I tested the best phones. But none will ever replace my camera

The best cameras in today’s phones are surprisingly capable of taking photos. With large sensors, wide apertures, and a host of additional software features, they can take images that rival what you’d expect from professional-level mirrorless cameras.

I’ve thoroughly tested all of today’s best camera phones, including the iPhone 17 Pro, Galaxy S26 Ultra, and Leica Leitzphone, as a phone reviewer and professional photographer.

But I still wouldn’t want to completely replace my camera with just a phone. I have a few key reasons for this.

Ergonomics

Although cameras have come in all shapes and sizes in recent decades, they are designed to be held the same way, with your fingers naturally resting in the same places when you press the shutter button. They seem to fit naturally and even smaller compact cameras such as the Fujifilm X100VI or my own Leica Q3 43 still allow you to hold them up to take your photo in a generally comfortable way.

Phones aren’t primarily designed to be cameras, so they naturally dictate a different way to hold them. Large touchscreens mean you have to hold the phone delicately by its edges to avoid accidentally touching something on the screen, and without a viewfinder there’s no option to hold it close to your eyes, as you would with most regular cameras.

Phones are small and thin (at least compared to most cameras), which makes a firm grip difficult, and pressing an on-screen button to take a photo always feels awkward. I’m afraid of dropping the phone when I move my fingers to the right position. Even phones that have physical shutter buttons on the edge (or let you use the volume key as a shutter) still feel like you’re holding them in a way they were never really designed for.

Of course, you can get camera grips or cases that help bulk up the phone to give you something to hold on to and some of them even offer shutter buttons and adjustment dials to allow you to use them as a compact camera. I’ve tried many, but none feel as good as holding a real camera.

Image quality

The best cameras in today’s phones can take truly stunning images. I was blown away by the photos I was able to take with the Xiaomi and Leica Leitzphone, especially using its filmic color profiles. But even this phone – arguably the best camera phone money can buy – doesn’t fully compete with a real camera.

And how is this possible? Although it has a larger image sensor than most phones, it’s still tiny compared to the vast majority of cameras. Just like his goal. This is why all smartphone cameras must rely heavily on software image processing to extract all possible quality from their sensors. Some go too far with images that can look seriously overprocessed, with heavy sharpening a common factor in the quality of most phones.

In fact, if you just look at these images on your Instagram feed, you’ll probably never realize they were taken on a phone. The often “crunchy” and overly sharp aesthetic that many phones typically produce only becomes apparent when you zoom in on the finer details. But these signs will always be there, often accompanied by increased saturation and over-reliance on HDR techniques to control highlights and shadows.

Professional cameras with larger image sensors and higher quality lenses can produce much more natural detail without the intervention of an algorithm.

Generative AI

Speaking of algorithms, I can confidently say that I don’t want generative AI anywhere near my photos. This is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid with phone cameras. Google proudly boasts of using generative AI to improve its zoomed-in photos on the Pixel 10 Pro, while some of Samsung’s new camera features involve using AI to replace clothing on your subject. Apple’s upcoming iOS 27 will even let you change the perspective of an image after you’ve taken it, using AI to create an angle you never actually took in the first place.

Almost all phones offer some sort of AI in their image-taking workflow. Even phones that don’t actively change the background or other elements of your images still use generative tools to upgrade your photos to make them “better.”

The result is that it is difficult to say that you have actually taken an image when you do not know to what extent it has been reconstructed by software. Oppo explained that its recent Find X9 Ultra doesn’t use any generative AI in Master Mode – and honestly, it shows; Normal mode shots can certainly look over-processed, especially when it comes to artificially lifted shadows. Switching to Master mode (and thus bypassing all the AI) is the way to get the best photos from this phone. I found the same thing when using the camera on the Honor Magic 8 Pro.

Call me a purist, a Luddite, or a technophobe, but AI has no place in my photography, either at the time of capture or when I edit my images later. I want to know that what I captured in my final photo is what I, the photographer, actually wanted in that frame, not just what an algorithm spit out.

Life cycle

I own and frequently use decades-old cameras. My Pentax K1000 film camera was released in 1976, while one of my favorite digital cameras, the Sony RX1R, is now 13 years old and still going strong. The lifecycle of a phone is much shorter, with even high-end models only receiving security updates for up to seven years.

Once this support period is over, your phone is simply no longer safe to use and it’s time to upgrade. Of course, the idea is that by then new technology would be available, so the phone you wanted to upgrade to would be even better than your old one. But that still means that the phone camera you’re used to shooting with, which delivers the look and tones you like, just won’t last as long as a regular camera.

That lifespan can really sting, especially since advanced camera phones tend to demand more money – like the £1,700 ($2,245) Leitzphone. Is it better to buy an expensive device that does everything for a shorter period, or spend less on a regular phone and also buy a camera that will last much longer? This is a decision only you can make.

The look

Maybe I’m being vain here, but as a professional photographer, I just wouldn’t want to be seen taking photos with a phone. It doesn’t matter if this phone is the best in the world at taking pictures; there is a certain stigma around it that suggests a level of amateurism. I’m not really talking about what it looks like to strangers on the street – on the contrary, using a phone allows you to blend in and effectively become invisible, which is amazing for things like street photography.

I’m talking about more professional scenarios. If I showed up to a shoot for a commercial client paying me five figures for my images and only used a phone, I don’t think I would find work from that client again. I could argue all I want that the quality is good enough, that they are paying for my expertise, and that the final images will still be great, but it wouldn’t matter. This customer would see the phone and wonder why the hell they’re paying so much for someone to take shots on a phone – they could have done it themselves and saved a ton of money in the process.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that only the best equipment can take the best photos – I have done commercial shots using Canon’s cheapest 50mm “nifty fifty” lens and have had images taken with that lens licensed for luxury photo books. Most clients care about the images, not the equipment you use to get them. But there is a balance to be struck here and using professional equipment suggests that you are a professional. Showing up to a shoot – commercial, wedding, whatever – and pulling out my iPhone for work is not going to do my career as a photographer any favors.

So many notifications

I saved the most important one for last, because it’s the biggest stumbling block for me when using a phone as a camera for extended periods of time. If I’m shooting images – whether walking around a Tuscan village on vacation, taking photos for my YouTube channel, or on set for commercial work – I don’t want distractions that take me away from the creative mindset I’m trying to maintain.

Using my phone for any purpose already means fighting with ec near constant incoming notifications from my email, Slack, WhatsApp, Instagram and many others. It’s a perpetual onslaught that makes it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. Sure, you can turn Do Not Disturb on — and I do — but I also don’t want to miss important phone calls or other messages that I might need to take action on. So, I don’t like to turn things off completely either.

Using a dedicated camera is like choosing the right tool for the right job. Unlike our phones, it doesn’t try to be something else by doing 1,000 other things in the background. My camera doesn’t come with Bubble-Pop games pre-installed and it doesn’t vibrate every ten seconds while my friends share memes on our WhatsApp group. Using the camera means cutting myself off from everything going on in my life and focusing on the joy of creating images.

I don’t want one device that can do everything. Sometimes it’s best to have a product that only does one thing, but does it exceptionally well. And just like I don’t want a dongle that’s also a DAB radio and a meat thermometer, I don’t want a camera that’s a games console, an exercise tracker and my portal to social media.

This is why I – and many other photographers around the world – have also really enjoyed getting into film photography recently, as it strips away even more technology and allows for a more simplistic, arguably more authentic, way of taking images.

I’m using my camera more and more to find a little zen in the chaos of life and not feel like I’m constantly on. That’s why my camera gives me more inspiration. Picking it up means making an intentional decision to go take photos, not just pulling out my phone to take a quick photo if I see a cute dog. This intentionality invokes a deeper sense of creativity. And more often than not, this results in better, more meaningful photos.

As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you always have with you, but that doesn’t mean it will always be the one you can take your best photos with. I love using phone cameras and am thrilled to be able to have something this good in my pocket for those occasions when I don’t have my camera with me.

But phones will always be additional cameras for me – ideal for spontaneous opportunities or for filming behind-the-scenes content. And yes, I will sometimes choose to use it on outings where I don’t want a camera around my neck. But I will always always have a classic camera for my work and whether it’s a modern digital camera or a vintage film camera, it will always be the camera I choose when I want to disconnect from the world and truly concentrate on the joy of taking photos.