The end of the year is approaching and before we move on to the top 10 with the most popular midrange and flagship phones, we decided to create a kind of "guide" for cameraphone buyers. It's just ... what to see !? The cameraphone segment is dead and has been replaced by a number of capable flagships that allow you to leave your DSLR at home sometimes. Who gets in the top 5 and what are the advantages of each phone chosen on the eyebrow are below.
5. OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G or Find X3 Pro
It was hard for me to choose who to put in 5th place. On the one hand we have the 2021 Bokeh filming champion OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G, on the other hand we have the OPPO Find X3 Pro, the only real on market. The first model captures Bokeh Flare, practically invents it, brings it to the mobile phone, with a blurred background and amplified lights for extra expressiveness. You can apply this to both photo and video and it is a revolution in blurred background capture.
At Find X3 Pro we noticed a wide range of colors, very vivid shades and excellent stabilization when shooting on the go. The 50 MP sensor is a quality one, but I feel that it could have been better at zoom, having only 2X optical zoom here. The 50 MP ultrawide camera is fantastic, it behaves like a main camera and can beat the one with zero distortions on the OnePlus 9 series, in fact I have the theory that it is the same.
The filming is very sharp, the details are excellent and the colors are natural. Bonus points for the fact that the ultrawide filming also looks good, something you won't see on an iPhone for example. At night we have photos and videos with a very low amount of noise.
Video review OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G, Camera section
4. OnePlus 9 Pro
I like to think of myself as having a very good memory. As such, I can say that OnePlus One was fighting the HTCs and LGs of the moment, the OnePlus 3T was kind of burning roses in the summer, and the OnePlus 7 Pro had an excellent zoom and filmed something dreamy at night concerts. Likewise, now at the end of 2021, I am pleasantly tickled by the feeling of watching OnePlus 9 Pro film in the middle of the forest and snow.
It's a room of fantastic honesty in terms of colors, and the partnership with Hasselblad may have had a say here. It's also one of the few flagship phones to make successful Macro captures, even if it comes with an exceptional ultra-autofocus camera and not a dedicated Macro sensor. I took photos from 3 centimeters like no flagship in 2020 can and not 95% of those in 2021. In culinary photos it is ace, in landscape captures it is magical, and the ultrawide capture has no deformations, curves or discolorations .
Where it doesn't look so good is at Bokeh's selfie capture, where I wanted more precision when cutting my face. The big downside of the phone is its appearance. You can capture 4: 3 or 21: 9, which reduces the resolution to 7 MP and reduces detail. At the low light capture we had other shades of colors in our classic photography from Timişoara, in addition to the classic yellow.
When shooting we have excellent stabilization, but a zoom that seems to be a weak link. The microphones also captured the ambiance of Camping Scorila, and the bitrate, dynamic range and crystal image made the captures tasty on a 4K TV. I go back to the photo to say that the 3X zoom, although it handles well in the early stages, when you go beyond 5X you also find some noise in the captures.
Video review OnePlus 9 Pro, Camera section
3. iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro is good as a daily driver for me and is a very "honest" phone. This in the sense that "what you see is what you get", relies heavily on the realism of the color, a correct exposure, and even sometimes with the under-exposed sensation compared to other phones on the market. I can use it to film reviews, vlogs and make perfect product pictures. This time compared to its predecessor, the 12 Pro, it is no different from the Max model's camera. Stabilizes well when shooting on the go and takes expressive and very clear selfies. I also like that it captures a lot of details and has ProRes capture, which you can edit in detail later.
It's not at the top because Macro and Cinematic filming don't impress rivals (both apply relatively and with errors), and the 3X optical zoom doesn't impress in 2021. It's still a one-camera phone you can base, with zero fail rate (maybe in addition to Macro). The filming is 10 out of 10 and you can do some creative jobs with this phone. It's like the nighttime capture of my iPhone 11 Pro has evolved.
Video review Apple iPhone 13 Pro, Camera section
2. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
In 2nd place is the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, the best-equipped Xiaomi phone of 2021. The rear screen also helps it, allowing you to take selfies using the performance of the cameras in the main module, from the 50 MP with sensor Samsung, to the 48 MP periscope telephoto or the 48 MP ultrawide. As you learned from the review of this flagship, when you start taking pictures of the main camera you notice a very wide palette of colors and variations of Huawei Mate 40 Pro style shadows.
Ultrasonic photographs have no distortion, neither in color nor in the shape of objects. Macros are the weak point though, they didn't turn out well. I found the selfie camera very good in focus, details and nuance, expressiveness, I also saw the pores very clearly. As for the zoom, we operate with a 5X optical zoom periscope telephoto camera here and the results were on par with the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and the Huawei P40 Pro. Under Huawei P40 Pro + and Galaxy S21 Ultra though.
The night sensor helps us to capture a lot of light and we obtained one of the clearest and best illuminated night photos in Timisoara. And the zoom impressed at night capture with that column from the town on the Bega. The phone makes the best zoom night shots of 2021. When shooting, we have perfect stabilization, combinations between the cameras on the phone, which can shoot simultaneously and a smooth zoom. The colors are very vivid and bright, which can be a blessing for some and a reason to squint for others.
It's also one of the few phones to shoot a real 8K and even usable and editable as such, not something with upscale or jerky capture. However, it is a rarity phone, almost a limited edition due to its massiveness and unique design with a protruding camera in the back.
Video review Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, Camera section
1. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
The big winner of this top is ... Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. Two clear reasons arise here: it is the only flagship phone in 2021 with 10X optical zoom and has by far the most capable zoom camera on the market, and reason 2 has the best night mode capture with Night Mode. Even with the S20 Ultra, there are improvements, less noise in the frame, at the thresholds of 30X, 50X, maybe even beyond. It also helps with that frame fastener when you zoom in on a distant plane.
Let's not forget the aesthetics: the camera module, although full of technology, is no longer as prominent as the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The huge 108 megapixel sensor does an excellent job and I mean especially the dynamic range, details, clarity. We are talking about a HM3 Nonacell sensor, which combines 9 pixels in 1 and has a satisfactory dynamic range both in bright light and in the dark.
Let's not forget the new features of this model compared to its predecessor:
We use two telephoto cameras here, one 10 MP with 3X optical zoom for closer shots of blackbirds, carolers scratching your car and one 10 MP periscope with 10X optical zoom, good for capturing a church tower at a huge distance, for to see details from a monument that you can't get too close to being too well guarded, such as the People's House or to catch a deer in its natural element.
Our photo tests from the beginning of the year included a lot of shots with the sun in front of us and the phone doing great. The ultrawide camera remains the widest angle on the market, and the green of the vegetation was delicious.
The closures are more competent than the Galaxy S20 Ultra seems to me and here the laser rangefinder helps.
At Selfie, Samsung has put a 40 megapixel "all money" sensor and the result is maximum expressiveness. You can clearly see the white hairs separated in the black line, the pores, the facial micro-expressions. I'm also glad that Samsung listened and brought new Bokeh options, aka Portrait Studio, more profi in adding backgrounds behind you, some black and white or taking colors from your clothes.
As for Food Photo, the pictures speak for themselves ... and here Samsung is the leader of about 3-4 generations of flagship.
At night capture, Night Mode turns day into night and I have never seen such good-looking architectural details of buildings in Timisoara. Honestly, even without Night Mode you have enough light to take memorable pictures. Not to mention the successful photos zoomed in on the moon, tailored to any rival who may or may not add a virtual template. The light sources are not exaggerated and there is no caricature effect. However, the ultrawide camera is "thinner" for this type of capture, it still has leaks on the side.
When filming we have a perfect stabilization, whether you climb stairs or go on flat ground. 8K filming is full of detail, and 4K has a wide dynamic range. Switching between cameras is perhaps the most fluid of the flagships of 2021. It's a versatile camera. I climbed metal steps with the sun in front of me, slalomed through people and didn't notice any "hiccups".
I also tried a zoom, which does its job OK, even if not as impressive as in the photo. Speaking of zoom, we also have audio zoom along with video and we can even distinguish between the sounds captured at that advanced level. Beware of night filming, very clear in FHD or 4K at 30 FPS, but somehow in 4K at 60 FPS it doesn't look so good. I did not have unpleasant tremors during the usual walk after dinner in Unirii Square in Timişoara.
Video review Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, Camera section
Conclusion:
With 2021 almost over and the smell of winter in the air, we started making two lists: one for Santa and one with the best flagships. For now, we have a top 5 full of everything we tested this year, objective, honest and clean. I think that each of the above phones covers a niche and has something that it does very well compared to other rivals.
Oppo Reno6 Pro has no equal in Flare Bokeh capture, Find X3 Pro is the only one with a Microscope camera, while Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra has that back screen with which you take selfies with the main camera, some with which Instagramers can take serious money. OnePlus 9 Pro is the phone I want to go hiking to film with it, and with iPhone 13 Pro I can do hands-on and product photos for years, it's reliable and honest in reality.
However, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is an "all rounder" with a zoom and night-time advantage over its rivals, while the S20 Ultra has upgraded to closeup capture, advanced zoom clarity and portrait selfie capture. He is good for food vloggers, those who take pictures of the architecture of big cities at night and even those who take pictures with zoom at concerts, events, in nature.
The choice is yours!