Here at Factory Unlocked Blog, we spend countless hours reading scores of reviews of different smartphones in the US market. In researching the best camera phones in the United States in 2022, we did just that and we arrived with our results. These results largely tally with the results from DXOMark’s camera phone reviews.
Why re-invent the wheel? We have reproduced excerpts – brief outlines – from DXOMark’s reviews to publish this list of best camera phones in the USA. We have restricted our ranking to the top three best camera phones only.
Google Pixel 7 Pro
The Pixel 7 Pro is the absolute top dog of camera phones. It out-shoots everything else in the market. After a few years of letting Apple and others take its shine, it is good to see a Google Pixel smartphone at the top of the hill among the best camera phones, not just here in America alone but in the world. Have a look at the pros and cons of the Pixel 7 Pro cameras.
The Good:
- Consistent camera experience across all usages and features
- Excels at taking photos and videos of friends & family, providing good skin-tone rendering and natural contrasts in all conditions
- Excellent autofocus capabilities in photo and video helping to freeze the action, capture the instant with precision, as well as great face-tracking capabilities in video
- Good overall zoom performance providing good details at all zoom distances, from ultra-wide to long range
- Producing great selfie photos and videos with natural skin tones, accurate target exposure and wide dynamic range, even in difficult conditions
- Effective front and back camera video stabilization
- Fairly wide depth of field making it suitable for most types of selfies, even for large groups
- Very good display experience when watching HDR10 videos with well suited brightness
- Very good display color rendering and brightness adaptation in most lighting conditions
The Bad:
- Underexposure in low-light videos taken with the main camera
- Slight loss of detail and image noise at close-range zoom
- Out-of-focus faces when using front camera at close shooting distance
- Visible image noise in low-light conditions
- Short duration of brightness boost when outdoors, affecting readability
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Is anyone surprised that the iPhone 14 Pro Max is on this list of the best camera phones? Absolutely nobody, I reckon. What is perhaps more shocking is that it isn’t number one. Well, that is a bummer, because the Pixel 7 Pro is just a little better as a camera phone. Just a little. iPhone 14 Pro Max is almost as good as the top dog.
The Good:
- State-of-the-art video experience on both front and back cameras
- Excellent performance for Friends & Family photos and videos, in all conditions, capturing the instant while providing natural contrasts and accurate skin tone renderings.
- High quality seamless zooming up to medium range
- Very accurate camera preview, extremely close to the final picture
- Excellent overall display performance
- Excellent screen readability and colors outdoors thanks to an impressive “boost” in brightness levels
- Excellent for watching HDR videos indoors, due to the high brightness and the fine contrast tuning that renders videos close to the artistic intent
- Good for listening to music, watching movies or playing videogames, allowing for an immersive experience, thanks to its wideness and sound energy
- Good at recording concerts and shows, or loud sources of sound
- Excellent autonomy, with more than 64 hours in moderate use
The Bad:
- Some grain is present when taking indoor pictures, as well as a slight loss of details
- Loss of detail when taking pictures at long range
- Distortion when listening to music at maximum volume
- Voices may be masked by ambient noises in an outdoors setting
- Slow charging speed
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
Coming behind the 14 Pro Max is the 14 Pro, which is also only marginally better than its sibling as a camera phone. Have a look at what to expect from this model:
The Good:
- State-of-the-art video experience on both front and back cameras
- Excellent performance for Friends & Family photos and videos, in all conditions, capturing the instant while providing natural contrasts and accurate skin tone renderings.
- High quality seamless zooming up to medium range
- Very accurate camera preview, extremely close to the final picture
- Very good overall selfie photo experience, with accurate exposure, an excellent level of details, and good skin tones as well as a very natural bokeh effect
- Accurate autofocus and wide depth of field for all types of selfies and group shots
- Good for listening to music, watching movies or playing videogames, allowing for an immersive experience, thanks to its wideness and sound energy
- Good at recording concerts and shows, or loud sources of sound
- Excellent overall display performance
- Excellent screen readability and colors outdoors thanks to an impressive “boost” in brightness levels
- Excellent for watching HDR videos indoors, due to the high brightness and the fine contrast tuning that renders videos close to the artistic intent
The Bad:
- Some grain is present when taking indoor pictures, as well as a slight loss of details
- Loss of detail when taking pictures at long range
- Noticeable noise in selfie photos and videos in most conditions
- In challenging conditions, low-light or backlit scenes, skin tones on selfies are less accurate and slightly altered
- Distortion when listening to music at maximum volume
- Voices may be masked by ambient noises in an outdoors setting
The Best Camera Phone On A Budget
If you are on a budget and unable to spend top dollar on Pixel 7 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, or iPhone 14 Pro, the best camera phone to buy without spending tons of money is what you are looking for, and the outstanding smartphone in that class is Google Pixel 6a. What of the iPhone SE 2022? It is a good budget camera phone, but it does not hold a candle to the Pixel 6a. If you must have an iPhone, then buy that. But if you are looking for the absolute best camera phone in the budget category, Pixel 6a is it.
Are any of these top 3 best camera phones made in the USA? The answer to that is a negative. None of these cell phones are manufactured in the United States. They are all designed here, but are manufactured in China, India, and other locations.
References
In producing this article, DXOMARK provided us with detailed insights into the performance of the above best camera phones.
