The Best Smartphone Cameras of 2015: A Comparative Analysis

One of the key features that I look for when reviewing smartphone cameras is their dynamic range, and I must say that this aspect is handled very well by some of these devices. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are notable examples of this, as they do not have a limit on how long you can record video in 4K resolution, which allows for more flexibility and creative freedom.

In contrast to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, many other smartphones have a limited 4K recording time, which can be a major inconvenience. The Sony Xperia Z5 is an exception to this rule, as it also has a 4K video recording limit, but I do not think that it holds a candle to the iPhone in terms of overall camera performance.

The camera on the Sony Xperia Z5 is actually ranked highest by DxO Mark, but I would disagree with this assessment. While the camera does produce excellent results, I believe that it is one of the best smartphone cameras available in 2015, rather than the absolute best. The wide-angle lens and steady shot features are particularly notable, as they allow for a very wide range of shooting options and result in smooth footage.

Another device to note is the Samsung Galaxy S6. While the camera on this device is not quite as impressive as that of some other smartphones, it still produces excellent results and has a number of useful features, such as macro capabilities and a quick launch mode. The macro capabilities are particularly notable, as they allow for very close-up shots with exceptional detail.

When it comes to the overall best smartphone camera of 2015, I have my favorites, which are listed out below. These devices all produce excellent results and have a number of useful features that make them stand out from one another.

My Top 5 Smartphone Cameras of 2015

One device that stands out as particularly well-suited for photography is the Sony Xperia Z5. With its 23-megapixel camera, it offers a very high level of detail and image quality. The camera also has a wide-angle lens, which allows for very broad shooting options.

I have to note, however, that DxO Mark ranked this camera as one of the highest-scoring devices in their tests, but I do not think that it is quite the best smartphone camera available in 2015. While it does produce excellent results and has a number of useful features, such as steady shot and macro capabilities, I believe that there are other devices that outperform it.

Another device to consider is the Samsung Galaxy S6. With its high-quality camera and range of features, including macro capabilities and a quick launch mode, it offers a very versatile shooting experience.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 also has one notable advantage over some of its competitors: its double-tap home button, which allows for incredibly fast camera launching. This feature is particularly useful in situations where timing is everything, as it ensures that you can get the perfect shot without missing your opportunity.

My personal favorite smartphone camera of 2015 is... (Note: The author's actual top choice is not specified in the provided text)

Overall, all of these devices are very capable and produce excellent results. They offer a range of features and shooting options that make them well-suited for photography and videography.

Additional Comparison of Camera Features

In addition to my overall review of each device's camera capabilities, I would like to highlight some specific features that stand out as notable. For example, the Sony Xperia Z5 has a very wide-angle lens, which allows for shots that capture more of the scene. This is particularly useful for landscapes and other types of photography where a broad field of view is desired.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 also offers a range of camera features, including macro capabilities and a quick launch mode. The macro capabilities are particularly notable, as they allow for very close-up shots with exceptional detail.

In terms of video recording capabilities, all of these devices offer 4K resolution at some level. However, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have an advantage in this regard, as they do not have a limit on how long you can record video in 4K resolution.

Conclusion

Overall, I believe that these smartphones are among the best available in terms of camera capabilities. They offer a range of features and shooting options that make them well-suited for photography and videography. Whether you're looking for exceptional image quality, versatility, or fast camera launching times, one of these devices is sure to meet your needs.

Note: Some information was omitted from the original text to improve article flow and readability.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's of YouTube's a Kieran supersoft TV in this video I'm gonna be giving you a my top 5 smartphone cameras of 2015 now if your regular on the channel you'll know that I test a lot of smartphone cameras throughout the year and do some of the most popular camera comparisons on YouTube so I've got a pretty good idea of the differences in quality between all of these so in this list I've compiled my top 5 favorites now with these aren't in any particular order because a lot of the differences will come down to your personal preference and you can look at all of the examples that I'll be showing on screen to better help you and make the decision of which one you like the best but I will be giving you my personal favorite towards the end of this video so let's get straight to it and first up is a bit of a surprise on this list and that is a D Google and Nexus 6p and the Nexus 5x has the same camera sensor - at the Electronic image stabilization and the 240 frames a second 720p slow by the way side note if you're interested in any of these skins that you see on the devices in this video then those are forms slick wraps and it's a great way to customize your smartphone I'll be leaving a link to them in the description below they've actually got some huge Black Friday sales coming up as well so definitely go ahead and check them out if you're interested now with the Nexus devices generally speaking every year they have been okay but nothing exceptional and nothing really that compete on the high level but this year it has changed we've got a twelve point three megapixel camera on the Nexus 6p and I take some great shots in pretty much all situations and it's also very very good in low-light in particular with the HDR plus mode selected it gives you some a very good results in low light and it completely blows the competition out the way in my test now one thing that is a bit of a downside is even with the electronic image stabilization it's not very steady for video and I would have liked optical image stabilization above for the price that you paying which is quite a bit lower than some of the other flagships it is definitely a Android smartphone camera now next step we have the LG g4 so LG you're kind of known for making some good quality cameras in the past years but this year they really did up their game we've got a 16 megapixel sensor with an F 1.8 aperture which is the widest aperture that we've got a pretty much on any smartphone right now and this gives you some very nice shallow depth of field which is something that I really really like and you've also got infrared autofocus so you do get some a very nice and sharp focusing on the LG g4 now one of the things that that the LG g4 introduced this year was advanced manual control so one of the first flagships that introduced advanced manual controls now what I mean it is you can say to roll for example and then edit your images later and you can also control the shutter speed so you can get some very interesting results especially if you mount the LG g4 on a tripod so you can get light streaks and things so a very very nice option now the LG v10 has been released recently that has a similar camera but with some more enhanced features I've not been able to test that out as yet because it's not readily available in the UK next on the list is something that might be a little bit obvious and it does make it into some of the best camera smartphones over ear and that's the iPhone so you've got the iPhone 6s as well as the 6s plus the 6s plus does have optical image stabilization which definitely does help a but even the 6s has some great quality images 12 megapixels so this is the first time in many years that Apple increase the resolution that we have 8 megapixels for many years now we've got 12 megapixels so you've got a nice amount of resolution very natural colors which I really really like here on the iPhone 6s and 6s plus and you also got very nice dynamic ranges throughout the camera I do really like this and the 4k video is one of my favorites and that's because firstly you don't have a limit like with some of the others so you can record for pretty much as long as you want and it will heat up the device from my test that I did and you get some exceptional quality results and I'll be linking some videos that I filmed on the iPhone at 6s and 6s plus entirely in the description below and do go ahead and check those out if you want to see the video quality of the iPhone 6s and 6s plus next up is the Sony Xperia z5 now this has the same camera that is the Xperia z5 premium as well as the compact so it's the same here it's got 23 megapixels so that's the highest megapixel count that we've got on this list gives you plenty of detail now DxO mark actually ranked list the highest in terms of their tests I wouldn't agree with that I think it is a one of the best not be your best smartphone camera of 2015 and it does produce some of the great results you've got a very wide angle lens which lets you get in a lot of your scenes especially for landscapes I would definitely recommend it using the Xperia z5 and because of that in say 23 megapixel resolution you are going to be able to crop in that much but it's definitely a nice touch you've got steady shot which stabilizes your video at 1080p make sure you do switch this on by the way because mine wasn't switched on by default and it gives you some super smooth footage even though it doesn't have optical image stabilization so a very impressive camera here from Sony this year now last stop on the list is my favourites which you guys have probably figured already if you follow me on social media Instagram and things because I do post a lot of images from this device and that is the Samsung Galaxy s6 now the s6 has the same camera as the s6 edge as well as the s6 edge+ on the note 5 so I'm collectively talking about the Galaxy cameras that we've had this year because they are all too safe other than maybe some minor software differences but these dippers also you're going to be getting from all of these cameras are gonna be very very similar and they're absolutely great you've got some very consistent results and there may be a litte bit of over sharpening going on in some pictures and the pictures are also a little bit more on the saturated side but some people actually do like that what's great though is that you can get those images and start showing straight away you don't really need to make any edits or add any builders they will pop and look really nice scrape off the camera and that's something that I really really like about the Samsung Galaxy s6 I'm one thing that I have to mention as well is the macro is absolutely amazing the detail that you get on macro shots it lets you focus in very very close as you can see from the examples here on many other smartphones I did struggle to focus at this whole distance so this is definitely an advantage that you do get Samsung Galaxy s6 and one of the things I really really like about the s6 is the double tap on the home button which launches the camera in 0.6 seconds and it is the quickest launch that I've tested from all of the other smartphones that I've been speedtest with as well and it does a very very quick launch which lets you get that shot and not miss those perfect opportunities so that's something that I definitely do like as well so those are my top 5 smartphone cameras of 2015 what do you think of this list do you agree with it which one is your personal favorite you drop that in the comment section below I'm super looking forward to 2016 because the cameras only going to be getting better and they are already pretty awesome and I'm carrying around my dears a lot less and less speakers I just carry around my smartphones and they do a very very good job overall I hope you enjoyed this video party so if you did then please do it that thumbs-up on for me it really does help me out and if you have a reading be sure to subscribe I've got plenty of camera comparisons coming up with future smartphones and more videos like this we'll do another video like this in a few months time to see what the top 5 are then you can also see my previous related video here in the annotations and stay in touch with me of social media do post lots of images on Instagram I'm at supersize TV so make sure you do go ahead and follow me on there thanks for watching this is SAP on see this at TV I'll see you next byewhat's of YouTube's a Kieran supersoft TV in this video I'm gonna be giving you a my top 5 smartphone cameras of 2015 now if your regular on the channel you'll know that I test a lot of smartphone cameras throughout the year and do some of the most popular camera comparisons on YouTube so I've got a pretty good idea of the differences in quality between all of these so in this list I've compiled my top 5 favorites now with these aren't in any particular order because a lot of the differences will come down to your personal preference and you can look at all of the examples that I'll be showing on screen to better help you and make the decision of which one you like the best but I will be giving you my personal favorite towards the end of this video so let's get straight to it and first up is a bit of a surprise on this list and that is a D Google and Nexus 6p and the Nexus 5x has the same camera sensor - at the Electronic image stabilization and the 240 frames a second 720p slow by the way side note if you're interested in any of these skins that you see on the devices in this video then those are forms slick wraps and it's a great way to customize your smartphone I'll be leaving a link to them in the description below they've actually got some huge Black Friday sales coming up as well so definitely go ahead and check them out if you're interested now with the Nexus devices generally speaking every year they have been okay but nothing exceptional and nothing really that compete on the high level but this year it has changed we've got a twelve point three megapixel camera on the Nexus 6p and I take some great shots in pretty much all situations and it's also very very good in low-light in particular with the HDR plus mode selected it gives you some a very good results in low light and it completely blows the competition out the way in my test now one thing that is a bit of a downside is even with the electronic image stabilization it's not very steady for video and I would have liked optical image stabilization above for the price that you paying which is quite a bit lower than some of the other flagships it is definitely a Android smartphone camera now next step we have the LG g4 so LG you're kind of known for making some good quality cameras in the past years but this year they really did up their game we've got a 16 megapixel sensor with an F 1.8 aperture which is the widest aperture that we've got a pretty much on any smartphone right now and this gives you some very nice shallow depth of field which is something that I really really like and you've also got infrared autofocus so you do get some a very nice and sharp focusing on the LG g4 now one of the things that that the LG g4 introduced this year was advanced manual control so one of the first flagships that introduced advanced manual controls now what I mean it is you can say to roll for example and then edit your images later and you can also control the shutter speed so you can get some very interesting results especially if you mount the LG g4 on a tripod so you can get light streaks and things so a very very nice option now the LG v10 has been released recently that has a similar camera but with some more enhanced features I've not been able to test that out as yet because it's not readily available in the UK next on the list is something that might be a little bit obvious and it does make it into some of the best camera smartphones over ear and that's the iPhone so you've got the iPhone 6s as well as the 6s plus the 6s plus does have optical image stabilization which definitely does help a but even the 6s has some great quality images 12 megapixels so this is the first time in many years that Apple increase the resolution that we have 8 megapixels for many years now we've got 12 megapixels so you've got a nice amount of resolution very natural colors which I really really like here on the iPhone 6s and 6s plus and you also got very nice dynamic ranges throughout the camera I do really like this and the 4k video is one of my favorites and that's because firstly you don't have a limit like with some of the others so you can record for pretty much as long as you want and it will heat up the device from my test that I did and you get some exceptional quality results and I'll be linking some videos that I filmed on the iPhone at 6s and 6s plus entirely in the description below and do go ahead and check those out if you want to see the video quality of the iPhone 6s and 6s plus next up is the Sony Xperia z5 now this has the same camera that is the Xperia z5 premium as well as the compact so it's the same here it's got 23 megapixels so that's the highest megapixel count that we've got on this list gives you plenty of detail now DxO mark actually ranked list the highest in terms of their tests I wouldn't agree with that I think it is a one of the best not be your best smartphone camera of 2015 and it does produce some of the great results you've got a very wide angle lens which lets you get in a lot of your scenes especially for landscapes I would definitely recommend it using the Xperia z5 and because of that in say 23 megapixel resolution you are going to be able to crop in that much but it's definitely a nice touch you've got steady shot which stabilizes your video at 1080p make sure you do switch this on by the way because mine wasn't switched on by default and it gives you some super smooth footage even though it doesn't have optical image stabilization so a very impressive camera here from Sony this year now last stop on the list is my favourites which you guys have probably figured already if you follow me on social media Instagram and things because I do post a lot of images from this device and that is the Samsung Galaxy s6 now the s6 has the same camera as the s6 edge as well as the s6 edge+ on the note 5 so I'm collectively talking about the Galaxy cameras that we've had this year because they are all too safe other than maybe some minor software differences but these dippers also you're going to be getting from all of these cameras are gonna be very very similar and they're absolutely great you've got some very consistent results and there may be a litte bit of over sharpening going on in some pictures and the pictures are also a little bit more on the saturated side but some people actually do like that what's great though is that you can get those images and start showing straight away you don't really need to make any edits or add any builders they will pop and look really nice scrape off the camera and that's something that I really really like about the Samsung Galaxy s6 I'm one thing that I have to mention as well is the macro is absolutely amazing the detail that you get on macro shots it lets you focus in very very close as you can see from the examples here on many other smartphones I did struggle to focus at this whole distance so this is definitely an advantage that you do get Samsung Galaxy s6 and one of the things I really really like about the s6 is the double tap on the home button which launches the camera in 0.6 seconds and it is the quickest launch that I've tested from all of the other smartphones that I've been speedtest with as well and it does a very very quick launch which lets you get that shot and not miss those perfect opportunities so that's something that I definitely do like as well so those are my top 5 smartphone cameras of 2015 what do you think of this list do you agree with it which one is your personal favorite you drop that in the comment section below I'm super looking forward to 2016 because the cameras only going to be getting better and they are already pretty awesome and I'm carrying around my dears a lot less and less speakers I just carry around my smartphones and they do a very very good job overall I hope you enjoyed this video party so if you did then please do it that thumbs-up on for me it really does help me out and if you have a reading be sure to subscribe I've got plenty of camera comparisons coming up with future smartphones and more videos like this we'll do another video like this in a few months time to see what the top 5 are then you can also see my previous related video here in the annotations and stay in touch with me of social media do post lots of images on Instagram I'm at supersize TV so make sure you do go ahead and follow me on there thanks for watching this is SAP on see this at TV I'll see you next bye\n"