There’s a cliche that photographers who have the best equipment will still resort to their phones to snap pictures, and there’s a nugget of truth in the stereotype. Who doesn’t have a phone in his pocket or her purse at all times? While cameras and accessories are expensive and impractical to lug around everywhere, the smartphone with integrated camera provides an easily accessible tool for spur-of-the-moment pictures. As camera software and hardware continues to improve, it only makes sense to use your smartphone to snap a few shots, even if they’re only backups.
iPhone 4S
Apple’s iPhone has always been lauded for its high-quality pictures. When compared to the rest, the iPhone usually stands out. The most recent release has a voice assistant named Siri, a 3:2 aspect ratio and 960 x 640p resolution. There’s both a front and back camera for video chatting, but the back camera will give you the best photos with its 8MP iSight capabilities, face detection and LED flash. The 4S is the most powerful iPhone to date, and a variety of apps allow you to share your photos.
Nokia 808 PureView
Nokia has experienced some success since it lent its hardware to Windows Phone, and the company has continued to produce smartphones with radical megapixel counts. The Nokia N8 had a staggering 12MP count. With the 808, you’ll get almost four times that–41 megapixels with PureView Pro technology. It still uses Nokia’s Symbian operating system, which might frustrate some users, and you’ll have to buy an unlocked international version if you’re an American, because US carriers gave up on Symbian phones years ago.
Samsung Galaxy S III
Samsung’s Galaxy S II made many of the top camera phone lists, so it’s no surprise that the followup phone would also be one of the better smartphones with cameras on the market. The specs of the camera on this phone are nearly identical to that of the iPhone 4S; although, the Galaxy S III doesn’t have a retina display and it uses Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, rather than iOS software. Videos are available in a full 1080p and the phone’s camera will even detect a smile–pretty neat!
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S:
The name is a mouthful, but owners of the Xperia Arc S have enjoyed the camera on their smartphone for some time. The Android phone is one of the older on this list. It originally had Android version 2.3, but you can upgrade to ICS. It has a slim profile and 8.1MP back camera. When you take videos, you get 3D, panoramic viewing, while 16x zoom and an Exmor R lens ensure that even poor lighting produces quality photos. It captures bright and bold colors with ease. The screen also uses a Mobile BRAVIA Engine, which ensures that picture viewing on the phone.
HTC One X
HTC released a handful of Android 4.0 phones this Spring 2012, and the One X is one of them. The phone itself promises fast, 4G speeds, while the camera boasts 8 megapixels and the standard LED flash that calculates the distance from the subject for best lighting. You can achieve continuous shooting with the fast camera, and HTC’s own ImageChip software promises that you’ll take great pictures. From what we’ve seen, this is absolutely true. You can get the same quality videos as the Xperia Arc S, and HTC also provides you with a BSI censor to combat low-light conditions.
Byline: Alex Johnston loves cutting edge inventions and critical thinking, which is why he writes on behalf of a site that helps you with solving problems as an expert.