Back in the early 2000s when I got my first camera phone, it was easy to choose which one I wanted because there weren’t that many options available to choose from.
Also, phones were pretty simple back then so you didn’t really have much to consider before buying a phone beside the brand, the design, and other simple features like a radio and a few games.
Today, there are thousands of phones on the market that have various functions and features that can make it challenging to choose one that’s right for you. And if you’re looking for a smartphone specifically for mobile photography, it can be even more challenging to choose one especially if you don’t know what to look for.
In this article, we’ll look at some features and specifications of smartphone cameras that you need to look out for when buying a phone to help you make a choice that’s right for you.
A lot of the things mentioned in this article that you need to consider are very important if you’re serious about capturing quality images with your phone because they are what differentiates a good mobile camera from a bad one.
1. Sensor size
The size of smartphone camera modules and their sensors.
If you’re out to get a new smartphone that you want to use for mobile photography, the sensor is probably the first thing you should look at. That’s because it’s pretty much the backbone of a mobile camera. Everything rests on it.
The size of the sensor is what you need to look out for. The bigger the sensor, the better the chances of getting quality images from the phone’s camera. That’s because a big sensor can accommodate bigger pixels, which means the sensor will be able to capture more light.
The size of a smartphone camera is commonly measured and expressed in inches (“) or fractions of an inch, for example, 1/2.55”. The closer to the fraction is to a full inch, the bigger the sensor. A 1/1.7” sensor is much bigger than a 1/3.0” sensor.
Different phones have different size sensors. Even the cameras on a multiple-camera phone usually have sensors of different sizes. Currently, the biggest mobile camera sensor is 1/1.33” big.
When looking through the specs for a smartphone you wish to get for mobile photography, keep an eye out for sensors as close to 1” as possible. These are usually found in devices on the higher end of the price scale, but they’re definitely worth it if you can afford them.
There’s more to learn about mobile camera sensors and what they do in this article.
2. Pixel size
Closeup of the surface of an image sensor with millions of pixels.
On the surface of a camera sensor, there are millions of little light-sensitive blocks called photosites that are commonly referred to as pixels. These pixels are responsible for capturing the light that enters the camera and gets converted into an image.
If you zoom in extremely closely into any photo or digital image, you’ll notice that they’re all made up of tiny blocks of colour also known as pixels. These correspond with the pixels on the sensor and get their image data from the light information captured by the sensor’s photosites.
The size of these pixels is really important. Because they are responsible for capturing light, big pixels mean better picture quality due to the large volume of light-gathering.
As already mentioned, the size of the sensor pretty much determines how many pixels the camera will have and how big the pixels will have to be to fit on the sensor. The more megapixels a smartphone camera has, the smaller the pixels will be.
The problem with small pixels is that they’re likely to produce digital noise, especially if the conditions you’re shooting under are not ideal such as under low light.
Pixels are measured in micrometres (µm). On current mobile cameras, pixel size can range anywhere from roughly 0.8µm to 2.0µm or more. Obviously, the bigger, the better.
But that’s not to say a phone sensor with 0.8µm pixels won’t take good pictures. The Honor 20 Pro has those specs and takes really good pictures.
3. Aperture
Aperture is the opening through which light enters the camera. The bigger the opening, the more light will reach the sensor. That’s important because more light means better pictures, especially in low light.
Aperture is expressed in f-numbers (i.e, f/2.0). The lower the f-stop, the wider the aperture. For example, f/1.8 is wider than f/2.6, which means more light can get through.
Currently, smartphone camera aperture generally ranges from about f/1.5 to f/2.8 on the main camera. Other cameras on the phone, including specialized ones such as depth cameras, can have apertures that are above f/3.0.
Personally, I mostly concern myself with the main camera. I do consider the specs of the other cameras but most of my mobile photography is done with the main camera, so I focus on that.
If you know you’re going to be taking pictures at night or indoors in low light conditions a lot, then it’s best you consider getting a phone with as wide an aperture as you can get. The lower below f/2.0, the better.
Learn more about smartphone camera aperture and how it works, here.
4. Megapixels
This is perhaps the one thing that a lot of people look at when it comes to mobile cameras. After all, smartphone companies focus a lot of their attention and marketing on megapixels. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra with its 108MP camera is among the smartphones with the highest megapixel camera.
But do not be mislead by all the hype. Yes, the number of megapixels a camera has is important but it’s not necessarily a case of “the more, the merrier”. And you certainly don’t need 108 of them. That’s why phones with high megapixel counts use pixel binning by default.
The number of megapixels a camera has corresponds with the resolution of an image or how big the picture is. A large number of megapixels means that the pixels will be small but the image will be big with very fine detail.
But as already mentioned, larger pixels have the advantage of gathering more light in order to produce good-quality photos even if the lighting is poor. That’s why even bigger cameras with large sensors used by professional photographers have a moderate number of big pixels instead of hundreds of tiny ones.
Unless you’re going to be printing large prints of your mobile photos, all you need is a phone with a moderate number of megapixels of a decent size. Personally, I think anything above 20MP is just unnecessary marketing hype.
You can learn more of the real truth about smartphone camera megapixels here.
RECOMMENDATION
If you’re interested in making art prints of your mobile photos or any other images and artwork, I recommend you give Pictorem a try. They can print your photos on various material such as canvas, metal, wood, acrylic, puzzles, and more.
They have been around for some time and provide excellent service and good quality prints. They also offer free shipping, depending on the location.
5. Great display
Smartphone camera display.
Not many people consider this point when it comes to mobile photography but, from my experience, I think the quality of a phone’s display is rather important.
You need to remember that smartphone cameras only shoot in live-view mode. This means that instead of looking through an optical viewfinder like you would in certain traditional cameras, the image is displayed on the screen directly from the sensor.
If your phone doesn’t have a good display, it will be difficult for you to get an accurate depiction of what your camera sees. For example, if your display is not calibrated and the colours not balanced, it could throw you off when you do white balance manually.
In my experience, I had a phone that had very poor screen brightness. This was especially worse in direct sunlight. Every time I took a picture, I would struggle to see what I was doing clearly. I’d only see the photos properly when I was indoors or a shaded area.
Most of the times, I’d be unhappy about something in the shot that I couldn’t see when I was taking the photo. So, you can imagine how frustrating that is.
Even though it might not be the most important thing on your mind, it’s worth considering the quality of the display of the phone you wish to get. The best displays are ones that are clear and bright enough to use under various conditions.
For more information on the various smartphone displays, check out this article from AndroidPIT.
6. Image stabilization
Optical image stabilisation helps to keep photos sharp and not blurry.
Image stabilization is a godsent for mobile photography, particularly optical image stabilization (OIS). This is basically a technique that uses mechanical gyros and gimbals to move the camera in order to counteract and negate any movement of the phone that could cause blurry photos.
The truth is mobile phones are not designed with photography as their primary function. Therefore, they are not easy to hold because they lack the ergonomics of a dedicated photography camera.
Holding your phone delicately with the tips of your fingers can cause some slight camera shake, especially if your arms are tired or you naturally don’t have steady hands. If the phone shakes while taking a photo, the picture might turn out blurry.
Having optical image stabilization helps with this by moving the camera optics around to steady the light’s path through the lens to the camera’s sensor. This results in sharp images that have no blur.
I have written an entire article on different types of image stabilization in digital cameras, and how it works to improve your mobile photography. You can check it out here.
RECOMMENDATION
Although image stabilisation does help keep your images sharp, there’s only so much it can do. The best way to ensure steady shots is to use a camera support system such as a tripod for stability and other good reasons.
The AmazonBasics tripod is a good budget-friendly option for beginners. There are, of course, other tripod options, some of which are small and light enough to carry around. You can check them out here.
To keep your videos steady while you walk, run, or skip, I recommend the DJI Osmo Mobile 3, which is a 3-way hand-held stabiliser that works with a wide variety of phones.
7. RAW
RAW vs jpeg image
Typically, when smartphone cameras take a photo, the image goes through a processing pipeline in the ISP before it is saved on the phone as a jpeg file. This pipeline includes things like noise reduction, white balance, contrast, etc. This means you don’t have to do any processing after the picture is saved.
However, if you like having as much control of the final look of the image as possible, having the camera process the image is not ideal. Also, jpeg is a lossy format, which means images end up with less detail.
Honestly, for the everyday user, this is perfectly fine. But if you want to get more out of your camera and your photos, you need to shoot RAW. It has a higher picture quality than jpeg and allows a lot of control and flexibility when editing.
Unfortunately, not all cameras can shoot RAW. So, if this matters to you, check if the camera you want to get can shoot RAW.
You can find out more about shooting RAW here.
8. Lenses/Cameras
Smartphones are unique consumer-level imaging devices because they’re part of the few that have multiple cameras. Some have two cameras, while others have three, four, or even five cameras. Although it might sound much, each of the cameras serves a particular purpose.
A lot of times, these cameras have different sensors and lenses with different focal lengths. Knowing what you want from a mobile camera will help you pick a phone with a camera array that fits your needs. For example, some smartphone cameras have monochrome sensors.
However, not all monochrome smartphone cameras can take and save black and white photos. If you want to do black and white photography with a smartphone, you need to find a phone with a monochrome sensor that can save black and white photos.
When it comes to focal length, it gives you an idea of the camera’s field-of-view. So, if you figure you want a dual-camera phone with a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens instead of an ultrawide lens, then you can look for a phone with just that.
9. HDR
Effects of HDR on an image.
Smartphone cameras notoriously struggle with high contrast scenes. If parts of the picture are dark and other parts are bright, it becomes very difficult to get the exposure right for both areas without overexposing or underexposing the other.
HDR is a way mobile cameras work around that problem. With it enabled, you can capture high contrast images and still get details in the highlights and the shadows.
HDR can be a blessing. But because it works in a unique way, if not used properly, it could ruin a potentially good photo. So, before you use HDR, you need to read this first!
10. Battery life
This may not directly relate to mobile photography but good battery life is important nonetheless. If you’re out taking photos with your phone, you don’t want to worry about a fully charged phone dying within minutes especially when you’re taking photos in the great outdoors.
Look up the battery capacity of the phone you want to get. The capacity of a smartphone battery is measured in milliamp-hours (mAh). How long a battery will last depends on the capacity and how much power the phone needs to operate.
The rule of thumb generally is that that the more mAh the battery has, the longer it should last. This means a phone with a 5000mAh battery could last longer than one with a 4000mAh battery if subjected to the same amount of usage.
As I said before, the battery life of a smartphone is not an influential factor to picture quality. But because mobile cameras are attached to phones that serve other purposes, it’s good to know that you have a device that can handle your demands, especially if there’s no power nearby.
RECOMMENDATION
A power bank can be very useful in situations where there’s no power outlet nearby. If you’re looking for a high-capacity portable battery charger, I recommend the Anker PowerCore+. It can charge three devices including a laptop to full capacity very quickly.
A budget-friendly option is the AUKEY 10000mAh Dual-Port Power Bank from the same company that makes these cool add-on camera lenses for smartphones.
11. Water and dust resistance
If your life or lifestyle revolves around water, then this point is especially for you. The last thing you want to prevent you from taking photos on your phone while you do what you do in your wet environment is the fear of getting it wet.
Whether it’s total submersion underwater or exposure to moisture, water-resistant phones are made to withstand those conditions. So, you can keep using your phone despite wet circumstances such as rain.
Did you know that, if your phone is water-resistant, you can technically take photos with your smartphone camera underwater? It’s true! However, I recommend you play it safe and use waterproof protection anyway.
And if you live in a part of the world that is dusty and prone to dust storms, a dust-resistant mobile phone might be a good idea.
Of course, if you’re not near water and dust often enough, you don’t really need to worry much about this.
12. Storage
The photos you take with your phone have to get saved somewhere, right? And that’s why the amount of memory a phone has is important to consider, yet many people don’t. I will admit that I was one of those people at some point and it caused me a lot of frustration.
When buying certain smartphones, especially the high-end ones, you get to choose which one you want based on storage space. If you’re fortunate enough to be in this position, then you might want to consider buying a phone with a considerable amount of storage space.
This, of course, depends on what type of images you’ll be capturing with your mobile camera, and other files you might store on it.
For example, if you take a lot of RAW photos, you will require more space than someone who doesn’t. And if you also take videos and make movies with your phone, those files will also take up a lot of space depending on the video settings used.
Running out of space is not fun. Your phone becomes super slow. You get annoying notifications all the time. Worst of all, you can’t take any more pictures!
Sure, you can always upload to the cloud and delete unwanted pictures from your phone. However, that’s not always possible. If you know you’re going to demand quite a lot from a phone in terms of storage, get one that can meet those demands as best as possible.
13. Optical zoom
Compared to optical zoom, digital zoom degrades image quality and introduces pixelation.
If you know you’re going to find yourself in a position where you need to take photos from a distance (e.g. wildlife photography, bird photography, street photography, etc.) a lot of the time, then a phone camera with optical zoom would be perfect for you.
Smartphone cameras notoriously depend on digital zoom to magnify objects in the frame. The problem is digital zoom increasingly degrades the picture quality of your photos the more you zoom in. In most cases, digital noise begins to become more noticeable and the image might start appearing pixelated, as in the picture above.
Optical zoom, on the other hand, physically moves the lens elements of the camera in order to magnify the image. This means you can zoom in with your mobile camera without worrying about losing picture quality. You can read more about it here.
However, there is a limit to this. Some phone cameras only have a 2x optical zoom, which is honestly very little. After that, the digital zoom kicks in. Some phones have 3x optical zoom, which is an acceptable improvement for a smartphone.
If you want a smartphone camera that can zoom quite far, look for one with a periscope camera. Thanks to their unique design, these cameras have zoom lenses that don’t create a big bump at the back of the phone.
Currently, periscope cameras can reach 5x optical zoom. This all depends on the design of the phone because the periscope camera technology has the potential to zoom in even further.
QUICK TIP
The more you zoom in on a subject, the more camera shake becomes apparent. Whether you zoom in digitally (which you shouldn’t), optically, or even attach a zoom lens, it’s best to use a camera support system.
Conclusion
Since I got my first camera phone around 2003, I’ve probably owned more than 50 phones. Some were very cheap and others were high-end flagship phones. From my experience, the points mentioned in this article have been pretty important deciding factors in my choice of phone. Hopefully, they can do the same for you.
However, getting a phone with the right camera specs for you is only a step in the right direction. If you wish to capture amazing photos with your phone, you also need to understand how your mobile camera works so that you can get the most out of it despite some of its limitations.
I’ve also put together a simple introductory guide that will help you take beautiful mobile photos that could be good enough for you to print and display in your home or share with family.
If you want to learn about how to improve your smartphone photography, download the 5 Ways To Improve Your Smartphone Photography ebook by clicking on the banner above or by clicking here. There’s a lot to learn in its 22 pages of content and it’s ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
Other mobile photography topics
The Importance of The Subject In Mobile Photography
What Makes A Smartphone Photo Look Good?
10 Common Mobile Photography Mistakes To Avoid
What Causes Blurry Mobile Photos?
Comments 2
Great article thanks
Hi,
You talk a lot about how to determine good camera phone (sensor size, pixel size, lens…) Anyone out there talk already, But…
You never talk detail how to know: The big sensor with small pixel size VS the small sensor with big pixel size, which one better? Example: 1/1.52″ sensor, 0.7µm pixel size VS 1/1.7″ sensor, 1.4µm, both shooting Raw to compare photo quality, which one better and why?
Another factor is lens: Does the camera phone with lens specs the same (same focal length 26-28mm, same f number) is the same quality ? Because you never know exactly the real focal length of the smartphone camera lens (around ~4mm only…), the manufacture never tell you, so how do you know which camera phone is better, the phone’ specs not tell you exactly at all unless you own the phone, and look at carefully at the Raw file in low light condition shooting.