Best Camera Phones 2020 | The Sun UK
THE gap between the best camera phones and DSLRs is shrinking every year.
Thanks to advancements in hardware and software, you can take professional-looking, full-HD shots in an instant without having to learn complicated settings or controls.
Sure, if you want to stay at the cutting edge of photography, the best DSLRs are still the way to go.
But if you're not a pro and you're more interested in taking great selfies and cataloguing your holidays, then a top-rated camera phone should have more than enough tech to keep your Instagram looking good.
1. iPhone 11
SIM-free
- iPhone 11, £729 (SIM-free) from Amazon – buy here
Top contract
- 100GB data, £41 a month (£0 upfront) on Three – buy here
The iPhone 11 is the most popular phone and camera phone on the market right now, and it's the handset's ability to perform well across the board, it's price and its undeniable style which got it there.
Its camera phone credentials are a huge part of the rave reception of course: it's missing one or two options of iPhone 11 Pro, but it takes a mean shot and will deliver for all but the most demanding mobile photographers.
12-megapixel dual-rear Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras will cover the bases for many, cramming loads of detail into shot – if you really want a third Telephoto camera you'll need to look to the Pro (and £250 more).
Likewise if you demand dual optical image stabilisation: the iPhone 11 doesn't have that, but it does still stabilise shots for clearer photos, and with great results
In common with the Pro, it has a night mode and six great lighting options to make use.
The iPhone 11's own tech includes a 2x optical zoom and up to 5x digital zoom, and it can shoot 4K video on both its rear cameras and its front facing camera.
In short: as a camera phone the iPhone 11 has loads going for it for the price – whether you're after Insta-worthy pics, documenting holidays or recording life events, it's our top option.
Verdict: Best all-round camera phone.
2. iPhone 11 Pro
SIM-free
- iPhone 11 Pro, £1,049 (SIM-free) from Amazon – buy here
Top contract
- 100GB data, £59 a month (£0 upfront) on Three – buy here
Apple makes a habit of being at the forefront of camera phone technology, and the iPhone 11 Pro is no different.
It has the same camera specs as the top-end iPhone 11 Pro Max, costs £250 less, and is slightly superior to the iPhone 11.
The most striking difference to the entry iPhone 11? The Pro's three, not two, rear-cameras: 12-megapixel Ultra Wide, Wide and Telephoto options (the iPhone 11 doesn't have the last one).
The three options make this a fantastic camera phone for 2020; the Wide and Ultra Wide great for capturing maximum detail in a picture, the Telephoto for capturing shots at a distance.
Like the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro has next-gen High Dynamic Range to make photos more vivid, ample zoom options, six high-quality lighting effects and a great night mode.
One key difference is the presence of dual optical image stabilisation, providing even more stability to combat camera shake.
So if you demand the sharpest shots possible, and also want to utilise a Telephoto lens, the iPhone 11 Pro is the best camera phone out there.
Not forgetting its 4K video recording capability and a 12-megapixel front camera with 4K video and video stabilisation.
Verdict: Best featured camera phone
3. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
SIM-free
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, £1199.00, from Argos – buy here
Top contracts
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, 100GB data, £63 a month (£24.99 up front) with Three – buy here
The latest addition to the Galaxy family, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G packs in some impressive specs.
The camera compartment is no exception, with the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G featuring a main 108MP camera with 100x zoom.
Samsung's flagship device truly shines in zoom capabilities, which are arguably among the best you can find in a smartphone.
The two additional lenses on the device are a respectively a 48MP optical zoom camera and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.
The S20 Ultra 5G also has a time-of-flight sensor designed to gather depth information for the blurry background mode and sharp foreground Live Focus stills, as well as for video recording.
The only minor downside of this great smartphone's camera compartment is that Samsung is a little heavy on photo processing, sometimes giving images a bit of an unnatural punch.
Still, with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G you're not just buying a camera phone, but an all-rounder with truly top specs in every possible sense.
This smartphone is not only the best Android camera phone, but possibly the best Android phone you can get.
Considering this, the price does not look that prohibitive anymore.
Verdict: Best Android camera phone
4. Google Pixel 4, Google Pixel 4 XL
SIM-free
- Google Pixel 4, £669, from Argos – buy here
- Google Pixel 4 XL, £829, from Argos – buy here
Top contracts
- Pixel 4, 10GB data, £30 a month (£75 up front) with O2 – buy here
- Pixel 4XL, 10GB data, £33 a month (£175 up front) with O2 – buy here
Google’s Pixel phones have consistently pushed the boundaries of what we might consider a good camera phone, and the Pixel 4 range is no exception.
The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are fantastic snappers because Google has fine-tuned the hardware to work near-on flawlessly with its software, and they're the first Pixel phones to feature dual-camera set ups on the rear.
The main camera is a 12.2-megapixel wide-angle lens, paired with a new 16-megapixel telephoto lens. Google says it didn't bother with the second sensor on the back of the Pixel 3 because "all the work is done by AI and software improvements."
AI and software still play a role on the Pixel 4 but its hardware has finally caught up.
When it comes to software, Google has a number of fantastic features on the Pixel 4, including: 'Astrophotography', Dual Exposure, Night Sight, Top Shot, Super Zoom, Group Selfie and Photobooth modes.
With the Astrophotography mode the Pixel 4 lets you take long exposure shots of up to four minutes. And, given its name, this is designed to help you take better snaps of the night-sky – of stars and the Moon, for example.
Dual Exposure lets you separate the highlights and shadows in both the background and foreground of an image.
Night Sight uses Google’s AI to take brilliant photos in low light without a flash, and Top Shot lets you take multiple snaps each time you press the camera button to help you find the best one.
As we said in our Pixel 4 review: 'The Google Pixel 4 is hard to fault.'
Verdict: Second-best Android camera phone
5. Huawei P40 Pro
SIM-free
- Huawei P40 Pro, £899.99, from Amazon – buy here
Top contract
- Huawei P40 Pro, 100GB data, £46 a month (£0 upfront) on Three – buy here
When Huawei launched its Mate 20 Pro, it was the world’s first smartphone to have a triple camera set up. A few manufacturers followed but and the Mate 30 Pro jumped to quad-camera.
Now, the P40 Pro builds on its predecessor to deliver yet another excellent camera phone in collaboration with Leica.
Leica is a renowned name when it comes to photography, and the company has a long-standing partnership with Huawei.
The phone's setup consists of a main 50MP camera with f/1.9 aperture, a 12MP telephoto lens and an ultra-wide 40MP lens.
All that tech on board makes the P40 Pro a great all-rounder camera phone: it handles most settings, and has a solid night mode as well.
But it's also an all-rounder which throws a massive 50x Super Zoom into the mix.
Sure, the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G has a 100x zoom, but anything shot over 10x starts losing detail in smartphone photography, and in a zoom battle up to 50x, the Pro still wins (even if by not a large margin.)
Little note here, Huawei is not supported by Google anymore, so is you get the P40 Pro you'll have to learn to use Android without Google apps, which can be a little gimmiky.
Verdict: Best camera phone zoom
6. Xiaomi Mi Note 10
SIM-free
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10, £530.97 from Amazon – buy here
A less well known name in the UK, Xiaomi is a Chinese manufacturer making a name for itself by offering great features at great prices.
And that's exactly where the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 falls when it comes to camera phones – at around half the price of a Google Pixel 4.
In fact, the 108MP main camera of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G firstly debuted in the Xiaomi Mi Note 10, defining a new generation of camera smartphones.
Overall, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a solid smartphone, packing in a five camera set-up.
Aside from the 108-megapixel main camera, the phone has a a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens, two Telephoto lenses (respectively 5 and 12-megapixel) and a 2-megapixel macro lens.
To complete the Xiaomi Mi Note 10's photo compartment, the device has a 32-megapixel front facing camera.
The Telephoto lenses allows for extra depth sensing in images, while all five lenses open up a wide range of shooting scenarios.
Xiaomi handsets perform well as camera phones, especially at their price, and the Xiaomi Mi Note 10's main camera is one of the best you can find in a smartphone.
However, the device's other cameras are unfortunately not quite as good.
Verdict: Best value Android camera phone
7. iPhone SE (2020)
SIM-free
- iPhone SE (2020), £419 from Argos – buy here
Top contract
- iPhone SE (2020), 30GB data, £28 a month (£16.99 upfront) on Three – buy here
iPhones aren't known for being affordable, but if you want to save money and absolutely want an iOS camera phone the iPhone SE (2020) is our pick.
The iPhone SE shares a lot of features with the iPhone 11 Pro, including the super fast Apple A13 Bionic processor, and its camera credentials are solid.
It's single 12-megapixel wide-angle lens delivers high-quality shots, although as it only has one lens there's no zoom functionality.
Still, it offers exceptional all-round performance: solid in low-light shooting and in balancing bright light and dark areas in scenes.
Featuring iOS' latest updates, the iPhone SE's software makes it a great choice too, particularly with how it uses Portrait Mode.
Of course the iPhone SE also comes with a 7-megapixel front camera, and image stabilization for 4K 60fps video – completing the package for the best value iOS camera phone currently available.
Verdict: Best value iOS camera phone
8. Sony Xperia 1 II
SIM-free
- Sony Xperia 1 II, £1,099 from Xperia – buy here
Top contract
- Sony Xperia 1 II, 15GB data, £45.37 a month (£30 upfront) on O2 – buy here
While most of the handsets in this list have great lenses and stabilisation options for video making, the Sony Xperia 1 II takes things one steps further.
The smartphone is capable of shooting footage at up to 21:9 for cinema-style capture and has a series of features that allow for manual adjustment of shooting settings.
The Sony Xperia 1 II also has a flat colour profile that allows video producers to edit footage in post-production more comfortably.
The device comes with the Cinematography Pro app pre-installed, which allows for additional shooting options.
In terms of front cameras, the handset has three, respectively a main 12MP (f/1.6) camera, a 12MP (f/2.4) zoom lens and a 12MP (f/2.4) ultra-wide one.
Image stabilisation and auto-focus are also pretty good here, although if you're serious about videos-making you should still probably get a gimbal.
All in all, the Sony Xperia 1 II is an excellent smartphone, but it is also quite pricey when compared with other flagships and their technical specs.
Ultimately, it boils down to what you're looking for in your next smartphone.
If making videos is your priority, then the Sony Xperia 1 II could be the right device for you.
You can pre-order the Sony Xperia 1 II now for delivery at the beginning of July.
Verdict: Best camera phone for video making
9. OnePlus 8 Pro
SIM-free
- OnePlus 8 Pro, £799.00 from Amazon – buy here
Top contract
- OnePlus 8 Pro, Unlimited data, £63 a month (£29 upfront) on Three – buy here
The OnePlus 8 Pro features the same main lens as the successful Oppo Find X2 Pro: a Sony IMX 689.
The handset's primary camera is 48MP device with an f/1.78 aperture lens, but the OnePlus 8 Pro also features a 3x telephoto with 8MP resolution and a 48MP ultra-wide.
Moreover, this OnePlus flagship also has a new Colour Filter Camera, an interesting option designed to capture strange-looking shots that distort reality.
An additional camera feature that many will love is pet-tracking, which is sadly missing in devices like the new iPhone SE.
Add in an exceptional level of detail captured through the ultra-wide camera, and a rock-solid stabilisation feature for videos and you have one of the best all-rounder camera phones on 2020.
The OnePlus 8 Pro cannot compete with other flagships in terms of zoom cameras, but at this price, it is a more than valid all-rounder option.
And it has 5G too.
Verdict: A great, 5G Android all-rounder for mobile photography
Which is the best camera phone to buy?
It’s no longer just about the number of megapixels a sensor has, Google, Apple, Huawei and Samsung are all pushing the boundaries of the photos you can take with multiple lenses, panoramic options and front-facing cameras.
In terms of quality (and value) the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a great option, offering a wide-range of possibilities at nearly half the price of premium options.
What phone has the best camera in 2020?
Huawei's P40 Pro is a strong contender in 2020, thanks to the sheer quality of its Leica lenses, but there's some stiff competition.
Apple keeps improving and the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are clear competitors.
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