In this article, we will take a look at the best camera-centric smartphones of 2022 along with their features and various prices. The devices on this list all launched with a defined focus on camera abilities, with some coming with their very own photography chips. Each smartphone on this list comes with a feature that makes it stand out from the competition for a better understanding of what it brings to the board. Check our list of the best flagship devices of 2022 in this article.
Vivo X80 Pro
This is by far the most affordable smartphone on this list but offers the most stable videos on any competitor. It comes with a quad camera setup housing the following lenses; a 50MP wide camera, 8MP periscope telephoto, 12MP telephoto, and a 48MP ultrawide. Powering it is either the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC or the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC, both of which come with the Vivo V1+ chips for a better photography experience.
To add to its imaging capability, this device uses Zeiss’ professional imaging technology along with a gimble camera system for steady video recordings. Other specifications it comes with are the 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with a 4700mAh battery capacity. The retail price of this flagship device from Vivo is $813 and its successor will launch in just a few days.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is currently the smartphone camera king according to DXOMARK ranking. On this smartphone, there is a triple rear camera setup with a 50MP main lens with a variable aperture, 13MP ultrawide lens, and a 64MP periscope telephoto lens. It makes use of a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, which is only 4G enabled since Huaweilacks access to 5G technology due to the US sanctions.
The device debuts Huawei’s in-house imaging technology, the XMAGE system, which replaces Leica branding on Huawei smartphones. Other specifications include a 6.74-inch OLED screen with a 4700mAh battery capacity and 66W fast charging. Its retail price starts at $985 for the base storage variant of this smartphone, and it is the only device in this list that runs HarmonyOS 3.
OPPO Find X5 Pro
This is yet another of the best camera-centric smartphones with a dedicated photography chip. The OPPO Find X5 Pro comes with a triple camera setup, housing two 50MP main lenses and a 13MP telephoto lens. It uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and for photography, it depends on the OPPO MariSilicon X Imaging NPU.
The camera system of this device got a special touch from Hasselblad, giving it a professional finish on pictures taken with the device. Other specifications here include a 6.7-inch QHD+ AMOLED screen display and a 5000mAh battery capacity supporting 80W fast charging. The starting price of this device is $900, succeeding this it will be the X6 series to go official by the first quarter of 2023.
Sony Xperia 1 IV
Camera manufacturing company Sony made a refresh to their flagship smartphone with the Xperia 1 IV in the second quarter of the year, bringing some camera improvements. It comes with a quad camera setup housing three 12MP sensors and a 0.3MP TOF depth sensor. The processor on this smartphone is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, but it benefits from the ton of photography features that make it a more professional camera option than any other device in this list.
Along with this smartphone, Sony put forth a ton of photography accessories like gimbals to make get the most out of its professional photography abilities. Other specifications include a 6.5-inch OLED screen display and a 5000mAh battery with a 30W fast charge. The retail price of this device starts at $983 and its photography accessories can be bought separately.
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Once again, Apple brought to the playing field, another camera-centric smartphone with their iPhone 14 series and a new processor. With this device, there is a triple rear camera system housing a 48MP main camera lens and two 12MP secondary camera lenses. The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max uses the Bionic A16 processor, with some improvements to the camera abilities of the new iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Once again, Apple finds itself in the top five camera smartphones according to DXOMARK rankings. Other specifications of this device are a 6.7-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED screen and a 4323mAh battery capacity with 15W fast charging support. The retail price of this device starts at $1099, rumours have it that the coming iPhone 15 top variant will come with big upgrades.
These are the top 5 best camera-centric smartphones in 2022, and they all have professional photography modes that vary from one another. Another honourable mentions are the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, which comes with Leica camera technology and a large 1-inch lens. With the arrival of a new flagship processor, we will begin to see some next-generation camera-centric smartphones enter the industry in the coming months.
