Ranking: Best camera smartphones tested by Notebookcheck

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra has everything that a flagship smartphone needs to have: High performance, an appealing design and an extra-bright display, as well as long battery life. The package is rounded off by the very good photo quality that it is capable of delivering.

Thanks to the numerous Leica-branded cameras, the 15 Ultra delivers the best photo quality around, offering a lot of flexibility to mobile photography enthusiasts.

The key feature of the 15 Ultra is its main camera array with four Leica Summilux lenses, including a 1-inch Sony sensor. This results in more than impressive shots no matter the lighting situations. The well-designed main camera really comes into its own in low light situations. Zooming is possible with two lenses, the 3x zoom (50 MP) and the 4.3x zoom (200 MP) one. This telephoto setup offered very good results in our testing. However, the 50 MP ultra-wide-angle sensor also delivers good performance. It also serves as a macro lens.

If needs be, you can turn the Xiaomi 15 Ultra into an even better camera phone with the Photography Set. With this special camera case, the phone gains an optional 67 mm filter, an additional 2,000 mAh battery and configurable buttons.

In Germany, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is available from Amazon Deutschland and MediaMarkt, among other options, starting from 1,500 euros.

On paper, the Hasselblad camera setup of the Find X8 Ultra is very similar to what the Pro model has. However, the four 50 MP sensors on the back are significantly larger, with the exception of the ultra-wide-angle lens. The main camera with its huge 1-inch sensor produced very good photos with natural bokeh in our testing. The Oppo phone also performs really well in low-light scenarios. The main camera captures a lot of ambient light and textures are well preserved.

The two telephoto cameras with OIS and 3x and 6x lossless zoom also have very large sensors (1/1.56" and 1/1.95") as far as periscope lens go, producing great photos thanks to native magnification - up to 10x is possible.

With Find X8 Ultra, Oppo has climbed the camera Olympus for the year 2025. Things don't get much better than this.

The X8 Ultra is also one of the best smartphones overall. Highlights of the flagship phone include its strong battery life and high performance with comparatively little SoC throttling, as well as a very bright OLED display.

At Trading Shenzhen, prices for the Oppo Find X8 Ultra start at around 950 euros depending on the configuration.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a strong contender. In our testing, the Apple phone impressed with its great display, big performance reserves and versatile camera setup. In addition to the all-new Apple A18 chipset and Wi-Fi 7, the iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with a new ultra-wide-angle sensor.

With the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple has created one of the best camera smartphones of the year 2025.

The main camera of the Apple flagship offers a 48 MP sensor, which can rely on optical image stabilization with sensor shift (Gen. 2). The 3D sensor shift also stabilizes the up to 5x optical magnification feature. The 16 Pro Max delivers pleasing overall photos.

The new 48 MP sensor for the ultra-wide angle lens, which also serves as a macro lens, delivers a visibly better image than its previus-gen iPhones did without any significant image quality issues. There is also a new dedicated camera button, which can be used to adjust the magnification for zoom shots, among other things.

In Germany, Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max is available from all major electronics retailers including Amazon Deutschland, MediaMarkt and other options.

The Find X8 Pro looks chic and well-made. The flagship phone has a powerful chipset and an impressive set of features. It should also keep receiving software updates for six years.

Oppo's Find X8 Pro comes with a very flexible camera system.

Four 50 MP cameras are available for taking photos here, from an ultra-wide-angle lens to two periscope telephoto lenses for an up to 100x magnification. This makes the Find X8 Pro one of the most powerful zoom smartphones currently on the market. The great dynamic range and plentitude of details also speak in favor of the Oppo flagship's camera talents. Last but not the least, there is also a dedicated haptic camera button.

In Germany, Oppo's Find X8 Pro (review) is available for 1,199 euros (RRP) at Galaxus.de among other options.

The S25 Ultra comes with four lenses, with the main sensor sporting a resolution of 200 MP. The photos are downscaled to 12 MP by default, with 24 MP or 50 MP as well as the full original resolution also available as options. The photos this Galaxy flagship takes left us impressed, both in daylight and in low-light environments. In particular, its ultra-wide-angle lens is impressive; this is now based on Samsung's 50 MP GN3 sensor.

The dedicated telephoto lenses deliver good quality 3x and 5x optical magnification with extremely good stabilization.

Thanks to its high-resolution 200 MP main sensor accompanied by powerful secondary lenses, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the best camera phones on the market.

The extremely powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy used here, along with comprehensive AI features, a long update period of seven years and anti-reflective display coating, let the Samsung flagship offer an almost unrivaled experience.

The Samsung smartphone is available from an RRP of 1,449 euros in Germany. MediaMarkt and Amazon Germany are but two options for those interested.

In addition to good cameras, the Magic7 Pro impressed us with its great performance and long battery life. The Honor flagship is also currently the only Android smartphone available with 3D face recognition.

Honor's Magic7 Pro is a very solid overall smartphone with nice cameras, especially for taking photos of distant objects.

The Super Dynamic Falcon main camera is at the heart of the Magic7 Pro. The 50 MP lens works with a variable aperture of f/1.4 to f/2.0, delivering good to very good results in our testing in all lighting conditions. The improved zoom lens has 200 MP and, thanks to the high resolution, can take photos at six times magnification almost loss-free. The ultra-wide-angle lens with 50 MP and a good depth of field is also the macro lens of the Honor flagship.

The Magic7 Pro is available directly from Honor or from retailers such as MediaMarkt from an RRP of 1,300 euros in Germany.

The Xperia 1 VI deserves some special attention from content creators and amateur photographers because of its Zeiss optics and the very extensive settings for fine-tuning the shots. Its rear camera ensemble covers a focal length range of 24 to 170 millimeters and can work continuously between 3.5x and 7.1x optical magnification thanks to the variable zoom 12 MP telephoto lens.

The 52 MP main camera, of which 48 MP can be used for photos, impresses in automatic mode with its pleasantly realistic colors; it also offers AI-supported AF tracking known from the Alpha cameras. Its 12 MP ultra-wide-angle camera also performed above average in our testing.

With optional accessories such as the Vlog Monitor and the option of using the phone as a remote display for a Sony Alpha camera, the Xperia 1 VI truly has a lot to offer.

In addition to the extensive camera features, the Xperia deserves praise for its bright LTPO panel, good battery life and, thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, great performance.

In Germany, Sony's Xperia 1 VI is available from Sony Shop for an RRP of just under 1,400 euros. At the time of testing, it was already available at a lower price from other online retailers, such as Amazon Germany.

If you like taking photos with your phone, the X200 Pro definitely should be on your radar. Its 50 MP Zeiss T* main camera delivers great HDR shots sporting amazing dynamic range and exposure. The product's 200 MP telephoto lens with a lossless 3.7x magnification offers good sharpness and even impresses when shooting in full resolution. The camera list is rounded off by a 50 MP ultra-wide-angle lens.

The (probably) best-in-class HDR photo capabilities in combination with Zeiss technology make Vivo's X200 Pro a camera flagship in a class of its own.

Aside from the powerful cameras, the Vivo phone impresses with high performance in everyday use thanks to the Dimensity 9400, an extremely bright AMOLED display, high battery endurance and fast charging support.

The Chinese company's flagship is available from our partner store Trading Shenzhen for around 850 to 980 euros.

If you prefer smartphones that are actually usable with just one hand, the X200 Pro Mini delivers a lot of flagship for the size - especially in terms of photo quality. A real highlight of the compact phone is its main Sony LYT-818 camera sensor which not only offers a particularly bright f/1.57 lens, but is also fairly large for a compact smartphone at 1/1.28 inches. The Vivo phone therefore impresses with its very good HDR shooting mode, meaning the dynamic range and exposure you get tend to be excellent.

Aiding the main camera sensor is a 50 MP periscope telephoto lens with OIS and triple lossless zoom. The compact smartphone delivers really good quality shots for the range between 2x and 10x that's predominantly used in everyday life. The phone's ultra-wide-angle lens captured a lot of details with nice image sharpness in our testing, too.

If you prefer compact phones and with no photo quality compromises, Vivo's X200 Pro Mini is the right choice.

Apart from its powerful cameras, the X200 Pro Mini is equipped with a smaller-than-many but still very good OLED display. There isn't a single other Vivo phone available that achieves display brightness of over 4,500 cd/m². The small Vivo phone is also impressive in terms of performance and battery life.

The X200 Pro Mini starts at around 700 euros at Trading Shenzhen.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL and its 50 MP main camera deliver very nice photos with lots of dynamics and realistic enough colors. The camera setup of the Google phone also has a periscope zoom lens which enables a five-fold optical magnification with really good-looking results. The camera trio is rounded off by a 48 MP ultra-wide-angle lens.

Google's Pixel 9 Pro XL delivers impressive photo quality and also benefits from Google's smart camera functions.

The Pixel proved to be a great overall phone in our October 2024 testing, with little left to be desired. Its display is very bright and color-accurate, and there is also plenty of features and modern communication standards baked into this premium product. Last but not least, Google promises seven years of updates.

In Germany, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL can be had from from NBB in many color and storage variants.