The Best Android Camera Phones of 2025

Looking to up your photo game? A new, camera-focused smartphone will do wonders for your social media pictures. These are the best Android camera phones that will make sunsets sparkle, food look irresistible, and nighttime landscapes dazzle.

UPDATE: 03/04/2025

We’ve updated a variety of our picks for the best Android camera phones. Take a look!

What to Look For in an Android Camera Phone

If you’re looking for an Android smartphone with a great camera, there are a lot of factors to consider when making the purchase. Many companies try to distract customers with gimmicky features and specs that look good on paper, but they don’t tell the full story.

Take megapixels, for example. While they can increase the resolution of your photos, unless features like post-processing and color reproduction are good, you’ll wonder what went wrong with the unimpressive image or video you just captured.

Companies like Google have taken the software route with their cameras. The search giant’s smartphone line relies on advanced algorithms to produce flagship-quality photographs, and Pixel phones are well-known for their high-quality pictures.

On the other hand, the actual camera hardware is also important. You can have the best smartphone camera software on the market, but if the sensor isn’t capable enough, you’ll hit the ceiling in terms of versatility and quality sooner than you might expect.

With so many different ways to implement a smartphone camera, it’s our job to break them all down and highlight the best ones. Below, we’ve listed a handful of phones that excel in their respective categories and offer the best balance of hardware and software.

How Did We Research
Models Evaluated	Hours Researched	Reviews Analyzed
22	11	28

How-To Geek’s product recommendations come from the same team of experts that have helped people fix their gadgets over one billion times. We only recommend the best products based on our research and expertise. We never accept payment to endorse or review a product. Read More »

At first glance, you may not see too many camera upgrades on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, compared to the Google Pixel 8 Pro, but there are enough to justify its position as our top overall pick.

The 9 Pro XL has a triple camera system consisting of a 50MP main, a 48MP telephoto, and a 48MP ultrawide. For those primarily concerned with the main and telephoto lenses, the Google Pixel 8 Pro delivers comparable performance. However, the ultrawide lens now has a wider f/1.7 aperture and delivers better low-light images. The 42MP selfie camera is also a big upgrade in terms of pixel count, and it has a wider field of view. Image processing has been improved, too, resulting in consistent high-quality images. In good light, pictures are crisp and color-accurate every time.

All the lenses deliver quality shots in challenging light, too. Images are generally crisp and sharp when shooting with the primary camera after dark. The telephoto lens provides good exposures with balanced brightness and contrast, while color rendering is precise. Shadow detail may be indistinct when utilizing the digital zoom, but it delivers some surprisingly good results, even with magnification as high as 30x.

All this makes the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL a superb point-and-shoot camera for smartphone photographers. However, there are advanced controls for more experienced shutterbugs. The interface is simple to navigate, and dialing in adjustments is quick and painless.

The software also boasts some new AI functions, such as Add Me, a feature that lets you add yourself to any photo afterward, while Zoom Enhance will add detail to areas where it appears soft. Additionally, Google has optimized the phone’s social media apps to make snaps consistently eye-catching.

Video capabilities remain solid on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. 4K video is sharp, and you have 24, 30, and 60fps options. Full HD is the go-to for slow-motion shots with frame rates of up to 240fps. The addition of 8K video is a notable new feature not available on the Pixel 8 Pro.

Other practical considerations for smartphone photographers include the ultra-bright display that is easily seen in strong sunlight, a durable build with an IP68 rating for all-weather shooting, and storage options of up to 1TB to hold all those images and high-res videos.

If you’re deciding between the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro, it may be a harder decision. The Pixel 9 Pro XL just edges it thanks to a larger display and higher battery capacity. These subtle differences may be worth the extra cost for some. If not, the Google Pixel 9 Pro has the same outstanding camera setup and will save you a few bucks.

Now that the Google Pixel 8 Pro is more accessible, it’s a shoo-in as the best budget option due to its numerous camera features, which ultimately helped it win over the Google Pixel 7 Pro.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro is nearly identical to the Google Pixel 9 Pro in terms of its cameras. The biggest difference between the two is that the Pixel 8 Pro cannot shoot in 8K. Otherwise, the cameras are pretty consistent between the two.

First, the telephoto, ultra-wide, and main cameras are 48MP, 48MP, and 50MP, respectively. This isn’t different from the Google Pixel 7 Pro, but the ultra-wide was only 12MP. The selfie camera is 10.5MP, but all the cameras of the Pixel 8 Pro can capture 4K at 30fps and 60fps. At 1080p, you can push the framerate up to 240fps, too!

The biggest difference from the last Pro model are all the features you can access, like multi-zone laser AF, dual-LED flash, Pixel Shift, Ultra-HDR, and PDAF. It’s also notably better at taking photos at night with its Night Sight mode than the Pixel 7 Pro. The dual PD selfie camera comes in handy, as you won’t have to constantly fiddle with the camera to focus.

As someone who edits photos, you want as much to work with as possible, right? With the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, you get a 200MP f/1.7 24mm lens with multi-directional PDAF and OIS, which helps keep your shots focused and prevents shaking and blurring from being nuisance.

That’s just the beginning, too. You also have a 50/10MP telephoto lens (50MP for periscope and 10MP for just telephoto), so landscape shots are possible. The ultra-wide camera is also 50MP, with Samsung’s Super Steady video feature that keeps videos smooth and steady even when moving quickly.

Another welcome upgrade from the S25 is the S25 Ultra’s battery. Samsung bumped it up to a 5000mAh battery, 1000mAh more than the S25. Ultimately, it’ll help stave off the need to rush to an outlet or break out an external power bank when you’re in the middle of a photoshoot or video just a little longer.

When heading out to get some good photos, the S25 Ultra’s protection will also be quite handy. It has a titanium frame, Gorilla Glass Armor 2, and an IP rating against water and dust. You can submerge it in 1.5 meters of water (up to 30 minutes) and it’ll be fine. Of course, you should also use a case and screen protector, just for good measure.

Best Android Camera Phone for Low Light: Google Pixel 9 Pro

While the Pixel 9 Pro XL just shaded it in terms of our overall top choice, the reality is both the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the XL have similar cameras in terms of performance. The XL justified its inclusion as our top pick due to its larger display and battery capacity. In terms of low-light performance, both are impressive.

Also, the Pixel 9 Series phones are excellent at the other end of the brightness scale, too. When sunlight is strong, the Pixel 9 Pro camera lenses minimize unwanted artifacts, such as lens flare, which affects image quality. The ultra-bright display is also a bonus in harsh sunlight because it lets you see the screen vividly, no matter how much the intense rays affect your vision.

The 50MP primary camera has an f/1.7 aperture, which allows more light to hit the sensor. This is crucial for shooting in challenging light because it enables the camera to capture more detail and reduce noise. It also features excellent optical image stabilization (OIS) to steady your handheld low-light shots and reduce blur. The camera system includes Multi-zone Laser autofocus and Ultra-HDR to enhance focus accuracy and dynamic range for better image quality in challenging light.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro also features the same 48MP ultrawide and telephoto lenses as the XL model. It also supports 8K recording for videographers, making it exceptionally well-detailed, even in low-light scenarios. If you’re a fan of panoramic shots, you’ll likely enjoy the new Nighttime Panorama Mode. This mode is handy for taking detailed cityscapes of light and color long after the sun has gone down. Furthermore, the phone’s advanced photo-editing tools can enhance blurred, low-light images.

While the Samsung Galaxy S24 is a fine selfie camera, the Samsung Galaxy S25 leads the way by a mile, and it really comes down to its extra features.

In terms of camera performance, the two are pretty identical. It’s the same 50MP f/1.8 main wide lens, 10MP f/2.4 telephoto lens, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens. And for the front selfie camera, you have 12MP f/2.2 with dual-pixel PDAF.

The real kicker here is the main camera’s Best Face feature. Rather than taking a single photo, the Samsung Galaxy S25 takes multiple photos and then lets you pick the best one from the group. It’s one of the best ways to avoid bad photos, like capturing a twitchy eye or the mid-blink stare.

Another fantastic feature of the Samsung Galaxy S25 is its Object-Aware Engine. If you ever take a photo and think the skin tone looks off or something similar, the Object-Aware Engine will automatically adapt to the light in the environment and adjust it accordingly to capture the true skin tone. And if you want to, you can use Galaxy AI to pick a filter or make adjustments yourself.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra gives you oodles of options to play with if capturing video is at the top of your list, as opposed to the S25. In fact, the S24 Ultra gives you a little more wiggle room, especially if you want to experiment a little.

First, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is a step down from the Snapdragon 8 Elite in the S25 and S25 Ultra, but it’ll have no problem handling the fun shenanigans you can do with it.

Secondly, you have numerous video settings to fiddle with. Want to record in 8K at 30fps? Sure, go for it! You could do 24fps if you want to emulate the speed of a film, too, or drop down to 4K at 120fps or 1080p at 240fps. Have fun with the slow-motion feature, too—it’ll capture 960 frames per second!

However, the Samsung Galaxy S24 true potential is shooting RAW (or ProRes Log), which is essential if you’re taking captured video to post (and you should). RAW is going to offer the most potential and is the best way to utilize the S24 Ultra’s amazing image quality.

FAQ

How do you back up an Android phone?

You can use the Google One app to back up your Android. If you need help, check out our in-depth guide on how to back up and restore Android.

How do you get pictures off your Android phone?

You can connect your Android phone to your PC to move pictures to a new device. Alternatively, you can email them to yourself and access the files from another device.

Can an Android phone replace a standalone camera?

An Android phone can replace a budget camera, but no smartphone can come close to the skills of a DSLR.

How can I find my lost Android phone?

There are several ways to find a lost Android phone, including using the “Find My Phone” feature. For more details, check out our guide on how to find your lost Android phone.