Smartphones with the best cameras of 2022

We all take pictures with our smartphone. One takes a nice snapshot of a cherry, the other takes a landscape photo of a beautiful area. But with which smartphone can we do this best? We discuss it in this article.

Best cameras in different segments

The cameras in our smartphones are getting better and better. Even with today’s budget smartphones, you can take good usable photos in almost all conditions. Although you can still see that they have a hard time in poor lighting conditions.

Are you a real photo enthusiast and are you looking for the smartphone with the best cameras in 2022, then we will give you a helping hand in this article. And we do this in different segments. You can discuss what the best smartphone is for taking photos, but you will soon end up with phones that cost more than 700 euros. However, you may want to spend less than this. That is why we also discuss the smartphone with the best camera for less than 400 euros.

Motorola Edge 20

In short: difference in photo quality between low-end and high-end

High-end smartphones generally use larger camera sensors than low-end and mid-range smartphones. These sensors capture more light, which is why they are able to gather more information and this allows you to take better photos. In addition, these smartphones have faster processors that can handle the processing of the photos better. Manufacturers also put more money into the photo software of their more expensive models.

You can see major differences in the quality of photos between cheaper and more expensive smartphones in the dynamic range and in poor lighting conditions. The dynamic range is the space between the darkest and lightest areas in a photo. In other words: how far is the camera in your smartphone able to extract details from highlights or shadows. Examples include photos taken against the sun and the level of detail in shadows. High-end smartphones generally know how to deal with this a lot better.

In addition to the difference in quality in photos, high-end smartphones also often have several useful lenses. Think of a telescopic or periscope lens with which you can zoom in optically or a good wide-angle lens with autofocus, which enables it to take macro photos. Cheaper smartphones nowadays also have multiple lenses, but most of them are pretty useless or unusable. Think of a 2 MP depth sensor or a 2 MP macro camera. You can read more about smartphone cameras and what to look out for in the article below.

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Best smartphone camera under 400 euros: Google Pixel 6a

There’s one mid-range smartphone that towers well above the competition in terms of photo quality, and it’s the Google Pixel 6a. This device does use an old and rather small 1/2.55” sensor, but because Google has been using this camera sensor for years, you notice that the manufacturer has gotten to know this sensor better and better. By means of software, Google knows how to get very nice photos from the sensor with a high contrast, lively saturated colors and sufficient detail.

You do notice that the software struggles to compensate for the hardware problem of the small sensor in poor lighting conditions. You just notice that the main camera in the Pixel 6a struggles to capture enough light. The device also has a hard time focusing in dark conditions. In my review I said the following about the main camera of the Pixel 6a:

When it comes to hardware, the Pixel 6a certainly doesn’t have a large high-end camera sensor. The photos that come out of the device, however, come very close to premium devices.

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Google Pixel 6a

The Google Pixel 6a is a new mid-range phone with its own Tensor processor, five years of update support and a range of smart features based on artificial intelligence.

€459

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High-end smartphones with the best camera: hardware versus software

If we look at the smartphones with the very best cameras in 2022, we end up with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Google Pixel 7 Pro. Both smartphones have been tested by our Claudia and she was very pleased with the cameras of the devices. However, the manufacturers approach it in a slightly different way.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Samsung is mainly the hardware king. The manufacturer comes with a large 108 MP main camera, a 12 MP wide-angle lens with autofocus, 10 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and a 10 MP periscope lens with 10x optical zoom. This is more or less the same setup as the Galaxy S21 Ultra had, although the main camera has been slightly improved. By means of software, however, Samsung manages to get even more out of the sensors. All this ensures impressive images with lots of detail and beautiful colors in almost any situation. The camera is also very constant and never really lets you down.

Thanks to the four different lenses, you can go in many directions. With this, the S22 Ultra has one of the most versatile camera islands of all smartphones. You can read more about the cameras of the smartphone in the review of the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is for those who want the best performance and cameras in a phone that has the looks of the Galaxy Note series. The S22 Ultra is in fact an amalgamation of the best of both series. Including the best cameras and performance of the S series, and the S Pen and all its capabilities of the Note series.

From 1249 euros

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Google Pixel 7 Pro

The other smartphone that we think will take the best photos in 2022 is the Google Pixel 7 Pro. Google is mainly known for its good software around the cameras. For example, Google was the first manufacturer to introduce a ‘real’ night mode in the Google Pixel 3 series. In addition, Google uses good machine learning algorithms and computational photography. This means, among other things, that photos are improved through various software processes.

This technique gets better over the years and we see, for example, that you can hardly manage to take blurry photos with the Pixel 7 Pro. Google has also worked hard on digital zoom. Because software reclassifies the pixels, the device manages to produce fairly good images with digital zoom. You can read more about Google’s various software tricks such as ‘Face Unblur’ and ‘Magic Eraser’ in the review of the Pixel 7 Pro.

Besides all this, the camera setup of the 7 Pro is very complete. The smartphone features a 50 MP main camera, a 48 MP periscope camera with 4x optical zoom and a 12 MP wide-angle lens with autofocus. In reviewing the Pixel 7 Pro, Claudia had this to say about the phone’s cameras:

The 50 MP main camera with a sensor size of 1/1.31 delivers 12.5 MP photos as standard and they look impressive. The cameras deliver beautiful photos. Do you still want to focus or remove objects afterwards? Then you can also do this in the camera software on the phone.

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Buy Google Pixel 7 Pro

Like their predecessors, the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro focus on an excellent Android experience with a fast Tensor chip, beautiful screen and sharp cameras with smart AI features.

From 899 euros

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How much value do you place on smartphone cameras?

So much for the smartphones with the best cameras in 2022, in our opinion. Do you agree with us and how much value do you place on the cameras in a smartphone? Let us know in the comments below this article.