Best smartphones for street photography
Our pick of the nest smartphones to appeal to photographers
Apple iPhone 12 Pro • £999 • apple.com
With three different lenses to choose from, you get good scope to shoot street scenes from a variety of perspectives. Also particularly handy for street photography is the way the native camera app makes use of the additional lenses to show you what’s going on outside the frame – useful for spotting the decisive moment. With very little lag and a new ‘ProRAW’ mode, the iPhone 12 Pro is a fantastic creative tool, but it would be nice to have some more advanced shooting options within the native camera app.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
l From £1,149 l samsung.com
Probably the best smartphone camera currently on the market, this high-end model from Samsung boasts four different focal lengths. The zoom lenses could come in handy for discreet street photography, while the large and bright screen makes composition a delight. We particularly like the extensive native camera app which boasts a number of different shooting options, including an impressive Pro mode which enables raw shooting.
OnePlus 9 Pro
l from £829 l oneplus.com
Co-developed with Hasselblad, the OnePlus 9 Pro has a lot of useful features for photographers. One of its standout features is the 48-million-pixel main camera which is ideal for picking out fine detail in street scenes. There’s a triple-lens selectable set-up but a fourth monochrome camera is used for creating better black & white shots, which some street photographers might also find helpful. An excellent optical zoom lens and a range of extensive features in the native camera app, along with a reasonable price, make the OnePlus a smart option for lots of reasons.
Sony Xperia 5 II • £799 • sony.co.uk
Taking some of its prowess from its range of ‘proper’ cameras, Sony’s Xperia series includes a lot of appealing features for photographers. The Xperia 5 II is a solid mid-range option that comes in at an attractive price but still has a significant number of high-end specs. A useful ‘Photo Pro’ mode is comprehensively featured and includes the ability to record in raw format, while functions such as Eye AF can come in handy when photographing people. Unlike some other models featured here, it’s a relatively small size and includes some physical buttons on the side, making it a discreet option compared to some others, too.
Google Pixel 5 • £599 • store.google.com
A great-value option, the Pixel 5 is akin to a basic point-and-shoot camera, but it does the job, and does it well. There are only two lenses – which in comparison to others is a little lacking – but you still get wide and ultra-wide options. The fast processor means that there’s very little lag when using the camera, making it well-suited to fast-paced street photography. You can shoot in raw format, but the native camera app is reasonably simple (and arguably limited). It’d be nice to have a bit more flexibility – plus an extra telephoto lens – but the price makes this an ideal option for those on a stricter budget.