The best budget camera phones in 2025

With one of the best budget camera phones, you can get a brilliant camera to take everywhere with you, without having to spend a fortune. While the costs of flagship phones tend to climb and climb, there’s still a huge market of affordable phones out there, many of which boast absolutely superb camera systems. You just have to know where to look – and that’s what we’re here to help with.

All the phones on this list are ones we have reviewed and rated, so you can be confident we’re not recommending anything that we can’t personally vouch for. If you’re looking for something more high-end, see our main guide to the best camera phones, and we also have a handy breakdown of Android vs iOS: which is better for photography if you’re weighing up the two operating systems.

The two main routes you’ll want to consider when buying a budget camera phone are either buying an older flagship from a big manufacturer, or going with a lesser-known maker. On this list, we’ve included both options, so while you’ll see familiar handsets from the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google, you can also consider some of the best options from the likes of Motorola, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo and more. 

If you’re not sure what some of the technical specs on a phone’s camera mean, you can scroll to the bottom of this page where we’ve put together an explainer on how to choose the best budget camera phone.

The best budget camera phones: our quick list

Looking for the best deal on budget camera phones? Not only will you find the best budget camera phones, but you’ll also find some of the best cheap camera phone deals, as our ‘Buy now’ buttons are setup to automatically take you to the best prices, from trusted retailers, plus you’ll also find a list of other retailers below each camera, so you can find the right deal for you.

Here’s our quick run-down of the best budget and mid-range camera phones:

• Best budget phone overall: Google Pixel 8a – buy now
• Best cheap iPhone: Apple iPhone 12 – buy now
• Budget flagship: Samsung Galaxy S22 – buy now
• Best mid-range budget phone: Samsung Galaxy A55 5G – buy now
• Best budget Leica phone: Xiaomi 13T Pro – buy now
• Best budget phone for low light: Motorola Edge 50 Neo – buy now
• Best cheap Samsung camera phone: Samsung Galaxy A35 – buy now
• Best mid-range Honor phone: Honor 90 – buy now
• Cheapest 200MP budget camera phone: Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G – buy now
• Waterproof IP68 rated budget camera phone: Google Pixel 7 – buy now
• Longest battery life budget camera phone: OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite – buy now
• Best under $500 / £450: Google Pixel 7a – buy now
• A good all-rounder: OPPO Reno10 – buy now

Continue reading to find out more, along with sample photos from all the phones featured…

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Best budget phone overall: Google Pixel 8a

Specifications at a glance:

• 64MP wide-angle, f/1.9, 25mm equivalent, (83°), OIS, 4K 60p 
• 13MP ultra-wide, f/2.2, 14mm equivalent, (120°), 4K 30p 
• 13MP selfie camera, f/2.2, 21mm equivalent, 4K 30p, fixed focus 
• 6.1inch FullHD OLED, 60-120Hz screen, 2000nits peak brightness 
• Android 14
• 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm, 189g
• 4492mAh battery
• Normally £499/$549 but look out for deals

Google has long been in the habit of bringing out budget versions of its flagship phones, and the Pixel 8a is the latest in the line-up. A slimmed-down version of the Pixel 8, this phone packs a dual-camera setup that’s largely unchanged from the previous Pixel 7a. The upgrades and differences are largely internal, as the Pixel 8a inherits the latest AI tech. Users of the Pixel 8a now have Best Take, Magic Editor, and Audio Magic Eraser to play with, in addition to the more conventional photographic modes that have appeared on previous generations, such as Night Sight and long exposure.

The cameras themselves are a 64MP wide-angle f/1.9 main camera, which produces 16MP images via pixel binning, and a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with fixed focus. Fairly standard stuff, but as we found in our review, it results in images of consistently high quality, with a pleasing level of detail and punchy colours. The various shooting modes on the camera app work well, and if you have access to a decent smartphone support like a mini-tripod, you can take advantage of highly specialised modes like the astrophotography function, which captures an exposure of up to 2.5 minutes.

Having taken hundreds of photos with both camera modules, we can say that results are (as expected) much more consistent from the main camera. The ultra-wide module does produce noticeably more noise, especially evident when you inspect your images up close. However, we like the fact that you can switch on raw shooting, and our tests of 4K video produced good results.

Honestly, the main rival to the Google Pixel 8a is likely to be another Google phone – if you don’t care about the AI features then the Pixel 7a is going to deliver much the same hardware for a cheaper price. However, with its price still temptingly low, we can safely say that the Google Pixel 8a is the best budget camera phone on the market, and you will not be disappointed with the results it produces.

Read our full Google Pixel 8a review.

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Best budget iPhone: Apple iPhone 12

Specifications at a glance:

• 12MP f/1.6 main camera, OIS
• 12MP f/2.4 ultra-wide-angle camera 
• 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera 
• OS 14, updates to 18
• 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4mm, 164g
• 2815mAh battery
• Refurbished price around $250 / £250

This guide used to be Android-only, as that was pretty much the only game in town when it came to cheap phones. However, the iPhone 12 (which only came out in 2020) has seen its refurbished price fall down to around $250/£250 recently, and that means it more than qualifies to make this list. If you don’t have much to spare for a new camera phone but can’t bear the thought of being without iOS – well, fret not!

For your money, you get a highly capable dual-camera setup, consisting of a 12MP f/1.6 wide-angle camera and a 12MP f/2.4 ultra-wide camera. The latter is fixed-focus, so can’t be used for close-ups, and there’s no optical zoom or telephoto module to speak of. If you’ve used a more modern phone it’ll undoubtedly feel a little old school, but the good news is that the pictures the iPhone 12 produces still look great. Colour reproduction is excellent, lovely and punchy. Exposures are accurate, and the camera automatically uses multi-shot composition to achieve a wide dynamic range. Long story short, the images are more than adequate for a phone at this price.

While there isn’t a dedicated macro mode, you can get decent close-up results just with the main camera. There’s portrait mode for blurring the background, a night mode that automatically kicks in when it gets dark, and exposure compensation controls for tweaking the settings to your liking. All good stuff.

The iPhone 12 may feel unavoidably dated nowadays in terms of its hardware. However, it’s still receiving software updates and it’s still got that inimitable iPhone smoothness of operation. For this price, it’s a bargain as far as we’re concerned – and well worth the consideration of anyone on the hunt for a great, cheap camera phone. Video quality is good too, with effective image stabilisation, and 4K video recording.

Read our full iPhone 12 review

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Budget flagship: Samsung Galaxy S22 (2022)

Specifications at a glance:

• 50MP main wide-angle, f/1.8, OIS, 23mm equivalent
• 12MP ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, 13mm equivalent
• 10MP telephoto, f/2.4, 3x/70mm equivalent, OIS
• 10MP selfie camera with AF, 25mm equivalent (and 4K video)
• 6.1inch screen, AMOLED, 120Hz, Gorilla Glass Victus+
• Android 12, upgrades to 14
• 146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm, 167g
• 3700mAh battery
• Around £465 / $458 (or less)

Yesterday’s flagship is this year’s bargain, and so it goes with the Samsung Galaxy S22. It was never a hugely expensive phone (by smartphone standards at least), originally retailing at $799 / £769, but given that it can now be picked up for about $449 / £449, that’s quite a substantial saving.

The Galaxy S22 was the entry-level model, not a million miles away in features from mid-range phones like the Galaxy A54, listed below. So it doesn’t get the headline-grabbing 108MP or 200MP main cameras of its flagship siblings like the S22 Ultra or S23 Ultra, but it still has a more-than-respectable 50MP main camera that benefits from optical stabilisation. This sits alongside a 12MP ultra-wide-angle, as well as a 10MP 3x telephoto camera that’s stabilised (and is a good deal more welcome than a rubbishy little macro camera).

As befitting a flagship phone, the Galaxy S22 also feels premium in the hand and has all the quality-of-life features you’d expect from such a device. Wireless charging, an in-screen fingerprint reader – Samsung even chucks in IP68 waterproofing, meaning it can even survive being submerged in water (though, as ever, we’re not recommending you test this too enthusiastically).

The imaging performance of the Galaxy S22 is consistently impressive, delivering punchy colours and good consistency between the different camera modules. There’s no dedicated macro mode as the ultra-wide-angle camera is fixed focus (you’ll have to pay for an Ultra model for that kind of luxury), but telephoto performance is generally very good as long as there’s sufficient light. You can even record 8K video at 24p if that’s something you’re interested in; though in truth, most people will probably be just fine with the excellent 4K, which is also available on the selfie camera.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S22 review.

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Best mid-range budget phone: Samsung Galaxy A55

Specifications at a glance:

• 50MP wide-angle, f/1.8, 23mm equivalent, PDAF, OIS
• 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2, 13mm equivalent, fixed focus
• 5MP macro camera, f/2.4, fixed focus
• 32MP selfie camera, f/2.4, fixed focus
• Android 14, microSDXC slot
• IP67 rating weatherproofing
• 161.1×77.4×8.2mm, 213g
• 5000mAh battery
• £439 RRP

The latest and best in Samsung’s Galaxy A line of budget-friendly smartphones, the Samsung Galxy A55 is not a terribly flashy phone. It doesn’t have the AI wizardry of the latest Galaxy S handsets – however, as you’d expect, it’s available at a much cheaper price. The RRP about the phone is £439 (it’s not currently available in the US) and regular offers and discounts mean it’s often practically even cheaper than that. And the good news is that you still get a highly capable camera phone for the money.

The triple-camera setup on the Galaxy A55 is fairly standard for a phone of this type, and isn’t changed much from the previous Galaxy A54. The main event, and one you’ll spend most of your time using, is the 50MP f/1.8 wide-angle main camera with optical stabilisation; this camera outputs images at 12MP with pixel binning, and the level of quality is consistently good, with pleasing detail. There’s also a 12MP ultra-wide camera, which does a commendable job of matching it for detail and colour reproduction. Then there’s also the 5MP macro camera with fixed focus, which is… okay at best. We would have preferred a telephoto module with a decent bit of power behind it; though of course, this would have added to the cost.

The phone is pleasant to use – it’s got that Samsung smoothness in its operation and interface. The photo app is intuitive and comes with packed with fun shooting modes, as well as manual mode to give you full settings control. The display offers a refresh rate of 120Hz (pretty good) and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits (less so). We appreciate the generous battery with 5000mAh capacity, though a wireless charging option would have been nice.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is not any kind of wheel reinvention from the previous model in the series, but it’s another solid mid-range camera phone that does a consistently good job of capturing quality images and videos. Plus, the aforementioned frequent discounts mean you stand a decent chance of picking it up for a bargain price.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy A55 review.

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Best budget Leica phone: Xiaomi 13T Pro

At a glance:

• 50MP wide-angle, f/1.9, OIS, 1/1.28inch sensor, Leica lens (7P), 24mm equiv.
• 50MP telephoto, f/1.9, Leica lens (5P), 50mm equiv.
• 12MP ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, Leica lens (5P) FF, 15mm equiv.
• 20MP selfie camera, f/2.2 (5P)
• Android 13
• 162.2×75.7×8.49mm, IP68 rating, 200/206g (depending on colour)
• $529 / £499

The release of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has seen the price of the Xiaomi 13T Pro come down, and this makes it one of the most temptingly affordable phones on the market right now for photography enthusiasts. Not only does it come sporting a pretty meaty triple-camera array, but it also benefits from Leica engineering, which is what has allowed Xiaomi to splash the iconic red dot all over the marketing materials for the phone.

What this means in practice is that when you open up the phone’s native camera app you get a choice of picture styles – Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic. In testing we mostly stuck to the Vibrant profile, and this accordingly delivered images that are bright and punchy without being too oversaturated in that way that can feel a bit over-computerised. Predictably, the best results come from the 50MP wideangle main camera with its 24mm equivalent lens. If you need a bit more distance, you can use the 2x telephoto camera, which feels a bit pedestrian to anyone who’s used to a 3x telephoto module, but otherwise does the job. There’s also an ultra-wide module for those times you need to get a bit more in the frame, and. a20MP selfie camera on the front.

It’s fairly standard stuff, but as we found in our review, the Xiaomi 13T Pro is a pretty reliable phone for getting the job done photographically, and extra features like the IP68 weatherproof rating only sweeten what already seems like a pretty good deal. It’s a good choice for video too, with effective stabilisation for footage captured while walking. This phone was good value when it came out, and with the price already having come down, it’s only looking better and better.

Read our full Xiaomi 13T Pro review.

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Best budget camera phone for low light: Motorola Edge 50 Neo

Specifications at a glance:

• 50MP f/1.8 wide camera with OIS, PDAF
• 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, PDAF
• 10MP f/2.0 3x telephoto camera, AF and OIS
• 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera
• Android 14
• IP68 water/dustproof rating
• 154.1 ×71.2 × 8.1 mm, 171g
• 4310mAh battery
• Around £400 / $500

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo’s camera system is mostly the same as the Motorola Edge 40 Neo’s. It has a 50MP main camera with OIS and f/1.8 aperture, a 13MP ultrawide camera with f/2.2 aperture, and a 32MP selfie camera on the front with an f/2.4 aperture. However, the 50 Neo gains a 10MP telephoto camera with OIS, a f/2.0 aperture, 3x optical zoom and 30x superzoom.

Like the Neo 40, the phone is a capable performer in low light, and the phone is an impressive option when shooting portraits, with 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm options available. The ultra-wide camera, a 13MP unit, is less good, producing images that lack detail.

The 32MP selfie camera does a good enough job, although it doesn’t feature autofocus, and the phone also produces decent-looking 4K video.

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo offers a capable imaging package for a very tempting price, in a range of stylish colours. Having taken it for a test drive, we can definitely recommend the phone for budget-conscious smartphone shooters. If you like the look of the recently announced flagship Motorola Edge 50 Ultra but find it to be a little out of your budget, this is definitely a solid alternative.

Read our full Motorola Edge 50 Neo review.

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Best cheap Samsung phone: Samsung Galaxy A35

Specifications at a glance:

• 50MP wide-angle, f/1.8, 25mm equivalent, PDAF, OIS 
• 8MP ultra-wide, f/2.2, 16mm equivalent, fixed focus 
• 5MP macro camera, f/2.4, fixed focus 
• 13MP selfie camera, f/2.2, fixed focus 
• 4K video recording from main and selfie cameras
• Android 14
• 161.7 x 78.0 x 8.2mm, 209g
• 5000mAh battery
• Around $349 / £339 or less on offer

One of Samsung’s most affordable phones, the Galaxy A35 can also be found on offer quite frequently, with prices slashed down to around the $300 / £300 mark. That’s a seriously cheap price for a smartphone with a triple-camera setup, and particularly one that bears the Samsung name. It’s got a 50MP f/1.8 wide-angle main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a fixed-focus 5MP macro camera, and of course, a front-facing selfie camera, which offers 13MP of resolution and an f/2.2 aperture.

For the most part, these modules deliver credible results. In our review, we found that the Galaxy A35 was capable of producing punchy images with great colours and detail, just as we’ve come to expect from Samsung. It does best in sunny conditions, and unsurprisingly, you’ll get the best results from the 50MP main camera, which bins pixels to produce 12MP images. You can shoot with the full resolution if you want, but realistically there’s not much reason to do so.

The ultra-wide camera performs well too, producing images which are almost on par with those of the main camera. The 5MP macro camera is fairly run-of-the-mill – we generally prefer the telephoto modules that commonly appear in newer phones nowadays, though the cuts had to come somewhere, naturally. The Galaxy A35 isn’t particularly strong in low light, even with the dedicated Night Mode, so if this is a priority for you, it might be worth looking elsewhere.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 isn’t a showy phone, and it’s unlikely to wow you. But with a solid camera setup, a generally sized screen, an intuitive camera app and generous battery life, it ticks all the boxes you’re likely to want from a budget phone, and it’s hard to ask for more than that.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy A35 review.

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Best mid-range Honor phone: Honor 90

Specifications at a glance:

• 200MP wide camera, f/1.9 aperture, PDAF
• 12MP ultra wide and macro camera, f/2.2 aperture, AF
• 2MP depth camera, f/2.4 aperture
• Android 13
• 6.7-inch AMOLED Quad-curved floating display, 120Hz
• 161.9 x 74.1 x 7.8mm, 183g
• 5000mAh battery
• $349-450 / £449-£499

Even though this is a reasonably mid-priced phone, the Honor 90 still manages to pack in a 200MP main camera, with a 1/1.4 inch sensor that’s upgraded in size compared to the previous version. Elsewhere on the phone, you’ve got an ultra-wide 12MP module with a 16mm equivalent lens, and a 2MP ‘depth’ camera that’s intended for creating images with a shallow depth of field (a.k.a. Portrait Mode). All this adds up to a pretty impressive package for a smartphone at this price – which varies depending on whether you want 256GB or 512GB of storage.

In our full review, we found the Honor 90 to be a pleasant and capable camera phone that was able to cope with a wide variety of shooting situations. It can’t shoot 8K video and 4K tops out at 30fps, but it’s only a small percentage of users who are going to be bothered about that. Realistically, the bigger omission for most people is going to be the lack of a telephoto camera, reducing your options when shooting at a distance. Most of the specialist modes are decent enough, though we found the close-up SuperMacro mode to be fairly lacklustre, resulting in an undesirable loss of image detail.

The display on the Honor 90 is gorgeous, and we came away pretty impressed by how long the battery was capable of holding up. It produces consistently attractive images too, especially when you stick with the main camera module. For this price, it’s an excellent phone all-around.

Read our full Honor 90 review.

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Budget 200MP phone: Xiaomi 12T Pro 5G

Specifications at a glance:

• 200MP main camera, f/1.69, AF, OIS, 1/1.22inch sensor
• 8MP ultra-wide, f/2.2 unspecified sensor size
• 2MP macro, f/2.2 unspecified sensor size
• Android 12, upgrades to 13
• 163.1×75.9×8.6mm, 205g
• 5000mAh battery
• $584 / £550

The Xiaomi 12T Pro’s 200MP resolution is not all it seems, since it uses pixel binning (combining the signals from several pixels) to produce a default resolution of just 12.5MP in most modes. There is a 50MP UltraHD mode which is usable in good light but the 200MP mode is very poor.

The ultra-wide camera is just 8MP, and the macro camera seems pretty pointless with just 2 megapixels. You do get a variety of ‘long exposure’ modes.

4K video can be recorded at 60fps or 30fps, with the option of 8K capture, and high-speed video at up to 1920fps at reduced resolution.

The case of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is quite slim but the camera array stands proud on the back and the main camera sticks out still further, so it wobbles a little when laid flat. It does charge extremely fast, though only via the supplied 120W charger and cable.

Image quality from the main camera is good, but the ultra-wide and macro cameras are less impressive. The 200MP sensor seems more of a marketing gimmick than a practical tool.

Read our full Xiaomi 12T Pro Review

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Cheapest 200MP budget camera phone: Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G

Specifications at a glance:

• 200MP main camera
• 8MP ultra-wide
• 2MP macro camera
• Android 12, upgrades to 13
• 162.9 x 76 x 8.98mm, 210.5g
• 5000mAh battery
• £449

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro + 5G, at the top of the list for Xiaomi’s mid-range Redmi series is one of the cheapest smartphones with a 200MP camera, which gives the best results and while nowhere near what you’d get from a real camera with a high resolution sensor, as long as you treat the camera as a 12.5MP camera you should be pleased with the results. The 8MP ultra-wide camera is capable but image quality is poor, particularly towards the corners of the frame. The 2MP macro camera is quite frankly terrible.

If you want a budget smartphone with a large 120Hz screen, 120W charging, and a headphone socket, and aren’t really too concerned about the camera features, then this is a phone that could be for you.

Read our full Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G Review.

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Best Waterproof IP68 rated budget camera phone: Google Pixel 7

Specifications at a glance:

• 50MP f/1.85 wide-angle camera with OIS, PDAF, 1x, 24mm equivalent
• 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, without AF, 0.7x 16mm equivalent
• Up to 8x “Super Res Zoom” (8x stills, 7x video)
• Android 13, upgrades to 14
• 155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7mm, 197g
• 4355mAh battery
• $600 / £599

With the Pixel 7, Google has wisely concentrated on a good 50MP main camera and a decent 12MP ultra-wide camera, and not tried to add in a third ‘macro’ camera. The cameras are mounted in the Pixel’s controversial (design-wise) ‘camera bar’. The Pixel 7 has a slightly smaller screen and body compared to the previous Pixel 6, together with an improved 10.8MP front-facing ‘selfie’ camera.

The Pixel 7 lacks the telephoto camera of the Pixel 7 Pro and has to make do with a ‘Digital Super Res’ zoom that offers up to 8x magnification but is best at the default setting of 2x.

The Pixel 7’s 6.3-inch OLED screen is great, and this phone has an IP68 rating which indicates it’s waterproof down to 1.5m depth for 30mins. This phone does feel very well made. The image quality from the main camera is good, as is the ultra-wide camera, though there is some distortion. The selfie camera is fixed-focus, however, and the lack of a macro mode on this phone could prove a drawback.

Read our full Google Pixel 7 Review

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Longest battery life budget camera phone: OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite

Specifications at a glance:

• Price: £299 at launch
• 50MP 1/1.95” Sony LYT-600 sensor, 25mm f/1.8 equivalent lens
• 2MP Depth-assist camera f/2.4
• 6.67” 2400 x 1080 AMOLED, 120Hz, 2100 nits peak brightness
• Full HD video at 30fps
• Oxygen OS 14 (based on Android 14)
• 162.9 x 75.6 x 8.1mm, 191g
• 5110mAh / 5500mAh battery (depending on region)

With a whopping 5110mAh (5500mAh for US customers) battery the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite sports the longest battery life on our list. As a matter of fact it would rival some of the best flagship camera phones in this aspect. However there’s a catch, it only has one camera backed by a 50MP sensor. But don’t let this put you off, it is a simple set up ,but that’s not always a bad thing.

If you are a casual shooter and want a hassle-free camera the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite might just be the one for you. In good light it produces images with nicely saturated colours and good level of detail. There’s a portrait mode on the main camera as well as on the selfie-camera, with a shallow depth of field effect. There is a 2x sensor crop option for zooming and a 10x digital zoom, however the latter is best avoided. Even though it lacks a dedicated macro mode, you can get reasonably close and fill the frame with some subjects.

The Full HD video created by it has decent colours, detail and is reasonably stable too. At 6.7”, the CE4 Lite is on the larger side, but surprisingly despite the low cost, the OLED display is actually pretty good – especially when it comes to brightness. It is rated as IP54, which should see it resist dust fairly well, as well as splashes and so on.

Read our full OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite review.

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Best under $500 / £450: Google Pixel 7a

Specifications at a glance:

• 64MP wide-angle, f/1.9, 25mm equivalent, (83°), OIS, 4K 60p
• 13MP ultra-wide, f/2.2, 14mm equivalent, (120°), 4K 30p
• 13MP selfie camera, f/2.2, 21mm equivalent, 4K 30p, face unlock
• Operating system and processor: Android 13, upgrades to 14
• Size and weight: 152.4 x 72.9 x 9.0mm, 193g (IP67 rating)
• 4385mAh battery
• $499 or £449 sim-free

The Google Pixel 7a is Google’s previous generation of entry-level smartphone, and represented a significant update to the cameras on the phone compared to what came before. With a new 64MP wide-angle camera, a 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera, plus an updated 13MP selfie camera, all three cameras are capable of recording 4K video. You’ll also find that the phone has even more photography features than the cheaper Pixel 6a, including Motion Blur, which is great for creative shots of light painting, light trails, and smooth waterfalls.

The Google Pixel 7a may not have a telephoto camera, but at this price point very few budget camera phones do. To make up for this the phone uses Super Resolution Zoom, which gives reasonably good 2x zoom photos. You can use up to 8x zoom, but the results aren’t as good. Another nice feature of the Pixel 7a is the fact that the main camera can actually give pretty good close-up performance, even though it doesn’t have a dedicated “macro” mode.

Google is clearly committed to rolling out its AI-powered editing tools and has recently made them free for anyone to use as long as they have a Google Photos account. You don’t even need a Google-made phone for this; it’ll work fine on iPhone and any other Android device.

Read our full Google Pixel 7a review

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A good all-rounder: OPPO Reno10

Specifications at a glance:

• 64MP wide
• 32MP telephoto
• 8MP ultra-wide
• 32MP selfie
• Android 13, upgradeable to 14
• 162.4 x 74.2 x 8 mm, 185g
• 5000mAh battery
• $399 / £399 (256GB)

The Reno10 features a triple-lens set-up with good overall picture quality, ColorOs 13.1 operating system (android 13) and a large 5000mAh battery that provides super-fast charging (67W). The main 64 MP camera performs best with a good amount of detail and well-saturated colours. The 2x telephoto also gives great results, the weakest 8MP ultrawide camera presents acceptable quality especially if you’ll only view images on your phone.

Night and Portrait modes work well but there is no dedicated macro mode. Instead, there is a Pro mode which allows you to control ISO, shutter speed and exposure compensation, making it more enticing for photographers, although there is still no option to shoot in raw format.

4K video recording now seems to become standard in the budget range, but with the Reno10 it only goes up to 30fps. The ‘Super Steady’ stabilisation is a welcome new addition available in Full HD video mode. The 6.7–inch AMOLED screen has a relatively low 2412 x 1080 pixel resolution and no extra protection such as Gorilla Glass.

Despite a few flaws, the Reno 10 is a good all-rounder that won’t set you back a fortune and delivers fine results.

Read our full OPPO Reno10 review here.

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What should you look for in a cheap camera phone?

We’ll concentrate on the photography features, and these centre around the phone’s camera array. These days, even budget camera phones come with more than one camera, each with its own sensor.

Typically, the main camera will have the best sensor and widest-aperture lens, but you can also expect to get an ultra-wide camera too. These typically have a lower resolution, however, and don’t usually match the main camera for quality, though they will be fine for most users. You may also get a ‘macro’ camera for ultra-close-ups, though in this price range, they sometimes have very low resolution and are not necessarily worth having. If you’re keen on close-ups, take a look at our Top Macro Photography Tips.

What you tend not to get even in the best budget and mid-range camera phones is a telephoto camera. Instead, you have to rely on a digital zoom, which will be effective but won’t provide the same quality.

It’s also worth checking out the front ‘selfie’ camera. The specs vary, and if you film or photograph yourself a lot, a front camera with a good sensor and autofocus (not all have autofocus) is definitely worth having.

Otherwise, look out for the general features like the size of the screen, whether the phone uses toughened ‘Gorilla Glass’ or plastic, and how much memory and/or storage comes with the phone.

Lastly, camera phones will often come with an IP rating that tells you how resistant it is to dust and moisture. IP64, for example, means the phone is resistant to splashes, while IP68 means the phone can withstand full immersion in water for a limited time.

How many megapixels is good for a phone camera?

Don’t be too swayed by the camera resolution. The best budget camera phones may have ‘resolutions’ of 50MP, 108MP or 200MP, but this doesn’t mean the same as it would in a regular camera. These resolutions are ‘pixel-binned’ down to around 12 megapixels for actual shooting, and while there are modes that use the full resolution, the quality can be quite disappointing.

Looking specifically to shoot video? Then check out our guide to the best smartphones for video.

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Article: Rod Lawton, with contributions from Joshua Waller and Jon Stapley. *Prices correct at time of publication but may change without notice.

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Further reading

• The best camera phones for photography
• The best used smartphones to buy
• The best smartphone apps for photography

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