In the last decade, smartphones have literally replaced point-and-shoot cameras. And in 2016 we saw smartphones competing with DSLR cameras. Be it the Dual Pixel technology of the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge or the Leica’s algorithm in Huawei’s P9, all the flagship smartphones that launched this year were one step closer to DSLR level photography. So, if you are on a lookout for the smartphone with the best camera to shoot pictures and videos, here we have picked Top 5 camera smartphones of 2016.
Google Pixel XL
This is probably the best camera smartphone of the year. It has the highest DxOMark Score (89) ever given to a smartphone, and it does take excellent pictures and shoots crisp videos thanks to EIS. Also, Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones get unlimited backup on Google Photos with support for full resolution photos and video including 4K content.
Google Pixel XL Specs
- Aluminium unibody and polishes glass combination
- 5.5 inch Quad HD display
- Snapdragon 821 Quad-core processor clocked at 2.2Ghz
- 4GB of RAM
- 32GB/128GB of internal storage
- Android Nougat
- 12.3 MP rear camera with 1.55-micron pixel and f/2.0 aperture, video stabilisation
- 8MP front camera
- 3450mAh battery
- Rear mounted fingerprint scanner
- 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C port
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
iPhonegraphy is a phenomenon since the launch of iPhone 4 and 4s. Since then the iPhone’s camera has come a long way. But 2016 will be remembered as the year when the iPhone got the dual rear cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus. The dual camera setup on the iPhone 7 Plus comes with a 12MP wide-angle and telephoto dual camera setup with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, Quad-LED flash, 4K video recording at 30 fps, Slo‑mo FullHD at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus Specs
- 5.5″ Full HD display with 3D Touch
- Quad-core A10 Fusion 64-bit processor
- 32GB/128GB/256GB storage options
- 12MP wide-angle and telephoto Dual camera setup with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, Quad-LED flash, 4K video recording at 30 fps, Slo‑mo FullHD at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
- 7MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1080p video recording, Retina Flash
- iOS 10
- Water and dust resistant IP67
- TouchID Fingerprint sensor(2nd gen), Stereo speakers
- Thickness: 7.3 mm; Weight: 188grams
- 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac; Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge became the first smartphones to take the crown of best camera smartphones from Apple iPhones since the launch of iPhone 4. The S7/S7Edge with its dual pixel technology and low light camera are just 1 point behind Google Pixel in DxOMark Score but are a better performer in low light situations. The smartphone comes with a 3600mAh battery and not to forget the legendary Dual Edge display at both sides of the phone. It comes with a 12MP Rear Camera with LED Flash, a f/1.7 aperture with Smart OIS. All 3 above-mentioned smartphones – Pixel XL, S7 Edge and iPhone 7 Plus compete with each other very closely and have their own USP’s. If we had to choose one phone between them, we would go with the Google Pixel for the details it captures.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Specifications
- 5.5-inch Quad HD (2560×1440 pixels) 534 PPI Super AMOLED always-on curved edge display
- Snapdragon 820 processor / Exynos 8 Octa 8890 processor (depending on market)
- 4GB LPDDR4 RAM
- 32/64GB ROM plus expandable memory up to 200GB with microSD
- Android Marshmallow
- Hybrid SIM (nano + nano/ microSD)
- 12MP Rear Camera with LED Flash, f/1.7 aperture with Smart OIS
- 5MP front-facing camera, f/1.7 aperture
- 3600mAh battery with Fast Charging
- Heart rate sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Barometer
- IP68 ratings water and dust resistance
- 7.7mm thickness nd 157gm weight
- 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS with GLONASS, USB 2.0, NFC
Huawei P9
Another smartphone in our list with Dual Rear cameras is the Huawei P9 comes with a 12-megapixel shooter with SUMMARIT lenses, dual LED flash, Laser AF, f/2.2 aperture and captures great pictures. It is also is the first smartphone to be co-engineered with the global iconic camera brand, Leica Camera AG.
Specs of Huawei P9
- 5.2″ Full HD AMOLED 2.5D curved glass display
- 2.5Ghz Octa-Core Kirin 955 processor with Mali T880-MP4 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB storage, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD card
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMUI 4.1 skin
- 3,000mAh battery with fast charging
- 12MP dual rear cameras with SUMMARIT lenses, dual LED flash, Laser AF, f/2.2 aperture
- 8MP front camera, f/2.4 aperture
- Hybrid Dual SIM
- Fingerprint sensor, Infrared sensor, 3.5mm audio jack, Stereo Speakers
- 6.95mm thick and Weighs 144g
- 4G LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
Moto Z with Hasselblad Mod
Moto Z has a pretty good camera, but adding the Hasselblad Mod makes it even better, the Mod offers up to 10X optical zoom and the ability to save images in RAW format. Moto Z series of smartphones come with a modular design and have attachments called Moto Mods. These Modules can be attached and detached via a 16 magical pin at the rear of the device. The Hasselblad camera mod will cost INR 19,999.
Moto Z Play specifications
- 5.5″ Full HD Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection and 403ppi
- 2.0GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 processor and Adreno 510 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB / 64GB internal memory plus expandable up to 2TB with microSD
- Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
- Single Nano-SIM
- 16MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, Laser Autofocus, PDFA and 1.3um pixel
- 5MP front-facing camera with LED flash and Wide-Angle lens
- 3510mAh battery with Turbocharging
- Fingerprint sensor at the front
- 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (Dual Band:2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), BT4.0 LE, NFC, USB Type-C port
- Front loudspeaker,3-mic support
- Thickness: 6.99mm; Weight: 165g
- Moto Mods connector support, Water repellent nano-coating
So, this was our list of Top 5 Camera Smartphones of 2016. Let us know which one would you pick in the comments section below. Follow us on Twitter for more news and updates.
