I really can’t go back to a phone without a zoom camera

You may be surprised to know this but I hold onto my personal Android phones for as long as I can. I have had my Pixel 7 Pro since the end of 2022. Before that I had Huawei Mate 20 Pro since the end of 2018. Both units were Great camera phonesWhich was good news as photography is one of my top priorities.

However, I have grown to realize that it is an important feature I cannot do without on all future smartphones, and it is a zoom camera. Indeed, every time i have to undergo a phone without a zoom camera i can’t wait to switch back to my personal pixel or Vivo x200 pro I currently use as my secondary device.

I wasn’t always a fan of Tele cameras. Back in 2016, I was really drawn to the LG G5S Ultrawide camera over the iPhone 7 Plus and 2x Teleoto camera. I thought the Ultrawide angle was a cool idea at that time, and the wider perspective made more visually striking images.

I also thought that the quality of early zoom cameras was very overwhelming. For one, 2x zoom factor was not a large enough upgrade of the standard 1x camera to make it worth. These phones also tended to have disappointing hybrid zoom, which was aggravated by the low resolution of these early telecommunication sensors. So I often found out that the image quality would fall apart as I squeeze past 2x. It also didn’t help that portrait mode through these cameras was not good at the time.

However, it wasn’t too bad during this period. I used Google Pixel 4 for a spell at the end of 2019 and early 2020, and I found that the connection of a 12MP 2x camera and Super Res Zoom was a significant step in the right direction. However, this was still not a game change for me.

My opinion has slowly changed over the years. I considered Porsche Design Mate RS in 2018, which was effectively a super-charged P20 Pro, and I thought the 3x 8MP camera and 5x Hybrid Zoom delivered higher quality images and more flexibility compared to most other flagships. Then I bought Mate 20 Pro later that year which contained the same zoom features. It also had an ultrawide camera, so I didn’t have to choose between wide or zoomed perspectives.

In 2019, Huawei and Oppo debuted the first Periscope cameras, with 5x and 6x native zoom, and I was blown away by the idea. We have since seen Periscope cameras with higher resolution, and that was a great reason why I bought Pixel 7 Pro at the end of 2022. The combination of a 5x periscope camera, 48MP resolution and super reside for solid images even on the 10x. It’s far from 2x 8MP and 12MP cameras from just a few years ago. There has been no lack of improvements in zoom cameras since then, such as broader openings for better results with low light, macro mode and more. These advances helped all to enable something impressive Flexible zoom cameras today.

The most obvious benefit I have seen with modern telecommunications and periscopic cameras is simply the opportunity to get a lot, much closer to a topic without having to physically take several steps forward. In fact, there are many situations where moving forward is simply not possible, so a Periscope camera definitely helps. This included a recent green day and offspring I participated from nosebleeds, shots out of a flight window and snaps of fauna. It also lets you be creative, which you can see in the fourth shot above (can you discover their legs?).

The best zoom cameras are getting more good for my work as well. I have previously praised devices that Vivo x100 ultra and X200 Pro when taking product images. I also find a zoom camera that is handy for events where it can go out of a slide on a slide (see the third image above from Computex), or if the venue is packed and a 1x or 2x shot is not close enough.

Even without taking pictures, I found that having a zoom camera is useful for just reading signs and other pieces of information. I’ve lost the number of times I’ve either taken a picture of a restaurant menu or logged in the distance or just zoomed in to get a better look. I didn’t even have to get up from my chair to check the Wi-Fi password in the Mobile World Congress Press Room.

Pixel 7 Pro is still going strong, so I don’t see a new phone this year. But if I change my mind and decide to upgrade, my next phone will definitely have a zoom camera. This requirement means that I will definitely not buy Pixel 9 (even if the upcoming Pixel 10 will Have a zoom camera for the first time), a pixel-a phone, or vanilla iPhone. In fact, many affordable flagship phones are excluded because they often ditched the telecom camera completely. I’m really not concerned with the Galaxy S25 and S25 plus either, as I feel Samsung is stuck in the past When it comes to these zoom cameras.

Still, a few recent releases caught my gaze. The Pixel 9 Pro is one of the rare phones that combine a 5x periscope camera with small size. I have also been quite fascinated by OnePlus 13Especially after colleague Ryan Haines praised his zoom performance. Special mention must also go to nothing and realm to be among the few brands that offer middle classes with telecommunications or periscopic cameras. Actual Nothing phone 3a May be the only $ 400 phone in the US with a Periscope camera. If only both of these units were available in the neck of the forest.

When I look forward to the future, I am very interested in the Vivo X200 Ultra while using the X200 Pro as my secondary phone. It is based on the basis for the predecessors with an improved 200MP zoom camera and will also have a 35 mm main camera. I am also fascinated by Oppo Find X8 Ultra, as it may be another zoom camera king.

In any case, phones like Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy A series and iPhone 16 offer plenty of performance, good software, lots of updates and good battery life. But these hand sets have been a no-go for me ever since I switched from Team Ultrawide to Team Zoom. So I really hope more brands adopt Tele cameras in 2025 and beyond.