A good phone camera is no longer a luxury. You want sharp daytime shots, usable night photos, decent zoom and video that does not wobble. To avoid relying on a single lab test, I compared these sources on 1 November 2026.
- DXOMARK — Top smartphones by camera score
- Notebookcheck — the best photo smartphones
- GSMArena Buyer’s Guide — Best smartphones of 2026
- LL Techview Camera Index — Smartphone camera ranking
- CHIP Bestenliste Handys — The best smartphones
I leave the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra out here: it is not (normally) available in Europe.
Top 8: where the sources agree
Prices from 9 November 2026, excluding AliExpress. Clicking a price shows today’s price. The score in the green bar is DXOMARK’s camera score.
1. Oppo Find X9 Ultra — broadest camera consensus
DXOMARK camera170
DXOMARK: camera 170 (tied 4th); top tele and bokeh (bokeh 185). CHIP: camera 1.0, overall 1.1. Notebookcheck: overall 88.9% (9th); one of the year’s best for photography (Hasselblad, zoom). GSMArena: top pick in Camera phones.
2. Apple iPhone 18 Pro — the video king
DXOMARK camera172
2. Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max — same camera, bigger screen and battery
DXOMARK camera(tested: 18 Pro)172
DXOMARK: camera 172 (2nd); video 176 / main video 189 (both best). CHIP: cam 1.5 for both Pro and Pro Max. Notebookcheck: iPhone 18 series not yet tested; iPhone 17 Pro is overall 89.9% (2nd). GSMArena: Pro Max is the flagship pick with “outstanding cameras”; Pro is the compact premium pick.
3. Vivo X300 Pro — flagship camera for less
DXOMARK camera171
Click the photo to go to the official
site of this model
- Chipset
- Dimensity 9500
- Ultra-wide
- 50 MP (f/2.0, 119°)
- Tele
- 200 MP 3.7× periscope (f/2.7, OIS)
- Battery / charging
- 6,510 mAh (global) / 5,440 mAh (EU); 90 W / 40 W wireless
Specs source: GSMArena
Prices in other countries
Lowest price across all versions
DXOMARK: camera 171 (3rd). CHIP: cam 1.2. Notebookcheck / GSMArena: not in Notebookcheck’s top 10 and no highlight on the Buyer’s Guide page I read.
4. Vivo X300 Ultra — ultra-wide and night
DXOMARK camera170
Click the photo to go to the official
site of this model
- Chipset
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- Ultra-wide
- 50 MP (f/2.0, 116°, OIS)
- Tele
- 200 MP 3.7× periscope (f/2.7, OIS)
- Battery / charging
- 6,600 mAh (int.) / 6,400 mAh (EU); 100 W / 40 W wireless
Specs source: GSMArena
Prices in other countries
Price for the 512 GB storage variant
DXOMARK: camera 170; ultra-wide 175 (best). CHIP: cam 1.3. Notebookcheck: overall 89.1% (7th), “camera flagship” (Zeiss, low-light, zoom); colours sometimes inaccurate. GSMArena: no highlight on the overview page I read.
5. Xiaomi 17 Ultra — Notebookcheck winner with a strong camera
DXOMARK camera166
DXOMARK: camera 166 (10th). CHIP: cam 1.4. Notebookcheck: overall 90.4% (1st); “very good camera setup” (Leica, 1″, APO zoom). GSMArena: no highlight on the overview page I read. LL Techview: auto-captions mention a “Xiaomi 70 Ultra” below Honor at rank 5 — too unclear for Xiaomi 17 Ultra, so no reorder.
6. Google Pixel 11 Pro XL — natural colours
DXOMARK camera168
DXOMARK: camera 168 (6th). Notebookcheck: Pixel 11 not yet tested; Pixel 10 Pro is overall 88.9% (10th) with an “excellent camera”. CHIP / GSMArena: no Pixel 11 data on the pages I read.
7. Oppo Find X9 Pro — almost Ultra, friendlier entry
DXOMARK camera166
DXOMARK: camera 166 (10th). CHIP: cam 1.4. Notebookcheck / GSMArena: not in Notebookcheck’s top 10; GSMArena picks the Ultra in the camera category.
8. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — strong EU all-rounder with a good camera
CHIP: overall 1.2, camera score 1.3. Notebookcheck: overall 89.8% (3rd), “versatile camera system”. DXOMARK: no reliable camera score that day. GSMArena / LL Techview: no camera pick on the pages I read.
Honourable mentions
Honor Magic8 Pro
DXOMARK camera164
Click the photo to go to the official
site of this model
- Chipset
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- Ultra-wide
- 50 MP (f/2.0, 122°)
- Tele
- 200 MP 3.7× periscope (f/2.6, OIS)
- Battery / charging
- 7,100 mAh (global) / 6,270 mAh (EU); 100 W / 80 W wireless
Specs source: GSMArena
Prices in other countries
Price for the 512 GB storage variant
Honor Magic8 Pro — DXOMARK 164; CHIP cam 1.5; Notebookcheck overall 89.3% (5th), “good camera setup”.
Xiaomi 17T Pro
Xiaomi 17T Pro — GSMArena premium all-rounder with “great camera hardware”.
Vivo X500 Pro Max
Click the photo to go to the official
site of this model
- Chipset
- Dimensity 9600 Pro
- Ultra-wide
- 50 MP (f/2.0, 119°)
- Tele
- 200 MP 3.5× periscope (f/2.7, OIS)
- Battery / charging
- 7,800 mAh (global) / 6,750 mAh (EU); 90 W / 40 W wireless
Specs source: GSMArena
Prices in other countries
Price for the 256 GB storage variant
Vivo X500 Pro Max (LL Techview) — score 9.5; strong on zoom; portraits 9.7; ~9.5 ≈ ranks 4–9 on his camera ranking.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra or Vivo X300 Ultra?
These two Chinese Ultra phones are built entirely around their cameras and share the same chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Yet they take different approaches: Oppo partners with Hasselblad and focuses on zoom and video, Vivo partners with Zeiss and focuses on portraits and night shots. These are the main differences.
| Oppo Find X9 Ultra | Vivo X300 Ultra | |
| Camera partner | Hasselblad: colour calibration, Master Mode with RAW, XPAN panorama | Zeiss: coated lenses, warm and natural colours |
| Zoom | 200 MP 3× + 50 MP 10× periscope | 200 MP 3.7× periscope |
| Video | Up to 8K 30 fps, O-Log2 and Dolby Vision | Up to 4K 120 fps |
| Screen (peak) | 3,600 nits | 4,500 nits |
| Battery | 7,050 mAh, 50 W wireless | 6,600 mAh (EU 6,400), 40 W wireless |
| Accessory kit | Hasselblad Earth Explorer Master Set: grip with shutter button, LUMO 300 teleconverter, 67 mm filter adapter | SmallRig video kit with handles, Zeiss 2.35× teleconverter |
Pick the Oppo Find X9 Ultra if you want to zoom far in, film in 8K or want the biggest battery. In the Netherlands it is also the cheaper of the two (see the prices above). Pick the Vivo X300 Ultra if you mostly take portraits and night shots, love the Zeiss colours or want the brightest screen. With their accessory kits, both turn into a real compact camera.
Which one suits you?
- Broadest camera consensus: Oppo Find X9 Ultra.
- Best value for photos: Vivo X300 Pro, or Honor Magic8 Pro per CHIP — or the Galaxy S26 Ultra in the top list above.
- Best zoom: Oppo Find X9 Ultra. Best video: iPhone 18 Pro. Best ultra-wide/night: Vivo X300 Ultra.
- Strongest overall + good camera (Notebookcheck): Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
My conclusion
There is no single “best camera phone” for everyone. For the broadest consensus pick the Oppo Find X9 Ultra. For video the iPhone 18 Pro. For top photos without an Ultra model the Vivo X300 Pro. For an overall winner whose camera Notebookcheck also praises: the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
My opinion
Never buy a new top smartphone if yours is only 3 years old. Yearly hardware and software upgrades barely move the needle these days, so it really is not necessary. If you bought an entry-level model, that is of course a different story. If you are looking for a good smartphone and currently have more of a budget model, I personally would still buy a roughly 3-year-old second-hand flagship, such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or comparable phones.
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