The 8 Best Budget And Expensive Phones For Photographers In 2026

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One of the large attracts to new smartphones is the digital camera array: How nicely does the handset take a photograph? Watch a business or tune right into a launch occasion, and you will hear about high-megapixel-count sensors, various kinds of lenses, good picture tuning, and helpful additional modes that can assist you take the proper snap. But with so many choices, it may be onerous to find out that are the very best telephones for photographers.

Let’s make issues simple and boil it right down to a listing of eight selections, all prime choices as of the start of 2026. This record will not simply be a round-up of the very best telephone cameras you should purchase, although lots of the identical options will seem. In addition to costly choices, we embody budget-friendly cell phones. All costs are present as of the date of writing and are topic to market and pricing modifications. 

There are loads of Android telephones that punch above their worth bracket. This record additionally contains budget-friendly choices in handsets that go for $600 or much less. If you’ll be able to’t afford to purchase a top-end cellular, cash should not cease you from choosing up a feature-packed machine.

Since this record is for photographers, we’ll be taking a look at just a few components, together with digital camera {hardware}, software program, capturing modes, and funds. 

The least expensive choice on this record is the Samsung Galaxy A56, which sells for $364.50 on Amazon. This is a part of the corporate’s Galaxy A collection of handsets, which carry over some options from the Galaxy S collection at a lower cost.

The A56 does not have a telephoto lens for zoom pictures. Its digital camera array consists of a 50MP f/1.8 foremost, 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide, and 5MP f/2.4 macro digital camera, the latter of which is designed to take in-focus close-up pictures. Smartphones typically use ultrawide cameras for this type of image, however a devoted lens will naturally deal with the job higher.

Camera benchmark model DXOMark gave the Galaxy a digital camera rating of 114, and for context, 175 is the best on any telephone proper now. That rating makes it the Fifteenth-highest telephone of its worth bracket, crushed principally by just a few older premium telephones which have dipped in worth, however by one Google rival proven later on this record.

Reviewers typically reward the telephone’s efficiency for the value, particularly the high-res foremost digital camera, though some say that the macro snapper does not ship on its promise. Some reward comes from Samsung’s vary of bespoke Galaxy digital camera modes that add a little bit of enjoyable to pictures. Namely, Fun mode can add filters to your shot, Food may also help you seize a dish, and Single Take data from all cameras earlier than hand-picking the very best stills.

The most inexpensive premium telephone on this record is the Google Pixel 10 Pro, which begins at $799 for the 128 GB mannequin and climbs to $1,299 for the 1 TB mannequin. A have a look at the {hardware} exhibits loads of megapixels. The foremost digital camera is a 50MP f/1.7; it is joined by a 48MP f/1.7 ultrawide and a 48MP f/2.8 periscope telephoto.

Hardware is not the principle draw, although. As identified in our Google Pixel 10 Pro evaluate, the corporate competes with AI software program. Its tips embody AI picture enhancement, notably for digitally zoomed pictures, and Camera Coach, which provides you hints that can assist you body your photographs completely. Because of options like these, it is implausible for novice photographers who desire a serving to hand in bettering, although purists who wish to do issues themselves may wish to keep away from it.

These tips work, judging by the telephone’s DXOMark rating of 163 — that places it because the joint-ninth finest telephone on the time of writing. Reviewers are simply as impressed, praising how the assorted modes are simple to make use of and ship a implausible digital camera expertise. One specialist brand praises it as the very best telephone for pictures.

Our subsequent funds telephone is the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, which sells for an inexpensive $459, as a funds different to the Nothing Phone (3). It’s the most affordable telephone on this record to supply a characteristic we’ll see on pricier pictures telephones: a telephoto lens.

The Nothing has a 50MP f/1.9 foremost digital camera, one other 50MP sensor paired with an f/2.6 periscope lens, and an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide module. This latter permits you to shoot at a 120-degree angle.

The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro hasn’t obtained a DXOMark analysis, with solely the model’s main-series telephones being listed by the model. But we praised its versatile digital camera system in our Nothing Phone (3a) Pro evaluate, highlighting the 6x lossless zoom its periscope digital camera permits. Other testers concur, highlighting the telephones as among the many few funds mobiles that present photographers an optical zoom.

If you are on a restricted funds, you might additionally attempt the Nothing Phone (3a), which is priced at $379. The digital camera specs are nearly the identical, besides that the zoom lens is a 50mm telephoto as an alternative of the Pro’s 70mm periscope. That means optical zoom reaches 2x, not 3x. It’s not an enormous distinction, although photographers may favor the pricier mannequin’s longer vary.

Of course, we now have to search for Apple’s finest for a prime pictures telephone — no record can be full with out an iPhone. The present prime choose is the iPhone 17 Pro, which begins at $1,099. It presents the identical digital camera specs because the Pro Max, however a smaller display — in order for you extra show actual property, $100 extra will get you the Max.

The iPhone 17 Pro has three 48MP rear cameras. The foremost one is f/1.8, 24mm, with a f/2.2 ultrawide with a 13mm lens, and a zoom shooter f/2.8 100mm that hits 4x optical zoom.

We talked about in our iPhone 17 Pro evaluate that the telephone “performed incredibly well in all situations”, and that is backed up by DXOMark. Of the telephones on this record, the iPhone has the best rating of 168, with testers calling its video expertise best-in-class and praising the consistency throughout modes and zoom ranges. Its recognition is confirmed: in accordance with Counterpoint Research, the Pro Max was the best-selling member of its household.

Being so in style, there are additionally loads of iPhone attachments offered by all method of firms, which may elevate your pictures even additional with additional lenses or mounts — although not all are equal, so be careful for in style iPhone equipment that you need to keep away from.

The $549 Motorola Edge 2025 is the newest in Moto’s line of mid-range Androids. If you are making an attempt to purchase it, be sure you choose the correct mannequin, as it is simple to seize a earlier yr’s model. What may journey you up is the value: Amazon typically sells it for between $300 and $400, however the above-mentioned price is the MSRP.

The Moto’s foremost digital camera is a 50MP, with an ultrawide that shoots at a 122-degree angle, and a 10MP f/2.0 telephoto. As these specs present, it is a good different to the Nothing telephone in the event you’d moderately the ultrawide digital camera take high-res photographs than the zoom shooter.

Lots of the enchantment of the Motorola Edge is much like that of the Nothing. You’re getting three rear cameras, together with a zoom one, for a comparatively low worth. Some reviewers identified the ergonomic design, highlighting how its gentle body and curved show make it extra pocketable. 

Reviewers testing the digital camera itself be aware that the {hardware} setup is sweet, however Motorola’s software program is not essentially aggressive, so you could typically get uneven outcomes. That’s no drawback for individuals who don’t love on-phone optimization and like to edit their photographs themselves.

One of the primary names you may hear in any dialogue about premium digital camera telephones is Samsung, particularly its most up-to-date Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. This begins at about $1,000, so it isn’t low-cost, however you get rather a lot for the value.

On the floor, Samsung’s telephone is not thought to be extremely as some rivals. For instance, DXOMark provides it a digital camera score of 151, which does not match the iPhone’s rating. The distinction stems from picture high quality, which is not fairly on par with options. But what the cameras lack in high quality, they make up for in versatility.

The Ultra has 4 rear cameras, greater than its rivals on this record. There’s a 200MP f/1.7 24mm foremost digital camera, which may take extremely high-resolution footage. It’s joined by a 50MP f/1.9 120-degree ultra-wide snapper, and two zoom cameras: a 10MP f/2.4 67mm which helps 3x optical zoom and is principally used for portrait pictures, and a 50MP f/3.4 111mm periscope which fits as much as 5x optical zoom. That’s proper: two totally different zoom cameras.

That array of cameras means the Ultra is adaptable for various capturing settings. In our personal Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra evaluate, we known as it “a versatile selection of cameras that should make for solid photos in all situations.” The S25 is for the jack of all trades photographer, who’ll be capturing huge vistas one minute after which close-ups of pets or meals the subsequent.

Just underneath the funds worth cutoff is the Google Pixel 9a, which sells for $599. This is a extra inexpensive spin on the Pixel 9, however resulting from Google’s telephone launch schedule, it is the latest A-series Pixel on the time of writing.

Unlike the opposite funds mobiles on this record, it solely has two cameras. These are a 48MP f/1.7 foremost and 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide. No, there is not any zoom or macro digital camera. But the relative lack of {hardware} does not rule it out as a funds pictures powerhouse.

When we examined the telephone for our Google Pixel 9a evaluate, we famous that photographs have been vibrant and detailed, and this backs up what different testers say. For instance, the handset has a DXOMark digital camera rating of 128, which is the best of any funds telephone launched in 2025 or 2026.

Many testers rank the Google Pixel 9a as the very best funds digital camera telephone, because of its software program and post-processing that make photographs look vibrant and detailed. For most, this greater than makes up for the less rear cameras it wields. However, some reviewers mark the telephone down for its lack of a zoom characteristic, provided that the characteristic has been obtainable on sure inexpensive cell phones for years now.

The costliest cellular on this record is the Sony Xperia 1 VII, which prices $1,399.99 on the time of writing. That’s some huge cash, however you are shopping for a telephone from an organization that is famed for its imaging {hardware}.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII comes with three rear cameras: a 48MP f/1.9 foremost, a 48MP f/2.0 ultra-wide, and a 12MP telephoto digital camera with steady zoom. This latter reveals a neat {hardware} trick. You can get a variety of optical zooms to adapt to totally different conditions, from 85mm to 170mm.

Unlike many different top-end choices on this record, the Xperia wasn’t rated by DXOMark, so we will not see testing scores to match it to the opposite mobiles.

Instead, we are able to look to reviewers’ suggestions, and it isn’t all optimistic. Some testers criticize the telephone’s picture processing as inferior to its rivals, additionally noting that the preview picture within the app does not at all times match the ensuing image.

So why is the Xperia 1 VII on this record? The telephone has some options which may nonetheless make it invaluable to photographers. Some reviewers reward the presence of a handbook video mode ported straight over from Sony’s cameras, and it additionally has Eye Autofocus like Sony’s cameras. 

For our record, funds handsets price lower than $600, a market phase that always does not see the digital camera prioritized as an necessary characteristic. The premium handsets price over $999, and telephones at that worth level all compete carefully in digital camera efficiency.

Phones not offered within the US have been dominated out; this implies many in style digital camera telephones from manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have been excluded, as have been older fashions which are not formally offered.

We used a number of metrics, together with DXOMark scores, reviewers’ suggestions, and private expertise with the manufacturers, handsets, and modes in query.

And what counts as telephone for photographers? Different patrons may have totally different definitions, which is why this record is ordered by worth moderately than worth. But the telephones want some mixture of fine {hardware}, good optimization, or helpful additional modes.