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The most significant selling point of a smartphone today is the camera. And this doesn’t matter whether the phone costs $100 or $1500. From large companies like Sony which sell pro camera Smartphones for over $1600 to the Redmi’s, Poco’s, Realme’s, and Nokia’s that are budget centric. Before we get to the Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022. Let’s take a look at the key features to consider and what exactly influences the camera quality of a Smartphone in 2022.
UnderStanding Camera Specifications – What each Terminology means
Terminologies such as megapixels, OIS, HDR, and others are often thrown around when referring to smartphone cameras. And it can be very frustrating to understand all this or to even relate to it. Except for what most of us have come to believe and that is. Higher or more Megapixels Means Better Camera Quality. Which is ideally correct and wrong at the same time. And here is Why,
MegaPixel:
- Megapixels: Refers to the number of small picture elements in a photo called pixels. These are usually really tiny dots or squares that make up a complete digital image. A million pixels are known as a megapixel.
Remember that one megapixel contains a million pixels. As a result, a 16-megapixel picture has sixteen million pixels. This is referred to as the ‘resolution’. The better the resolution of the photographs produced by a smartphone camera, the more megapixels it possesses.
There are smartphone cameras with high megapixel counts, up to 108MP. However, don’t be fooled by high megapixel numbers. Megapixels by themselves DO NOT guarantee improved camera performance. There are several more aspects that influence image quality. And that brings Us to…
Sensor Size:
- Sensor Size: The image sensor in a smartphone camera is a device that converts the light that enters the camera into a digital picture. It is essentially a substitute for photographic film. The sensor’s size is significant since the larger the sensor, the more light it may possibly receive.
The greater the picture quality, the more light it can get. Because of the size constraints of smartphone cameras, this is extremely crucial.
Pixel Size:
- Pixel Size: This refers to the size of each pixel found on the sensor.
When buying a phone for its camera, one of the most crucial factors to consider is the pixel size. A camera having a sensor with large pixels is more desired. Since the larger the pixels, the more probable the camera will produce high-quality images. Measured in microns ‘µm’ or just ‘µ’
Aperture:
Aperture is often defined as the adjustable opening between the lens and the sensor. That determines how much light reaches the sensor. The aperture’s width or narrowness is indicated in f-numbers. A lower f-stop (e.g., f/2) indicates a larger aperture than a higher f-number (e.g., f/16).
The lower the f-stop, the more light your smartphone camera can capture. And, obviously, more light means better pictures.
To learn more about camera specifications click here: this includes specifications such as;
- Lenses and Focal Length
- Image Stabilization
- Zoom
- Periscope
- HDR
- Flash
- Depth Sensor
- Panorama
- Video Resolution and Frame Rates
To learn more about these here is a link. covering everything about Smartphone camera specification
So with that out of the way here are the best budget camera phones in 2022.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022 will contain a list of phone pricing ranging from 170USD to 500 USD.
1. Best Budget camera Phones in 2022 – Realme 9 pro plus
The photochromic design, responsive AMOLED screen, flagship-grade camera, and super rapid charging set the Realme 9 Pro+ apart. Realme’s strength is offering powerful phones at low prices. And the Realme 9 Pro+ is shaping up to be one of the finest mid-range options right now.
Launched on 21st Feb this year, and priced below 300 USD. The only major downside is the lack of a microSD card slot.
Key Specifications: Realme 9 pro plus
- Body: 160.2×73.3×8.0mm, 182g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic frame, glass back.
- Display: 6.40″ Super AMOLED, 90Hz, 430 nits (typ), 600 nits (HBM), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 411ppi; Heart rate monitor feature.
- Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (2×2.5 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G68 MC4.
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2.
- OS/Software: Android 12, Realme UI 3.0.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚, 16mm, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), 1/3.09″, 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/480fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 60W, 100% in 44 min (advertised), USB Power Delivery 3.0.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); 3.5mm jack.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Camera
On the rear, the Realme 9 Pro+ boasts a triple camera arrangement with a 50MP OIS main, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro. There is also a 16MP front-facing camera for taking selfies. The absence of a depth sensor on the rear is striking, but we’d gladly exchange it for OIS.
The Realme 9 Pro+’s primary camera is a 50MP Sony IMX766 1/1.56″ sensor with 1.0m pixels and a Quad-Bayer filter. This sensor is combined with a stabilized 6-element 24mm lens with an f/1.8 aperture. This camera has a Night Mode feature.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Photo Quality
By default, the main camera saves 12.5MP photos, which is excellent for this class. There is plenty of resolved detail, high contrast, mostly accurate white balance, and no visible noise.
Despite the Auto HDR, the dynamic range is about average. Despite the clipped highlights, the images appear natural, though we would have traded some contrast for a slight dynamic boost if we could.
The sharpening process does not sit well with us because the photos appear over-sharpened in areas of high detail such as grass, car plates, decorations, branches, and buildings. Aside from that, the primary camera takes excellent photos.
There is an AI option that will adjust settings based on automated scene identification. The majority of the images we’ve taken are of blue skies, greenery, and buildings, and they have bright hues that appear unreal. But if that’s what you want, then, by all means, keep the AI on.
Here are a bunch of 50MP photos. These are not simple upscales either, but some high-quality 50MP images. They are a bit soft, the detail is average, and the noise is higher, but, on some occasions, shooting in 50MP and then resizing those down to 12.5MP may or may not give you slight sharper results. We are not sure if the minor difference is worth that hassle, though.
Although the Realme 9 Pro+ lacks a depth sensor, it can still shoot portrait photos with its primary camera. And they’re amazing – the subjects are always detailed and well illuminated, the colors and contrast are excellent, and the noise is kept to a minimum. The artificial blur is also pleasant.
2. Best Budget camera Phones in 2022 – Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
The Galaxy A mid-range series from Samsung has received its yearly redesign, and it looks fantastic. The Galaxy A33 retains the Galaxy A32’s 90Hz Super AMOLED screen, but it has a far more powerful Exynos 1280 chipset with a newer GPU and gaming-friendly graphics. There is now an inbuilt 5G modem, so you no longer have to select between 4G and 5G models.
The camera has also been upgraded. The 48MP primary now has optical stabilization and can capture up to 4K video. The 13MP selfie camera can also record 4K videos.
It’s not all updates, though, as two things have changed for the worse since the Galaxy A32. The Galaxy A33 has no audio jack, and the microSD bed is now shared with the second SIM option.
KEY FEATURES: Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
- Body: 159.7×74.0×8.1mm, 186g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic frame, plastic back; IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 mins).
- Display: 6.40″ Super AMOLED, 90Hz, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 411ppi.
- Chipset: Exynos 1280 (5 nm): Octa-core (2×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G68.
- Memory: 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Android 12, One UI 4.1.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1/3.1″, 1.12µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/120fps; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 25W.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); Stereo speakers; Virtual proximity sensing.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Camera
The Galaxy A33 5G uses the same cameras as the Galaxy A32 5G, but with a number of improvements: the main camera now supports OIS, and both the primary and front cameras now allow 4K video capture.
The Galaxy A33 5G, has a 48MP OIS main camera, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP macro, and 2MP depth cameras. There includes a 13MP front-facing camera for selfies.
The primary camera uses a 48MP Sony IMX 582 1/2″ sensor with 0.8µm pixels and a 26mm f/1.8 optically stabilized lens. It is quite rare to see OIS in this mid-range class, and we appreciate it. The camera has a Quad Bayer color filter, which means this camera normally does 12MP photos with 4-in-1 binning, though a high-res 48MP shooting mode is available (within the aspect ratio options, go figure). Phase-detect autofocus is supported.
The ultrawide camera uses an 8MP Sony IMX 355 imager with a 1.12µm pixel pitch. The sensor is behind a 13mm f/2.2 lens, and the focus is fixed.
The macro camera uses a 5MP GalaxyCore GC5035 sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and focus fixed at about 4cm.
The depth sensor uses a 2MP GalaxyCore module with an f/2.4 aperture and focus fixed at infinity.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Photo Quality
We chose to capture photos with both Scene Optimizer, and Auto HDR turned on as intended by Samsung. The Scene Optimizer option rarely makes a difference, though the HDR does help in certain scenes, and the tonal extremes are usually well developed.
So, the default 12MP photos from the primary camera are superb for the mid-range class. They are sharp and offer more than enough resolved detail, good contrast, and are pleasantly dynamic. There is no noise either.
You can’t but notice the usual Samsung processing – all the photos show eye-popping colors, and the foliage presentation, while okay, is not ideal, especially across the grass.
We know many people like the saturated colors, and they will be more than happy to post these overprocessed photos on social networks. But if these over-saturated images are not your cup of tea, turning off the Scene Optimizer and the Auto HDR might help. This way you will reduce the image processing involvement, though it still may not get you the natural look you were hoping for.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Video Quality
The primary and selfie cameras of the Galaxy A33 5G capture 4K@30fps footage. The standard 1080p mode at 30fps is accessible on all cameras, however, 1080p at 60fps is only available on the main camera.
Electronic stabilization is available for the primary, ultrawide, and selfie cameras, but only at a resolution of 1080p. Of course, the main camera’s optical stabilization is always on.
The video bitrate is ample in 4K, at 48-49Mbps, and in 1080p, at 17Mbps. The audio is captured stereo with a bitrate of 256Kbps, and the sound quality is consistent throughout all videos.
So, the 4K videos from the main camera are superb – there is plenty of resolved detail and good sharpness, and there is absolutely no noise. The dynamic range is noticeably wide, but it didn’t hurt the contrast, and we are happy with what we saw. The colors are a bit punchier than they should have been, as usual.
3. Best Budget camera Phones in 2022 – Vivo iQOO 9 SE
In many ways, the iQOO 9 SE resembles its brothers. Sure, the design is a little unusual. That is true of the entire iQOO 9 trio, but the iQOO 9 SE is certainly not a completely distinct phone slapped onto the iQOO 9 family.
While it is not the “cream of the crop” in terms of specifications and features, it is also not your average “mid-ranger.” In terms of specifications, iQOO has practically recreated a true flagship from a year or two ago. An approach that has a lot of promise in our opinion since, more often than not, flagship hardware is still “flagship hardware,” if that makes sense.
Key Features: Vivo iQOO 9 SE
- Body: 163.2×76.4×8.4mm, 196g; plastic frame and back; Splash and dust resistant.
- Display: 6.62″ Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1200 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 398ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Adreno 660.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 12, Funtouch 12.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, 25mm, 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 120-degree, 1/3.1″, 1.12µm; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/3.0″, 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 66W, 50% in 14 min, 100% in 39 min (advertised).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Camera
The iQOO 9 SE boasts a very common triple camera configuration, consisting of a 48MP primary camera, a 13MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.
That’s a step down from the iQOO 9 Pro’s 50MP primary shooter with gimbal OIS, 16MP telephoto, and 50MP ultrawide with autofocus. With its gimbal OIS and telescopic camera, even the basic iQOO 9 is out of reach. The iQOO 9 SE, on the other hand, only sports OIS on its primary camera.
We did manage to find out some information on the camera hardware within the iQOO 9 SE. The primary 48MP camera has a Sony IMX598 sensor. It is a Quad Bayer unit with a 2×1 on-chip lens PDAF, a 1/2″ size, with individual pixels measuring 0.8 m. In this setup, it is mounted behind an f/1.8 lens and features OIS. The Sony IMX598 was designed exclusively for Vivo and can be found in devices such as the Vivo X50, X50 Pro, X60, X60 Pro, and the iQOO 7.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Photo Quality
Let’s start with some footage from the primary camera. Because it is a Quad-Bayer device, it automatically records 12MP stills. Overall, these appear terrific, with plenty of resolved detail, almost little noise, and vibrant colors.
In fact, the saturation of the colors is undoubtedly the distinguishing feature of these stills. Great if you like that look or want to show off the “pop” on your OLED monitor, however, the saturation is turned up to 11 and the colors are far from realistic.
Furthermore, there is a lot of apparent sharpening done across the frame, mixed with some flattening of specific surfaces, which results in a plasticky look up close with a lack of substance.
These photos have been taken with the AI option ON, as we like to shoot with all options in their default state as they come out of the box.
Switching to full-resolution 48MP mode truly highlights how excessive the processing is in ordinary photo mode. Colors aren’t quite as saturated, there isn’t nearly as much sharpening, and more surface roughness is visible in the 48MP images.
Both cases have a limited dynamic range, but it’s not a deal-breaker. By choosing 48MP mode, you’ll have to cope with significantly slower capture times and much higher file sizes, but you’ll receive some more fine detail in return. While we don’t usually encourage utilizing high-resolution settings on Quad-Bayer cameras, employing this one offers advantages – at least in daytime.
The iQOO 9 SE lacks a dedicated telephoto camera, but it can still crop and zoom from the main cam. At 2x, shots look nearly identical to 1x ones and are perfectly usable.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Video Quality
The iQOO 9 SE can capture video at up to 4K@60fps on its main camera and 1080p@30fps on the ultrawide. Pretty standard considering its hardware. In terms of additional video capture features and options, you can choose between the h.264 codec or the higher compression of h.265 (HEVC) if you want to save space. The iQOO 9 SE also offers a few motion autofocus options like tweaks to Eye or Body autofocus, which is not something you typically see on phones.
It can also do 3D soundtracking, or try to synchronize audio and video focus. For low-light footage, the frame rate is automatically reduced to 24fps. This mode is used when the scene is extremely dark, and it allows the iQOO 9 SE to reduce the shutter speed and apply further processing to the photos.
The video from the primary camera looks fantastic in 4K. Colors and detail are both nice and natural-looking. The severe saturation applied to stills appears to be absent or greatly reduced here.
The most serious fault here is undoubtedly a lack of dynamic range. Highlights, in particular, are nearly completely removed. And it’s not only that the iQOO 9 SE overexposes the scene.
1080p videos from the ultrawide camera have noticeably different colors and contrast. The detail is decent, though unimpressive and dynamic range is even more of an issue here.
The iQOO 9 SE has a couple of stabilization modes. A regular one works across both the main and ultrawide cameras and does not necessitate a lower capture resolution. It does a great job smoothing out most big shakes and bumps and doesn’t crop too much away from the frame.
4. Best Budget camera Phones in 2022 – OnePlus 10R
The OnePlus 10R is the newest entrant in OnePlus’ mid-range R-series. Known as the OnePlus Ace in China, the 10R is essentially the Realme GT Neo 3 but with minor changes.
The OnePlus 10R is based on the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 platform. It features a large 120Hz display and a triple camera system on the back. The phone is also launching in two variants, one with a 5000mAh battery and 80W charger and the other with a 4500mAh battery and 150W charger.
KEY SPECIFICATION: Oneplus 10R
- Body: 163.3×75.5×8.2mm, 186g; plastic back, plastic frame.
- Display: 6.70″ Fluid AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2412px resolution, 20.1:9 aspect ratio, 394ppi.
- Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max (5 nm): Octa-core (4×2.85 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G610 MC6.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 12, OxygenOS 12.1.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120˚, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide), 1/3.09″, 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 80W, 1-100% in 32 min (regular version), Fast charging 150W, 1-30% in 3 min, 1-100% in 17 min (150W version).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC.
Best Budget Camera Phones in 2022: Camera
The OnePlus 10R is equipped with a triple camera system on the back and a single camera on the front. The rear camera system has a 50MP Sony IMX766 quad-Bayer wide sensor, an 8MP Sony IMX355 ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1 macro sensor. The front-facing camera is a 16MP Samsung S5K3P9SP quad-Bayer.
The camera app is the same as that seen on most Oppo and Realme phones. There is no Hasselblad branding here, and many of the functions have been removed, but the essentials remain.
Best Budget Camera Phones In 2022: Photo Quality
The images from the main camera have decent resolution and detail. Unfortunately, the white balance was consistently off on our review unit, producing overly warm images. The dynamic range was also quite weak, as the camera has a tendency to underexpose shadows.
The ultra-wide camera strangely has better white balance in most situations. However, the image quality is significantly worse, with colors occasionally looking washed out and the detail being very low due to the low-resolution sensor and lack of autofocus.
5. Best Budget camera Phones in 2022 – Apple iPhone SE(2022)
KEY FEATURES: iPhone SE 2022
- Body: 138.4×67.3×7.3mm, 144g; Glass front, glass back, aluminum frame; IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 mins), Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified).
- Display: 4.70″ Retina IPS LCD, 625 nits (typ), 750x1334px resolution, 16.01:9 aspect ratio, 326ppi; Wide color gamut, True-tone.
- Chipset: Apple A15 Bionic (5 nm): Hexa-core (2xX.XX GHz Avalanche + 4xX.XX GHz Blizzard); Apple GPU (4-core graphics).
- Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 256GB 4GB RAM; NVMe.
- OS/Software: iOS 15.4, upgradable to iOS 15.4.1.
- Rear camera: 12 MP, f/1.8 (wide), PDAF, OIS.
- Front camera: 7 MP, f/2.2.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, OIS, stereo sound rec; Front camera: 1080p@30/120fps; gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 2018mAh; Fast charging 18W, 50% in 30 min (advertised), Qi wireless charging.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (front-mounted); NFC.
Best Budget Camera Phones In 2022: Camera
The iPhone SE (2022) has the same 12MP rear and 7MP front cameras as the iPhone 8 and the iPhone SE (2020). They both use the same old sensors and same lenses. This is probably the reason why they don’t get night mode despite the vast amounts of processing power available. Still, Smart HDR and the Deep Fusion are enabled to boost image quality.
There is no ultrawide camera, nor is there a telephoto one. Macro photography is not among the iPhone SE (2022)’s capabilities and generally any of the contemporary niceties we’ve come to expect from even mid-range smartphones these days are not possible with this one. What it does have, however, it uses well.
The rear camera relies on a 12MP sensor with 1.22µm pixels and a 28mm f/1.8 stabilized lens. PDAF is available, and this camera can capture up to 4K videos at 60fps.
The front camera utilizes a 7MP sensor and can use the screen as a flash. It has a 32mm f/2.2 lens and the focus is fixed.
Portraits are supported on both cameras.
Best Budget Camera Phones In 2022: Photo Quality
The photos taken with iPhone SE (2022)’s rear camera are good in many ways – there is enough detail, noise is low, the white balance is spot on, the contrast is high, and the dynamic range is just right.
But there are two flaws that have been part of Apple’s image processing for years. First – is the color saturation. It is trying too hard to stay true to life and ends up looking dull. Everyone needs a little color in their life, and we think the default image processing would benefit from a boost in color saturation. Luckily, changing the default Photographic Style now offers an easy fix.
And second, the inconsistent results in areas of random detail like foliage. Sometimes foliage is great, other times it’s an awful smudge fest akin to an oil painting.
We’d say the photos are great, in spite of their two flaws, especially for an iPhone on a budget.
Best Budget Camera Phones In 2022: Video Quality
Apple iPhone SE (2022) main camera supports all popular resolutions and frame rates – it can do 4K at 60fps and 1080p at 240fps. – all of them are optically stabilized as usual. All modes also feature cinematic video stabilization and expanded dynamic range thanks to the Smart HDR.
The video bitrate is about 45Mbps in 4K at 30fps and 100Mbps for 4K at 60fps. Audio is recorded in wide stereo with a 160Kbps bitrate.
The 4K videos from the rear camera are simply outstanding. The resolved detail is plenty, the sharpness – is just right, the noise is low, and the white balance and color presentation are spot on. The dynamic range is wide, while the contrast doesn’t suffer, and everything looks good. The foliage could be a hit and miss as seen in the photos, but other than that – these are some really good 4K videos.
conclusion
If you reached this last part then you understand that the number of Megapixel alone is never enough to validate a good camera. This can be seen in the flagship segment too where the likes of Samsung have used the same number of Megapixels since S20 to date and each has a new look and feel.
And on your next Budget try get a better camera or a good deal here or check the budget segment phones
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