Apple iPhone 14 Professional
Greatest total cellphone digital camera system

Apple iPhone 14 Professional Max
Greatest cellphone digital camera for video
Wonderful cameras are frequent on all the very best smartphones you should buy in 2023. These embrace telephones from corporations like Apple, Google and Samsung, with every firm providing totally different options, a unique variety of digital camera lenses, and totally different quantities of megapixels. However simply because a cellphone has extra lenses or megapixels does not imply it is any higher at truly taking great-looking photographs. Prime telephones just like the iPhone 14 Professional and Pixel 7 Professional additionally pack greater picture sensors and big enhancements in software program for AI-powered computational images. Then there’s the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely‘s digital camera, which might take a few of the finest zoom images it is doable to get from a cellphone.
As you learn by means of comparisons of cameras on telephones, it is necessary to needless to say there is not a “good” cellphone digital camera. There are undoubtedly telephones that excel at a particular function in comparison with others — the zoom on the Galaxy S23 Extremely, for instance — however which may not be a function price paying for you probably have little curiosity in zoom images. And, as talked about, do not be fooled into pondering extra megapixels in a digital camera means higher images. We take a look at how these cameras carry out in real-life conditions: how they steadiness exposures, how they deal with colours and the way simple they’re to make use of.
Learn our information to assist discover the very best cellphone digital camera to your wants.
What’s the finest digital camera cellphone?
The $999 iPhone 14 Professional and $1,099 iPhone 14 Professional Max have the identical digital camera and as an entire bundle for images and movies are the very best cameras on any cellphone you should buy. The 14 Professional can seize detailed images with a large dynamic vary, has the very best trying video when it comes to picture high quality and a default Digicam app that neatly packages essentially the most customary digital camera instruments, modes and settings. Is the iPhone 14 Professional leaps and bounds forward of what Google and Samsung are doing? No. However when it comes to consistency, reliability and approachability, the iPhone 14 Professional is our decide for individuals who need a prime notch digital camera system that is simple to make use of.
Greatest digital camera telephones of 2023



Apple’s iPhone 14 Professional may include a steep asking worth, nevertheless it ticks virtually each field you could possibly need from a digital camera setup on a cellphone. Its essential 48-megapixel sensor takes very good pictures, with crisp particulars and delightful, pure colours, its wide-angle lens is likely one of the finest round and it excels at evening images, delivering vibrant and clear photographs when there’s minimal gentle.
Its 3x zoom lens falls in need of rivals like Samsung’s 10x zoom on the Galaxy S22 Extremely, however 3x continues to be sufficient that can assist you discover fascinating compositions in your panorama or get a barely extra shut up picture of a cute canine you discovered within the park.
Its video expertise are very good too, with rock-solid picture stabilization, 4K resolutions and Apple ProRes assist for these of you eager to get absolutely the best-looking footage when modifying in software program like Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.
Learn our Apple iPhone 14 Professional and Professional Max assessment.



Google’s Pixel 7 Professional has impressed us in quite a few methods from its slick new design to its extraordinarily user-friendly software program. However it’s the digital camera that is actually stood out, with the Pixel 7 Professional delivering very good photographs in quite a lot of circumstances. Its essential sensor captures photographs with very good dynamic vary and vibrant colours whereas its 5x optical zoom offers further attain than the iPhone 14 Professional is ready to handle.
And whereas its evening mode photographs aren’t pretty much as good because the iPhone’s, it is an important digital camera total that’ll swimsuit each images amateurs — and people seeking to take extra creative pictures — properly and at a price that undercuts its rivals.
Learn our Google Pixel 7 Professional assessment.



The Galaxy S23 is loads, however in a great way. Samsung made enhancements to the digital camera’s decision (200 megapixels in comparison with 108 megapixels), shade tones and dynamic vary, whereas retaining the spectacular 10x optical zoom as its predecessor. There’s additionally a brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that is been optimized particularly for Samsung’s telephones, which brings quicker efficiency in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely.
Beginning at $1,200, it could be an understatement to name this cellphone costly. However these keen to pay extra for an enormous display screen and a high-quality, versatile digital camera will not be dissatisfied. Learn our full assessment of the Galaxy S23 Extremely.



Apple’s video seize has all the time been prime notch and the iPhone 14 Professional Max retains that going. The decision may prime out at 4K — quite than 6K or 8K seen on some Android telephones — however its total high quality is second to none. Publicity and dynamic vary is gorgeous, element is great and picture stabilization has been given an enormous enhance with the brand new Motion Mode. Then there’s the Cinematic Mode which gives deeper focus management for focus pulling between two characters in a scene.
However it additionally helps you to shoot in Apple’s ProRes video codec. This generates big video information, nevertheless it offers extra scope for professionals so as to add shade grades in publish manufacturing software program with out sacrificing high quality, which means that the iPhone 14 Professional Max may very well be a professional a part of an expert filmmaker’s kitbag. And whereas the iPhone 14 Professional and Professional Max differ solely in measurement, the additional display screen actual property of the Max mannequin is not going to solely provide help to monitor your footage extra simply, nevertheless it offers you extra to bodily maintain on to if you’re out and about which might provide help to maintain it extra secure whereas filming.
Learn our Apple iPhone 14 Professional and Professional Max assessment.



Whereas Google’s newest Pixel 7 and seven Professional may steal the headlines with their flashy new design and Tensor G2 processor, the Pixel 6A provides lots of what Google’s newest Pixel telephones have boasted however in a smaller and extra reasonably priced bundle. It has simply two rear cameras (a typical zoom and an ultrawide) with each taking great-looking pictures that look higher than virtually every other cellphone at this worth — together with Samsung’s Galaxy A53.
If images is essential to you and also you need options like lengthy zooms and crystal clear evening mode pictures then you definitely’ll need to splash a bit extra cash on the newest Pixel 7 Professional. However for the cash, few different digital camera telephones come shut.
Learn our Google Pixel 6A assessment.
How we check telephones
Each cellphone on this listing has been completely examined by CNET’s knowledgeable evaluations group. We truly use the cellphone, check the options, play video games and take images. We assess any advertising and marketing guarantees that an organization makes about its telephones. And if we discover one thing we do not like, be it battery life or construct high quality, we let you know all about it.
We study each facet of a cellphone throughout testing:
We check all of a cellphone’s cameras (each back and front) in quite a lot of circumstances: from outside beneath daylight to dimmer indoor locales and evening time scenes (for any obtainable evening modes). We additionally examine our findings in opposition to equally priced fashions. Now we have a sequence of actual world battery assessments to see how lengthy a cellphone lasts beneath on a regular basis use.
We consider further cellphone options like 5G, fingerprint and face readers, styluses, quick charging, foldable shows and different helpful extras. And we, in fact, weigh all of our experiences and testing in opposition to the value so whether or not a cellphone represents good worth or not.
Learn extra: How we check telephones
Cellphone digital camera FAQs
Which cellphone digital camera is the very best at evening?
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, Apple iPhone 14 Professional and Google Pixel 7 Professional all have devoted evening modes that take a number of pictures and mix them in a single picture that is brighter and has much less picture noise. All three are good, and its almost inconceivable to say one is best than one other.
Are iPhone or Samsung cameras higher?
Samsung Galaxy telephones and Apple iPhones have a few of the finest cameras discovered on any cellphone. Both smartphone is a succesful photographic instrument, however neither is such a transparent chief that it is price shifting from Android to iOS or vice-versa. If you would like the very best telephoto digital camera discovered on a cellphone, seize a Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. If you would like a superb all-around shooter that produces pure trying pictures and movies, get an iPhone 14 Professional or 14 Professional Max. However should you simply need to get essentially the most out of your cellphone’s digital camera, the better determination is to start out taking pictures uncooked as a substitute of JPEG.
What is the distinction between actual cameras and cellphone cameras?
The largest distinction between a devoted digital camera and a cellphone digital camera is the dimensions. A devoted digital camera has a bigger sensor and greater lenses that soak up extra gentle. The outcomes are images which have extra element, a wider dynamic vary and are extra versatile in medium and low-light. A cellphone digital camera is tiny. The sensor is smaller than a fingernail and the lens is in regards to the measurement of a single Lego brick. To beat the constraints of a small sensor and lens, a cellphone makes use of computational images (AI and machine studying) to mix components of a number of pictures right into a single picture that is brighter and has extra element than a cellphone digital camera alone.
Extra of the very best telephones