Best smartphone for photography in 2025
Maybe you’re the type of person that doesn’t always want to carry a camera with you. Maybe you don’t want the hassle of a dedicated camera at all, or maybe you just haven’t found the joy an anctual camera might bring. Whatever the case, a smartphone that can take amazing pictures will always be something useful in your pocket.
In this article we want to give you the currently best smartphones for photography in the beginning of 2025 but with a twist: We will look at the professional capabilities of the devices and their use in professional contexts, meaning their capabilities of their RAW-Image quality. The actual output of the sensor.
That’s why we will mostly look at the sensor sizes (for each camera sensor), the focal length, the apertures and the stabilization of the lenses. Everything else, AI and noise reduction and whatnot - can usually be done regardless of the actual camera and should - in our opinion not be part of a look at the photographic performance of a smartphone.
This also means that the usual candidates might not do as well as one might think. But let’s get into it with our candidates.
Keep in mind that in the following month several of these smartphone will have successors, such as the Oneplus 13, Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S25. But we’ll update this list as soon as they are available.
The biggest phone sensors currently available are those of the 1” variety. Compared to actual cameras - especially full frame cameras - these sensors are still rather small, but compared to similarly pocketable cameras they are right on par and valid options. Today modern smartphones usually have one big sensor in their main camera and several smaller sensors for different focal lengths. These smaller sensors are often a weakness, that’s why we’re looking at the total sensor size of a phone and also average sisze of a sensor across all cameras to determine the best expected output of a phone.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1-inch (13.1 x 9.8 mm²) / 128,3 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: Variable, f/1.63 - f/4.0
Telephoto Camera (Floating):
Sensor Size: 1/2.5" (approx. 5.76 x 4.29 mm²) / 24,7 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.8
Periscope Telephoto Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.5" (approx. 5.76 x 4.29 mm²) / 24,7 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.5
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.3" (approx. 6.17 x 4.55 mm²) / 28,1 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Total camera sensor size: 205,8 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 51,4 mm²
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/1.28" (approx. 9.8 x 7.35 mm²) / 71,5 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.8
Telephoto Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/3.4" (approx. 4.2 x 3.15 mm²) / 13,2 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.8
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.55" (approx. 5.68 x 4.26 mm²) / 24,2 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Periscope Camera:
Sensor Size: Not explicitly stated, likely 1/3.5" (approx. 3.9 x 2.9 mm²) / 11,3 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.8
Total camera sensor size: 120,2 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 30,05 mm²
Apple iPhone 16:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/1.5" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.6
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/3.4" (approx. 4.2 x 3.15 mm²) / 13,2 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.4
Total camera sensor size: 58,8 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 29,4 mm²
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/1.33" (approx. 10.9 x 8.2 mm²) / 89,4 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.7
Periscope Telephoto:
Sensor Size: 1/2.52" (approx. 5.6 x 4.2 mm²) / 23,5 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/3.4
Telephoto:
Sensor Size: 1/3.52" (approx. 3.9 x 2.9 mm²) / 11,3 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.4
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.55" (approx. 5.68 x 4.26 mm²) / 24,2 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Total camera sensor size: 148,4 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 37,1 mm²
Sony Xperia 1 IV:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1-inch (13.1 x 9.8 mm²) / 128,3 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.7
Telephoto Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.9" (approx. 5.0 x 3.75 mm²) / 18,75 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.4
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.5" (approx. 5.76 x 4.29 mm²) / 24,7 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Total camera sensor size: 171,75 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 57,25 mm²
Oppo Find X8 Pro:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/1.3" (approx. 11.3 x 8.5 mm²) / 96,0 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.8
Telephoto Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.4" (approx. 5.95 x 4.46 mm²) / 26,5 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.6
Periscope Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.0" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/3.0
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.0" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Total camera sensor size: 213,7 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 53,4 mm²
Vivo X100 Pro+:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/1.3" (approx. 11.3 x 8.5 mm²) / 96,0 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.8
Telephoto Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.5" (approx. 5.76 x 4.29 mm²) / 24,7 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.8
Periscope Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.0" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/3.5
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.0" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Total camera sensor size: 211,9 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 52,9 mm²
Oneplus 12:
Main Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/1.43" (approx. 8.8 x 6.6 mm²) / 58,1 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/1.8
Telephoto Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.0" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: Yes
Aperture: f/2.4
Ultra-Wide Camera:
Sensor Size: 1/2.0" (approx. 7.8 x 5.85 mm²) / 45,6 mm²
OIS: No
Aperture: f/2.2
Total camera sensor size: 149,3 mm²
Mean sensor size per camera: 49,8 mm²
Conclusion
It’s alsways fun to see the underdogs win, an in this case the clear favorites for the crown of the best smartphone for photography - namely the Apples and Samsungs of the world are not the strongest competitors when it comes to pure and raw sensor this and thus raw image quality straight from the sensor. Fort an iPhone you can expect a sensor size of just around 30 mm², for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra you can expect a more respectable 37 mm².
The true kings of this dicipline are the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, a whopping average size of 51 mm², Oppo Find X8 Pro with 53 mm², and the Vivo X100 Pro+ with 52mm².
The true hidden champion of our comparison is the Oneplus 12: It has the most consitent sensor size across all (albeit only 3) cameras, with all cameras being either 58 mm² or 45 mm², which makes an average of around 50 mm² and the most predictable image quality regardless of the camera you are using!
