Defying the odds: Budget smartphones with excellent cameras

Many of the best smartphones for photography are premium devices. But the evolution of smartphone technology means there are plenty of budget smartphones with great cameras. The best budget photography phones can still offer high-resolution images, great selfies, and impressive low-light capabilities.

With the improvements in these devices, there has been a revolution in the way we interact with cameras. While there is still a market for DSLR cameras, compact cameras and mirrorless cameras, the reality is that for most non-professionals, a decent quality smartphone camera is more than capable of providing great photos – perfect for social media, or for printing photos at home and putting them on the wall. We’re almost all now amateur photographers looking for the perfect shot with what we have at hand.

The best budget smartphones with great cameras at a glance:

Best overall: Google Pixel 7a - View on Amazon

Best for Apple users: iPhone SE (2022) - View on Amazon

Best for style: Nothing Phone 2a - View on Amazon

It’s often said that “the best camera is the one you have with you” and for many of us, that will most likely be our phone. There are plenty of value for money smartphones that will allow you to capture fantastic photos. But which ones are worth your time and money?

What to look for in a budget camera phone

When you’re searching for a good quality, affordable smartphone for photography, there are a few key specifications you should focus your attention on:

Sensor size – in simple terms, the larger the camera image sensor, the more light it can capture, and in theory, the better the photo you will get as a result. A bigger sensor is also less likely to be affected by blur caused by your hand shaking. And crucially, a larger sensor will bring more light into the image for night and low-light conditions, allowing a sharper, more detailed image. But it isn’t the only factor.

Megapixel count – megapixel count can be surprisingly tricky. It seems obvious that more megapixels means better. But in fact, even a huge 108MP camera might not be as good as 12MP shooter. The size of the camera sensor will be a major factor in this, as it will determine how much detail each pixel can offer. So, a high megapixel count with a small sensor will likely lead to grainier images than a lower megapixel count with a larger sensor. But, with a good sensor, a higher megapixel count can indicate better images.

Aperture – the aperture on a smartphone camera is the opening through which light makes it to the sensor. The size of the aperture is denoted by an f/, followed by a number. The smaller the number, the larger the aperture (for example, f/1.4 is larger than f/2). An aperture with a smaller number (which is therefore larger) lets more light reach the sensor, which means better images. Aperture also influences what’s called depth of field, which creates the bokeh effect that makes the subject of a portrait stand out, while blurring the background.

Software – the size of the handset limits how big the sensor, aperture, and other components can be. As a result, many of the biggest advances in smartphone imagery comes from the computational software used to process the image after the photo is taken. Simply, the better the processing software, the better the images you end up with.

Number of lenses – you'll often find smartphones with dual, or triple-lens setups. Usually, each lens will serve a different function, such as one main camera, one ultra-wide lens, and one telephoto lens with an optical or digital zoom function. But sometimes, having fewer, better cameras will work out better than having multiple lenses that you may not use.

Type of lenses – following on from the above, do you really need a telephoto lens if you don’t plan to take wildlife images? Or an ultrawide camera if you have no interest in landscapes? Think about the kind of photos you want to take, and then find a budget camera phone with the lenses to suit.

The best budget smartphones with great cameras in 2024

Please note: All prices are correct at the time of writing. Prices, stock and deals are subject to change without notice.

Buying Guide: Maximising Value

What to look for when choosing the best budget smartphone with a great camera

Focus on the main lens and sensor – the main camera is likely what you’ll take most of your photos with, so it’s the one you should pay the most attention to. Make sure it’s got a good lens and a large sensor, to help ensure the best possible images.

Remember you’ll need somewhere to store all those photos – it’s great to have a budget phone that takes great photos. But have you thought about where you might store those images? Depending on the device, a standard smartphone image could be somewhere between 3mb and 12mb, while a one-minute video could be over 100MB. That can quickly fill up the storage on your phone, especially if you take a lot of photos and videos. When you’re choosing your next phone, see how much storage it offers. We’d suggest anything less than 128GB might become a problem, especially if you then add other apps and software updates into the equation.

Consider what other features you might want – clearly, your phone isn’t just going to be used as a camera. So, think about the other features that may be important to you. This might include things like battery life, wireless charging support, and whether your phone is compatible with other devices you already own. If, for example, you already own an iPad, MacBook and Apple TV, it may make sense for you to add an iPhone to your collection, to ensure maximum integration.

How to get the most from your budget smartphone

You’re here because you want an affordable smartphone with a great camera. But it’s important not to lose sight of everything else that your smartphone offers. In particular, we’d recommend thinking about how long that device is going to last. This will be influenced by the length of the warranty, and how long your phone will continue to receive software updates for.

Most handsets will come with a two-year warranty as standard. Some, like the Fairphone 5, offer a five-year warranty, while iPhones typically offer a one-year Apple Warranty.

Software updates can be more variable between manufacturers, but generally you can expect at least a few years before a device will no longer be supported by updates. iPhones do better in this respect, typically being supported for around five years. Google Pixel devices go even further, promising seven years of upgrades to your phone.

Emerging Trends in Budget Smartphone Cameras

Like many technologies, new features tend to appear in flagship handsets before eventually trickling down into less expensive devices as time goes by. What that means is that we should start seeing features that are currently on those premium devices start to appear on cheaper phones.

Features such as periscope lenses, which allow for greater zoom capability, are one possible technology we can expect to see appearing in cheaper devices. We may also see more advanced lenses and sensors.

But most likely, it will be in the processing software area where we will see the largest advancements. Premium handsets are increasingly using AI-powered processing and other software to enhance images. These tools are arguably going to become ever more important in smartphone cameras as companies look to provide the best possible images without having to use ever more expensive components. Over time, we are likely to see many of these computational tools filter down to cheaper handsets, as those devices start to get more powerful processors.

Tips for Getting the Best Photos

Smartphones are designed to make it as easy as possible to take a good photo. But there are a few tips to follow that can take your smartphone photography skills up a notch.

Lighting – making sure you are using light correctly can transform your photos. Standing with the source of light behind the camera, with the subject of the photo facing the light source, ensures that the subject isn’t thrown into shadow, leaving them underexposed.

At night, a smartphone flash won’t give you great pictures, so you can either try to find an alternative light source (including the torch form another smartphone) to try providing a consistent amount of light. Alternatively, night mode setting on smartphones have a longer exposure, allowing more light to reach the sensor. But you’ll either need an extremely steady hand or a stand for your phone, to stop the image becoming blurry.

Focus – while your phone will always try to focus on the object you want to capture, it’s worth taking a moment to tap the screen on whatever it is you want to focus on, to make sure the right object gets priority.

Portrait mode – portrait mode creates the lovely bokeh effect we mentioned earlier. This puts the object of the image in focus, while softening the background. It’s visually very striking and can create a beautiful image.

Framing – some of us are happy to just point and shoot. But framing an image can help ensure the balance is exactly as you want it. Most smartphones will allow you to add a grid to your screen, so you can see exactly where everything will sit in your image. Whether you want to follow a traditional ‘rule-of-thirds’ format, or a square overlay for social media images, the grid can help.

Clean the lens – this may seem obvious, but dirt or dust on your phone camera glass can spoil what would otherwise be a great image. A microfibre cloth is ideal, but a soft, clean material will suffice if you don’t happen to have one to hand. Coarse materials could scratch the lens, so avoid those.

Don't be afraid to edit images – smartphones will often automatically do some basic editing of an image, such as making it brighter, or sharper. But editing capabilities go way beyond that. Colour editing, brightness, contrast, and a range of filters are all typically available for you to play with. Try it, and you may find ways of enhancing your photos to make them look even better.

Apps and accessories to enhance your photos

As well as following the tips we outlined above, there are plenty of apps and accessories to help you get the best photos:

As well as the photo editing software that will come as part of your camera app, there are many photography apps that offer editing tools. A couple of our favourites are Snapseed and Adobe Photoshop Express.

Developed by Google, Snapseed offers more than 29 different tools and filters, allows users to edit individual parts of each image, and best of all, it's free.

Photoshop Express is another free app and is an incredibly convenient photo editing tool. Features include colour pops, collage effects, and themes. If you use an iPhone, Photoshop Express also incorporates Photoshop Mix and Photoshop Fix, giving users even more control over their images.

Gimbal or tripod – we've mentioned how important keeping your phone stable can be, especially in low-light conditions. But if you want to remove hand shake from the equation completely, then getting one of the best smartphone gimbals or a tripod, will help.

A tripod is ideal for keeping your phone level and steady, while a gimbal will help keep your smartphone level, and is particularly valuable if you’re recording video and want to keep it steady.

Additional camera lenses – if you want to take macro-images, or you’re interested in wildlife photos, then an external camera lens might be the perfect solution. This is especially true if you are using a budget camera phone, as they simply don’t have the same capabilities as the best devices. Many of these will just clip onto your phone over the existing camera array and add a whole new layer of functionality to your phone camera. Examples include the Apexel 36X telephoto lens, or the Sirui anamorphic lens, which allows for wider aspect ratios, and enhance bokeh effects.

Steven Shaw is a Senior Digital Writer covering tech and fitness. Steven writes how-to guides, explainers, reviews and best-of listicles covering a wide range of topics. He has several years of experience writing about fitness tech, mobile phones, and gaming.

When Steven isn’t writing, he’s probably testing a new smartwatch or fitness tracker, putting it through its paces with a variety of strength training, HIIT, or yoga. He also loves putting on a podcast and going for a long walk.

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