If you’re looking for the best photography phone for taking food photos, you’ve come to the right place. Smartphone cameras have come a long way in the past few years, with a number of features that have vastly improved the quality of images produced by smartphones, including optical image stabilization (OIS), larger sensors, brighter lenses, and even optical zoom.
Smartphone photography has become such a huge selling point that many premium smartphones now support “raw” image capture, giving you complete control over the image processing.
The latest camera phones for taking food photos have incredibly impressive megapixel counts, and if you love photography (but don’t want to lug around a heavy DSLR), owning one of the best camera phones is a no-brainer.
With advanced AI imaging and high-end tech, these pocket-sized shooters can rival even professional mirrorless cameras and are used by industry professionals.
Here are the 10 best smartphones for taking food photos, boasting impressive specs for the elements listed above, as well as some pretty impressive overall specs.
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Best Phones for Taking Pictures of Food
1. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the best camera phone on the market right now. It has a 200MP main camera. I chose the S24 Ultra for food photography because camera quality is a core feature, if not the most important.
However, I use my phone every day for social media, freelance work, messaging friends and family, and taking pictures of foods.
I use Instagram a lot for sharing photos on social media, especially on my photography account, so it was only natural that Samsung would partner with Instagram for the S24 series. This allows for HDR uploads, integration of the main camera for creating Stories and Reels, and other great features.
The S24 Ultra delivers great low-light images, even in the darkest of environments, like concerts and live shows, and the quad camera array provides real-world shooting flexibility in all situations. Admittedly, the 100x Space Zoom is a feature I didn’t pay much attention to, but it’s still a handy feature when you want to go stargazing.
Now, let’s talk about AI. Samsung Galaxy AI Photo Assist and Generative Edit offer a range of photo tools to help you create your best work and take it to new levels. However, if you edit with Galaxy AI, the metadata includes an AI-generated watermark for ultimate transparency.
The S24 Ultra is also the only model in the series that is compatible with the S Pen, which offers a range of benefits, from note-taking and photo editing to Google’s Circle to search feature.
2. Xperia PRO-I
If you’re using a smartphone to take pictures of food, you don’t need a 1-inch sensor, but the Sony Xperia insists on it. And it’s one of the milestones for smartphone cameras to compete with regular DSLRs or mirrorless cameras.
Theoretically, the rear camera sensor is huge compared to all smartphones so far, but the limited space inside the housing means that it can only use a 1/1.3-inch sensor. After all, it’s a regular camera.
But don’t get me wrong, it still takes great photos with a much better dynamic range. If you’re buying a very expensive smartphone camera with lots of manual camera settings, you won’t regret buying it.
The main lens has a dual aperture of f/2 and f/4. For low-light shots, the images aren’t as bright as some of the competition. But with proper lighting and studio photography arrangement, this isn’t a big deal.
The telephoto lens is also larger than most of the competition, with a 2x optical zoom. This camera makes portraits and close-ups much better. And that’s what really matters for food photography.
The camera app is killer, and the performance of the Snapdragon 888 5G processor does a great job of optimizing your images. The Sony Xperia Pro-I is only available in a 12/512GB version, which justifies its ridiculously high price tag.
3. Xiaomi 14
Xiaomi 14 boasts a Leica-engineered camera with a 1-inch sensor and three 50MP lenses, which is a pretty impressive camera package for a phone camera.
The megapixel count might not match the 100MP or 200MP claims of other competitors (we’re talking about Samsung), but what you get here is a resolution that’s actually 50MP, with no pixel binning. The main camera has a maximum aperture of f/1.6, and full manual control is available if you so choose.
The 1-inch Light Fusion 900 sensor, developed by Leica, provided reviewers with incredibly dynamic images in any scenario. The 4K video recording was sharp and clear, and the macro photography function showed impressive fidelity.
Plus, the Xiaomi 14 comes equipped with a feature-rich suite of AI-enhanced photo editing apps, including sophisticated filters (including several that impressively replicate the effects of classic camera film), AI-enhanced portrait mode, and a dedicated animal portrait feature.
4. OnePlus 11 5G
OnePlus has released another smartphone with one of the best cameras we’ve seen in a camera phone at this price point. In fact, it’s hard to find fault with the images we took while testing the OnePlus 11 both indoors and outdoors.
The colors are natural, the white balance is generally accurate, the images have a decent dynamic range, and where the bokeh does show up, it actually looks very impressive and nice.
In terms of design, the evolution of the camera module is very nice, and the green color option we used in our tests is a very modern color choice that looks great with a shiny finish. The display is great, the battery lasts a long time, and the OnePlus 11 is comfortable to hold.
5. Google Pixel 8 Pro
The Google Pixel 8 Pro may have been replaced by the latest Google Pixel 9 smartphone with Gemini AI, but the Pixel 8 Pro model is still one of the best camera phones on the market today.
The Pixel 8 series is less than a year old at the time of this writing, and it won the AI race as the first smartphone to feature generative AI features, thanks to the Google Tensor G3 chip.
A great choice for creators and photographers, the Pixel 8 Pro features a triple rear camera setup that includes a 50MP main camera, a 48MP ultra-wide lens, and a dedicated 5x telephoto lens, and it comes with smart AI tools like Magic Eraser to remove unwanted photo-bombs from your photos.
There’s also a Best Take feature that lets you pick out the best image from a series of shots, so you can always make sure everyone’s eyes are on you in group selfies. There’s also Video Boost and Night Sight Video for stunning video quality.
6. Samsung Z Fold 6
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is one of the best AI-based camera phones. What sets this device apart, though, is the foldable screen that expands into a tablet-like form factor for large-screen photo editing and content streaming, something we don’t see on the market right now.
According to Samsung, the 12MP ultra-wide camera is a completely new one, with improved low-light enhancements and HDR and noise reduction from the S24 series.
Thanks to Galaxy AI, the Fold6 not only has a great camera, but you can also do creative editing on the device, using the included S Pen to get the best quality out of features like Galaxy AI Photo Assist and Sketch-to-image.
7. Sony Xperia 1 III
The Sony Xperia 1 III isn’t a smartphone for the masses, but it’s a great choice for those who like a unique look or have previously owned a Sony smartphone. We think it’s the best Sony smartphone we’ve reviewed so far.
The Sony Xperia 1 III offers a lot of premium smartphone features, and it’s got a great screen, great battery life, and a camera that’s significantly improved over previous Sony Xperia smartphones, making it a worthy contender for premium smartphones.
The only minor downside is its high price tag. However, for those who like their smartphones to stand out from the crowd and have the money to spend, this could be a great smartphone.
The Sony Xperia 1 III is the best Sony smartphone we’ve reviewed so far, with great image quality, a great display, and a decent battery. In fact, Sony calls it the ‘next step for Xperia’, and we agree.
8. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G If you don’t need a regular telephoto lens, this could be the best smartphone camera deal you’ll ever get.
The main camera on this device is the same one you’ll find on the S21 Ultra, so you can expect it to take great images in both low-light and normal-light conditions.
The 108MP 1/1.33-inch sensor lets in more light. Thanks to the f/1.8 aperture, it can take amazing pictures in night mode, making it the best phone camera for food photography.
The 48MP sensor with f/3.5 aperture, which is a periscope telephoto lens, achieves 4x zoom. However, the pixel size is not that big. So, overall, if the lighting conditions are better, you can take decent pictures. Otherwise, this telephoto camera is an average camera.
There is a 12MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture for ultra-wide shots. The images look great with the 1.4µm pixel size. You can also take great pictures in macro mode. The depth sensor adds details to the images, improving the quality.
The front selfie camera is superior to the competition. The 40MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture can take decent pictures even in night mode. This is due to the larger sensor.
The rear camera allows for 24fps at 8K and up to 60fps at 4K for video recording. So, cinematic mode shooting should be decent compared to recent flagships.
9. Google Pixel 6
Overall, I think Google has a winner with the Google Pixel 6, with an interesting and very different design to other smartphones, a great camera, and a great price.
It’s great at capturing lifelike images regardless of lighting conditions, and the Portrait mode is excellent, showing off out-of-focus backgrounds with a decent amount of bokeh.
There’s no telephoto zoom, and the built-in zoom is a bit lacking, so if you want to capture images of distant subjects without having to move your feet, you might want to look at the Pixel 6 Pro instead.
It’s also a pretty big phone with a great 6.4-inch screen, so if you prefer a smaller handset, you might want to look at other Android phones or the iPhones.
