This smartphone takes the best photos in 2020

Smartphone photography was a fairly competitive space in 2020, with the most popular brands providing great camera experiences. We also saw that some companies resisted the temptation to go for super high-resolution sensors and still deliver polished results, proving once again that software intelligence is incredibly important.

However, which phone delivered the best photos this year? Well, we put five devices to the test, and finally choosing the Mate 40 Pro has the best overall due to its consistency. But which phone would readers choose? We asked this question at the end of our shooting, and these are the results.

Which of these phones takes the best photos?

Results

As of this writing, a total of 1,854 votes were counted, and it was actually a very close race. In fact, three percent separated the top three smartphones. But the Google Pixel 5 got the most votes, and 25.8% of those surveyed felt it took the best photos of all competing smartphones.

In the meantime, we picked the Mate 40 Pro as the overall winner, but it came in second in this poll. Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro was just 0.1% behind the Huawei device, rounding out the podium.

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Plus was in fourth place, less than two percent behind the iPhone. However, the latest Sony Xperia 1 II lagged far behind the rest, garnering just 6.5% of readers’ votes. Our own Rob Triggs pointed out that the Sony device was simply too inconsistent, while also lamenting exposure issues and low-light quality. Still, Rob calculated that enthusiastic patients could get more out of the Xperia 1 II’s professional camera software, adding that the phone offers more realistic shots.

Your comments

• Tone_Blanco925: I think the LG V60 can be hung up but it never gets the love.
• The One: The iPhone takes great photos, but they look too flat for my liking. I prefer the more contrasty aspect of the Pixels. Huawei is great too, but it doesn’t exist in the US.
• slandg: 26% of the votes per pixel only shows the amount of google fanboys here lmao.
• Kevin Hoang: Note 20 can replace that s20 on the list. I’m using pixel 4 basically the same camera with pixel 5. Excellent photo, but I choose the Huawei mate 40 pro, it’s better for me.
• Ellio74: I already chose one for myself, the Xperia 1 II. Natural looking photos make it the best in my opinion.
  Samsung is always on top of colors, Huawei has some strange colors (maybe due to the RYYB sensor) and a not-so-wide ultra-wide, iPhone exaggerates HDR with strange halos here and there, while not really better at something. and Google does. just behind this year (although they have improved their HDR).
  I just wished the 1II was a bit of a shaper in low light.
• HelloThere: Whoever did this gets congratulations from me. This selection of phones is perfect. Not what companies call “the best of the best,” like the S20U, Note20U, and 12 Pro Max, but the phones consumers would likely get. As an S20 + user, I’m happy that my phone is in the spotlight for once, and it’s doing great too. I also like the inclusion of the Xperia, it really doesn’t get that much attention. Also, I wouldn’t put the Mate 40 Pro on this as I’m an American and can’t really consider it, but damn I wish it was available here. Great job.
• hoggleboggle: It’s amazing how stubborn fanbois are in the face of all the evidence to the contrary that they still choose the pixel as their top camera. It has been outscored by every other phone in the lineup by a country mile, even Sony beats it on points. For me, it’s a fight between Samsung and Huawei, while Apple is in third place, unless you take a lot of portraits, in which case Apple is in first place.

That’s it for this poll, thank you very much for voting and leaving comments. What do you think of these results and our shooting? Turn off the sound below in the comments!