Best Camera Phones for Zoom, Portraits, Video and Night
The best camera phone depends on what you shoot. Prices in dollars, pounds and rupees, and why the older S25 Ultra costs more than the S26 Ultra.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the camera phone we would buy. Samsung’s US store has it at $1,149.99, down from $1,399.99, and it is the only phone here with two telephoto cameras, at 3x and 5x, next to a bright F1.4 main camera. That makes it the safe choice if you shoot a bit of everything.
What you shoot most can change that. For long zoom and portraits, where vivo sells it, buy the vivo X300 Pro: Oscar’s review of it on the Oscarmini YouTube channel is titled “This Phone Quietly Replaced My Camera”. For video, buy the iPhone 18 Pro. For night photos, where Xiaomi sells it, buy the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. On a smaller budget, buy the Galaxy A37 5G.
| Phone | US | UK | India |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S26 Ultra, 256GB | $1,149.99 on offer | £1,359 | ₹1,54,999 |
| iPhone 18 Pro, 256GB | $1,199 | £1,199 | ₹1,64,900 |
| Pixel 11 Pro | $1,099 | From £1,079 | ₹1,09,999 |
| vivo X300 Pro, 512GB | No vivo store | Not listed | ₹1,19,999, out of stock |
| Xiaomi 17 Ultra, 512GB | No Xiaomi store | £1,299 | On Xiaomi India’s store |
Each price is the one on that maker’s own store for that country. Malaysia is the exception worth knowing: vivo’s store there has the X300 Pro in stock at RM4,699.
Some links on this page go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Zoom and far-off subjects
The S26 Ultra’s 5x camera has 50MP behind an F2.9 lens, and Samsung says that lens is 37% brighter than before. A separate 10MP camera covers 3x. At the offer price, that is about $50 less than an iPhone 18 Pro, which has one 48MP telephoto at 4x. Samsung’s offers change often, so its US buy page is the place to see today’s figure, and you should plan around the list price. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra on Amazon
Oscar’s 30-day review of the S26 Ultra is titled “I Wanted to Hate the Galaxy S26 Ultra. 30 Days Later”.
The vivo X300 Pro goes another way, with a single 200MP telephoto at 3.5x, an f/2.67 lens and optical stabilisation. vivo also lists an add-on ZEISS extender that adds 2.35x. The catch is buying one. vivo India’s store lists it at ₹1,19,999 but marks both colours out of stock. vivo Malaysia has stock. vivo has no US store, and its Nigerian site lists the V series and not this phone, so readers in either country would be importing it. Check the network bands and who honours the warranty first. vivo X300 Pro on Amazon
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is the one with lenses that physically move: Xiaomi describes its 200MP telephoto as a mechanical optical zoom from 75mm to 100mm. It is £1,299 on Xiaomi’s UK store. Oscar’s channel has a review of the older Xiaomi 15 Ultra, two months on. Xiaomi 17 Ultra on Amazon
Portraits of people
A face looks most natural from a longer lens, around 85mm, and that is about the length of the X300 Pro’s telephoto. vivo’s portrait mode offers five focal lengths from 24mm to 135mm, so where you can get this phone, it is the portrait pick.
Everywhere else, buy the iPhone 18 Pro. Its main camera has a physical iris that moves between ƒ/1.48 and ƒ/4.0, so background blur comes from the lens as well as the software, and Apple’s specifications list focus and depth control for portraits, plus a 4x telephoto with a 100mm view. iPhone 18 Pro on Amazon
The Pixel 11 Pro deserves a look if you mostly photograph people with darker skin. Real Tone, Google’s tuning for a wide range of skin tones, is on its feature list next to a 50MP portrait mode.
Video
This is the clearest win for the iPhone 18 Pro. Apple lists 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120 fps from the main camera, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, Genlock for syncing several cameras, and Dual Capture for filming with the front and rear cameras together. ProRes at 4K and 120 fps needs an external drive plugged in.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max has the same camera system on Apple’s page for $100 more, so pay that only for the bigger phone. The Android rivals are close on headline numbers. vivo lists 4K at 120 fps in Dolby Vision with 10-bit log, and Xiaomi adds 8K at 30 fps. The Pixel 11 Pro’s 8K depends on Google’s Video Boost processing.
Night and low light
Two figures help here: how big the sensor is and how wide the lens opens. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra has the biggest sensor of these phones, at 1 inch, with an ƒ/1.67 lens. The S26 Ultra has the widest lens, at F1.4, which Samsung calls 47% brighter than before. The iPhone 18 Pro opens to ƒ/1.48 and the X300 Pro to f/1.57.
On those figures the Xiaomi is the night pick where you can buy it, and the S26 Ultra where you cannot. The Pixel 11 Pro, with an ƒ/1.68 lens and a 1/1.3-inch sensor, is behind on paper. Its case is software: Google lists Instant Night Sight, Astrophotography and Night Sight Video, and processing shapes a night photo as much as the sensor does. At $1,099 it is about $50 less than the Samsung on offer, and it has a 5x telephoto of its own. Google Pixel 11 Pro on Amazon
Best budget camera phones
This part is first-hand. Oscar bought and used all five of this year’s Galaxy A phones, and our Galaxy A series comparison has the detail and the photos. The two Oscar recommends are the two we would buy for photos as well.
The Galaxy A37 5G lists at $489.99 on Samsung’s US store, which has had it on offer at $439.99, and from about ₦410,000 in Nigeria. It has a stabilised 50MP main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide, and Oscar’s word for its cameras is “reliable”. Samsung Galaxy A37 5G on Amazon
The Galaxy A17 5G lists at $269.99, has been on offer at $244.99, and is about ₦250,000. Optical stabilisation on the main camera was the biggest surprise of that phone for Oscar, and it shows most in video. Samsung Galaxy A17 5G on Amazon
Neither has a telephoto camera. In the US, the Pixel 10a from $549 has none either, but it brings Night Sight and a 48MP ƒ/1.7 main camera for $109 more than the A37. In India, the vivo V80 at ₹62,999 is the cheap way to get a real telephoto, a 50MP ZEISS camera. The vivo X300 FE at ₹89,999 adds a ZEISS extender option. Google Pixel 10a on Amazon
Is a 48MP camera phone any good?
The number will not tell you. Every phone in this guide has at least 48MP on its main camera, down to the $269.99 Galaxy A17 at 50MP, while the phones above differ by hundreds of dollars and a lot of ability. Lens brightness, stabilisation and a telephoto camera tell you more than the megapixel count does.
What to skip
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is the plainest case. Samsung’s US store asks $1,299.99 for it, $150 more than this year’s S26 Ultra on offer. Oscar’s “Using the Galaxy S25 Ultra After 1 Year” is still worth watching if you already own one. Our guide to the best Samsung phones covers the rest of the range.
The iPhone 17 is poor value for a camera buyer. It costs $929 unlocked on Apple’s store and has no telephoto camera, while the Pixel 11 at $899 has a 5x one.
The Galaxy A57 5G is Samsung’s best A phone and, in Oscar’s verdict, poor value, because it shares most of what matters with the A37 for $110 more at list price.
Two older favourites are not picks because you cannot simply buy them. Oscar’s review of the vivo X200 Pro calls it the “KING of CAMERA Smartphones” in its title, but vivo India’s store marks it out of stock at ₹94,999. The Google Store no longer lists the Pixel 8 Pro.
If you are buying unlocked in the US, the page on unlocked Android phones covers which ones work on which networks.
