Ever find yourself scrolling through your phone’s gallery and wishing those snaps just popped a little more? You’re not alone! In a world where our phones are glued to our hands, having a great camera isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s often a deal-breaker when picking a new device. The tech moves so fast, it feels like there’s a new “best camera phone” every week.
Choosing the right smartphone for photography can feel overwhelming with all the options out there. That’s where this list comes in handy! We’re diving into the top 10 camera phones, using the highly respected DXOMARK scores as our guide – they’re known for being super thorough and trustworthy when it comes to testing smartphone cameras. We’re not just looking at the brand-new 2025 models either; true camera champions stand the test of time, so you’ll see some stellar performers from previous generations too.
10. Google Pixel 8
- DXOMARK Score: 148
- Key Strength: Delivers vibrant, true-to-life colors and excellent dynamic range in photos.
- Why it stands out: A fantastic option for capturing everyday moments beautifully, packed with Google’s smart AI photo features like Magic Editor, without a flagship price tag.
The Google Pixel 8 really shines when it comes to capturing the world as you see it. It produces photos with lovely, lively colors and manages to keep details clear in both the bright and shadowy parts of your pictures. While its zoom capabilities and background blur (bokeh) might not quite match the absolute top-tier phones (it doesn’t have a dedicated telephoto lens), it excels at everyday photography and smooth, stable video. Plus, clever tools like Magic Editor let you tweak your photos in fun ways, making it a smart pick for photography fans who want reliable quality and cool features without breaking the bank.
9. Xiaomi 14 Ultra & Huawei Mate 50 Pro (Tie)
- DXOMARK Score: 149 (for both)
- Key Strengths: Xiaomi 14 Ultra boasts impressive zoom and photo/video detail with four lenses; Huawei Mate 50 Pro excels in low light with its innovative variable aperture.
- Why they stand out: Both offer pro-level features, particularly the variable aperture which adapts to lighting, though they share a slight delay in capturing shots.
Sharing the ninth spot, both the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Huawei Mate 50 Pro bring serious camera power. The Xiaomi is a zoom machine, capturing incredible detail thanks to its versatile four-camera setup, including a main lens that can change its aperture. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is a low-light wizard, also featuring a clever variable aperture system to nail shots even when the lights go down. Their main shared drawback is a slight shutter lag, meaning you might occasionally miss a split-second moment. The Xiaomi can also struggle with automatically adjusting focus depth in group shots.
8. Vivo X100 Pro & Oppo Find X6 (Tie)
- DXOMARK Score: 150 (for both)
- Key Strengths: Vivo X100 Pro offers great zoom, pleasing portraits with accurate skin tones, and strong low-light shots; Oppo Find X6 provides balanced performance across scenarios with sharp, low-noise images and natural background blur.
- Why they stand out: Two more strong contenders offering versatile photography experiences, particularly good in tricky lighting and for portraits.
Neck and neck at number eight, the Vivo X100 Pro and Oppo Find X6 deliver impressive results. The Vivo performs well with zoom and portraits, rendering skin tones nicely and doing a great job in dim conditions. The Oppo Find X6 is a solid all-rounder, producing sharp images with minimal noise, good zoom, and pleasant bokeh. Both phones can sometimes experience autofocus hiccups and a slight delay before taking the picture. The Vivo might occasionally produce slightly unnatural-looking image processing, while the Oppo can have minor inconsistencies with exposure in video recordings.
7. Honor Magic 5 Pro
- DXOMARK Score: 152
- Key Strength: Captures excellent photos of people with accurate skin tones and fine detail, even in difficult lighting.
- Why it stands out: A reliable choice for portrait and group shots thanks to its fast, accurate autofocus and great low-light performance.
The Honor Magic 5 Pro secures the seventh position, proving itself a capable photography companion. It truly excels when photographing friends and family, delivering flattering skin tones and plenty of detail. Its autofocus is quick and precise, locking onto subjects reliably, even when lighting isn’t ideal. It also performs admirably in low light and offers impressive zoom capabilities across different ranges. While sometimes the way it renders fine details can look a bit artificial, and there’s a tiny delay in high-contrast scenes, it’s a fantastic all-around camera phone, especially for people-focused shots.
6. Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Oppo Find X6 Pro, & Google Pixel 8 Pro (Tie)
- DXOMARK Score: 153 (for all three)
- Key Strengths: Xiaomi 15 Ultra leads with cutting-edge zoom and a superb display; Oppo Find X6 Pro shines in low light/night shots with rich detail; Google Pixel 8 Pro offers natural, attractive colors and fast, accurate focus.
- Why they stand out: This trio represents the pinnacle of camera tech from three major players, each excelling in different areas like zoom, low-light, or color accuracy.
A three-way tie for sixth place showcases some incredible camera systems. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra pushes boundaries with its zoom technology and boasts a brilliant display for viewing your shots. The Oppo Find X6 Pro is a master of the dark, capturing stunning low-light and night photos packed with detail and texture, along with effective background blur. The Google Pixel 8 Pro continues Google’s tradition of producing photos with pleasingly natural colors, backed by rapid autofocus, effective video stabilization, and notably improved audio recording. Each offers a top-tier experience, though they might have minor trade-offs – for instance, the Xiaomi’s video might lag slightly behind rivals, the Oppo can occasionally oversaturate skin tones, and the Pixel might lose the finest details or have slight bokeh errors.
5. iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, & Google Pixel 9 (Tie)
- DXOMARK Score: 154 (for all three)
- Key Strengths: iPhones deliver a seamless photo/video experience, class-leading video quality, and excellent portraits; Google Pixel 9 offers a balanced camera with reliable results and great color.
- Why they stand out: Apple’s flagships provide polished, high-quality imaging, especially for video, while the Pixel 9 offers dependable Google processing in a potentially more compact form.
Another impressive tie, this time for fifth place. The iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro are known for their incredibly smooth and high-quality video capture, beautiful portrait shots with accurate skin tones, and reliable performance overall. The Pro Max gets an edge with enhanced zoom capabilities. The Google Pixel 9 brings Google’s computational photography smarts to the table, delivering balanced and pleasing results in most situations with a great screen for viewing. All three excel at portraits but can face challenges in very low light. The Pixel 9’s main limitation compared to the Pro iPhones is the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens for optical zoom.
4. Huawei P60 Pro
- DXOMARK Score: 156
- Key Strength: Outstanding performance in low light, excellent detail across zoom ranges, and a versatile variable aperture.
- Why it stands out: A photography powerhouse that handles challenging lighting conditions exceptionally well and offers great flexibility for portraits and macro shots.
Claiming the fourth spot is the Huawei P60 Pro, a device with remarkable camera capabilities. It’s particularly strong in low-light environments, capturing bright and detailed shots where others might struggle. Its motion stabilization is effective, and it takes fantastic photos of people with accurate skin tones. The variable aperture is a key feature, smartly adjusting to keep everyone in focus in group photos. It also excels in macro photography and maintains high detail levels when zooming. Minor drawbacks include occasional differences in depth perception between the preview and the final shot and some video focus inconsistencies, but it remains an excellent choice for serious mobile photographers.
3. iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, Huawei Mate 60 Pro+, Oppo Find X8 Pro, & Oppo Find X7 Ultra (Tie)
- DXOMARK Score: 157 (for all five)
- Key Strengths: iPhones continue to excel in video, detail, and color; Huawei offers balanced excellence with its variable aperture; Oppo devices provide strong zoom detail and natural background blur.
- Why they stand out: An incredible five-way tie showcasing the absolute cutting edge from Apple, Huawei, and Oppo, offering users exceptional quality across various shooting scenarios.
It’s crowded at the top! Five phenomenal phones share the third position, each with a score of 157. The iPhone 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro (presumably based on the trend, though specs may vary) likely continue Apple’s dominance in video quality, capturing sharp, low-noise footage with great color options. The Huawei Mate 60 Pro+ leverages its impressive hardware, including the variable aperture, for consistently great results in diverse conditions. The Oppo Find X8 Pro and X7 Ultra deliver balanced performance, particularly excelling in retaining detail when zooming and creating a pleasing, natural background blur in portraits. While each might have subtle differences, choosing any of these guarantees a top-tier, professional-grade camera experience.
2. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL & Honor Magic 6 Pro (Tie)
- DXOMARK Score: 158 (for both)
- Key Strengths: Pixel 9 Pro XL provides a balanced, high-quality experience with great detail, zoom, and stable video; Honor Magic 6 Pro delivers outstanding photo quality, especially indoors, with fast focus and superb zoom.
- Why they stand out: These two phones are photographic titans, offering incredibly reliable and high-quality results just shy of the absolute top spot.
Just missing out on the crown, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Honor Magic 6 Pro tie for second place with a stellar score of 158. The Pixel 9 Pro XL offers that signature Google look – balanced, detailed photos and videos with reliable focus and stabilization, performing well across its zoom range. The Honor Magic 6 Pro is a photo powerhouse, particularly impressive indoors, capturing sharp images with fast focus, natural-looking bokeh, and exceptional zoom performance. Both might exhibit minor issues like depth estimation artifacts or slight detail loss in very dim lighting (Pixel), or occasional video instability and color shifts when viewing the screen off-angle (Honor), but they represent the pinnacle of current smartphone photography.
1. Huawei Pura 70 Ultra
- DXOMARK Score: 163
- Key Strength: Unmatched overall camera performance, excelling in exposure, color, autofocus, zoom, and portrait mode.
- Why it stands out: Currently sits definitively at the top of the DXOMARK rankings, offering the best still photography experience available in a smartphone.
And the winner is… the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra! Taking the top spot by a significant margin with a score of 163, this phone reigns supreme in the world of mobile photography according to DXOMARK. It delivers an exceptional and comprehensive camera experience, performing brilliantly in virtually all lighting conditions – indoor, outdoor, and low light. Key strengths include its accurate exposure and colors, lightning-fast and reliable autofocus, best-in-class zoom capabilities across all ranges, and stunning portraits thanks to its variable aperture and precise subject isolation. While its still photo performance is unparalleled, its video capabilities, though good, are noted as being slightly less consistent, with potential for instability and detail loss in low light. Despite this, for pure photography prowess, the Pura 70 Ultra is currently the phone to beat.
So there you have it – the heavy hitters in the smartphone camera world right now, according to the experts at DXOMARK! It’s amazing to see the level of competition pushing manufacturers to innovate constantly. Whether you prioritize zoom, low-light shots, video quality, or just capturing beautiful everyday moments, there’s likely a phone on this list that fits your needs perfectly.
Finding the “best” camera phone really comes down to what matters most to you as a photographer. Hopefully, this breakdown gives you a clearer picture (pun intended!) of the top options available. What do you think? Do you own any of these phones, or is there another camera phone you absolutely love? Share your thoughts and favorite photo features in the comments below!
