Smartphone photography transcends mere specifications. It is a test of how well a company can tune a particular lens and make it work with its algorithm. Computational photography has improved smartphone photography drastically in the past few years, and 2022 was no different. Mobile cameras are so diverse and versatile now that it is a mammoth task to zero in on just one phone as the absolute best since so many of them have a unique trick or two that no other competitor currently replicates. This year, we saw the introduction of 200 MP lenses as high-resolution sensors became more popular, with even Apple finally upgrading to a 48 MP lens. Most of these lenses were used to produce binned pictures, some with even 9x binning. We saw the widespread use of features such as OIS (including some phones with Gimbal OIS), higher optical zoom levels, and increased use of AI algorithms in smartphone photography and videography. While the Samsungs and Apples of the world stayed strong, we saw fantastic offerings from the likes of Xiaomi, Vivo, and others that challenged them.
All with their own strengths and weaknesses, we put these distinct devices to test and were left with one standing tall as the Digit Zero1 winner. The winner beat the other competitors in terms of pure performance. This year, we also awarded a Digit Best Buy Award for the product in this category that offered the best value proposition.
The Vivo x Zeiss collaboration continued this year as well and the Vivo X80 Pro is the fourth phone born out of this partnership. This year, it brings with it an array of new features such as XDR photo, Extreme Night Vision, Cinematic Mode, and more. The phone’s primary camera takes the absolute best pictures in 2022; rich in detail and with great colour accuracy using the Zeiss Natural Colour Mode 2.0. The HDR processing is fantastic as well and regardless of the environment, the phone managed to snap a gorgeous shot with great dynamic range. As per our testing, it is the best point-and-shoot camera in 2022; a camera that simply works and one that you don’t have to mess around with endlessly to get the perfect shot. In low light, the Vivo X80 Pro took some of the most detailed shots with minimal lens flare and noise and heaps of detail. This is due to Vivo’s custom GNV sensor that minimises stray lights in low-light scenes. Gimbal stabilisation on the telephoto lens works wonders for hand-held performance and the periscope lens is decent as well, but the least impressive of its four rear lenses. 4K videos taken on the Vivo X80 Pro had impressive stabilisation and looked crisp, however, 8K videos looked great but the motion is a bit more jerky. Overall though, this is the absolute best camera on a smartphone in 2022 and deserves the win!
Apple shook things up with the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, offering a higher resolution 48 MP main sensor for the very first time. You get pixel-binned 12 MP photos unless you go ProRAW to capture full 48 MP shots. The phone features 3x optical zoom like last year, but this time around, there’s a novel 2x zoom option that crops into the high resolution 48 MP sensor to give you a near optical zoom-level 2x shot – and while we were sceptical about the quality of this feature at first, it really convinced us with its superb performance. Apple’s new Photonic Engine also makes its debut that promises enhanced colour and detail – and the photos are indeed packed with detail, and have good colour accuracy, but not as good as the Vivo x80 Pro’s colour accuracy with Zeiss Mode on. Nevertheless, the iPhone 14 Pro Max was defeated narrowly by the Vivo X80 Pro but it has a fantastic camera system where the lenses’ colour tone and performance is really consistent and comparable – something an Android phone hasn’t yet matched up to. It also has the absolute best video quality of any smartphone on the market right now with new features such as 4K Cinematic Mode and Action Mode just further widening the gap between iPhone video and Android video quality.
Phones such as the OPPO Reno8 Pro prove that you don’t need to spend exorbitant amounts of money to get fantastic photos on a 2022 smartphone. While the winner is north of ₹75K and the runner-up surpasses the ₹1 lakh mark, the OPPO Reno8 Pro doesn’t even touch ₹50K. Yet you get vibrant and crisp pictures in daylight from its 50 MP primary lens. The lens also provides great natural background blur and good dynamic range in most scenarios. The phone also clicks solid portrait shots in ideal lighting conditions but the colour tone of subjects can be a bit unnatural at times. The 8 MP ultrawide lens is great in daylight but suffers slightly in low light. The 32 MP selfie camera is one of the best in this price range, we consistently got detailed shots with accurate enough skin tones as well. The phone also leverages OPPO’s MariSilicon X NPU for enhanced low-light videos and it worked well at nighttime, but ensure to turn AI video off during the day since it blows out the highlights quite a bit. Overall, for just under ₹50K though, this is a value-for-money camera phone that will click impressive images without burning a hole in your wallet.