In a world where a picture is worth a thousand words, finding the smartphone with the best camera is a more complicated task than you’d think.
In the past, the higher the Megapixel count a camera had, the better the image. That’s no longer the case. Smartphones now release with two or more lenses with a wide range of functionality and features enabled through either hardware or software.
We are no longer in an era of higher number is better when it comes to photography. The quality of images created by modern smartphone cameras is a complex blend of hardware, software, and operator skill.
The quality of the photos a smartphone takes is more about how the phone’s hardware, software and user’s skill meld together when taking a photo that creates stunning images. All of those elements must work in harmony to produce the quality of photos that will make your jaw drop.
Tech specs can be dazzling in the latest, greatest phones setting you back $1500+ dollars, but you may find that you prefer the photos a cheaper or older generation phone takes. Spoiler, the Google Pixel 7A at around $300 on Swappa will surprise you.
In this article, we’ll discuss a blind smartphone camera test that YouTuber Marques Brownlee undertook with his staff at the end of 2023 into the beginning of 2024.
Using Blind Testing to Determine the Best Smartphone Camera
Check out the video Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) produced that took 20 of the latest flagship smartphones through the ringer before answering the question, ‘What Smartphone Has the Best Camera?’
The findings in this video were very interesting. Agree or disagree, the approach looked solid and we can’t disagree with the conclusions.
How the Test was Run
The goal of the blind test was to get an objective answer using real-world data to the question ‘What smartphone has the best camera?’
MKBHD took the best smartphone camera currently on the market, took the same photos with all of them, stripped the metadata from the photos, and put them in front of the public to vote for the best photos. The public voted over 20 million times on head-to-head matchups giving a large data set to analyze using the Elo ranking system.
They took 20 smartphones, updated their software, and made sure they were fully charged and ready to go before starting the tests. The MKBHD team should be applauded for their dedication to this project because it’s a lot of work to take the same photo with 20 different phones and process all the images for the voting.
Picture-taking process – all the photos were taken with the phone’s stock camera app without changing any settings or tapping to set focus. The photos were taken with every device one after another over approximately 6 minutes to try and eliminate differences in lighting and other factors that could influence the photographs.
The three types of photos taken with each phone were:
- Daytime
- Low-Light
- Portrait
Blind voting – the exif/metadata was removed from the photos before they were posted on the MKBHD website for public head-to-head matchup voting.
Elo rating system – is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. This rating system was used to determine the ‘best’ smartphone camera based on user vote count of photo matchups when two different photos were presented side-by-side to the user. Winning or losing in a head-to-head matchup affects the Elo rating of a particular device.
List of Smartphones Tested
You can get the Google Pixel 7A voted the top People’s Choice Smartphone Camera (according to the average Elo ranking) for around $300 today on Swappa.
Photo Scenario 1 – Daytime
This photo was taken near a window with a wide range of colors and directional lighting. The stronger source of light was from inside the room but the light from outside the window tested the camera’s dynamic range.
Each photo was framed in the same way and taken from the same position using a reference photo to match each photo as closely as possible.
Every photo was taken in auto mode. There were no manual camera adjustments. They made sure the lens was clean, opened the camera app, and took the photo. They didn’t tap to focus or change any other settings. It was a true point-and-shoot test moving from one phone to the next. It took about 6 minutes to take photos with all 20 phones.
The winners based on the blind vote for Scenario 1 – Daytime:
1st – Google Pixel 7A
2nd – Google Pixel Fold
3rd – OnePlus Open
4th – OnePlus 11 (Marques’ favorite for daytime)
19th – Galaxy S23 Ultra
20th – iPhone 15 (much darker photo)
The results for the daytime test were fairly shocking. The Galaxy S23 Ultra and the iPhone 15 ranked in the bottom two for daytime photos. That’s not something that was expected.
Google is known for taking great photos and it comes as no surprise that Google phones stood near the top of the Elo ratings.
Photo Scenario 2 – Low-light
Taking good photos in low-light conditions is challenging for a smartphone camera with small camera sensors and optics trying to take in as much light as possible.
The low-light photo was taken on a rooftop at night with the sole light source being 40 feet from Marques.
The winners based on the blind vote for Scenario 2 – Low-light:
1st – iPhone 15 Pro
2nd – Google Pixel 8 Pro
3rd – Google Pixel 7A
20th – Oppo Find X6 Pro
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 swung wildly from the bottom of the bucket in daylight rankings to the top ranking in the low-light scenario. The Google Pixels still held strong at the top of the ratings for low-light.
As soon as they got outside the top 4 ratings for low light, the quality dropped off quickly into bad HDR territory. The photos were artificially too bright with odd halo cutouts.
Photo Scenario 3 – Portrait
This scenario was the hardest to test. Each camera treats portrait mode a little differently. When the camera app was opened and set to portrait mode, some phones set the zoom to 2x or 3x while others said 1x but was more like 1.5x. The MKBHD crew had to make some small adjustments to their positioning to match the focal length for each shot.
The winners based on the blind vote for Scenario 3 – Portrait Mode:
1st – Google Pixel 8 Pro
2nd – Samsung Z Fold5
3rd – iPhone 15 Pro
20th – Sony Xperia 1 V (craziest portrait photo of the bunch)
The Best Smartphone Cameras in 2024 are…
People’s Champion – Highest Overall Elo Rating (using the average)
1st – Google Pixel 7A
2nd – Google Pixel 8 Pro
3rd – Google Pixel Fold
Google Pixels swept the podium on average Elo rating for the best smartphone cameras.
Votes Per Dollar (Best Bang for Your Buck) – Most votes / MSRP at launch
1st – Google Pixel 7A
2nd – Nothing Phone 2
3rd – OnePlus 11
4th – Asus Zenfone 10
Some Final Thoughts
Which modern smartphone truly stands out among the crowd? The answer lies in the interplay of personal preferences and needs. Take the results of this test with a grain of salt as you embark on a journey to discover your favorite smartphone camera. The scenarios were shots with no motion in a static atmosphere.
Elements like autofocus speed, UI, and even the editability of the file format were not taken into consideration. We also have to stress that this test did not take video into account which is a whole other topic in itself.
While the Google Pixel devices swept the top three average Elo rating spots, we can’t definitively state what is the “Best Camera” when it comes to Smartphones because there are too many variables to test. It comes down to personal preference. Use the video and ratings Marques and his team produced to make your own opinion.
If you want to try out one of the smartphones on the list, check them out on Swappa. We’re sure you can get a great deal to try out the cameras for yourself.
We can take the average rating data provided by MKBHD to award the winners but there are still strong elements of personal preference and subjectivity. So is there really a “Best Smartphone Camera”? That’s for you to decide.
We would recommend a Google Pixel 7A or Pixel 8 Pro if you’re an Android user who highly values the quality of your phone’s camera.
If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, there isn’t much of a choice but the iPhone 15 Pro does outrank the normal iPhone 15. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still a top-notch smartphone camera system but it was outranked by the Google Pixels.
The specific setting a photo is taken with can greatly influence the results. That is clearly shown in the results MKBHD found. If you only shoot at night or take a lot of portrait shots, there are phones that definitively take better photographs than others but the ratings are often close.
Thank the YouTubers
Luckily, there are a large number of content creators on YouTube and other platforms that spend money comparing the capabilities of smartphones so you don’t have to. The time and effort they put into testing dozens of devices so you don’t have to is certainly worth a subscription to their channel.
If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to Marquest Brownlee on YouTube.
You can also check out all the smartphones featured in this article on Swappa if you’re looking for an upgrade or just a great deal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Smartphone Brand Has the Best Camera Quality?
Google Pixel offers camera superiority with its computational photography capabilities. In low-light photography, it excels, capturing impressive detail. When it comes to portrait mode, Google Pixel delivers the best bokeh effect. In terms of selfie cameras, Google Pixel takes the lead. Buy a Google Pixel on Swappa.
What iPhone has the Best Camera in 2024?
When it comes to the best camera on an iPhone, you can’t go wrong with the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max. Its low-light photography, portrait mode, camera sensor technology, and AI features make it a top choice.
Does higher megapixels mean better quality when it comes to photos?
Do megapixels matter? The answer to this question is fairly straightforward. The higher the Megapixels, the more detail and resolution you can have in an image but that doesn’t mean the image is of higher quality. There’s more to the equation than just a higher number. The lens hardware, optics, sensors, and the software that runs the smartphone’s camera all matter when it comes to image quality. You can get a subjectively “better” photo out of a 12MP camera when compared to a 200MP camera. You won’t be able to enlarge the 12MP image as much as the 200MP image, but that doesn’t always matter when it comes to sharing photos on social media.
Check out what Marques has to say about Megapixel count.
