Best camera phones 2026 - buyer’s guide

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is an excellent piece of tech, albeit pricier than other Ultras. It's not just a great cameraphone, it's a great all-rounder, too. It has an extra-long battery life, fast charging, a great display, although the full 144Hz is rarely utilized, and offers a nice, customizable software experience, which will get about five major upgrades in the future.

It's too early to say whether it's the best camera-centric phone in the first half of the year, but it's definitely up there with the best, and honestly, that should be enough. If you are looking for the best, this may as well be the one.

However, if video quality is on top of your priority list, that may not be the Find X9 Ultra's forte. Videos are soft-ish across the board, or at least they are not on an "ultra" level.

But among the big cameraphones, the gaps are so small that it will probably boil down to preferences regarding design, software, your favorite focal lengths and features more than anything else.

In the end, we cannot but highly recommend the Find X9 Ultra if you're in the market for a high-end cameraphone.

Despite the hefty price tag, which is even higher than last year, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is one of the best flagship cameraphones you can get right now. Just like the rest of the flagship phones, the 17 Ultra has an excellent display, fast chipset, snappy charging and long battery life, although that last bit isn't a given.

However, the improved telephoto and selfie cameras, along with the exceptional main camera performance, make the device one of the best in its class. We also didn't feel the absence of the second 3x telephoto camera either, as the current 200MP telephoto shooter with continuous optical zoom and close-distance focusing covers all bases. The rotating camera ring on the 17 Ultra by Leica is a nice touch, but it's borderline gimmicky, and we had to turn it off to avoid accidental actuations.

All in all, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is one of the most capable flagship cameraphones with little to no drawbacks. The exceptionally hefty price tag is the only thing you'd have to deal with. And on whether the Leica edition is worth the extra cost, it depends on how useful the rotating ring, the additional security chip and the dual satellite communication are to you. The unique design is another aspect to consider and we really loved it, but don't base your decision around the new rotating camera ring - as things stand, it's sitting mostly in gimmicky territory right now.

But no matter whether it’s the regular or Leica Edition, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is one of the best cameraphones in year 2026 for sure.

The vivo X300 Ultra is exactly the sort of device an "Ultra" phone should be. It is unapologetically ambitious, unapologetically expensive and unapologetically camera-centric. And honestly, vivo has earned the right to be confident here because the X300 Ultra delivers on nearly every front that matters in a modern flagship.

Starting with the obvious, the camera experience is once again the star of the show. Vivo's decision to stick with a single telephoto setup instead of chasing dual-telephoto trends might sound conservative on paper, but the implementation proves otherwise. The 85mm zoom camera remains one of the most versatile telephoto solutions around, while the new 200MP 35mm main camera is simply superb. The ultrawide camera also continues to stand out from the crowd thanks to its unusually large sensor. Add the extensive video feature set, excellent stabilization and the genuinely useful Photography Kit ecosystem, and the X300 Ultra feels closer to a compact camera replacement than most of its rivals.

But the X300 Ultra is far from a one-trick pony. The display is excellent, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 provides flagship-grade performance, charging is properly fast, and the battery life is noticeably improved compared to the previous generation. OriginOS 6 is also a major step forward for vivo's international software experience. It feels modern, polished and feature-rich in ways that older FuntouchOS releases didn't.

That said, there are still a few rough edges keeping the X300 Ultra from absolute perfection. Speaker quality is merely good rather than class-leading, and vivo's decision to remove the helper buttons like the Shortcut or Camera shutter key feels genuinely puzzling. We also expected better definition from the Portrait photo mode and the 4K videos.

Still, none of these complaints meaningfully change the bigger picture. The vivo X300 Ultra is one of the best Android flagships currently available and arguably one of the most complete camera phones ever made. If you are willing to stomach the asking price and can live with its rather massive camera island and hefty footprint, the X300 Ultra absolutely delivers an Ultra-grade experience.

The Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max is undeniably a top-tier flagship - combining a durable premium build, a sharp display with a smaller cutout, class-leading battery life, outstanding cameras, and fluid iOS performance. And while few people will feel the A20 Pro upgrade in everyday use right now, we do believe its extra performance and memory bandwidth will pay off in the years to come.

Despite the impressive achievement of Apple's redesigned chip, the iPhone 18 Pro Max remains one of the most incremental updates in recent years. This is somewhat understandable, given that the 20th anniversary iPhone 20 arrives next year and the new iPhone Duo took center stage as this year's "one more thing."

Just like previous iPhones, the iPhone 18 Pro Max does amazing videos - no matter what the camera, the conditions, the chosen format - the iPhone 18 Pro Max will ace the scene. Once again Apple deserves praise for making a camera app that's suitable both for mainstream and pro users, something no one else in the industry can quite pull off.

So, is the iPhone 18 Pro Max worth buying? Absolutely. It remains an exceptional flagship packed with top-tier features. If it fits your needs - or if you're upgrading from an iPhone 15 Pro Max or earlier - it's an easy recommendation. And it can stand tall against any Android rival, too.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is a very good smartphone. It has a high-end build and premium look. Its display is outstanding with an incredibly dynamic refresh rate and HDR support. It impressed us with its battery life, and its charging speed is quite all right. And the speakers turned out pretty great.

The Pixel is known for its stellar camera experience, and the Pixel 11 Pro XL does deliver. It captured solid photos and videos day and night, even if it doesn't really shine by any metric. Still, the larger sensor of the zoom camera did help with improved quality.

The software experience was stellar. Android 17 is snappy and fluid; it's feature-rich, and you can easily make it yours. Android works and looks best on the Pixels, and that remains true for the 11 Pro XL

Google's Tensor chips have never been benchmark chart-toppers, and the Tensor G6 is no different. Sure, it delivers the promised CPU and AI boost, but the CPU is quick to throttle down under sustained load and the graphics chip is far from the competition in its capabilities.

And the single truly unique feature of the Pixel 11 phones - the HiLight on the back - turned out to be quite limited in functionality, and it's not the notification light many had hoped it would be.

Overall, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is a solid smartphone and worth considering for its great display, signature camera experience, and pure Android OS.

The Oppo Reno16 Pro feels like a premium phone and offers a bunch of premium features, too. It checks almost all boxes, especially for compact smartphone fans. It has an impeccable build, impressive battery endurance for the size, a complete and potent camera hardware and a solid display. The handset also adds a useful remappable hardware key.

The Reno16 Pro delivers a balanced image performance. You can expect generally very good results from all three rear cameras in daylight. Low-light performance is also without dealbreakers, but the detail is also leaving us a bit unimpressed. The selfie camera remains a major selling point thanks to its unusually wide lens and great photo quality. Video quality is very good from all three cameras in daylight, and the main and telephoto carry that into the night as well, where the ultrawide is a bit less convincing.

Overall, the Reno16 Pro is a well-built and lightweight premium phone with a commendable camera kit and quality. It does deliver across the board – display, battery life, design, charging. The performance is solid, too, just not on par with other phones in the same price bracket, though.

The Xiaomi 17T Pro is a solid all-rounder that's easy to recommend. It impresses with great camera hardware, excellent display, high-performance chipset and speedy wired and wireless charging. This year, the handset also stands out in the battery life race with solid endurance..

The Leica cooperation is paying off, as all rear cameras (50MP main, 50MP 5x tele/macro, 12MP UW) deliver outstanding photo and video quality day and night. Admittedly, if selfies are of utmost importance, one of the niche areas becomes more of a pressing issue.

Long story short - the Xiaomi 17T Pro is a very competent offering with a compelling set of flagship-grade capabilities and it’s one of the, if not the best phone you can get for about €700. A flagship killer, if you will.

The Realme GT 8 Pro isn't exactly a new GT 7 Pro - it's looking like a slightly different kind of a proposition. This time around, Realme paid some special attention to the camera system - in addition to improving on the lineup's usual strong points. So yes, we have a super bright display that's even brighter than before, an extra large battery that's larger than last year, and, well, by definition, a better chipset.

But on top of that, we also get a high-end telephoto camera that's equally adept at closeups and distant subjects, and an ultrawide camera that doesn't look like it's coming from the previous decade (not that its lack of autofocus doesn't drag it down, but still). Realme chose a collaboration with Ricoh to spice things up and maybe that will draw in a customer or two, but we're not really seeing it as any sort of a real selling point.

Perhaps the most serious misstep of the GT 8 Pro is in its video stabilization, but it's not too bad? You could probably find a way to rationalize around that.

We're not sure how we feel about the whole camera bump accessorizing concept. It's unique, that's for sure. And the sampler set we received didn't strike us as particularly tacky or weird looking - maybe it's almost intriguing to be able to change things up a bit on what's by now become an extension of your hand.

Overall, the Realme GT 8 Pro feels like a proper flagship cameraphone ticking most of the right boxes. And if its feature set appeals to you, you will not regret buying this one.

The Motorola Edge 70 Pro is another very solid addition to Motorola's Edge lineup. It builds intelligently on last year's model with a larger silicon-carbon battery, a brighter display, a welcome periscope telephoto upgrade and a more powerful chipset, all while becoming noticeably thinner and lighter. That's an impressive list of improvements for what is otherwise a fairly iterative generation..

The overall user experience is hard to fault. Battery life is among the best in the class; the AMOLED display is excellent; the software remains clean and pleasantly close to stock Android; and the camera system is consistently capable. The new 50MP periscope finally gives the Edge Pro series a telephoto camera worthy of the name and rounds out an already versatile imaging package.

The phone isn't without compromises, however. Motorola continues to lag behind many rivals when it comes to long-term software support, offering just three major Android upgrades. Charging, while still plenty fast, is no longer class-leading, and video recording - particularly in low light - isn't nearly as polished as the otherwise strong still photography.

The Edge 70 Pro price has fallen below €500, which has made the phone an incredible deal. Its combination of premium design, outstanding battery endurance, excellent display and versatile cameras makes it one of the more complete upper-midrange smartphones currently available.