How to choose the best budget smartphone for photography

Today, photography performance has already become a sale point of smartphones. Thereby, the consumers’ desire is becoming buying a smartphone with good photography performance. In recent years, the development of mobile phones’ camera is rapid. At the same time, the quality of the photos taken by smartphones is becoming better than the digital camera more and more, because of consumers’ requirement in the optical performance of the lens, the built-in image processor, the color depth, and area size of the photosensitive element are all improved in the smartphone. So, people will never bring too many devices. And also, with the advantage of the remote shooting control feature of wearable devices like Honor band 6, taking photos by smartphone is getting the advantage over the digital camera.

Regarding consumers’ requirements, the quality of photography performance by smartphones is reflected in some factors, including Pixel, Lens, Aperture, Screen Comparison, Sensor, Image Processing engine. Because pixels, focusing technology, aperture, sensors, and etc. must be certain standards matching the photography performance of smartphones.

Pixel:

Before the invention of the mobile phone with the camera, when people want to buy the digital camera, the pixel must be the first thing they are looking for. Because the camera with high-pixel is considered a guarantee for high-quality photos. And also, a high-pixel camera will produce a more delicate photo and the richer performance of the subtleties. On the other hand, high-pixel photos have a disadvantage in taking more space for memory. If the phone’s memory is not enough, it will quickly fill up; and it will take a long time to transfer photos.

Lens:

Does a high-pixel camera prosses a good photo? Surely, not at all. Having good lens transparency, accurate color reproduction, and image information stored by the photosensitive element is needed. Therefore, the lens, photosensitive element, and processor algorithm are also important. As well, the purity of the photo is closely related to the quality of the smartphone lens. Many flagship mobile phones of many brands use the six-lens lens, which will have a strong ability to gather light and enhance lens contrast.

Aperture:

Aperture value outside the lens is also important, when buying a smartphone with good photography performance, the size of the aperture value is determined by the photosensitive element. The photosensitive element is very important in this series of components, which is equivalent to the engine. The large aperture requires a small value, which is very suitable for the blur of the depth of field and background and can also make the portrait fresher and more natural. The larger the circle, the more light enters. In the case of weak light, the shutter speed of a mobile phone with a large aperture is higher and the photos taken are more stable.

Screen comparison:

Some photos, when viewed on the device, have excellent color saturation and contrast. That is the reason for the mobile phone screen, which can have the best preview effect, such as Samsung’s Amoled screen. But still, it is not the original effect when viewed on the computer.

Sensor:

The sensor plays a big role in the effect of photo imaging. The area of the photosensitive element and the color depth of the photosensitive element is particularly important for the imaging effect. Generally speaking, when the pixel size of the lens is the same, the larger the value of the lens sensor, the better the camera effect of the mobile phone. Because more signals and details can be captured and the noise in the photo is reduced, the quality will be higher. For example, the IMX607 sensor used in Huawei P30 Pro is better than the sensor IMX600 of Huawei P20 Pro.

Image processing engine:

The mobile phone image processing engine is equivalent to an imaging system, as a processing chip-like imaging algorithm. Therefore, some mobile phones have high pixels, but the effect is not satisfactory. This is why the built-in images of different brands are not processed well. The image processing engines of different mobile phone brands are different.

In addition, the shooting effect and texture of each mobile phone are different. The good camera function of a mobile phone is inseparable from a powerful processor. Therefore, it is recommended that you first understand and learn when buying a mobile phone. In addition, it is recommended that you choose the raw format, which can have more room for adjustment and a higher degree of freedom in the post-processing process.