Follow the evolution of mobile phone cameras in our latest video

04 January 2024
A look back at the devices that made our 'Cameraphone Hall of Fame' list.

Sort by:

  • f
  • finch
  • 0U2
  • 12 Feb 2024

Feanor12, 23 Jan 2024Nice video, but I miss Nokia 9 PureView - this phone was un... moreI still have the Nokia 9 PureView, it's functional. The battery was very small from the beginning. An interesting concept, but they abandoned it.

    Nice video, but I miss Nokia 9 PureView - this phone was unique and create picture by simultaneously take shot from 5 cameras (2 RGB, 3 monochrome) and make awsome shot. If you know what you're doing you can get awsome shots with this phone - but yeah, there were no ultrawide or zoom. You just got very rich 12 MP photo. Each shot took a lot of processing power and it was huge drain for battery - but phone definitely deserve spot in history with it's unique technique.

    Proud owner of Samsung i8510 (INNOV8), Nokia N8-00, Nokia 808 PureView, Nokia 9 PureView, Xiaomi Mi Note 10. Btw - all of those phone still works! :)

      Nice. These are the sort of videos everyone loves.

      When you said that everyone loves cameras because it helps them cherish their memories, that hit really hard because the most valuable thing to me is my data & memories.

      I have EVERYTHING backed up. All my academic and professional work, all my important documents, all my media, all my games, everything else you can think of.

      Every week I back it up and have around 5 local backups and 3 cloud backups.

      That way, even if anything happens to my house or property, I still don't worry because I know my most important stuff is safe.

        • c
        • comicsgod53
        • qC1
        • 06 Jan 2024

        My LG CU500 had a rotating camera way back in 2006.

          • S
          • S
          • xjH
          • 06 Jan 2024

          My first phone did not had any camera but second phone had a camera - vga one.
          Miss those days.

            i like the look of nokia n8 and mate 50 pro in orange color.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • fI%
              • 05 Jan 2024

              Watching the video really makes me miss my SE K800 and Nokia N8 ..

                • b
                • bale
                • qxA
                • 05 Jan 2024

                grrrreat! Very detailed, and I loved it.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 8Np
                  • 05 Jan 2024

                  Nick Tegrataker, 05 Jan 2024GSMArena, Mi Note 10 had a Tetracell sensor that combined 4... moreToo bad motorola trade HMX for lame OV50B. All this to save money. 😡

                  As always, their phones need to bring downsides compared to previous gen, so they can next year give again to just remove later .

                    GSMArena, Mi Note 10 had a Tetracell sensor that combined 4 pixels into one, just like Sony's Quad Bayer sensor. That sensor was unique at that time because it was: 1) The largest modern mobile phone sensor with 4-in-1 pixel binning when it was released, 2) It also had the highest resolution among consumer-grade sensors.

                      Anonymous, 04 Jan 2024Guess again, pal. Isocell GW2 used by S20 is 64MP 0.8 micr... moreMany high-end phones do stack frames in full resolution mode, hell there was a phone released as early as 2018 that already did that (Honor View 20's "AI Ultra Clarity 48MP mode"). The processing *isn't* instantaneous of course, it takes a few seconds for these phones to capture photos in such mode. iPhone 15 Pro spends a noticeably longer time capturing in 48MP than it does in 12MP or 24MP, although the dynamic range remains comparable between the three.

                        Guest whooooo, 04 Jan 2024They also forgot to mention about camera apertures, in whic... moreNokia N86 8MP was the first smartphone with a variable aperture design (not counting Motorola ZN5 which was a lot more like a candy bar than being a smartphone). The variable aperture mechanisms in Mate 60 Pro and Xiaomi 14 Pro have 10 different steps which make them the most granular implementation on a smartphone, but neither Huawei nor Samsung is the first one to have a variable aperture among all the smartphone manufacturers.

                          I want a mobile phone with big (real, optical) focal length, let's say, 15 mm.
                          Not with big sensor, many MP, binning, 26 mm equivalent focal length and cropping.
                          Chrestos SV1GAP

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 0p}
                            • 04 Jan 2024

                            Guest whooooo, 04 Jan 2024They also forgot to mention about camera apertures, in whic... moreBoth work physically.

                              Anonymous, 04 Jan 2024Forgot to mention : - Hasselblad module for Motorola Z ... moreThey also forgot to mention about camera apertures, in which Huawei was largely known for but from what I know, samsung is the first brand to implement a variable aperture and then Huawei implemented a physical variable aperture. That is what I know (correct me if I am wrong)

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 0p}
                                • 04 Jan 2024

                                AnonD-641645, 04 Jan 2024Yes, the pixels are 0.8 micron, but the color filter 1.6 mi... moreGW2 is not quadbayer.
                                GW1 is.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-641645
                                  • U}}
                                  • 04 Jan 2024

                                  Anonymous, 04 Jan 2024Guess again, pal. Isocell GW2 used by S20 is 64MP 0.8 micr... moreYes, the pixels are 0.8 micron, but the color filter 1.6 micron, hence my point. And I don't think the ISP will allow 4K video if the native sensor size is below 10MP. Those 16 MP Quad Bayer selfies cannot shoot 4K videos.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 0p}
                                    • 04 Jan 2024

                                    AnonD-641645, 04 Jan 2024"Before we got 1 inch-type sensors in mainstream smart... moreSony 1" cameras ( rx0, rx10, rx100 series) use 20.1MP .
                                    Not 12mp.
                                    Neither do canon compacts ( that use sony sensors too).

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 0p}
                                      • 04 Jan 2024

                                      AnonD-641645, 04 Jan 2024"Before we got 1 inch-type sensors in mainstream smart... moreGuess again, pal. Isocell GW2 used by S20 is 64MP 0.8 micron with Bayer CFA. Samsung Semicon also had 20MP 1/3.4" .

                                      Making Quadbayer CFA is simply way to cut costs when you apply filter above 4 instead of 1 by 1. Also you can make microlens cover 4 at once.

                                      They do not claim 12MP, that is main readout mode these sensors have.
                                      They are made to work this way. Also allow videos above 4K without using bayer sensor .

                                      Why not bayer? Without DRAM inside sensor, readout is too slow to proper perform HDR while these phone bake tons of junk into jpeg to make them " pretty".

                                      Phones barely stack 10-12 frames at 12/12.5MP, imagine 50, 64, 108, 200MP.

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-641645
                                        • U}}
                                        • 04 Jan 2024

                                        "Before we got 1 inch-type sensors in mainstream smartphones, sensor manufacturers got creative in overcoming small pixel inefficiencies by combining the signal of several of them into one."
                                        In other words, their marketing department found a way to boast specs without much actual improvement in quality. My take is that manufacturers could miniaturize the sensor cell below 1 micron, but they could never do that with the color filter. So they claimed 48MP sensor but produced 12MP images, even 108MP sensor but still 12MP images. And guess what, the best professional cameras with 1-inch sensors today also produce 12MP images, with 12MP sensor, there was no need to have smaller pixels to begin with.

                                          1 of 2