DxOMark 2022 smartphone camera rating, best camera phones

2020 turned out to be a good year for photography enthusiasts: several new smartphones entered the market, the developers of which promised us cameras with the best characteristics. The quality of photographs, according to them, can surpass the results of all devices of previous generations. Have the companies achieved their goals? We will talk about this in our review of the 2022 smartphone camera based on data from the DxOMark website.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus

Mobile DxOMark Score: 87

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus camera opens the DxOMark smartphone camera rating. Despite the year of release, this is one of the best camera phones on the market.

The 16 megapixel camera is ideal for those who love to shoot on the go, as well as for perfectionists who want to get the most out of the device even in the most adverse conditions.

Its most important advantages include: - Quick start with two clicks of the button below the screen. The function works even when the smartphone is locked. — Simple and intuitive controls. For example, icons for frequently used functions are displayed in a separate row, which can be hidden if necessary. - Capture clear photos in low-light conditions with a larger f1.9 aperture, Intelligent Optical Image Stabilization, and a combination of software and hardware image processing.

OnePlus 5

Mobile DxOMark Score: 87

New this summer, OnePlus 5 confidently entered the top 10 smartphones with the best camera of 2022. The smartphone has not one, but two cameras: a 16-megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture and a secondary 20-megapixel sensor with f/2.6 aperture.

Pros: - Photos taken by the OnePlus 5 have excellent white balance in a variety of lighting conditions. — Pleasant colors and high detail even in bright light. — Experts who have tested this camera phone also report very stable autofocus in both manual and automatic modes.

However, there are also disadvantages: in low light conditions, the photo quality may be slightly worse (colors change, especially at the edges of the image). Additionally, the OnePlus 5 struggles to bring small textures into the image.

Update summary

5 Best Software for CCTV Cameras

113

camera

121 photos

97 videos

With our new Night and Wide results included, the Honor 20 Pro increases its Photo score from 117 to 121, and its DXOMARK Camera overall score from 111 to 113, maintaining its position among the best in our ranking.

Compared to many competitors, the Honor 20 Pro performed well in our Night test, but like pretty much all smartphone cameras, it is far from perfect in dim conditions. Low-light cityscapes display nice exposure and color, and although detail and noise aren't quite as good as the top performers, shots are pleasant overall. When the flash triggers for night portraits, faces are sharp with good detail, but subjects can be overexposed against very dark backgrounds. Overall exposure and dynamic range is improved in portraits using the Honor 20 Pro's Night mode, but detail is low, with significant ghosting on moving subjects and noticeable color casts occurring under street lighting.

The Honor's Wide-angle performance is slightly disappointing, with the 20 Pro achieving the lowest Wide score of all devices we have tested so far. At 16mm equivalent, the maximum field of view is not the widest we have seen, and at both the default 16mm setting and between 18 and 21mm, undersaturated color renders both outdoor and indoor shots a little flat. Exposure is generally acceptable and white balance is fairly neutral, but detail is low and there's a significant loss of sharpness in the outer field.

Still, the Honor 20 Pro remains an easy recommendation, especially for those who are looking for good camera performance at a relatively affordable price point.

Wide

Honor 20 Pro

The Honor 20 Pro ranks in the bottom half of our scores for wide-angle shooters, with fairly average results using the default wide setting and no ultra-wide field of view to boost the score. Its default wide setting doesn't offer as wide an angle of view as its competitors with 12mm or 13mm lenses, thus the Honor 20 Pro's results can be a little underwhelming.

Despite generally accurate target exposures, dynamic range is limited and a noticeable lack of color saturation lets down the shots. The results are broadly similar with a small amount of pinch zoom extending the focal length to between 18 and 21mm, where the same color saturation problems are evident. White balance is often neutral and noise is generally well-controlled in outdoor images, which is a bonus, but there's a visible loss of sharpness in the outer field, and detail is low.

The analysis of the exposure of indoor wide-angle shots is broadly similar, with reasonable brightness evident; and although darker areas are a touch underexposed, the bright areas in high dynamic scenes are fairly well-preserved. Color desaturation remains a problem, however, with some white balance casts under artificial lighting start to become evident. Ringing artifacts are commonly visible; and this, along with low detail and a noticeable buildup of luminance noise in dark areas, all reduced the Honor 20 Pro's wide-angle score.

Night

Honor 20 Pro

In low-light cityscapes in auto flash mode, exposures are generally accurate and dynamic range is acceptable, with only slight clipping evident in the very brightest lights. With the flash turned off, night exposures are a little darker, and overall detail is low, with fairly strong luminance noise often visible in flat areas of color like the sky. White balance tips towards the cold side, but remains acceptable, and overall color saturation is pleasant.

The flash usually triggers in auto flash mode for night portraits, rendering the subject in sharp focus with high levels of fine detail preserved. Exposure could be improved, since the subject is often slightly overexposed, and the limited dynamic range renders the background very dark. White balance is again on the cool side for night portraits using flash, with skin tones a little undersaturated as well.

The Honor 20 Pro's dedicated night mode does improve the overall exposure of night portraits, however, with wider dynamic range ensuring more detail in the background for a more atmospheric shot. Subjects are slightly underexposed as the camera employs less flash, and detail on faces is often low, with strong ghosting on moving elements also evident, but it generally produces a nicer overall result.

Motorola Moto Z Force Droid

Mobile DxOMark Score: 87

Last year's new Motorola Moto Z Force Droid is not losing ground. If the front camera has a resolution of only 5 megapixels, then the main camera has 21 megapixels (f / 1.8).

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Advantages: - Photos are characterized by low noise, high detail and natural colors. - Both laser autofocus and phase detection are available. — The camera can read barcodes. — Correct exposure (although there are exceptions).

The only drawbacks are the difficulty of detail in bright light and problems with white balance in low light.

The DxOMark Score for lenses

We use the sub-scores for the criteria above to compute the final DxOMark lens score. The score shows the amount of information captured by the lens on a given camera and how well the camera and lens perform together. However, the score does not reflect the intrinsic quality of the camera sensor.

The DxOMark Lens Score corresponds to an average of the optimal quantity of information that the camera can capture for each focal length.The quantity of information is calculated for each focal length/aperture combination and the highest values for each focal length are weighted to compute the score.
The DxOMark Lens Score is based on low-light conditions (150 lux and 1/60s exposure time). We chose these light conditions because we believe low-light performance is very important in photography today, and because photographers need to know how well lenses perform at their widest aperture. Lenses with a high f-number tend to be expensive and photographers want to know if the performance is worth the additional expense. The score does not account for depth of field and only takes into account lens performance at perfect focus.
The DxOMark Lens Score is a linear scale related to the largest print size that provides excellent image quality. Doubling the size of the print requires doubling the DxOMark score. A score difference of less than 10% can be considered irrelevant.
The DxOMark Lens Score is an open scale, limited by the lens and camera resolution and by sensor noise. As we can expect these to improve over time, the maximum DxOMark score is bound to increase with technological development.

You can read more about why we base our testing on the RAW image format here. But now let's have a closer look at the setups and methodologies for the individual test criteria and how the sub-scores that feed into the final score are computed.

Huawei P10

Mobile DxOMark Score: 87

Cooperation with the German photo laboratory Leica Camera AG benefited the Chinese smartphone. It features a dual camera setup that has a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and a 12-megapixel color sensor with f/2.2 aperture lenses. When combined with software, such a camera can provide virtually unlimited photography possibilities.

Strengths: - Both cameras are anti-glare. — Shooting both outdoors and indoors in light and dark conditions is characterized by high detail and accurate color reproduction. — There is a background blur effect (“bokeh”) and an HDR function for combining the best elements of several photos into one. - You can manually adjust various settings including white balance, ISO and exposure.

Cons: Sometimes the cameras can quarrel with each other: on some color photographs taken with a resolution of 20 megapixels (if the monochrome matrix is responsible for the details, the second photosensor reads the color information) a slight color distortion may be observed.

Photo and Video sub-scores

To help evaluate how well a smartphone camera will perform in specific use cases, we provide sub-scores for both Photo and Video, covering Exposure and Contrast, Color, Autofocus, Texture, Noise, Artifacts, Flash, and Stabilization (for Video). In 2022, we added Photo sub-scores for Zoom and Bokeh to reflect the advanced capabilities of many current mobile devices.

Which sub-scores are most important to you will depend on the types of photography you do with your mobile device. We compute sub-scores from the detailed results of tests that we perform under a variety of lighting conditions, and which include both scientifically-designed lab scenes, and carefully-planned indoor and outdoor scenes.

Sony Xperia X Performance

Mobile DxOMark Score: 88

This budget smartphone has one of the best selfie cameras out there right now, with the front camera featuring a 13MP sensor and f/2.0 aperture.

And photos taken by the 23MP f/2.0 main camera are superbly sharp, with excellent color rendition and attention to detail (the camera is particularly good at smoothly reducing the level of sharpness when taking distant shots).

The camera phone also has a number of disadvantages: - When shooting macros, details in the corners suffer, but this is a disease common to almost all smartphone cameras. — The smartphone manufacturer reported that the device has a proactive (predictive) focusing mode. However, in practice this is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy. Although the camera freezes in 0.03 seconds, the user will not notice the difference even if the pointing takes 0.1 seconds. - The Xperia X Performance doesn't have a 4K mode, although videos recorded in Full HD at 60fps are excellent.

DXOMARK Overall score

The most frequently-cited score for a mobile device camera is the Overall score. It is created when we map the dozen or so sub-scores into a number that gives a sense of the device's total image quality performance. An overall score is important, since we need to provide some way to rank results and have a simple answer for those not wishing to investigate further.

We weight the various results in a way that most closely matches their importance in real-world applications as judged by mainstream users — people typically interested in capturing family memories or sports — and by those who care about image quality above all else (whom we refer to as photo enthusiasts). We work with many different types of smartphone photographers to ensure that both the DXOMARK Camera (previously called DxOMark Mobile) Overall score and its sub-scores reflect what is important to them in their photography. Following from this, we test results - finished images - and not technologies. So, for example, autofocus and bokeh performance are tested independent of the method a particular camera uses to accomplish them.

This means that a device with very good overall scores may receive a higher rating than one which has a few excellent strengths and some noticeable weaknesses. However, every user is different, and each has differing priorities. For that reason, we encourage anyone reading our reviews to dig in past the Overall score into the sub-scores and written analysis.

We also get asked how a device's Overall score can be higher than its sub-scores. The Overall score is not a weighted sum of the sub-scores. It is a proprietary and confidential mapping of sub-scores into a combined score. The Overall score is also not capped at 100. That just happens to be where some of the best devices are currently.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

Mobile DxOMark Score: 88

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Although the camera, which ranked 10th in the smartphone camera rankings of 2021, was successful, the Korean company decided not to stop there. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has a completely new model. “Although the new camera's resolution is 4 megapixels lower than the S6, the increased aperture to f/1.7 allows for great photos even at night. - The pixel size has been increased to 1.4 microns, so you can get more information about the matrix. — Now you can shoot video in slow motion and a time-lapse mode has appeared. “This model also has a Food mode, which allows you to adjust the subject while leaving everything else out of focus, and adjust the color temperature to make it cooler or warmer. An opening for those who post photos of what they eat and drink on social networks.

The image is spoiled by only one LED flash.

Test summary

Securing an excellent overall DxOMark mobile score of 111 points, the Honor 20 Pro muscles its way into joint second place in our database of smartphone image quality alongside the recently released OnePlus 7 Pro. At just one point behind the devices currently at the top of the table, the Honor 20 Pro put in a sterling performance across most of our tested categories.

Its Photo score of 117 points is just one point behind the OnePlus 7 Pro, but the Honor 20 Pro's key strengths of exposure, noise, and zoom see it achieve slightly higher scores in those categories. It's let down a little by its performance for detail, which is lower than we often see with top-end devices, and there are a couple of distracting artifacts, but overall it remains an excellent performer.

Some target exposures are a little low in indoor images, particularly when compared to its competitors, but in isolation they're very acceptable, and the Honor 20 Pro boasts a very wide dynamic range with some of the best highlight and shadow detail preservation we' ve seen. Its color algorithms are well-tuned when tested in the lab; and although occasionally a blue white balance can affect rendering on outdoor images, the Honor 20 Pro is capable of vibrant and pleasant color. Noise is also another key strength, with smooth files in low light and barely any luminance noise in areas of uniform color like the sky in outdoor images. The trade-off is a loss of fine detail in very intricate areas, however, which can start to look a bit smudgy under close inspection.

Zoom is another key strength for the Honor 20 Pro, with its 3x telephoto lens providing good detail at medium range. The Honor implements a very similar technology to the “field-of-view fusion” we have first seen on the Huawei P30 Pro. The Honor's bokeh simulation effect is also one of the best we've seen, with good subject isolation and a realistic gradient effect that can apply different intensities of blur to objects at varying distances both in front of and behind the subject.

The Honor 20 Pro scores a very respectable 97 points for video, matching such devices as the P30 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10+, and only slightly trailing the very best in class. Our testers particularly liked the 20 Pro's video color rendering, which produces bright and vivid colors in both bright light and typical indoor conditions. Stabilization is also a strength and is very efficient at counteracting walking motion and camera shake alike. Video detail is decent but could be better, considering that the camera records at 4K resolution footage by default. Overall, though, the Honor 20 Pro is a great smartphone for video capture.

Samsung Galaxy S8

Mobile DxOMark Score: 88

In general, the Samsung Galaxy S8 camera worthily continues the traditions of the company's smartphones - in some respects it can adequately compete with the first line of the rating. — The main camera sensor with a resolution of 12 megapixels and a lens with an f / 1.7 aperture are capable of producing very high-quality photos and excellent videos. — The front camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and an aperture of f/1.7. This means that selfies and conference calls will be at the highest level, both during the day and at sunset. — The camera phone is equipped with Dual Pixel technology for very fast and accurate autofocus even during sudden movements and in a dark room. — Multi-frame shooting will allow you to combine several photos into one. — There is a “tasty” “Food” mode. — Excellent optical stabilization works as it should and does not “erase” the image.

However, if you take several pictures in quick succession, fluctuations in brightness may occur. Well, traditionally, like many other smartphones, objects in the center of the image are displayed in more detail than at the edges.

Oppo Find X2 Pro

Cameras (3) : 48 MP, 48 MP, 13 MP
A smartphone with wireless interfaces (NFS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1) and 4G Internet (for the future!) is designed to delight you with high-quality pictures. Shoot trees outside the window, ducks swimming in the pond, or take a portrait of a loved one - any photos will turn out great!

The battery, according to the manufacturer, is 4260 mAh, but it is not that powerful in fact, but this is compensated by fast 65-watt charging. The macro mode is not indicated by a separate button on the Oppo Find X2 Pro camera, but it is very good. The 32 MP front camera allows you to take clear selfies even in the dark.

pros:

protection from water;
4G;
camera.

Minuses:

no wireless charging;
no memory card slot.

HTC 10

Mobile DxOMark Score: 88

The camera sensor, which ranks third in the top 10 best camera phones of 2022, has a resolution of 12 megapixels and an f/1.8 aperture lens equipped with an optical stabilization system.

What's good about the camera in HTC 10: - Macro photography has a high level of detail, natural shadows and virtually no artifacts. — There is optical stabilization. - There is a laser focus. — There is a flash of two LEDs of different colors.

In terms of frame sharpness, the smartphone does not take fourth place on the list, but the photos are closer to what a person sees during shooting. The maximum sharpness of the HTC 10 is “focused” on foreground objects, the rest of the planes are blurred, and the sharpness of the SGS8 is the same over the entire area.

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The disadvantages are general: sharpness drops from the center to the corners, although evenly and slightly, and when shooting with different lighting levels, color rendition may suffer. Overall, this has the best camera among budget smartphones.

Google Pixel

Mobile DxOMark Score: 89

The main camera sensor of the Google Pixel with a resolution of 12.2 megapixels and an f / 2.0 aperture has such an interesting feature as gyroscopic autofocus. Significantly enhances the capabilities of fast and accurate autofocus and camera software, especially HDR+ mode. Photos feature vibrant and natural colors, low noise, and a high level of detail (even when shooting very bright objects).

Another feature of the camera is the Lens Blur function, which simulates the “bokeh” effect in the software.

The front camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and an f/2.4 aperture. It's on par with and even better than the popular iPhone 7 Plus when it comes to selfie capabilities. The Google Pixel has better selfie sharpness and a wider viewing angle, allowing you to fit more objects into the frame at arm's length.

The only drawback of the device: the small number of settings and Google photo processing algorithms may not appeal to those who like to “finish” photos with their hands.

Test summary

Achieving an overall DxOMark mobile score of 91 points, the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 puts in a very respectable performance in our tests, but lands outside the top 20 in our database for smartphone image quality. Capturing still photos, the device achieved a Photo score of 92 points, with its key strengths being excellent autofocus performance, nice flash pictures, and pleasant color in all tested conditions. Exposure is generally accurate when shooting both indoors and outside; and the Pocophone is capable of nice overall results in well-balanced lighting conditions, with high levels of contrast, accurate white balance, and pleasant color.

HDR processing isn't quite as strong as we've seen on some of the best-performing devices; and although detail is often maintained in the darker tonal regions, expect some highlight clipping in the brighter areas when shooting high-contrast scenes. Contrast is also occasionally low in some outdoor and indoor scenes, too, with a misty white haze affect rendered over the image. This low contrast issue occurs relatively infrequently, and certainly not with every exposure, but we've never previously observed this type of issue on Xiaomi devices (such as the Mi 8).

The Pocophone F1 maintains reasonable levels of detail in most lighting conditions, but fine edges aren't quite as well-defined as with some competitor flagship devices, and there's a noticeable loss of detail in low light. The dual-tone flash performs well, though, recording good exposure with accurate white balance and acceptable detail, so it's worth using the flash in low light for better results.

The Pocophone F1's main opportunities for improvement concern both bokeh and particularly zoom shots. With no tele-lens for zoom, results are on par with single-cam devices that implement a digital zoom to get you closer to your subject. In bright light with only a small amount of magnification, results are acceptable, but expect to see some loss of detail in intricate areas, as well as strong ringing along contrast edges.

The second depth-sensing sensor does an OK job on bokeh shots, with a strong but pleasant background blur applied behind subjects captured in Portrait mode. Depth estimation and masking errors do occur, however, with edges of the portrait occasionally blurred, and artifacts visible around complex areas, resulting in parts of the background that remain unblurred.

Achieving a video sub-score of 90 points, the Pocophone F1 is a reasonably consistent performer for multimedia creatives. Its key strengths are excellent autofocus with good tracking, and an effective stabilization system that offers good motion reduction when both walking and panning, as well as for static handheld videos. Video exposure is acceptable, but target exposures can be a little low in bright scenes, and dynamic range is again limited. Color is another strong aspect for video, however, so you can expect well-saturated hues and generally acceptable white balance in all conditions; but detail is very low in movies generally, and especially in those shot in low light.

HTC U11

Mobile DxOMark Score: 90

Perfect color tones, ultra-low noise, natural shadows and instant UltraSpeed autofocus that focuses on your target even in low light are some of the many benefits of HTC U11.

What else this camera phone can boast of: - A 12 MP main camera with an f/1.75 aperture and a 16 MP front camera with an f/2.0 aperture and without autofocus. - Both cameras have HDR Boost, a technology that allows you to take HDR photos from regular photos. — Both optical and electronic stabilization are supported. — Video recording can be done in 4K resolution. — There is a Slow Motion mode (1080p / 120 FPS).

The only thing in which the 2022 camera phone champion falls short of fourth place in the ranking (Samsung Galaxy S8) is digital image noise. While the texture quality is the best in the rating (the smartphone scored 94 points), the noise level is slightly worse than that of the Samsung Galaxy S8 (89 versus 92).

Cameraphone of the Year

The first place in the DxOMark rating was shared by two participants - HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro and Xiaomi CC9 Pro Premium. The portal’s experts called both gadgets “the optimal choice for photographers in any situation.” The HUAWEI smartphone is equipped with a main camera with two main 40 megapixel sensors; the resolution of the main sensor of the new Xiaomi model is 108 megapixels.

According to the conclusion of the laboratory specialists, both models demonstrated the best results among all camera phones tested this year. During testing, the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro came out ahead in photo quality, coping well with noise and artifacts. Xiaomi CC9 Pro Premium, in turn, demonstrated better performance when shooting at high magnification and more accurate autofocus when shooting video.

Samsung Galaxy S20+

This smartphone is somewhere in the middle between the budget flagship S20 and the senior S20 Ultra. The device has a 6.7-inch display, of course, AMOLED. And a traditional Samsung large 4500 mAh battery with fast and wireless charging. At the same time, the S20+ is built on the same high-performance Exynos 990 chipset as its more expensive flagship brother.

As for the cameras, externally the S20+ seems to have everything the same - four sensors (main, telephoto, wide-angle and macro). However, in reality, the main and telephoto lenses are very different from the “ultra” version.

The main sensor has a lower resolution than the flagship (64 MP and 108 MP, respectively). And although both devices produce a 12 MP image, the image processing technology is different - you will have to forget about the “superpixels” of the “ultra”.
64 MP telephoto sensor. Its focal length is almost the same as the main one, however, the sufficiently high resolution of the sensor allows you to shoot distant objects as if they were very close (Samsung calls this technology “hybrid zoom”).

But that's where the differences end - the depth camera and ultra-wide-angle sensor are exactly the same as those on the S20 Ultra. And even if the telephoto and main sensors are slightly worse than those of the flagship of the line, the price is lower.

Pros : good white balance even at night, nice colors, excellent wide-angle lens, IP68 waterproof.

Cons : noise, especially at night, the front camera is slightly inferior in image quality to other participants in the top 10.

Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition (121)

The appearance of Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition in the top was extremely unexpected - the smartphone immediately earned 121 points!

It is noted that this is the first serial smartphone with a module that has a huge resolution of 108 MP (optical stabilization is supported). Of course, by default it shoots in a much lower resolution (108 MP must be forced - this is normal, almost all companies do this).

In addition to the main sensor, it received four more: for macro photography, telephoto for portrait photography, telephoto with optical zoom and stabilizer, and wide-angle with a viewing angle of 117 degrees.

Excellent shooting is noted both with a sufficient amount of light and at dusk or at night.

Screen diagonal: 6.47 inches

Screen resolution: 1080×2340

Weight: 208 g

Number of SIM cards: 2

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G

Memory capacity: 128 GB

RAM capacity: 6 GB

Battery capacity: 5260 mAh

Rear camera: 5 modules 108/8/20/12/2 MP

Front camera: 32 MP

Memory card support: no

Huawei Mate 30 Pro (121)

This is not the first time that Huawei smartphones top the DXOMARK rating. So Huawei Mate 30 Pro took the honorable first place.

The main feature of the smartphone camera is the presence of a separate 40-megapixel module for video recording (wide-angle). The resolution of the main module for photography is also 40 MP. There is also a lens for 3X zoom with optical stabilization and an additional one for background blur.

Experts say that the Mate 30 Pro takes better pictures than the P30 Pro: during the day there is more detail in the corners, at night there is less noise and more high-detail images in general. And the P30 Pro, as we know, was previously one of the best camera phones on the planet.

Let's note the various filters, night and portrait modes.

Screen diagonal: 6.53 inches

Screen resolution: 2400×1176

Weight: 298 g

Number of SIM cards: 2

Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 990

Memory capacity: 256 GB

RAM capacity: 8 GB

Battery capacity: 4500 mAh

Rear camera: 4 modules

Front camera: 32 MP

Memory card support: yes

Samsung Galaxy S20+

The middle brother of the updated Samsung Galaxy line is significantly inferior to the flagship, but at the same time looks quite decent compared to most competitors. Installed here:

Ultra-wide-angle camera: 12 MP, pixel size 1.4 microns, aperture F/2.2;
Wide-angle: 12 MP, size 1.8 microns, aperture F1.8, optical image stabilization;
Telephoto lens: 64 MP, size 0.8 microns, aperture F/2.0, optical image stabilization;
DepthVision for portrait photography;
Hybrid optical zoom 3x, digital zoom 30x;
Front: 10 MP, size 1.22 microns, aperture F/2.2.

As can be seen from a dry comparison of numbers, the lag behind the flagship is noticeable to the naked eye, however, there are a number of advantages over last year’s models.

In particular, the Samsung Galaxy S20+ is also equipped with a “space zoom”, albeit not as sharp as the Ultra models - it is possible to enlarge the image by 4 times through optical zoom and up to 30 times through digital zoom.

The Nonacell mode was not implemented for the S20+ model, but the device received a number of other flagship functions. For example, the Single Take mode, in which all cameras are shot for 10 seconds, and the result is short videos and several of the best shots selected by artificial intelligence.

Honor V30 Pro

A relatively inexpensive smartphone with a very good camera is well equipped both outside and inside. Its 6.57-inch display has a high resolution, and the “heart” of the device is the high-performance Kirin 990 chipset.

The rear camera has three sensors:

main wide-angle 27 mm and 40 MP resolution (the picture will be 10 MP),
another ultra-wide at 16 mm and 12 MP
and a telephoto lens with triple zoom of 8 MP.

All three cameras have laser autofocus. Both the main lens and the telephoto camera are equipped with an optical stabilization system.

Overall, lovers of good smartphone photography should definitely appreciate the Honor V30 Pro camera. It is capable of both zoom and bokeh effects, night photography and flash photography. The rosy picture is slightly spoiled by some instability in autofocus and the 16:9 aspect ratio when shooting with an ultra-wide lens.

The front camera of this model also deserves attention. It is, unexpectedly, double: 32 MP with f/2.0 aperture and 8 MP with f/2.2 aperture. But even if the selfies come out so clear that you want to hide imperfections, the beauty mode will help.

Pros : fast and wireless charging, comes with a protective film and case.

Cons : There is no 3.5 mm audio jack, but there is a Type-C to 3.5 mm adapter for headphones.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G

This smartphone has all the hallmarks we've come to expect from Huawei flagships: a beautiful glass and metal design, a huge OLED display, water and dust resistance, excellent Leica camera hardware and super-fast charging (with reverse charging, of course). The Kirin 990, a new top-end platform from Huawei's HiSilicon division, is responsible for performance.

The main camera of the Mate 30 Pro combines:

wide 40-megapixel SuperSensing sensor
40MP ultra-wide Cine camera
8 megapixel 3x optical zoom.
There's also a Time of Flight lens, which is essentially a depth sensor to provide background blur (bokeh effect).

The camera is able to detect what scene you are shooting and adjust accordingly. The AI in it is very good at this and is very helpful, especially when taking portraits. And the night mode is one of the best available in premium segment mobile devices. The camera provides good exposure and accurate white balance even at very low light levels.

As for video, the Mate 30 Pro 5G can shoot videos at 4K resolution (60 fps). However, by default it shoots at 2160p/30fps.

The 32 MP front camera takes bright selfies with good dynamic range and excellent

Pros : EMUI 10 based on Android 10, fast and wireless charging, a large number of camera settings, fast 3D face unlock.

Cons : No Google apps out of the box, no 3.5mm audio jack.

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

The older version of one of the new Chinese smartphones in 2022 is equipped with a 6.67-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of 90 Hz, a Snapdragon 865 chip and a 4500 mAh battery with support for fast, wireless and reverse charging.

However, it was not these advantages that helped the Xiaomi product surpass its competitors in the ranking of smartphone cameras in 2022, but a set of excellent high-resolution optics and support for shooting at 8K resolution. Rear camera includes:

108 MP main sensor (shoots at 25 MP resolution by default), has laser autofocus and optical stabilization.
The second module with a resolution of 20 MP is ultra-wide-angle.
12 MP – telephoto with 2x optical zoom and instant autofocus with Dual Pixel technology.
8 MP is another telephoto lens with laser autofocus, optical stabilization and 10x hybrid zoom.

Overall, the photography results are similar to last year's Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition, but thanks to a more powerful Snapdragon 865 chipset, wider dynamic range and improved settings (especially in terms of texture rendering, HDR processing in bright outdoor and typical indoor environments, shooting quality in night mode and corner sharpness), the performance of the Mi 10 Pro model is optimal for creating high-quality photos and videos.

The 20 MP front camera supports face unlock and can record video at 120 fps.

Pros : Excellent stereo speakers, cooling system with 9 temperature sensors.

Cons : screen scratches easily, no memory card support, no 3.5mm jack. The global version of the device supports only 1 SIM card.

Oppo Find X2 Pro

The first three in the 2022 DxOMark smartphone camera rating is opened by the luxury flagship of a Chinese company that produces premium products. It features a large amount of RAM – 12 GB, waterproof housing according to the IP68 standard, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and an Ultra Vision AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

But such characteristics can be found in other models. Let's talk about the best thing about the Oppo Find X2 Pro - its cameras.

The main camera is triple:

The main sensor is 48 MP Quad-Bayer, which shoots at 12 MP by default.
Ultra-wide 48 MP camera with PDAF autofocus.
The 13-megapixel telephoto camera offers a whopping 5x zoom and optical image stabilization.

In addition to photography, the camera can record video in 4K (60fps) with HDR. Testers were impressed by Oppo's autofocus system, which was fast and reliable in all conditions for both stills and video, as well as its excellent video stabilization, which ensures very smooth footage even when moving. Finally, video exposure even in low light levels is another strong point of the Find X2.

Overall, according to DxOMark experts, this model offers balanced performance with results close to the best in almost all Photo and Video subcategories.

The 32MP front camera produces very clear and detailed images in good lighting.

Pros : stereo sound, versions with a back cover covered with artificial leather or ceramic are available, there is fast 65 W charging, a case is included.

Cons : the price is higher than many Chinese competitors, there is no 3.5 mm headphone jack, wireless charging, notification indicator and memory card slot.

Honor 30 Pro+

The release of the 30 Pro+ model became another link in the chain of Honor releases, aimed at demonstrating the ability of the Huawei sub-brand not only to diversify the line of devices of the parent company, but also to compete with hi-end gadgets in any category.

One of the main trump cards of the Honor 30 Pro+ is expectedly its photo and video capabilities, which are in many ways similar to the best camera phones in the world at the moment - Huawei Mate 40 Pro and Huawei P40 Pro. Thus, the main 50-megapixel lens of the Honor 30 Pro+ camera differs from the Huawei flagship only in the absence of optical image stabilization, and the wide-angle has an even larger field of view, but is noticeably inferior in aperture and matrix resolution. As for the periscope telephoto lens, the difference lies solely in the number of megapixels - 8 versus 12 for the Honor 30 Pro+ and Huawei Mate 40 Pro, respectively.

In practice, photos and videos taken with the Honor 30 Pro+ camera often surpass in quality the results of flagship models from other manufacturers, which was made possible thanks to the use of Huawei hardware and software. For example, constantly improving algorithms for automatically adjusting white balance, based on self-learning neural networks, allow Honor 30 Pro+ cameras to provide improved color reproduction compared to many competitors.

Honor 30 Pro+ camera specifications:

Main camera Ultra Vision : 50 MP matrix resolution, 27 mm focal length, f/1.9 aperture with Octa Phase Detection autofocus system;
Ultra-wide-angle lens : 16 MP, 17 mm focal length, f/2.2 aperture, PD autofocus;
Telephoto : 8 MP, 5x optical zoom, 135mm focal length, f/3.4 aperture, PD autofocus, optical image stabilization;
ToF camera for taking portrait photos (depth sensor) : 2 MP.

Dual Front Camera:

Main lens: 32 MP, 26 mm focal length, f/2.0 aperture, fixed focus;
Ultra-wide-angle lens: 8 MP, 17 mm focal length, f/2.2 aperture.

Huawei P40 Pro

Here is the best camera on a smartphone in 2022. Huawei uses the P series to showcase the latest technology in its mobile cameras, and the new P40 Pro is no exception.

On its back cover there is a Leica camera array consisting of:

Main 50-megapixel Quad-Bayer sensor. Like other devices with similar sensors, it uses pixel binning to increase dynamic range and compensate for low light. This sensor also has optical stabilization.
A high-resolution (40MP 1/1.54″) ultra-wide-angle sensor that, combined with a fast f/1.8 aperture, should offer excellent low-light image quality.
12 MP cameras, with optical stabilization and 5x optical zoom.

Also, most modes (including blur mode) use AI RAW, which provides the widest dynamic range.

Add to this the ability to zoom 50x, improved white balance and perfect color reproduction, impeccable performance in all subcategories of “Photo” and “Video” in the DxOMark test, as well as a 32 MP selfie camera + depth sensor, with excellent detail and fast autofocus, and you will understand that this is the king of camera phones, at least in the near future.

Pros : top performance thanks to the latest HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G chipset, display refresh rate – 90 Hz, IP68 water protection, memory card slot, fast and wireless charging, fast fingerprint and face unlocking.

Cons : branded AppGallery instead of Google services, but it still does not have all the necessary applications, there is no classic headphone jack.

iPhone XS Max 256GB (106)

The iPhone XS Max takes pictures at a very high level - this is unlikely to come as a surprise to anyone. Let us only note that all of the above also applies to the younger iPhone XS model, because they have the same cameras installed.

The camera module is double: a main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a resolution of 12 MP, a telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture and a resolution of 12 MP, as well as 2x optical zoom.

Interestingly, the camera's characteristics are similar to those used in another model, the iPhone X. However, the camera software in the XS is much better.

Screen diagonal: 6.5 inches

Screen resolution: 2688×1242

Weight: 208 g

Number of SIM cards: 2 (eSIM)

Processor: Apple A12 Bionic

Memory capacity: 256 GB

RAM capacity: 4 GB

Battery capacity: 3179 mAh

Rear camera: dual 12/12 MP

Front camera: 7 MP

Memory card support: no

Xiaomi Mi 9

Among budget smartphones with a good camera, Xiaomi Mi 9 is worthy of attention. This phone has a triple main module. The main module is a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor, having a ½-inch format and a fast lens with six elements, where the viewing angle is 79 degrees and the maximum aperture is F/1.75. The main sensor supports quad binning. There is also a 16 MP wide-angle sensor, with a viewing angle of 117 degrees and an F/2.2 aperture, and a 12 MP telephoto sensor for 2x optical zoom. In addition, the device was supplemented with an LED flash, with hybrid autofocus, which perfectly combines technologies such as laser, contrast and phase focusing.

Determining the best budget smartphones with a good camera, specialists from the DxOMark resource claim that among xiaomi smartphones this particular model is the leader in video shooting performance. It is capable of recording video in 4K resolution with minimal noise and produces excellent results when shooting at night. Separately, experts highlighted the stabilization system; it makes shooting flawless even while walking.

Looking at the best smartphones with a good camera, Xiaomi Mi 9 scored enough points to be considered one of the leaders that can take amazing photos. Experts noted excellent exposure under different lighting conditions, the most optimal balance between detail, noise, excellent flash performance, autofocus under all conditions. As the overall rating of high-quality photo functions of dxomark gadgets shows, Xiaomi Mi 9 remains in third place, ahead of many of its competitors.

Apple iPhone XS Max

Finally, experts from the authoritative resource DxOMark managed to get to the Apple iPhone XS Max. And this device is among the best in terms of its photographic capabilities. The new model from a well-known manufacturer uses functionality that can compete with even expensive cameras that shoot with professional quality.

The 2022 Apple iPhone XS Max smartphones use a 12-megapixel sensor with wide-angle optics, as well as an auxiliary 12-megapixel telephoto sensor and a TrueTone flash that can change the color of artificial lighting based on shooting conditions. The main sensor uses 1.4 micron pixels, a 6-element lens, an f/1.8 aperture, and an optical stabilizer. The telephoto sensor is capable of providing additional image stabilization and 2x optical zoom.

Apple iPhone XS Max and XS are the best models for photography from a well-known manufacturer. The new device has a frontal shooting capability, consisting of the following elements: a 7 MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, an infrared and a spot projector. By the way, when determining the rating of the best, experts noted that in this case not only the elements are responsible for shooting, but also the image processing processor, which works together with the neural engine. It perfectly adjusts autofocus, white balance, local highlighting of certain tones, reduces noise, emphasizes the smallest details, detects faces, and allows you to glue several pictures into one. Such phones with good photography will be able to give the user real pleasure when viewing frames.

By the way, in the new model, or rather in its memory buffer, several frames are saved at once, this allows you to shoot without any delays. Naturally, when choosing from the best phones, attention was paid to video capabilities. The Apple iPhone XS Max retains high-quality, surround sound, which is captured simultaneously by four microphones. Maximum resolution – 4K.

When choosing phones with the best photo modules, DxOMark experts highly rated the iPhone XS Max's autofocus system and portrait mode, which has a background blur effect. Among the best devices available today, the iPhone XS Max stood out from its existing competitors due to its perfect detailing during zooming.

HTC U12+

Naturally, for many modern users, high-quality images in mobile devices are of significant importance. Therefore, when choosing among smartphones up to 20,000 rubles, the consumer wants to receive high quality photo and video shooting. The DxOMark resource decided to make this task easier for many and provided a rating of inexpensive smartphones with a good camera. It includes HTC U12+. This is a productive gadget with a good camera up to 20,000.

As the table shows, resource experts assigned fairly high scores to this model. And all thanks to high-quality photo functionality and flawless pictures. The gadget has a main module – 12 MP, with an aperture of f/1.75, an additional module – 16 MP, with a telephoto lens with an aperture of f/2.6. Features also include phase detection, laser-controlled autofocus, optical stabilizer, dual LED flash, and 4K video shooting. And frontal frames in HTC U12+ are obtained thanks to the presence of a dual module of 8 and 8 megapixels.

The rating among phones with a good camera is occupied by this flagship, which boasts top-end image processing functions. It is capable of shooting photos in RAW format. It also features HTC's UltraSpeed Autofocus 2, a proprietary system that offers laser-guided autofocus and phase-deactivation capabilities. Simulated bokeh is also supported. Therefore, among smartphones under 20,000 rubles, this option is considered one of the best.

Honor 20 Pro (113)

The 20 Pro is Honor's flagship smartphone, but when it comes to its price, it's more of a mid-range model. Nevertheless, it received a really decent camera, and the DXOMARK expert rating rated it 113 points.

How did you manage to win such a large number of points? The main camera has four sensors: the main one with optical and electronic stabilization and laser focusing (48 MP), wide-angle (16 MP), telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom. The last module is for macro photography, its resolution is small - only 2 MP. It is believed that the last module is nothing more than a tribute to marketers, but even if so, the camera takes excellent pictures in any case, and even more so considering the cost of the smartphone.

Screen diagonal: 6.26 inches

Screen resolution: 2340×1080

Weight: 182 g

Number of SIM cards: 2

Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 980

Memory capacity: 256 GB

RAM capacity: 8 GB

Battery capacity: 4000 mAh

Rear camera: four modules 48/16/8/2 MP

Front camera: 32 MP

Memory card support: no

Asus ZenFone 6 (104)

As far as we know, Asus ZenFone 6 is not officially available on our market at the time of writing. It's a shame, because this is a very interesting smartphone.

The main feature is a special rotating mechanism for the main camera, thanks to which ZenFone 6 does without a front camera.

The camera itself is double: a main module with a resolution of 48 MP and an aperture of f/1.79, as well as an ultra-wide-angle lens with a resolution of 13 MP.

Laser autofocus is claimed.

Screen diagonal: 6.4 inches

Screen resolution: 2340×1080

Weight: 190 g

Number of SIM cards: 2

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Memory capacity: 128 GB

RAM capacity: 6 GB

Battery capacity: 5000 mAh

Rear camera: dual 48/13 MP

Front camera: dual 48/13 MP (rear module)

Memory card support: yes

Xiaomi Mi 9 (110)

Go ahead. And here we have a surprise - Xiaomi Mi 9. Why the surprise? Yes, because it is traditionally believed that the top Xiaomi in terms of photos still do not reach the famous flagships, but DXOMARK experts prove that this is not so. The icing on the cake is that it is one of the cheapest flagships on the market.

The camera here is triple: main module (48 MP, f/1.75), wide-angle (16 MP, f/2.2), telephoto module with 2x optical zoom (12 MP, f/2.2). Like its competitors, it has a night mode, as well as artificial intelligence - which is quite common lately.

By the way, the main sensor is Sony IMX586, which can also be seen in other flagship smartphones.

Screen diagonal: 6.39 inches

Screen resolution: 2340×1080

Weight: 173 g

Number of SIM cards: 2

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Memory capacity: 64 GB

RAM capacity: 6 GB

Battery capacity: 3300 mAh

Rear camera: triple 48/16/12 MP

Front camera: 20 MP

Memory card support: no

Google Pixel 4 (112)

According to experts, the Google Pixel 4 is still a great camera phone, but it still falls a little short - the photos do not reach the tops like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro. But before, “pixels” were considered top-end camera phones. However, as they say, it’s not over yet - it’s quite possible that the camera will be “updated” programmatically with the help of firmware updates and then it will give the leaders of the rating a hard time.

Interestingly, previous generations of Pixels offered a single rear camera module. There are two of them: the main one with f/1.7 aperture (12 MP) and optical stabilization, as well as a telephoto lens with 2x zoom with f/2.4 aperture (16 MP).

Like its competitors, it has a night mode.

Dimensions (WxHxD): 68.8×147.1×8.2 mm

Screen diagonal: 5.7 inches

Screen resolution: 1080×2280

Weight: 162 g

Number of SIM cards: 1

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Memory capacity: 64 GB

RAM capacity: 6 GB

Battery capacity: 2800 mAh

Rear camera: dual 12.2/16 MP

Front camera: 8 MP

Memory card support: no

OnePlus 7 Pro (114)

The OnePlus 7 Pro also earned a fairly large number of points, although OnePlus smartphones usually do not reach the top level.

Why did OnePlus 7 Pro manage to score as much as 114 points? Thanks to the main camera, which received three modules: main (48 MP, f/1.6), wide-angle (16 MP, f/2.2), telephoto lens (8 MP, f/2.4). Optical stabilization is announced for two sensors: the main and telephoto module.

It is noted that OnePlus 7 Pro now takes great pictures not only during the day, but also at night. It is quite possible that the issue is the night mode, which is supported by these smartphones.

Screen diagonal: 6.67 inches

Screen resolution: 3120×1440

Weight: 206 g

Number of SIM cards: 2

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Memory capacity: 256 GB

RAM capacity: 8 GB

Battery capacity: 4000 mAh

Rear camera: triple 48/8/16 MP

Front camera: 16 MP

Memory card support: no