Best camera phones in 2024 (2024)

When we pick the best camera phones, we're looking at more than just hardware specs — how your shot ends up looking is just as important. And that means putting cameras to the test to see how they benefit from photo-processing features and computational photography. For that reason, every phone we test goes through head-to-head photo face-offs, allowing us to see how a phone's camera output compares to what its closest competitors can do.

Our head-to-head camera testing covers photos in a variety of conditions — outdoors, low-light, portrait shots, selfies and more. That helps us find camera phones that meld the best sensors and computational photography and AI to extract the best possible light, color and detail out of every scenario. All those comparison also allow us to highlight, with confidence, what we determine to be the best camera phones.

Our current top pick is the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which just beats out the Galaxy S24 Ultra in our 200-photo camera face-off. (For more on the changes Apple made to the cameras on the best iPhone, look at our 200-photo iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max face-off.) And the Google Pixel 8a makes its debut on our list, as one of the best values you can find. (See how it compares to another low-cost camera phone in our 200-photo Pixel 8a vs. iPhone SE shootout.)

After hundreds of hours of testing and many head-to-head photo comparisons, these are the best camera phones you can buy right now.

The quick list

Here's a summary of the best camera phones you can buy right now based on our head-to-head testing of each phone's camera capabilities. Keep scrolling to find the in-depth reviews of every camera phone featured here.

Philip Michaels

Philip Michaels is the managing editor for mobile at Tom's Guide. He's been covering technology since 1999, and started covering smartphones with the launch of the original iPhone in 2007. Since joining Tom's Guide from Macworld in 2015, he's developed an expertise in Android phones as evidenced by the stack of Samsung, Google and Motorola phones in his Northern California home. And his digital photo library is stuffed with images he's taken as part of head-to-head camera testing for phone reviews.

The best camera phones you can buy today

The best overall

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The improved zoom lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max draws all the attention, but it's not the only boost Apple gave to the photo features on its premium phone. Smart HDR gets an update that improves dynamic range while portrait and nights shots see some software-powered improvements as well. It's no wonder that the iPhone 15 Pro Max excels at both portrait shots and low-light photos in a way that tops what Samsung's best camera phone can do.

As for that improved zoom lens, the tetraprism design lets the iPhone 15 Pro Max deliver a 5x zoom, compared to a 3x zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro. The Galaxy S24 Ultra now features a 5x telephoto lens, too, though it uses cropping and a high-resolution sensor to go up to a 10x zoom if need be.

Even if the S24 Ultra can zoom a littler farther, there's a lot to like about the iPhone 15 Pro Max's cameras, from the anti-reflecting coating on the ultrawide lens to the outstanding quality of video capture. iPhone users who want the best camera phone should be prepared to pay up for this model.

Read our full iPhone 15 Pro Max review.

The best Android camera phone

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See Also

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If you’ve used a Galaxy S Ultra lately, you know exactly the kind of camera performance to expect from the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The camera setup is the same as before by and large, with the exception of larger pixels that are capable of capturing more light. As a result, colors are a bit brighter in images captured by the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

The other big change to this year’s phone involves one of the telephoto lenses, as a a 10MP sensor gives way to a 50MP one. That means more detail in zoom shots, but the new setup also scales back the optical zoom from 10x to 5x. The Galaxy S24 Ultra can still support a 10x zoom by shooting images at full 50MP resolution and then cropping in on an area of detail. It works well, though we’ve spotted some softer areas in the S24 Ultra’s images compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. As a result, the S24 Ultra yields one of its traditional edges over the iPhone.

We do like the AI tools Samsung includes for photo-editing, like the ability to resize and move around the subjects of a photo with the help of generative AI. Then again, those features are also available on Samsung’s less expensive S24 models and the One UI 6.1 updated added them to the Galaxy S23 phones as well as Samsung's latest foldables.

For head-to-head looks at how the cameras on the S24 Ultra perform against other Android phones, check out the Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. OnePlus 12 200-photo face-offs.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.

The best Google camera phone

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Coming in hot right behind the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the Pixel 8 Pro, Google’s latest flagship. This phone improves upon its predecessor in many key ways, while also giving us a glimpse into the future with artificial intelligence powering unique experiences. The Pixel 8 Pro keeps a similar triple camera arrangement, but its Tensor G3 powers cool new features such as Best Take, Magic Editor, and Audio Magic Eraser. A Video Boost feature exclusive to the Pixel 8 Pro is now live, too.

When it comes to capturing photos, this year's model adds Pro Controls for the first time ever in the series — giving users more controls typically found on dedicated mirrorless cameras. This means adjusting common parameters like the ISO, shutter speed, color temperature, and focus.

If that's not enough, the magic of the Pixel 8 Pro is on full display with its various Google AI assisted features. Most notably, we love how Google Assistant sounds more human than ever before when screening phone calls. Not only that, but also the contextual responses that Google Assistant is able to provide when we're unable to take those phone calls.

Read our full Pixel 8 Pro review.

The best low-cost camera phone

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The Google Pixel 8a isn't a big leap forward from the Pixel 7a it replaces as Google's budget-priced phone. The new model uses the same 64MP main camera as its predecessor, and the photo-processing capabilities are at the same high level. While Pixel 7a owners have little reason to upgrade, newcomers looking for a low-cost camera phone will appreciate the high-quality output produced by the Pixel 8a.

The new Tensor G3 chipset powering the Pixel 8a also enables some very impressive photo editing tools already available on the Pixel 8 flagships. You can use Magic Editor to reposition and resize the subjects of your photos, while Best Take can swap in faces to ensure nobody's blinking when you take a group photo.

Best of all, the Pixel 8a does feature improved battery life, long an area where previous Pixel phones have struggled. By besting the average smartphone by 1.5 hours on our battery test, you won't have to worry about losing power when you take the Pixel 8a on an extended photo shoot.

Read our full Google Pixel 8a review.

The best iPhone value

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Hasselblad in Space

The iPhone 15 takes a big leap forward by inheriting the 48MP main camera Apple introduced to the iPhone 14 Pro lineup. But that main camera does more than just capture more detailed shots. If you use the default settings, you're getting a 24MP image that balances detail with lighting and color. The main camera also enables you to zoom in by 2x without any noise or blur creeping into the image as a workaround for the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens. (To see how that works in practice, check our our iPhone 15 vs. Galaxy S24 zoom shot comparison.)

The same software improvements available to the iPhone 15 Pro Max are on display here, so you get the better Smart HDR, portrait mode and Night sight features. Best of all, the iPhone 15 starts at $799 — $400 less than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, so you're getting premium camera features for less.

Read our full iPhone 15 review.

Most improved camera phone

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You can’t claim that cameras are a weak area for OnePlus flagships anymore, certainly not after the OnePlus 12 captured images that could stand up well against anything captured by top Samsung and Apple camera phones. Credit goes to the fourth generation Hasselblad camera that OnePlus has included on this year’s phone after once again teaming up with the lens specialist to fine tune its optics.

The biggest change this year is to the telephoto lens, which not only features a 64MP sensor on the OnePlus 12 but also extends its optical zoom capabilities to 3x. The result is sharper, more detailed zoom shots that compare more favorably to other top camera phones.

The OnePlus 12 does occasionally struggle with exposure on low-light images and at launch it lacks some of the AI-powered editing tools you’ll find on the latest Samsung and Google flagships. But along with the Galaxy S24, this is one of the cheaper options when it comes to a flagship phone equipped with a telephoto lens.

Read our full OnePlus 12 review.

The best value Samsung camera phone

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As impressive as the Galaxy S24 Ultra's cameras are, that's a pretty costly phone at $1,299. For $500 less, the Galaxy S24 delivers high-quality photos and the same Galaxy AI photo editing features found on the Ultra. You may not get a 200MP sensor for the main camera, but the S24's 50MP shooter is perfectly capable of capturing detailed, colorful photos. The Galaxy S24 is one of the few phones under $800 that offers a telephoto lens.

Truth be told, Samsung didn't change much with the camera hardware from the Galaxy S23, but the Galaxy S24 does support all the Galaxy AI found on other new Samsung flagships. That includes edit suggestions where the S24 will suggest possible edits to improve your pictures. A generative editing tool lets you resize and move objects or erase them entirely.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 review.

The best Apple camera phone for less

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You won't get the longer 5x zoom that the iPhone 15 Pro Max's redesigned telephoto lens offers when you opt for the iPhone 15 Pro. But you'll also only spend $999 on this phone — $200 less than the Pro Max — and the 3x optical zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro is nothing to sneeze at.

All the other features associated with the iPhone 15 Pro Max are here, from the ability to take portrait shots without having to enter Portrait mode to the Photonic Engine boost that produces sharper looking night photos. Battery life is also better on the compact Pro model, so you can spend more time capturing photos and videos with this phone.

Speaking of videos, Cinematic mode adds support for up to 3x zoom, and we were able to capture smooth, colorful footage in our testing. If money's no object, by all means go for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but the iPhone 15 Pro is a killer camera phone in its own right.

Read our full iPhone 15 Pro review.

The best foldable camera phone

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Finding the best camera on a foldable device boils down to a comparison between Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Google Pixel Fold. The two phones are evenly matched for mobile photography — in our Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs. Google Pixel Fold face-off, we thought Google's phone handled zooming and low-light situations better. Yet, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 won the day with brighter, vibrant images.

Credit the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset and its photo-processing powers because Samsung made no hardware changes to the cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. You still get a 50MP main shooter coupled with 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto lenses. The unique folding design lets you use those rear cameras for self portraits too — something we'd recommend over the disappointing 4MP under-display camera.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 silicon also helps the Galaxy Z Fold 5 post the best battery life of any foldable, so you won't have to worry about running out of power as the perfect shot comes along. And a recent software update brings the same Galaxy AI features introduced via the Galaxy S24 release to Samsung's top foldable.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 review.

How to pick the best camera phone

There are many factors to consider if camera quality factors heavily into your smartphone purchasing decision. A good way to start is by asking yourself what kinds of photos you see yourself taking. Not all multi-lens cameras are created equal — some have ultrawide lenses for stunning landscapes, others have telephotos for zoomed-in shallow-depth-of-field portraits, and others still have both. The newest flagships from the likes of Samsung and Huawei even have periscope-style lenses that can achieve up to 10x lossless zoom, rivaling the power of DSLRs.

Something else to consider: Megapixels don’t matter as much as aperture. Cameras with a wider aperture (lower ƒ-stop numbers translate to wider lenses) let in more light, which greatly helps produce better shots in the dark. The high-megapixel sensors found in the latest devices are nice, but it's a common misconception that pixel count directly translates to better-looking photos.

Do you need a portrait mode that allows for bokeh backgrounds? That’s where the subject of the photo is in sharp focus, while an artistic blur blankets the rest of the scene. Although it started as a feature exclusive to multi-camera phones, even cheaper phones like the single-lens iPhone SE 2022 can now capture bokeh-effect portraits. Some devices even let you adjust the strength of the blur before and after you take a shot.

Front camera specs are important, too. In a world where we’re taking more selfies than ever, you shouldn’t overlook a phone’s front camera. Many front cameras, like the ones on the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7, can actually perform the same portrait mode effects that rear cameras pull off. Some phones feature two front cameras, with the second lens pulling in more background details, though that feature has gone out of fashion recently.

Finally, don’t forget about video. Your cameras shoot more than just still images. Consider what resolution the camera captures video at along with the frame rate. A word to the wise, though: Be wary that ratcheting up the resolution will result in clips that take up much more space on your smartphone's internal storage.

For a good rundown of what to consider when looking for the best camera phone, check out our guide on which camera specs you should pay attention to.

How we test camera phones

When we evaluate the best camera phones, we pick phones of comparable prices and capabilities and put them through a range of head-to-head comparisons. We pick common shooting situations — landscapes, indoor and outdoor shots, portraits and selfies in daylight and at night. We also test out each camera lens, including ultrawide angle and telephoto lenses if the phone features those.

In addition to testing the rear lenses of each phone, we also test the front camera, snapping selfies in both standard and portrait mode. We then compare the results to similar camera phones.

Photos used in our comparisons are taken with the default settings on each camera. Even if a phone offers manual controls, we don't test those, as we want to replicate the experience the typical smartphone user would have using the camera app on a device.

In each of our smartphone reviews, we also factor in any special features, such as dual lenses and what they enable, Portrait Modes, and other special modes, before we come to a conclusion.

Camera testing is the most relevant evaluation for picking the best camera phones, but our smartphone reviews include other testing, such as performance testing, battery testing and display testing. You can see the full results of those tests — outlined in our explanation of how Tom's Guide tests and reviews smartphones — when we rate the best phones overall.