Seven smartphones with the best cameras till date

With cameras being important in the buying process, let us take a closer look at which smartphone is the ideal one

If there’s one area where smartphones are continuously evolving by leaps and bounds, it has to be the optics department. Since the age- old question of ‘ which is the best’ still exists, we pick up the top 10 smartphones that have achieved the highest DxOMark score over the past year.

HUAWEI P20 PRO:

Currently dominating the list with a score of 109, A 40MP primary sensor with a huge 1/ 1.73- inch RGB sensor and f/ 1.8 aperture + 20MP monochrome sensor with f/ 1.6 aperture + 8MP telephoto lens with f/ 2.4 aperture and OIS — all held together by AI ensures excellent low- light performance, class- leading dynamic range, best zoom performance and low noise levels. The P20 Pro achieves incredible levels of details through Pixel Binning in 10MP mode. It can also shoot 960fps video at 720p resolution. The 24MP selfie camera is also good enough. The P20 Pro is powered by a Kirin 970 SoC chip with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and sports a 6.1inch AMOLED full HD+ display. It runs on EMUI 8 based on Android Oreo. The phone is kept alive by a 4000mAh battery. It costs

` 64,900 in India.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 9:

The Note 9 shines with a score of 103 — thanks to its 12MP primary sensor with a variable aperture of f/ 1.5- f/ 2/ 4 and a secondary 12MP telephoto sensor with f/ 2.4 aperture. With OIS enabled on both the sensors, it scores high for balancing detail retention and noise reduction, zoom quality, and realistic bokeh effects. Samsung’s AI can notify if the image is blurry or imperfect. The S Pen now also acts as a remote shutter controller. Powered by a liquid- cooled Exynos 9810 with 6GB/ 8GB of RAM and 128GB/ 512GB of storage ( expandable up to 512GB) paired with a 6.4- inch 2K AMOLED display, it’s also a great performer. A 4000mAh battery ensures a day’s easily life under heavy usage. The Note 9 starts at ` 67,900 in India. Samsung Galaxy S9+: The S9+ uses the same camera as the Note 9, but scores a slightly lower 99 — largely due to the lack of Samsung’s Scene Optimiser. However, the photography performance is close to the Note 9 in real world. The S9+ loses out on the S Pen and sports a smaller 6.2- inch AMOLED display. The battery is smaller too at 3500mAh, but it starts at ` 64,900 for the base 64GB variant.

GOOGLE PIXEL 2 XL:

The Pixel 2 set a record of 98 last year with a single 12MP rear camera OIS, dual pixel PDAF and laser AF, and f/ 1.8 aperture. Relying heavily on Google’s machine learning algorithms, the Pixel 2 still rules with good details, excellent colour rendering, and very impressive dynamic range. The 8MP selfie camera relies on ML too for great portrait scenes. The Pixel 2 is the only Android smartphone to get the latest updates before anyone else. Powered by a Snapdragon 835 along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB/ 128GB of storage, and kept alive by a 3540mAh battery, it comes still comes across as a highly recommendable flagship, starting at ` 60,000.

APPLE IPHONE X:

The iPhone X finished with a score of 97, but is highly acclaimed for its 12MP + 12MP dual camera setup for impressing with its zoom performance, good exposure management and HDR performance, accurate colour rendering, good details with low noise, as well as a naturallooking bokeh effect in Portrait mode. The 7MP front camera with 3D facial recognition system helps with portrait mode and decent selfies as well. Built around the benchmarking A11 Bionic chip and kept alive by a 2716mAh battery, the iPhone X runs on iOS and offers one of the best user experiences. The iPhone X starts at ` 81,200.

ONEPLUS 6:

The OP6 scored 96 — thanks to a cleverly optimised 16MP + 20MP rear setup with an aperture of f/ 1.7 on both lenses and OIS on the primary one. It impressed with its autofocus, colour, and exposure, while also maintaining a well- balanced approach to detail retention and noise levels. The 16MP selfie camera also takes good looking selfies and helps with a fast Face Unlock system. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 845 SoC with 6GB/ 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage, with Oxygen OS based on Android Oreo to look after the errands. The 3300mAh battery uses Fast Charge to provide a day’s power in 30 minutes. It starts at ` 34,990.

APPLE IPHONE 8 PLUS:

With a score of 94, the iPhone 8 Plus with its 12MP + 12MP OIS- enabled dual camera setup impresses with an outstanding image quality and zoom. The Portrait mode is great as well and the advanced algorithms allow it to capture HDR scenes and images. A 7MP front camera also takes good- looking selfies. Except for a large 5.5- inch LCD display with thick bezels, it’s almost identical to the iPhone X — powered by the A11 Bionic chip with the latest version of iOS. The 8 Plus starts at ` 64,399.