Comparison of smartphones by camera quality. The best budget smartphones with a good camera

It should be noted that Sony is a blunder in optimizing smartphones for MediaTek chipsets, so the Xperia M5 has been annoying customers with various “glitches” for a long time; by today’s standards, the Helio X10 processor is slow, and it does not work at its maximum capabilities in the M5. The case heats up with or without reason, autonomy leaves much to be desired. But the proprietary shell is comfortable, the cameras are high-quality, the display is bright and clear, and the prestige of such a smartphone in “glamorous” circles is much higher than that of any Huawei or Xiaomi. Official distributors have gone crazy and are asking a completely ridiculous 25 thousand rubles for the old Sony, but “gray” sellers estimate the Xperia M5 Dual at 15-16 thousand - a completely fair price for such a model.

ZTE Nubia Z11 mini S

ZTE has a luxury division, Nubia, and it, in turn, has the flagship Z11 series, which has a simplified version of the Z11 mini, which recently underwent an update in the house that Jack built. We should pay tribute to the Chinese - the Z11 mini S differs from the Z11 mini radically and only for the better.

A very agile smartphone with a brutal body and red accents. You can’t really find fault with the characteristics: fast Snapdragon 625, 4 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB of internal storage. It’s also nice that ZTE (whose “hands are sharpened” more to adjust the audio path than camera algorithms) made a broad gesture and equipped the Z11 mini S with a 22-megapixel rear camera based on the Sony IMX318 sensor. The much more expensive ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe and Xiaomi Mi Note 2 are equipped with the same sensor, if you are not aware.

Until recently, only expensive flagship smartphone models were equipped with a decent camera, with which you can take high-quality pictures and videos. Today the situation is changing in favor of those who want to buy smartphone with a good camera, but not spend the family’s monthly budget on it or more. There are phones on sale that cost $150 or so, but will be a good replacement for a digital camera and will be able to adequately capture all the important and interesting moments. We will focus on such models.

In the category of budget smartphones, Chinese brands have clearly been leading for a couple of years now, since for little money they provide devices that are difficult to find fault with. The recently released Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 pleases with a price of $155 and a set of characteristics. The main camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels and allows you to create pictures that are not much inferior in quality to many flagships, even the iPhone 6 Plus. The camera also performs well in artificial lighting conditions, and it takes good pictures in HDR.

The 5 MP front camera allows you to take more than decent pictures and can shoot video in Full HD format. The main camera records video at the same maximum resolution at 30 frames/second with stereo sound. It is possible to shoot videos in time-lapse mode. The camera menu is intuitive, and you can make settings manually.

Otherwise, this is a productive gadget with 8-core processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB main. There is a 5.5-inch screen with Full HD resolution, support for 3G, NFC, and in some versions LTE. The battery boasts capacity of 3060 mAh, which is very good, it uses the latest version of Android with a proprietary shell.

Meizu M2 was released in two versions at once: note andmini. There are some differences in the characteristics, but the mini version is more interesting in terms of price-quality ratio, and its camera, what is most surprising, is even better than the large version. The smartphone is equipped with a 13-megapixel main camera, the lens of which is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 3. Successful photos are obtained in any shooting scenario: outdoors, indoors, on the move, in the dark. When there is not enough light, it is better to use manual settings to create a high-quality photo. The photo detail is very high, the automatic mode works quite accurately. The 5 MP front camera copes well with its tasks of taking selfies: they come out detailed, however, small noise is still present, but the front cameras of even those smartphones that cost several times more cannot do without this.

In terms of hardware, the M2 mini is a strong middling one: a 4-core processor with a frequency of 1.5 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB main, 5-inch IPS screen with a density of 296 pixels/inch. To this it is worth adding supportLTE, work under control Android 5.1 and a light weight of 131 g. In terms of the sum of its characteristics, this is an excellent smartphone that will cope with all the tasks assigned to it. When ordering directly from a Chinese manufacturer, the price is affordable - approx. 120 dollars.

The highlight of this smartphone is its camera equipped with laser autofocus, and this is precisely why it stands out from the Zenfone line and differs from other budget models. The manufacturer used a 13 megapixel camera, which provides the user not only with the opportunity to create the highest quality pictures, but to choose the necessary settings among many, even fully manual mode is supported, which is not so common. Among interesting available modes You can highlight super resolution, low light, animation, portrait enhancement, smart delete. The latter function is extremely convenient when shooting in crowded places: the camera will remove all moving objects located between the lens and the subject of focus. The automatic mode selects all the settings correctly, focusing occurs in a split second, and a successful shot can be obtained in almost any lighting.

The 5 megapixel front camera creates photos typical for such parameters, which are distinguished by good clarity. Among the disadvantages of the camera, only the creation of dark panoramas is noted, but this is not such a significant drawback.

As for the other parameters of the smartphone, they are as follows: 4-core processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of main memory, support for memory cards. The screen has a diagonal of 5 inches, HD resolution. The downside is that the 2400 mAh battery is not the most capacious, which is enough for a standard day of operation. Price – from 150 to 170 dollars.

A Chinese budget smartphone that boasts not only a capacious battery, but also a fairly decent camera. The main one is equipped with a 13 megapixel sensor, the pictures are highly detailed, have correct color reproduction, and excellent shots are obtained in macro mode. The camera also copes well with shooting text, but at night it will be more difficult to get decent shots. The 5 MP front camera behaves as expected and produces images of acceptable quality.

In addition to a good camera, a smartphone with a price from 120 dollars boasts other advantages: an 8-core processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, a 5-inch screen with HD resolution, powerful 5000 mAh battery. The amount of RAM is 1 GB, the main one is 8 GB, which, in principle, is not bad, there is support for memory cards.

This smartphone at a cost about 150 dollars allows you to obtain images comparable to much more expensive devices. Two cameras are installed: 13 and 5 megapixels. The main one allows you to take bright photos with natural color reproduction, copes well with macro, landscapes, night photography, and records video in Full HD quality. The front camera creates very good self-portraits and shoots videos in HD resolution.

The rest of the smartphone also turned out to be decent. Thanks to 8-core processor and 2 GB of RAM it is fast and productive, and the 5-inch diagonal screen is the golden mean, in which the display is large enough, but at the same time convenient. Autonomy is at an average level: the battery capacity is 2550 mAh.

A budget smartphone that has one interesting feature - its The front camera also has a flash. This is an ideal option for those who like to take selfies, but at the same time want to buy an inexpensive phone, because it price about 130 dollars. The manufacturer’s unusual solution allows you to create excellent self-portraits, despite the fact that the resolution of the front camera is not the highest - 2 megapixels.

The main camera is equipped with a 13 megapixel module, allowing you to shoot Full HD video and take excellent pictures in any weather and indoors. Among other things, the camera supports many different shooting modes, thanks to which you can create the perfect shot.

The smartphone has a 4-core processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of main memory, and a slot for memory cards. The screen diagonal is 4.7 inches, there is an oleophobic coating, the resolution is 1280*720 pixels. The battery is weak and non-removable, capacity – 2000 mAh, but with the given characteristics of the processor and screen, the autonomy of the gadget will be at an average level – 1-2 days.

A new smartphone from a growing Chinese manufacturer. Equipped with a 13-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus. Focusing and capturing images takes just moments, allowing you to quickly capture important moments. The 5 MP front camera creates images with high detail and minimal noise, which will appeal to selfie lovers and will come in handy for those who often communicate on Skype.

In other respects, this is a completely average modern gadget, sufficient to perform standard tasks: a 4-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 5.3-inch screen with HD resolution, a 2500 mAh battery, a slot for memory cards and two SIM cards. Price approx. 120 dollars.

For many, when choosing a smartphone, an important criterion is the built-in camera. In your search for the best, it would be a win-win option to choose this year’s flagship from any of the A-brands. Whether it is a phone from Samsung, Sony, Apple, LG or Microsoft is not important. Buying the latest flagship model, you will get a device with an excellent camera. The only thing that can put me off here is the price.

But not everyone considers it necessary to buy a phone that costs more than five thousand dollars. At the same time, having a good camera in a smartphone does not become less important. Just two years ago it was difficult to imagine that a smartphone in the mid-price segment could have an advanced camera. Now the situation has changed. If you pay attention to, you can get a smartphone with a good camera at a very affordable price. Since this is a 2015 model, it has dropped noticeably in price. Now it costs about 18 thousand rubles in Russia. Those who are willing to wait can order it from a Chinese store for $199.99 (there are occasional coupons for unlimited quantities). This is for a smartphone with an advanced 16-megapixel Sony IMX234 Exmor RS camera!

ZTE nubia Z9 mini is a really inexpensive smartphone with a good camera. It’s difficult to find anything else for this money in Russia. Difficult, but possible! Recently the Wileyfox brand was introduced in Russia. The company sells smartphones only online. Everything is done for the cheapest possible price (not even a charger included, just a USB cable). They have a wonderful Wileyfox Storm phablet with a Sony Exmor RS 20.7 MP camera (the official website does not say what kind of camera model it is, but according to some sources it is IMX220, which is hard to believe; you can judge the interpolation from the photographs). On the same DJ website they are asking $189.99 for it without coupons. But this is the case when you shouldn’t “focus” on the megapixels of the camera. As smartphone reviews have shown, the camera in Wileyfox Storm shoots at the level of good 13-16 megapixel cameras.

In 2016, the Z9 mini was replaced by the Z9 mini, which also deserves the title of the most affordable smartphone with an advanced camera. This is still a mid-level smartphone, but it uses an advanced Sony IMX298 camera, which is also equipped with the flagship Xiaomi Mi5 and Huawei Mate 8, which cost an order of magnitude more.

Now we can talk about megapixels and why the ZTE nubia Z9 mini is the most affordable smartphone with a 16 MP camera. The fact is that many Chinese are cunning by indicating this camera resolution in their smartphones. Yes, they do shoot at a resolution of 5328x2997 (this corresponds to 16 megapixels), but this can be achieved by software increasing the resolution (interpolation). For example, a smartphone will have a 13 MP camera module installed, but thanks to software processing, the smartphone will take pictures in 16 MP resolution. At the same time, the quality of the photo will not improve. Rather, the opposite effect is possible.

When looking for a cheap smartphone with a good camera, you can run into devices such as iNew V7, Leagoo Elite 1 and Cubot X15. The manufacturer specifies a 16 MP main camera in them, but in reality they have a 13 MP camera module installed, and the image resolution is simply increased by software to 16 MP. That is, they are simply trying to deceive you. Photos from such smartphones will be an order of magnitude lower than in the ZTE nubia Z9 mini. As evidenced by numerous reviews.

Camera module in the Nokia Lumia 925 smartphone

Actually, not only the number of megapixels is important in a camera module. The quality of the lenses, their quantity, aperture (aperture ratio) are important; the presence of optical image stabilization will have a positive effect. Last but not least is the camera application, that is, software image processing. So when choosing a smartphone you need to be especially careful. It is advisable to look for reviews of the device on the Internet so that you can see examples of pictures clearly and read the conclusion of the review author.

When choosing the best camera phones for our rating, we focus, in particular, on the rating of the very authoritative (in the relevant circles) network resource DxOMark. But we also try to take into account the reviews of ordinary users as fully as possible, giving preference to reviews on specialized threads of various forums. We hope that the following general information that can influence the choice of a specific camera phone model will be useful for inexperienced readers.

Other things being equal, Photosensors with larger elementary cells provide better images. At a minimum, the physical dimensions of the pixel should be greater than one micron (ideally, closer to 1.4 microns). In addition, a small matrix (1/3" or smaller) desperately needs high-aperture optics (at f/1.9 and higher). Otherwise, you can only dream of good image quality in low light conditions.

Recently, manufacturers are increasingly using clever multi-pixel matrices, using Quad Bayer or TetraCell technology. On the one hand, they allow marketers to talk about the incredible clarity of the resulting image (without saying that this requires ideal shooting conditions). On the other hand, they actually provide an increase in photosensitivity by combining four pixels and proportionally reducing the resolution.

Another modern trend is increasing the number of cameras, since a single module does not allow you to cover the entire variety of shooting modes. Recommendations are determined by your interests. For some, optical zoom is extremely important, others like to shoot panoramas, and some mobile photographers prefer the portrait genre with all the effects that come with it, such as bokeh. The “sad thing” is that a truly high level of quality is still achievable only with the main camera, and this is in the best case.

Without going into technical details, the more pixels, the more information that needs to be processed. Moreover, the existing dependence is far from linear. By the way, this is another explanation why budget smartphones take rather mediocre pictures. Yes, because flagships have better optics, cooler cameras, and more computing resources. And the prices are higher, unfortunately. And the recommendation here is simple - choose models on the latest hardware platform of at least the middle class.

WITH autofocus not everything is so simple, and it is impossible to give preference to a specific type. It is not surprising that some manufacturers are trying to implement all options in “one bottle”. It is now considered good practice to install an autofocus system not only in the main module, but also in auxiliary modules.

One of the main parameters of the classical photo flashes is the leading number - a quantity characterizing the power of the generated light flux. Alas, in relation to smartphones it is practically irrelevant, regardless of the number of available LEDs and their brightness. At best, we can talk about some help at a distance of a couple of meters to the subject.

Availability of opportunity save pictures in uncompressed format- a useful thing in itself, but it is extremely difficult to imagine a professional photographer armed with only a smartphone. As well as an amateur who is constantly engaged in serious post-processing of his photos before posting them on Odnoklassniki. Yes - good, no - not fatal.

And finally - optical or hybrid stabilization preferable to purely electronic.

As you can see, there is a choice, and quite diverse. We do not undertake to recommend any of the models with a price even lower. In principle, now most smartphones can take relatively decent pictures of stationary objects in good lighting conditions. More complex tasks require more expensive equipment.

Happy shopping!

Social networks like Instagram have been popular in the world for several years now: they please self-esteem, to some extent develop self-importance (a sense of self-importance) and help communicate with friends. But in order to become a popular Instagrammer or simply take high-quality photos for the family archive, it doesn’t hurt to get a smartphone with a good camera. After all, it’s always nice to admire yourself beautifully!

Five best camera phones of 2016. Selecting ZOOM

LG G5

LG G5 () practically blew up the MWC 2016 mobile industry exhibition and left no one indifferent. While competitors are developing modular smartphones (), LG has created a device with a replaceable bottom frame, which helps you replace the battery without removing the back cover. In fact, this is the first time such a solution has been found on the smartphone market. There are several removable modules to choose from: additional battery, CAM Plus and Hi-Fi player.

The LG G5 has a dual main camera, which means that images from two cameras are combined into one to make photos clearer. One of them received a resolution of 16 MP, an f/1.8 lens, an optical stabilization system and laser autofocus. The second is a wide-angle lens, f/2.4 aperture and an 8 MP sensor. As for the front camera, its resolution is 8 MP.

The LG CAM Plus module makes the smartphone more comfortable for shooting: it has a shutter button, a zoom wheel and an LED indicator. In addition, it increases the battery capacity to 4000 mAh.

It is worth noting that a simplified version of the smartphone is sold in Russia - LG G5 SE.

Samsung Galaxy S7

Many experts agreed: the Samsung Galaxy S7 () camera is an ideal example of how a flagship should take photographs. Compared to its “big brother”, it focuses and launches the camera faster. Due to this, the mode of continuous shooting, dynamic shooting and shooting in the dark has been improved. And if in the previous smartphone the main camera received a resolution of 16 MP, then in the Samsung Galaxy S7 it is only 12 MP. Despite this, the photos turn out no worse (and in the evening, even better).

The smartphone has a Sony IMX260 camera module with f/1.7 aperture and a pixel size of 1.4 microns. Due to the larger pixel size, more light enters the sensor compared to the S6. This is what makes the photo better. In addition, the Galaxy S7 can take pictures with a beautiful blurred background.

It is worth noting the Dual Pixel function - the Koreans installed two photodiodes in each pixel in order to speed up autofocus. Now not 5-10% of pixels take part in focusing, but 100%.

Apple iPhone 6s

iPhone () has been a favorite among users who are interested in mobile photography for many years. And it’s not just that the smartphone takes good pictures and works stably. Its operating system comes with a huge number of image processing applications that are not available on other platforms.

The iPhone's camera has only improved in terms of megapixels. Now it has a resolution of 12 MP, so the pictures are even more detailed.

iOS 9 also features a new Live photo feature that lets you bring your frame to life at any time. This feature was already available on HTC and Windows Phone smartphones. In order for the photo to move, you don’t need to install any additional software – everything just works by default.

Huawei P9

The company presented the smartphone in early April this year in London. The peculiarity of this camera phone is its two main cameras. And unlike the LG G5 cameras, the additional Huawei P9 camera (http://site/publication/item/56022) has a black and white sensor and collects all the light. This increases dynamic range and sensitivity. And the second module allows you to get an aperture from f/0.95 to f/16. This is achieved programmatically and works better than many competitors.

Both modules received the same resolution of 12 MP, f/2.2 aperture, viewing angle of 27 mm, pixel size of 1.25 microns. They work as follows: the right module shoots in color, and the left one shoots in monochrome. One sensor receives more information about the dynamic range, and the second captures color. Then the data from the two matrices is combined.

Cameras are also needed for more accurate focusing, despite the fact that there is both laser autofocus and standard slow contrast.

Another feature of the second module is that it can take frames with an aperture of f/0.95, although not without the help of software. The result is a frame with a blurred background, and it’s worth giving credit to Huawei programmers: this time the function works much better than in other devices with software background blur.

Interestingly, the company developed the optics together with the famous German company Leica. So there is a real beast hiding inside the smartphone that meets German standards. Leica assessed image quality in terms of color rendering, white balance, diffuse light reduction, exposure accuracy, aperture, sharpness and noise performance.

Nexus 6P

This time, Google developed a smartphone together with Huawei. And it’s worth noting that the result is a high-quality and budget-friendly camera phone. A 12.3 MP sensor is installed here and instead of increasing the number of MPs, the Koreans increased their size to 1.55 microns. The Nexus 6P also has a fast camera, f/2.0 (the average is f/2.2). So even in low light, more light reaches the sensor, so details are visible in the photo with less noise. In addition, it is equipped with laser autofocus and dual multi-color flash.

The front camera has a resolution of 8 MP and an f/2.4 aperture. It does not have autofocus, however, in terms of selfie quality, the smartphone has surpassed its predecessor Nexus 5.

Does the gadget's camera have any features? Yes, for example:

• The Nexus 6P shoots slo-mo video at 240fps.
• The camera app supports Smartburst, which lets you hold down the shutter button to shoot burst photos at 30 frames per second.
• The Nexus 6P supports electronic image stabilization technology, which is almost as good as optical stabilization.

The Google Camera application is used for shooting and it somewhat limits the photographer’s capabilities: you cannot adjust the ISO, adjust the exposure, or specify the focal length, but on the screen you can tap on the object you want to focus on. However, the resulting photos are comparable in quality to the Galaxy S7 and LG G5.

	Main camera, MP	Frontal camera, MP	Screen	Platform	Price
LG G5 SE	16 + 8	8	5,3""	3 GB RAM	i 39,000
Samsung Galaxy S7	12	5	5,1""	4 GB RAM	i 49 990
iPhone 6S	12	5	4,7""	2 GB RAM	from i 56 990
Huawei P9	12+12	8	5,2""	Huawei Kirin 955 3/4 GB RAM	from i 45 000
Nexus 6P	12,3	8	5,7""	3 GB RAM	from i 33 810