The 10 Best Camera Phones for the UK in 2023 Compared

The best camera phones allow you to open the camera app, click once, and take breathtaking photos and stunning videos without having to fiddle with the settings, manually adjust focus, or spend too much time retouching photos or editing videos.

In this guide, we’ve reviewed and compared the smartphone models with the best cameras – so you can see exactly what each model excels at and choose the best camera phone in the UK for you.

The Best Phone Cameras in the UK for 2023 Ranked

Here’s our list of the top 10 phone models with the best cameras available in the UK:

1. Apple iPhone 14 Pro — Overall, the best camera phone, with a wide variety of useful camera features, such as Night Mode, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR4, and Auto Image Stabilisation.
2. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra — Best Samsung camera phone for stunning daylight photos, with a 200 Mp main camera and a Super Steady video mode that eliminates blur.
3. Google Pixel 7 Pro — Autofocus for telephoto and ultra-wide shots, with a superb level of detail provided by the 50 Mp main camera, plus the ability to take Action Pan videos and long-exposure photos.
4. Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro — Best value for money camera on a smartphone, with auto HDR, impressive colour accuracy, and a great level of detail.
5. Samsung Galaxy A21s — Affordable phone with great colour accuracy, contrast, and saturation, awesome video quality, and an auto HDR feature.
6. Huawei P Smart Pro — Decent entry-level phone with a retractable selfie camera. Offers a good level of detail and accurate colours for shots taken with plenty of natural light.
7. OnePlus 11 5G — The best mid-range camera phone with features such as autofocus, optical image stabilisation, an excellent Night Mode, and great video capabilities.
8. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro — Solid, affordable camera for beginners – perfect for experimenting with different camera options.
9. Sony Xperia 1 V Black — Incredible video capturing capabilities in 4K at 120 fps and a wide variety of camera settings to play with.
10. Ulefone Note 16 Pro — Super-fast budget phone with decent cameras for everyday use. Great if you want to quickly capture photos and videos for personal use.

What are the Most Important Features of Phone Cameras?

Most people who aren’t particularly tech-savvy when it comes to phones and phone cameras tend to look at the megapixel count alone.

While the number of megapixels certainly impacts the image and video quality, there are quite a few other factors you should consider when determining a phone’s camera quality.

Here’s a list of the most important aspects and features to be on the lookout for:

• Camera lenses and optical zoom — Different lens types are better suited for different types of photos, and optical zoom is a much better option than digital zoom, which often leaves the images blurry
• Optical image stabilisation — Built-in stabilisation that minimises the effect of your hands shaking when taking a photo
• Bright aperture — Allows you to take photos with blurred backgrounds, especially when the subject is close to the lens
• High Dynamic Range (HDR) — Lets you take photos with better dynamic range, resulting in a much better contrast between lights and shadows
• ISO Control — Enables you to adjust your camera’s light sensitivity, so you can take clear, sharp photos and videos in low-light environments
• Video Quality — Pay attention to the maximum resolution and the framerate of the phone’s video capture – 4K at 60 fps is the best

Are Samsung Camera Phones Better Than iPhones?

The camera quality of both Samsung phones and Apple iPhones varies between models, with the latest iterations of both having better cameras than their predecessors. If we were to pit the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra against the iPhone 14 Pro, we’d say that the cameras on the two phones are pretty comparable in terms of image and video quality.

However, Samsung phones are generally slightly better when it comes to taking pictures in low-light conditions, while iPhones excel when it comes to photos and videos in Portrait Mode.

Either way, you can’t go wrong with one of these two models, as they’re both at the very top of our list. If you’re on the fence between the two brands, consider whether you prefer Android or iOS and what additional features you’d like your new phone to have.

The Top Camera Phones for the UK Reviewed

Here are in-depth reviews of the top 10 phones with the best cameras, so you can see exactly what different models offer for the price and make an informed decision.

1. iPhone 14 Pro — Overall, the Best Camera Phone, with Great Features

The iPhone 14 Pro comes with a premium price tag, so you’d expect a professional-level camera from Apple’s latest model. Compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 14 Pro has a larger sensor and offers a better resolution with its main camera, resulting in breathtaking photos with true-to-life colours.

The 48 Mp main camera features a seven-element lens, optical image stabilisation, and 100% focus pixels.

The dual 12 Mp telephoto cameras with high-resolution lenses are perfect for taking photos of distant subjects, as they’ll appear closer in the image – so it’s a great option for capturing stunning images of wildlife, for example.

You also get an ultra-wide 12 Mp camera with a 120° field of view and 100% Focus Pixels, so you’ll be able to take crisp, sharp, and bright photos of nearby objects. The phone automatically recognises the distance from the lens to the object and will use this camera by default when shooting an image of anything closer than 20 centimetres.

The iPhone 14 offers a 3x optical zoom-in feature, 2x optical zoom-out, and a 15x digital zoom. When using optical zoom, the phone maintains excellent image and video quality, but that deteriorates when using digital zoom, so you can’t expect super-clear photos of objects that are too far away.

In addition to excellent cameras, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro offers myriad handy camera features that can help enhance your photos and videos – all of which makes it the best iPhone camera model on the market. The most notable features are Deep Fusion, which improves image quality in low light, and the Adaptive True Tone flash, which automatically ensures photos are captured in the best light.

The iPhone 14 Pro also features the Smart HDR4 technology, which ensures more vivid colours, sharper contrast, and improved dynamic range that makes your photos look more realistic. It’s relatively expensive, but it’s better than nearly all of the best phones today.

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2. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra — Best Samsung Camera Phone for Stunning Daylight Photos and Super Steady Video

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has the best camera quality of any phone on our list. It features a 200 Mp main camera, so it’s like having a professional camera that fits into your pocket. Besides this, there are two 10 Mp telephoto cameras with 10x and 3x optical zoom, respectively, so you can take breathtaking photos of distant objects without losing out on image quality.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra truly shines when it comes to taking photos in daylight. You can expect vivid, warm colours, with accentuated shadows and bright exposure, resulting in bright images. 

That said, objects in photos tend to appear slightly brighter than they actually are in real life, so you can expect a more photographic style rather than true-to-life colour accuracy due to the phone’s image processing software.

Still, the 200 Mp shots are excellent, especially when it comes to taking photos of nature and objects, with the one downside of the best Android camera phone being the rather large file size of the photos. This shouldn’t be too big of a drawback, though, considering that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with 256 Gb of storage, and you can, of course, adjust the resolution of images via the settings.

The 12 Mp ultra-wide camera is another reason to opt for this model. It offers a high dynamic range and an excellent level of detail, plus it comes with an auto-focus feature that’s ideal for taking pictures of objects up close. It features a 3x optical zoom, so you can capture fine details without a noticeable drop in image quality.

The ultrawide camera also comes with a Super Steady Video mode, which leverages AI (Artificial Intelligence) and a larger sensor to automatically compensate for shaking and unsteady movements. This means videos will be smooth and super-sharp, without any blurry elements you’d otherwise get due to shaky hands.

Lastly, the selfie camera is pretty good, with images having an excellent dynamic range and accurate colours and skin tone, so you won’t have to spend time touching up selfies before you post them.

3. Google Pixel 7 Pro — Autofocus for Telephoto and Ultra-Wide Shots and a Superb Level of Detail

The Google Pixel 7 Pro is another great option if you want to take great photos and videos with your phone, especially since it’s much more affordable than the iPhone 14 and the S23 Ultra.

With a 50 Mp main camera, the Google Pixel 7 Pro takes photos in daylight with a stunning level of detail. The photos capture a high level of detail and excellent clarity for textures, but it’s worth noting that the images appear slightly darker compared to those taken with the iPhone 14 Pro and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

That said, thanks to Google’s colour science — the way in which the phone’s software renders the final colours from the images it captures — you can expect more vivid colours and richer hues, so you can truly capture the beauty of all the places you visit.

The telephoto camera is nearly identical to the one on its predecessor, the Pixel 6, but it offers one significant upgrade. It now includes an autofocus feature, so the lens automatically adjusts to ensure that the subject of your photo is perfectly sharp. This also enables Macro mode, allowing you to take clear, sharp photos of objects up close.

The 10.8 Mp selfie camera is decent but not exceptional. However, the camera software now includes True Tone, a feature that ensures authentic, accurate skin tone is captured for everyone in a photo.

Another nifty feature of the Google Pixel 7 Pro is Photo Unblur, which can help you convert photos taken from other devices from blurry messes into stunningly sharp images.

When it comes to videos, the Google Pixel 7 Pro is a great choice, thanks to a variety of features such as Motion Mode that lets you take an Action Pan and capture fast-moving objects while simultaneously blurring the background. This feature also lets you shoot long-exposure photos, so you can get super creative with it.

4. Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro — Best Value for Money Camera

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro offers the best value in terms of camera quality for the price. For a little over £200, you get four cameras, with the star of the show being a 64 Mp main camera with a wide sensor and great aperture, so you can take bright images with accurate colours and an excellent level of detail.

The shots taken by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro in daylight are excellent and even on par with some £1,000+ models. The level of detail is quite impressive considering the price of this phone, plus the colours are fairly accurate. With the addition of Auto HRD (High Dynamic Range), you can take breathtaking images with this phone, all without breaking the bank.

One thing worth noting is that, by default, the images taken with the 64 Mp camera are saved as 16 Mp images. While you can manually upscale the shots to the 64 Mp mode, the resulting images are slightly blurry and lose a level of detail, so we recommend using the default 16 Mp mode.

The 8 Mp ultra-wide camera is also good, offering great contrast and an above-average dynamic range, especially for a phone in this price category. The same is true for the 5 Mp macro camera, so you can expect sharp close-up photos with an impressive level of detail.

The autofocus feature helps out a ton here, so if you’re a fan of taking pictures of nature or smaller objects, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro is an excellent choice – and it compares well with the best Xiaomi phones on the market.

When it comes to selfies, you’ll have to make sure there’s enough natural light if you want clear images with a high level of detail, so you shouldn’t necessarily expect breathtaking selfies from your nights out.

That said, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro does come with Night Mode, so you can still take great-quality photos in low light, provided you’re using the phone’s main camera.

When it comes to videos, you’ll be able to capture fun moments in up to 4K resolution at 30 fps (frames per second). While the level of detail is average, the colour accuracy, contrast, and high dynamic range help enhance the overall quality of the shots.

5. Samsung Galaxy A21s — Affordable Phone With Great Colour Accuracy and Awesome Video Quality 

The Samsung Galaxy A21s is another super-affordable model with a decent camera, perfect for beginners who want to try their hand at mobile photography without having to invest a ton of money into a high-tier phone.

The main camera on the Samsung Galaxy A21s has 48 megapixels and a Quad Bayer colour filter, meaning the photos are automatically saved in 12 Mp, although you can manually select the 48 Mp mode.

If you opt for the default 12 Mp photos, you will lack some finer details, but the contrast, saturation, and colour quality will be impressive, especially considering how affordable this model is. Thanks to Auto HDR, the images will be sharp and more vibrant, but you’ll lose some details in less-lit parts of the scene you’re capturing. That said, you can always turn off the HDR feature if you prefer.

The other three rear cameras are nothing to write home about, but they’re still more than good enough for the price, especially the 8 Mp ultrawide camera. While the images aren’t super-sharp, you’ll still be able to capture a lot of details with accurate colours and good contrast.

The 13 Mp selfie camera on the front is alright, but the photos lack detail, and the colour saturation isn’t as good as most people would like, so the selfies appear darker, and the colours look a bit washed out. In other words, you’d likely have to touch up your selfies before posting them on Instagram.

When it comes to video recording, the Samsung Galaxy A21s is great, allowing you to shoot videos in 1080p resolution at 30 fps. The videos are sharp and smooth, with surprisingly accurate colours and great contrast, which is impressive for a £135 phone.

6. Huawei P Smart Pro — Decent Entry-Level Phone With a Retractable Selfie Camera

The Huawei P Smart Pro features a 48 Mp main camera, an 8 Mp ultrawide camera, and an auxiliary 2 Mp depth sensor. While it can’t stand toe to toe with the likes of the iPhone 14 Pro and the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the image and video quality is still quite impressive for the price.

The images taken by the main camera are saved as 12 Mp shots by default and capture plenty of details and fairly accurate colours, especially when there’s plenty of natural light. You can manually choose the 48 Mp mode, but the difference in level of detail is barely noticeable, while the file size is up to three times larger.

The portrait mode with the ultrawide camera is also pretty decent, mainly due to the fact that the shots are enhanced with Artificial Intelligence and built-in image optimisation.

When it comes to video, you can shoot them in Full HD at 60 fps or 30 fps for super-wide shots. The video quality, however, is average at best, and there is no 4K option since the manufacturer opted for the Kirin 710F chipset.

One of the unique aspects of the Huawei P Smart Pro is the retractable 16 Mp selfie camera. The quality of the selfies is good, plus you get the added benefit of more screen space since there’s no punch hole for the front camera.

7. OnePlus 11 5G — The Best Mid-Range Camera Phone

The OnePlus 11 5G is an excellent mid-range phone with decent cameras. It’s ideal for people looking for a super-fast phone with a 120 Hz display and great image and video capabilities without having to set aside more than £1,000 for one of the premium Android or iOS models.

The main camera on this model is a 50 Mp one, with Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) and optical image stabilisation, so you can expect sharp shots with a high level of detail, great contrast and shadows, and bright, vivid colours.

You’ll also get a brilliant telephoto camera with this phone, with great dynamic range, high contrast, and good exposure, although it’s worth noting that the optical zoom is limited to 2x, so you’ll have to be reasonably close to the object.

The 48 Mp ultrawide camera is also excellent, so shots of scenery contain a great level of detail and are incredibly sharp. Another thing worth noting is that this camera captures images at the full 48 Mp resolution of the sensor, so you’ll be able to take breathtaking shots without having to manually upscale the resolution and lose the final details of the shots.

We were also impressed with the OnePlus 11’s Night Mode. The images are super-sharp, even in low light, with an excellent level of detail, good contrast between the colours and the shadows, and surprisingly good dynamic range.

The selfie camera also stands up, especially with the addition of HDR processing and colour-tuning, so you can expect vivid colours, great contrast, and true-to-life skin tones.

The OnePlus 11 also shines when it comes to video recording, being capable of shooting up to 8K at 24 fps with the main camera and up to 4K at 60 fps with the ultrawide one.

You can also leverage the phone’s software and utilise the AI enhancement feature to further improve the quality of the video. Regardless of which mode you’re shooting in, the auto stabilisation is turned on by default, so you won’t have to worry about blur due to phone shake.

8. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro — Solid, Affordable Camera for Beginners

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro is another decent, affordable option, boasting a 108 Mp main camera with PDAF and Night Mode.

One thing to note regarding this model is that the shots taken with the main camera are saved as 12 Mp photos. They are fairly detailed, with great colour accuracy, good contrast, and a relatively high dynamic range, so you’re getting a good deal for the price.

You’ll have access to a 2x zoom shortcut, which can be very convenient. You can also manually upscale the shots using digital zoom, but the lack of special processing can result in blurry images that lose a great deal of detail.

The redeeming factor of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro is the 108 Mp mode, which lets you capture high-resolution photos rather than simply upscaling the 12 Mp shots. So, while you’ll have to get reasonably close to objects to avoid using digital zoom, the 108 Mp photos from the main camera are surprisingly decent.

The photos taken with the ultrawide and macro cameras are great for the price but aren’t necessarily exceptional compared to premium models. On the other hand, the selfies taken with the front camera are good, with accurate colours and nice contrast, although lacking in detail when compared to more premium phones.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro’s video capabilities are ok, as the phone supports video capture at 1080p up to 30 fps. The chipset (Snapdragon 695) doesn’t support 4K video, which is an odd choice, considering that this feature is available on the Redmi Note 10 Pro.

9. Sony Xperia 1 V Black — Offers a Wide Variety of Camera Settings

The Sony Xperia 1 V Black is a high-end phone with a super-fast CPU, a great display, and overall excellent performance, but not one you’d necessarily buy for the cameras alone. That’s not to say that the cameras aren’t good, but for a £1,000+ phone, you’d be right to expect the best of the best.

While Sony Xperia 1 V Black is more than capable of producing high-quality shots, you’ll need to have some technical knowledge when it comes to the use of actual cameras in order to get the most out of it. The reason for this is that the camera app defaults to the Basic mode, which is designed for the average user and doesn’t utilise all the features and capabilities of the phone’s camera software.

That said, if you fiddle with the settings, you’ll have a ton of fun with the Sony Xperia 1 V Black. The images are crisp, sharp, and bright, with excellent colour accuracy and a great level of detail, even in low light, thanks to the excellent Night Mode.

Another area where the Sony Xperia 1 V Black excels is video capture. The phone is capable of shooting videos in 4K up to 120 fps, which makes it ideal for YouTube clips, vlogs, and TikTok.

The biggest drawback of the Sony Xperia 1 V Black is the zoom feature. The optical zoom goes up to 10x, but the tradeoff for capturing distant objects isn’t worth it since the image quality and the level of detail quickly deteriorates as you zoom in.

Overall, the camera quality of this model is decent, but it doesn’t necessarily justify the premium price.

10. Ulefone Note 16 Pro — Super-Fast Budget Phone With Decent Cameras for Everyday Use

The Ulefone Note 16 Pro is an incredible budget phone that takes great-quality photos and videos. It features a 50 Mp main camera and a 2 Mp macro camera, so while it lacks telephoto and ultrawide imaging capabilities, it is still a decent option for an average user.

The photos taken with the Ulefone Note 16 Pro are surprisingly sharp for a phone under £200, with a high level of detail and a good dynamic range. However, they also tend to be a bit on the darker side, so you’ll likely lose the finer textures in shadows, and it might be difficult to discern different shades of colours when there’s not enough natural light in the scene.

The Full HD videos at 30fps you can capture with the Ulefone Note 16 Pro are good as well, although you’ll have to be relatively close to the subject if you want to capture smaller details.

There’s also an 8 Mp selfie camera at the front, allowing you to take Instagram-ready photos in seconds without having to retouch them too much.

Overall, while the Ulefone Note 16 Pro doesn’t offer anything extraordinary in terms of phone camera quality, it’s a super-affordable option if you just want to quickly capture beautiful scenes and unforgettable moments with your phone.

The UK’s Best Camera Phones Compared

Here’s a quick reference table of the top 10 phones with the best cameras, so you can see how they compare head-to-head and what you can expect for your money in terms of performance and camera quality.

Factors to Consider When Buying A Camera Phone

Buying the best phone camera is not as simple as picking the most expensive phone out of the bunch. In addition to the number of cameras, camera lenses, and megapixels, there are quite a few other factors you should consider before you make your final decision.

Use Case

If you’re planning on casually shooting photos of scenery or taking a photo here and there with your friends, you should primarily be concerned with the main camera.

On the other hand, if you want more advanced photo capabilities, like shooting objects up close or capturing distant objects, you’ll need to pay attention to the macro and telephoto lenses, respectively. Another thing worth noting is whether or not the phone offers optical zoom since photos using digital zoom are often lower quality, blurry, and lack finer details.

Different Shooting Modes

Most modern smartphones offer a variety of different shooting modes, all of which automatically adjust the best settings based on what images and videos you’re capturing and in what conditions.

For example, the Selfie Mode puts subjects into focus, ensures accurate skin tones, and provides enhanced colour accuracy and contrast compared to the Auto Mode. Other modes you’ll likely often use include Panorama and the HDR (High Dynamic Range) Mode, but others like Burst Mode (for photos of fast-moving objects) can be quite useful as well.

Selfie Camera Specs

If you love posting selfies on social media, make sure that the phone’s front camera is good enough to make you look your best. At the very least, you want a 6-megapixel selfie camera, but if your budget allows, you should opt for a 12 Mp one or higher.

Aperture

When looking at the phone’s specifications, pay attention to these numbers. Lower numbers signify that the lens can open to accept more light, resulting in generally brighter and clearer images, especially in low-light conditions.

Video Capabilities

If you like shooting videos with your phone, pay attention to the maximum resolution and the video frame rate the phone can capture. Ideally, you want to capture unforgettable moments in 4K at 120 fps (frames per second), but only top-tier phones over £1,000 are capable of doing so.

It’s much more realistic to opt for a phone capable of shooting 1080p videos at 60 fps, which is more than good enough for personal use.

Internal Storage

When it comes to the phone’s storage, more is always better. You want to have enough room for all your apps, files, games, photos, and videos, so we strongly recommend a phone with at least 256 Gb of storage.

If you’re planning on storing a ton of files on your smartphone, it might also be worth going for one that supports microSD cards, so you can easily add more storage when the need arises.

Pricing

The last factor, but arguably the most important one, is the phone’s pricing. As you have seen from our review, a phone with a good camera doesn’t have to cost a small fortune. In fact, the best budget camera phone is under £200.

That said, you shouldn’t look at the price tag alone and overlook the phone’s specifications. What we recommend instead is determining your budget and comparing different models within your price range to ensure you get the one that offers the most value for the money.

Which Phone is Best for Video Recording?

When it comes to video recording, the Sony Xperia 1 V Black offers the highest video quality at 4K, up to 120 frames per second. So, if you need professional-level videos and your budget allows it, this model is an excellent choice. Its photo capabilities are also excellent, provided you have the technical knowledge and are willing to manually adjust the camera settings.

Aside from the Sony Xperia 1 V Black, both the iPhone 14 Pro and the Google Pixel 7 Pro are great options for video recording. Both alternatives can also shoot videos in 4K, albeit at 60 fps, but it’s worth noting that the iPhone 14 Pro performs slightly better when it comes to photography.

Here’s a quick table so you can see the video-capturing capabilities of these three phones side-by-side:

As you can see from the table above, all three phones are excellent choices for video recording, with only nuances separating them. Our camera test revealed that the one noticeable difference between the three phones is that the Sony Xperia 1 V Black allows for 120 fps videos, so it wins out in the end.

Conclusion – Which Phone has the Best Camera in the UK for 2023?

There are many excellent phones with incredible photo and video capabilities, so there’s no shortage of options if you’re looking for a phone that lets you take detailed images and breathtaking videos.

That said, every phone model is unique, features different camera lenses, comes with varying photo and video features and shooting modes, and offers different shooting modes. Put simply, the best phone for photography might not be the top choice for recording videos. Likewise, the best selfie camera phone might disappoint when it comes to ultrawide or telephoto lenses.

So, when buying a phone with the best camera, don’t forget to compare the camera specs, features, and functionality of different models to ensure that the phone perfectly meets your needs.

If you want the best mobile phone camera overall, with a gorgeous display, super-fast CPU, and best-in-class performance, you can’t go wrong with the iPhone 14 Pro.

Best Phone for Camera FAQs