer with its numerous camera tricks. Magic Eraser is even better with the Tensor G2 chip, easily removing photobombers from photos.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full review: Pixel 7 Pro review

When it comes to low-light photography, the Vivo X90 Pro is undoubtedly the most capable phone on the market right now with some truly stunning low-light results.

That’s largely down to the inclusion of a 1-inch sensor and f/1.75 aperture with its main 50.3MP main camera which allows it to let in much more light than the capable iPhone 14 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and the results are instantly noticeable.

Low-light images taken on the Vivo X90 Pro boast not only more light than the competition, but decent detail and colour accuracy too.

In fact, Vivo’s claims that it can take images with less than 1 lux rings true in our experience, with the ability to take a photo of a garden at 11pm with nothing more than moonlight and make it look like it was taken on a cloudy day. Some might argue that it’s not true to life, and it’s certainly not, but it’s better to have too much light than not enough in my opinion.

Besides, the night mode is split into two – standard and advanced – that changes the amount of light let into the lens. The former offers something a little more true to life while the latter produces something closer to night vision. You don’t need a tripod either, even when taking snaps of the stars.

It’s not just focused on low light though; the combination of the main 50.3MP sensor, a 12MP ultrawide and a 50MP 2X telephoto lens provides a versatile shooting experience, though the 2X zoom does seem a bit limited compared to most flagships on the market.

Elsewhere, key specs including a top-end Dimensity 9200 chipset, 5000mAh battery with 120W fast charging tech and a pixel-packed 6.78-inch AMOLED display make for a tempting flagship smartphone.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full Review: Vivo X90 Pro review

The OnePlus 11 is a fantastic all-rounder that hits almost all the points expected of a flagship phone in 2023, including a great display, top-end performance, all-day battery life and a brilliant camera. 

The smartphone has an eye-catching design with a slightly sparkly finish. On the front, there’s a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 2K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and LTPO 3.0 technology, meaning it can drop as low as 1Hz to save battery life on the always-on display. 

Turn the phone around and you’ll find a triple camera, including a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 32-megapixel telephoto lens. We found that the camera was capable of impressive colour reproduction with 10-bit colour, while HDR helped to tackle bright backlighting. 

Low-light performance is particularly impressive and you can even record video at 8K/24fps, though the rather aggressive crop means that most people will probably want to stick to 4K/60fps. Likewise, the 16-megapixel selfie camera is good enough for calls, but the 1080p limit and lack of autofocus means we’d recommend using the rear camera for video. 

The OnePlus 11 combines the flagship performance of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with its own OxygenOS Android skin, offering a more user-friendly and intuitive experience than software from other Chinese manufacturers like Vivo’s FunTouchOS and Xiaomi’s MIUI. 

Widgets and music controls can be easily reached with the Shelf feature and the phone comes with four years of OS upgrades, meaning you won’t need to worry about outdated software this time next year. 

The OnePlus 11 also boasts an all-day battery life, and our reviewer was left with around 30% battery at the end of each day. There’s support for speedy 100W fast charging, although wireless charging is sadly nowhere to be found. 

While there are a number of minor ways in which OnePlus could improve this phone, we have no major complaints after testing the OnePlus 11, making it one of the best all-rounders available right now. 

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full Review: OnePlus 11 review

Google’s Pixel line has consistently impressed us with its camera performance since we reviewed the first generation Pixel all the way back in 2016, and it’s not just the flagship phones. The much more affordable A-series has produced some of the best value camera phones in recent years and the Pixel 7a lives up to its predecessors.

The phone features a much better primary camera than the 6a, with a far larger 64MP sensor. It’s powered by the same Google-made Tensor chip, which lets it offer a few Pixel-specific features including Magic Eraser, which enables you to use the AI smarts to remove unwanted photobombers and elements from your photo in the main camera app.

Night photos shot using the excellent Night Sight mode retain excellent contrast and remain noise-free, while the speed at which photos are captured is much faster than on the Pixel 6a. Regular photos look realistic, featuring neutral, accurate colours and remain blissfully free of oversharpening we experience on other phones at this price. This earns it a place in this list as our recommended camera phone for buyers looking for the best value option.

Next to the primary camera there’s a very capable 12MP ultrawide that matches colours well with the main camera and there’s a 13MP selfie camera around the front in a small cutout.

Video maxes out at 4K 60fps and once again our reviewer was impressed, noting how the pleasing colours from the photo capture transferred across to video too.

Our reviewer wasn’t just impressed with the phone’s camera skills but with other areas too. There’s a nice 90Hz display, pleasingly small dimensions and wireless charging.

Reviewer: Max Parker 

Full review: Google Pixel 7a review

It wouldn’t be a camera phone chart without an Xperia present, and our top pick of the 2023 bunch is the top-end Sony Xperia 1 V.

Rather than packing in the most pixel-packed sensor or the largest sensor around, Sony has taken a different approach with its Xperia 1 V rear camera offering. The main 52MP Exmor T sensor has a unique two-layer transistor within the CMOS that allows for a big improvement to low-light capabilities while still retaining a fairly slimline camera bump.

That’s flanked by a 12MP ultrawide and a 12MP telephoto lens with an impressive 5.2x optical zoom – ideal for close-ups and portrait photography.

Our reviewer was impressed with the quality of the main lens both in well-lit and low-light environments, with decent colour and detail on offer – and that’s from the standard Android camera app.

And this is where the Xperia 1 V comes into its own; as well as the standard Camera app we all know and love, Sony ships a plethora of pro-level apps focused on photo, video and even audio capture. The pro apps allow for much more granular control over photo and video capture than any other smartphone around right now, with a layout that mimics Sony’s DSLR and video offering for added familiarity for existing fans.

Yes, some of these capture settings can be provided by third-party apps, but it saves you hunting through paid (or ad-filled) camera apps on Google Play.

Camera chops aside, the Xperia 1 V is very much a top-end Sony smartphone with its blocky, angular design, a 4K display and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 performance. It’s also pretty solid on the battery front. The catch? All that tech comes at a cost, with the Xperia 1 V starting at £1,299/$1,399, making it one of the most expensive phones around right now.

Reviewer: Alan Martin 

Full review: Sony Xperia 1 V review

Let’s start with a caveat – while the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is deserving of a place on this list simply because it’s one of the best camera phones our reviewer had ever used, it is a difficult phone to purchase due to the lack of a proper launch outside of China. 

We’d have placed it higher if a wider, more accessible release was available and if this does happen in the future we will evaluate its position again. For now, the only way to get it in places like the UK and the USA is to import it – and there are lots of downsides including software that isn’t fully translated.

But, with that out of the way, let’s get onto the phone itself and there is certainly a lot to like when it comes to the cameras. There are four 50MP sensors on the back, including a primary camera with a variable aperture lens that can switch between f/1.9 and f/4. There are two zoom cameras, plus a very capable ultra wide.

Xiaomi has teamed up with imaging icon Leica, and the German camera brand has helped develop a number of authentic-looking shooting presets for the 13 Ultra. In an attempt to ensure images from this phone are more like those from a mirrorless camera rather than a phone, snaps have a realistic, less saturated look. There are huge amounts of details, excellent dynamic range and seriously impressive bokeh when you’re shooting portraits.

Not all is standout, though. While video recording is good – the microphone is poor, picking up far too much wind distortion. The front selfie camera is also very disappointing, falling below even budget options like the Pixel 7a. 

The phone is designed to very much mimic traditional cameras in its design. The back has a leather feel, while the camera housing is suitably massive. Some will dislike the look, but our reviewer felt it worked well what the focus of the device being the optics.

There’s also a fantastic OLED display, quick charging and good battery life.

Reviewer: Max Parker 

Full review: Xiaomi 13 Ultra review