Best camera phones

Often called the selfie camera, the front camera is the one facing you from the screen. It’s usually more basic than the rear or main camera, which is the one designed for optimum photography. Some flip phones have a single camera, serving both roles depending whether the phone’s open or closed.

The sensor is the chip that detects light focused by the lens. Physically bigger sensors collect more light, which makes them better in dark conditions. Manufacturers sometimes mention pixel size in micrometres (µm). Again, bigger is better, at least in theory.

You’ll see phone cameras ranging from about two megapixels (2MP), up to more than 100MP. This is the number of individual points in the image they produce, so a high number can mean more detail. It can also mean more noise, though, so you won’t necessarily get a better picture from a high resolution phone.

Just to complicate things, many phone makers shrink the end image so that it’s a lower resolution than the sensor itself: 12MP is the typical output size for a 48MP camera. This ‘pixel binning’ technique reduces noise, and can improve detail compared to a photo actually taken with a 12MP sensor, but it’s not guaranteed.

This number refers to how wide the lens’ iris can open to let light in. A smaller number means a bigger hole, which can be better when taking photos in low light. For example, an ƒ/1.5 lens opens up wider than an ƒ/2.4 lens.

Older and budget phones might have a single lens on their front and rear cameras, but most modern phones have at least a dual-camera setup at the rear. Some have up to four, each with its own lens and sensor. The main point of multiple cameras is to provide a choice of lens angle, giving you more creative control over how you fill the frame.

These terms describe how wide an angle the camera can ‘see’, and how much of the scene fits into the shot. Ultra-wide lenses fit in the most, so they’re great for big group shots and indoor photography. Telephoto lenses fit in the least, so they’re great for capturing more detail from distant objects. Wide angle lenses are the default, offering a compromise between the two.

Zoom refers to the difference between the widest wide shot, and the closest telephoto shot. If a camera has a 2X zoom, the telephoto lens makes objects look twice as big as the wide lens. Many phones add digital zoom, which helps you zoom in further at the cost of image quality.

This keeps the image steady when the phone isn’t. Many phones use optical image stabilisation, where the lens or sensor moves to counteract shake. Other phones do it digitally, which is effective, but you get a slightly lower resolution image or video when it’s enabled.

These refer to the maximum resolution of the video you shoot, with 720p the lowest, and 8K the highest. A 4K (QHD) video has about four times the detail of 1,080p (HD), but you’ll need a 4K display to benefit from it. An 8K video contains about four times as much detail again, but few phones can shoot it, and none can display it at full resolution.

This is simply how many images per second a video contains. The higher the number, the more fluid the action will look when you watch it back. Movies are usually shot at 24fps, and in the UK, TV programmes are shown at 25fps. Smartphones often shoot 30fps by default, but many support 60fps. If there’s a slow-motion (slo-mo) mode, the phone may shoot up to 480fps. If this is played back at 30fps, the effect is to make the action 16 times slower.