Which Phones Take the Best Photos? 2025 Camera Rankings Revealed

The evolution of smartphone photography is a continuous process and it is manufacturers who are leading the way with their innovations in camera technology. Users have set their standards really high and the new devices for daily photography and even professional work have to meet those standards: sharp images, exact colors and different ways of shooting.

Recent testing results have reported a major change in the ranking of the best camera phones, with many Chinese companies climbing up the ranks and the traditional leaders falling behind.

The Current List of Top Camera Phones

The latest DXOMark report now assigns the following models the highest in the hierarchy of smartphone photography performance:

Huawei Pura 80 Ultra: This is the number one product on the list with its triple-lens setup consisting of a 50 MP 1-inch main sensor, a 40 MP ultrawide, and dual telephoto cameras (50 MP and 12.5 MP) providing up to 9.4x optical zoom. The 13 MP front camera of the device guarantees clear selfies.

Oppo Find X8 Ultra: It has an impressive camera with four 50 MP lenses on the rear side, one of which is a 1-inch main sensor. The telephotos of 3X and 6X zoom modes allow distant shots to be taken without any loss of clarity.

iPhone 17 Pro: The newest flagship of Apple is in the third spot. The combination of the 48 MP triple lens and 18 MP front camera renders colors very close to their true nature and won’t cause the slightest vibration during recording.

Vivo X200 Ultra: The phone boasts a 200 MP telephoto and 50 MP selfie camera. It has been rated quite high in low-light performance, speed in autofocus, and maintaining clarity through consistent zoom.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Contains a 50 MP main, 48 MP ultrawide, 48 MP periscope telephoto, and a 42 MP front camera. Due to sophisticated AI processing, Pro Res Zoom technique which is up to 100x is possible for giving out not only images but very minute details.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: A combination of three lenses (50 MP main, 40 MP ultrawide, 50 MP telephoto macro) and a 13 MP front camera helps in getting beautiful portraits along with right skin tones.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max remains the top device of the previous-generation Apple and offers the same excellent video quality. Along with the wide and ultra-wide 48 MP, and telephoto 12 MP lenses, it can shoot videos with the best HDR performance using ProRAW and HEIF video recording.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL comes with a 50 MP main sensor, a 48 MP ultrawide sensor, and a 48 MP telephoto sensor. It is particularly known for its realistic skin tones, video stabilization, and detailed zoom.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra houses a quad-camera system blended with a 50 MP 1-inch main, 50 MP ultrawide, 50 MP telephoto, and a 200 MP periscope lens. A 32 MP sensor is used for selfies that give natural and crisp results.

The Honor Magic is an excellent choice for a high-end camera phone as it offers a 50 MP main, 180 MP periscope telephoto, and 50 MP ultrawide. Its highlights include fast subject tracking, realistic indoor portrait quality, and bright HDR video.

Why Apple Fell Behind

Once the benchmark leader, Apple's flagship is now behind rivals. The smaller sensor sizes along with the limited telephoto and ultrawide capabilities of Apple reduce flexibility in comparison to the emerging competitors. On the other hand, Apple's image processing retains the natural tones which are the reason for the professional preference, while the competition is adopting the bolder styles, larger sensors, and advanced computational photography for more dynamic output.

Large sensors, periscope zoom, and AI-driven photography features are being highlighted as the major traits of this year. Industry experts argue that consumers are attracted to the devices that provide the creative shooting modes, flexible optics and the quality of images that are consistent across various scenarios.

The present scenario indicates that the competition for the title of the best smartphone camera is very fierce. The users of imaging are now provided with a wider variety of gadgets to choose from which can cater to both practical and artistic needs, thus marking a period of competition among mobile phones based on their camera features.