The best camera is always the one you have with you. That makes a smartphone’s camera one of its most important features; After all, phone makers have been competing for the title of “best camera phone” for decades. Interestingly, the best Chinese phones today have an incredibly good camera. hardware; that is, large sensors that promise to improve the quality of photographs captured with a phone. Unfortunately, you can’t buy most of them in the US.
But to find out which phone fits the crown and how these big sensors compare, I did a camera shootout Xiaomi 14 UltraOppo Find X7 Ultra and Honor Magic 6 Pro. As a popular comparison point, I included the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. I took countless photos with these phones. Below are just a few examples, with brief explanations of the different hardware and software approaches manufacturers have taken and why.
With each set of photos, I ranked them first with my favorites, but you may disagree. All photos have been taken with each phone’s automatic settings as this is how most people will use them. The truth is that most of the time there is not a big difference. I put the photos of the Samsung Galaxy S24+ at the end for comparison.
Hardware specifications
Each phone features a massive camera system packed with cutting-edge camera technology. Here’s a quick breakdown of the camera’s main specs:
- Xiaomi 14 Ultra: 50 MP main camera, 50 MP ultra wide angle, 50 MP telephoto, 50 MP periscopic telephoto
- Oppo Find X7 Ultra: 50 MP main camera, 50 MP ultra wide angle, 50 MP periscope telephoto, 50 MP periscope telephoto
- Honor Magic 6 Pro: 50 MP main camera, 50 MP ultra wide angle, 180 MP periscopic telephoto lens
I’m not comparing the Galaxy S24 Plus to these three; is included for comparison purposes. But here are its specifications anyway:
- Samsung Galaxy S24+: 50 MP main camera, 10 MP telephoto, 12 MP ultra wide angle
main chambers
The main camera is the one you will use most frequently. All three phones have excellent and versatile main cameras capable of capturing impressive photos in different conditions and scenarios. Point and shoot, and most of the time you will be satisfied with the results. However, there are significant differences in technical capabilities.
All of these phones have large sensors. The Xiaomi and Oppo have the 1-inch Sony LYT-900 sensor, while the Honor has a smaller 1/1.28-inch OmniVision H9000 sensor. The larger the sensor, the more light it can collect quickly, so low-light photos should be clearer and less prone to motion blur.
The aperture is the opening of the lens that lets light in and works very similar to the pupil of the eye. Both the Xiaomi 14 Ultra (f/1.63 at f/4.0) and the Honor Magic 6 Pro (f/1.4 at f/2.0) have variable apertures. The f-numbers indicate the size of the aperture, and a lower number indicates a larger aperture capable of letting in more light. The Oppo Find X7 Ultra (f/1.8) has the same fixed aperture as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus (f/1.8).
The potential problem with a large sensor and large aperture is that you can end up with a shallow depth of field. The camera has a hard time focusing on everything. This can be great when you’re taking a portrait and want a bokeh effect, but in close-ups, you may find the edges blurry, and in landscape photos, you may lose focus on the foreground or background. A variable aperture reduces that problem, allowing for a wider depth of field to keep everything in focus in a group photo or landscape. (We explain many of these camera terms in our How to Buy a Camera guide.)