Buying a conventional camera nowadays might seem a bit trivial, since photographs taken with a camera phone often deliver the same results, if not better. But not all smartphone cameras are created equal. Finding the right smartphone camera can be the difference between a breathtaking image and a grainy, unimpressive photo.
The seven best smartphone cameras for portraits and selfies are:
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro
- Apple iPhone 11
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus
- Google Pixel 4 XL
- Asus ZenPhone 6
- Samsung Galaxy A70
Smartphone cameras have undoubtedly made great progress over the last several years, and will continue to evolve alongside the ever-changing technological advances. Keep reading below to see a compiled list of today’s best smartphone cameras, as well as thorough explanations of the components that make them so noteworthy.
Seven Best Smartphone Cameras for Portraits and Selfies
The following list draws from a range of different manufacturers. Each phone is an exclusive combination of impressive machinery, with its own unique ability to capture life’s greatest moments — all while fitting in the palm of your hand.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
The fascinating thing about the Apple iPhone 11 Pro is that its brilliant image quality cannot be credited to any particular cutting-edge gadgetry; rather, it is the delicate image processing that makes its photos so special. Whereas other camera phones often overdo the HDR and sharpening, the iPhone 11 does not reveal any obvious indicators of its photo processing.
It comes with three rear cameras, all with 12 megapixels. Its rear cameras include:
- Standard lens: 26mm at f/1.8
- Telephoto lens: 52mm at f/2.0
- Additional lens: 13 mm at f/2.4
Its ultra-wide lens is pretty incredible when it comes to taking landscape photos, but the iPhone 11 Pro offers many intriguing components for portraits and selfies too.
Firstly, the phone has made some improvements to its largely admired Portrait Mode, making the subject of your photos stand out from the background. Portrait mode not only works well on humans, it looks great with pets too. The phone also comes with a TrueDepth 12-megapixel front camera with an aperture of f/2.2, allowing for high-resolution selfies.
Additionally, the iPhone 11 Pro has introduced a Night Mode, which is perfect for those nighttime selfies when you don’t have access to a strong light source. It works by taking a series of short exposures to artificially illuminate your subject.
Night Mode automatically activates itself in darker environments. Unfortunately, you cannot physically activate the Night Mode option yourself; however, you do have the option of turning it off by pressing the icon at the top of the screen.
Lastly, the iPhone 11 Pro has an excellent battery life. For big events where you anticipate lots of photo taking, sending, and/or posting, the iPhone 11 Pro has a battery life that won’t abandon you on those special occasions.
Pros:
- Consistently high-quality images
- Triple camera array that offers versatility
- Updates for a compelling Portrait Mode
- Can shoot in low light environments with Night Mode
- Excellent battery life
Cons:
- Expensive
Apple iPhone 11
With the iPhone 11 Pro at the first spot on this list, it is probably no surprise that the iPhone 11 makes a close second.
The main difference between this iPhone and the iPhone 11 Pro is that this iPhone lacks the wide-angle telephoto lens. Since that lens is primarily intended for travel and landscape photos, its absence does not make much of a difference in terms of portraits and selfies.
The Apple iPhone 11 still offers the same consistent image quality as the iPhone 11 Pro, as all three lenses (two rear, one front) come with 12 megapixels. The photos processed on this iPhone still appear smooth and authentic, and the photos taken with Portrait Mode and Night Mode are just as impressive on this iPhone as they are on the iPhone 11 Pro.
The iPhone 11 actually offers a slightly larger screen than the standard-sized iPhone 11 Pro, which might be more ideal for people that prefer a slightly larger display. It is also worth noting that this iPhone is less expensive than the iPhone 11 Pro by a decent margin.
Pros:
- Consistently high-quality images
- Updates for a compelling Portrait Mode
- Can shoot in low light environments with Night Mode
Cons:
- Lacks a wide-angle telephoto lens
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
Samsung’s products are oranges compared to Apple’s; the two are just so vastly different. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra’s camera is generally more suited to photography enthusiasts, as the phone is equipped with four rear lenses and sensors that combine to detect an impressive total of 208 megapixels.
More specifically, the phone features:
- Rear primary lens at 26mm, f/1.8
- Rear ultra-wide lens at 13mm, f/2.2
- Rear telephoto lens at 103mm, f/3.5
- Rear ToF depth-sensing camera
- Front camera at 26mm, f/2.2
One of the most impressive aspects of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is its 100x zoom feature. Its camera app allows you to zoom from 0.5x magnification to 100x magnification just by scrolling with your finger. The ease at which you can zoom is pretty spectacular on its own.
While the 100x magnification does not produce crystal clear images (in fact, it produces rather poor ones), there are very few occasions for which you would utilize this feature to its fullest anyway. If your primary camera use is for portraits and selfies, this camera will certainly meet expectations, if not surpass them.
In terms of photo processing, Samsung produces a slightly more artificial image than Apple’s cameras do. Most of the time, the image quality is still stunning; however, there are occasions where the following edits are obvious:
- Smoothing
- Over-saturation
- Edge-sharpening
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra also offers an excellent Night Mode option. Not only does their Night Mode produce great detail in low light, but it can even be used with up to 10x magnification.
It does, however, take a little while for Night Mode photos to actually take. The process can last anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds. Given that the camera is using high-tech mechanics and advanced operations, its performance is still remarkable. But when taking portraits of breathing, blinking, moving people, that brief waiting period can feel pretty inconvenient.
Pros:
- Four lenses that offer tremendous versatility
- Can easily transition between magnifications
- Excellent quality of images in Night Mode
Cons:
- Occasionally faulty image processing
- Night Mode is slow to perform
- Expensive
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus
If front camera selfies are your number one priority, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus is sure to satisfy. The front camera is uniquely equipped with an autofocus system, which means that your selfies will turn out crystal clear from a range of distances — whether it be arm’s length or from a selfie stick’s extended scope.
The camera includes:
- Rear primary lens: 26mm, f/1.5/2.4 variable aperture
- Rear telephoto lens: 52mm, f/2.4
- Rear ultrawide lens: 12mm, f/2.2
- Rear ToF depth-sensing camera
- Front camera: 26mm wide-angle, 10 megapixels
In addition to its unique front camera autofocus technology, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus also has a decently wide depth of field, which means that your background will appear with nearly as much detail as your subject. This feature is incredibly useful when taking selfies with large groups or among beautiful scenery.
The camera also has all of the following potential shooting modes for photography:
- Automatic
- Pro
- Food
- Night
Although you may not usually consider video as a mode of selfie-taking, it is worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus’s front camera can record videos at up to 30fps with 4K resolution — a very impressive feat. Videos consistently produce excellent detail and stabilization in both indoor and outdoor settings.
Photos are processed rather sensibly, and provide consistently clear images. Sometimes the saturation can appear a bit too strong, mostly in cases where its “smart scene optimizer” feature is activated. It is easy to turn this feature off though, restoring truer to life images.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus’s Night Mode is good, but not great. Images taken with Night Mode unfortunately lose some of their detail; however, the phone redeems itself in terms of flash quality. The camera produces really nice photos with flash, both in dim lighting and complete darkness.
Lastly, while the unique “Instagram mode” might excite you, this option will not really change the way your photos are taken; rather, it is meant to ease the posting of your photos. Nevertheless, this can be a convenient short-cut for the frequent social networker.
Pros:
- Four lenses with tremendous versatility
- Front camera autofocus technology
- Many potential shooting modes for both photo and video
- Great flash quality
Cons:
- Night Mode is not particularly outstanding
- The phone itself is fairly large
- Expensive
Google Pixel 4 XL
The Google Pixel 4 XL is great for selfies that feature an equally beautiful subject and backdrop. The camera’s wide depth of field is especially noteworthy, as it not only maintains the clarity of your face, but the clarity of your selfie’s background elements as well.
It also has an impressive dynamic range, which means that it is able to capture both the darkest and lightest components of your photo simultaneously, without any elements appearing washed out or discolored. In terms of image processing in general, both color and saturation consistently remain modest, yet eye-catching nonetheless.
The phone is equipped with one 12-megapixel primary lens at 28mm (f/1.7 aperture) and a 16-megapixel secondary lens at 45mm (f/2.4 aperture). Although this phone has fewer lens options than the phones listed previously, its immaculate image processing and maintenance of detail proves that the Google Pixel 4 XL prefers quality over quantity.
Additionally, the Google Pixel 4 XL offers some helpful ways to ramp up your selfies. Not only does it offer a Self Timer mode and frequent face recognition, but it also provides “framing hints” that help you frame your photos for a more appealing image. For example, the front camera will actually tell you how high you should raise your phone when taking a selfie, in order to capture your best angles.
This phone does a great job with color and white balance, producing great images even in low-light environments. It is also uniquely equipped with something called Astro Mode, which won’t necessarily influence your portraits or selfies, but has the ability to capture sharp detail from the night sky — an impressive and noteworthy feature for nighttime photography.
Pros:
- Wide depth of field
- Impressive dynamic range
- Good color rendering
- Framing hints
- Astro mode
Cons:
- Slightly less versatility
- Minimal storage capacity
Asus ZenPhone 6
The Asus ZenPhone 6 is manufactured in Taiwan, but includes an interesting and efficient camera model that should be recognized worldwide. This model utilizes a single camera to function as both a “front” and “rear” camera, as it can actually orient itself by rotating away from or towards the photographer.
The camera comes with one primary lens, at 26mm (f/1.8 aperture) and an ultrawide lens at 11mm (f/2.4 aperture). The primary lens has a half-inch sensor, which is pretty standard for rear lenses. However, the Asus ZenPhone 6 can utilize that sensor for its front camera as well, completely revolutionizing your selfie game.
The camera also produces excellent color rendering, specifically in terms of skin tone. The image processing stays consistent across all skin tones, both inside and outdoors.
Its camera is equipped with autofocus technology, rendering sharp selfies from a wide range of distances. However, the autofocus only really works for one subject at a time, as the camera unfortunately lacks a wide depth of field. This can end up compromising your group shots and travel selfies in which you want to highlight the scenery.
The shallow depth of field isn’t much of a problem when taking solo shots, though; in fact, it results in a soft blur in the background (called a bokeh) that can actually make your face stand out in a pleasant way. You can also achieve this effect intentionally through the phone’s bokeh simulation mode, which works quite well, especially in terms of depth estimation.
Lastly, the Asus ZenPhone 6 recently released an updated Super Night Mode that can be enabled on the ultra-wide lens. If you prefer to use a classic flash option though, you will not be disappointed, as the phone’s dual-LED flash still captures and processes low-light photos quite well.
Pros:
- Half-inch sensor for “front” camera photos
- Excellent color and skin tone rendering
- Pleasant bokeh effect
Cons:
- Shallow depth of field
- Flash incites some noticeable red-eye
Samsung Galaxy A70
The Samsung Galaxy A70 is geared toward a younger market, since its technology is made for people who love to share content on social media. While its rear lenses do not offer much competition against the phones listed previously, the Samsung Galaxy a70 still deserves a spot on the list for its impressive front camera.
The front camera has a single wide-angle lens that can be altered to a closer focal range easily through the camera app. It produces images up to 32 megapixels with an f/2.0 aperture, which is remarkable for a front camera. Not only will your selfies appear extremely detailed, but the wide aperture means you can take pretty great selfies in low light as well.
The camera features a Live Focus mode, which used a 5-megapixel depth sensor to add a soft background blur to your portraits. The front camera offers a similar option with its adjustable bokeh effect, allowing you to manipulate the amount of blur based on your liking.
The Samsung Galaxy A70 comes with expandable storage, which means you won’t have to sacrifice any of your old photos for a new selfie. And it has a generous battery life, which means it can keep up with your snapping and sending of photos all day long.
Pros:
- Great front camera
- Live focus mode
- Expandable storage
- Great battery life
Cons
- Rear cameras don’t amaze
What Makes a Great Smartphone Camera?
The phones above are considered the best for a number of reasons.
Many people place far too much weight on the megapixel count, since often that is the number most advertised by a phone’s manufacturer. However, there are many other components that should be considered before choosing your smartphone camera.
Megapixel count is important, but it’s not everything. One megapixel (often abbreviated MP) represents one million pixels. The number of pixels determines the resolution of a photo. The more megapixel a camera has, the clearer and more detailed your photos will be.
However, another important component of camera quality is pixel size. The larger the pixels are, the more light can be captured by your camera’s sensor. With more captured light, your photos will gain better exposure, which in turn, will produce a bright and colorful image.
To understand the relationship between pixel count and pixel size, imagine that your smartphone camera is a finite box, and pixels are marbles. If your box can hold millions of marbles inside, it must mean that the marbles are pretty small. If the marbles were much larger, the boxer would not be able to hold as many.
The bottom line is this: too many pixels will inevitably compromise your pixel size, while pixels that are too big will compromise your pixel count. Ultimately, neither the size nor the count of your pixels is more important than the other; rather, it is the balance between the two components that will produce the best image.
Terms You Should Know
There are a few terms that were used throughout the list above, whose definitions may be unknown to many beginner-level photographers. These terms will be not only be helpful in shopping for your new smartphone, but helpful when using the camera itself:
- Sensor
- Shutter speed
- Aperture
The sensor is pretty much the main indicator of camera quality. The sensor is similar to the “box” in the previous analogy. In this case though, the sensor can come in different sizes. Sensor size is extremely important for this reason, as larger sensors have more room for pixel count and pixel size.
The sensor is what is exposed to light, and the pixels are what hold onto that light. In dim environments, the sensor can stay active for a longer duration of time, so that the pixels have a bit longer to capture the available light. The amount of time the sensor stays active is determined by the camera’s shutter speed.
In general, smartphone cameras have extremely small sensors. A good sized sensor usually will range from a third of an inch to a full inch. For example, the iPhone 11 Pro’s primary lens has a sensor of 1/2.55 inches, which reads like a fraction (roughly 0.39 inches, as a decimal). For contrast, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G boasts a 1/2 inch sensor.
Another important component of camera quality is its aperture. Aperture works similarly to the iris in our eyes, controlling how much light is let into the pupil — or in this case, the camera. Aperture goes hand in hand with sensors and pixels, as it is another way of determining how bright or dark your image will turn out.
While aperture can be adjusted on most traditional cameras, the apertures on smartphone cameras usually have a fixed diameter. The bigger aperture, the better — especially when dealing with smartphone cameras. Since the phone will inevitably have a small sensor size, a wide aperture will help redeem this limitation.
An optimal aperture width usually ranges from f/2.4 to f/1.4 in smartphone cameras. This number also reads like a fraction, so the smaller denominator will translate to a larger aperture.
Different Types of Lenses
Many smartphone cameras include more than one lens, sometimes even up to four. While it can be fun to experiment with different lenses on different subjects and landscapes, it is also helpful to know what each lens is meant for.
Lenses usually differ based on their focal length. Focal length determines how much of the scene can be captured in one frame, as well as how large the elements of the photo will appear.
In general, longer focal lengths will lessen the size of the frame and make the elements of the photo appear really large, whereas shorter focal lengths will widen the frame and make the elements appear smaller.
The lenses that are most often featured in smartphones cameras are:
- Primary lens
- Wide-angle lens
- Ultra-wide angle lens
- Telephoto lens
Primary Lenses
Smartphone cameras will always have a primary lens for standard photos. The primary lens very closely mimics people’s natural eye-view of their surroundings and will usually have the largest aperture. This is the lens that you would ideally use for full-body portraits, nature, certain landscapes, and low-light environments.
Primary lenses usually measure between 26 and 28mm in focal length.
Wide Angle Lenses
Some phones are designed where the primary lens also serves as a wide-angle lens,but this is not always the case. For phones where the lenses are different, the wide-angle lens will have a slightly shorter focal length than the primary lens.
Ultra-Wide Angle Lenses
Some cameras also include an ultra-wide angle lens, usually measuring between 10 and 24mm in focal length. The ultra-wide angle lens is ideal for interiors, landscapes, and sometimes large group photos. When you have many elements that you want to capture in the same frame, the ultra-wide angle lens will deliver the best results.
Telephoto Lenses
Telephoto lenses will most often measure between 50 and 110mm in focal length. Telephoto lenses allow you to capture a close-up image, even when standing far away from your subject. This lens is ideal for portraits, nature, and wildlife.
What is a ToF Camera, and Do I Need One?
Many smartphone cameras boast their ToF technology, but not many users actually know what a ToF camera does. ToF cameras, or Time-of-Flight cameras, use infrared light to determine the range of depth in your photos. Ultimately, the ToF sensor provides a realistic 3D aspect to your photos, which is extremely beneficial for background blur and portrait mode.
ToF cameras also can be beneficial in low-light environments. Since ToF cameras use infrared light to measure distance-to-subject, it can help the camera focus better in darkness based on measurements alone.
ToF technology isn’t absolutely necessary in a smartphone camera, but it will certainly ramp up your portraits and selfies by softening your backdrop so that you (or your subject) can really stand out!
A Few Last Words of Advice
Before making the definitive purchase, there are a few points to keep in mind:
Megapixels are not important, but they’re not everything. Pay attention to:
- Pixel size
- Aperture
- Lenses
- Autofocus
- ToF
Consider the camera’s image processing. While you can always edit your photos later, the quality of the original photo will almost always be the clearest, so it is important that you are satisfied with the way they appear naturally.
The biggest photo opportunities often coincide with special events that are day-long, so you’ll want to invest in a phone with decent battery life. After all: no battery, no pictures.
Have fun with it! The pictures you take are unique to you. If you want to experiment with different lenses and light sources, go for it! You might actually be pleased with the results.
Now that you have a better grasp of the camera technology that’s out there, you’re ready to make your purchase. It’s time to take your pick — and take your pic!