Gadgetory

the best of the best the top tier the cameras that truly kick booty 2016 was a great year for mobile photography whittling this list down to a top five was a Herculean task but we're exactly the tech channel to get that job done no cop-outs here these are ranked based on our experiences producing a year of real camera reviews the most in-depth series of phone camera reviews available on the Internet where you can see these phones in action with you HD resolution samples in a variety of real-world shooting scenarios any phone making this list is a top tier performer so let's jump in number five the pixel and pixel XL this year Google killed the Nexus and shifting their strategy to a more consumer focus we're confident this move will be successful and the pixel camera demonstrates a fantastic casual user approach to producing colorful images this phone is the undisputed champ of auto mode and HDR photography and in good light delivers some of the smoothest video we've ever seen it was a prime contender and might have topped this list were it not for a handful of issues the software processing is incredible but there are woefully few settings or options for folks who like exercising more control over their content the gyro stabilization is amazing and good light but can ghosts severely as conditions get a bit dimmer plus the crop on video output means you can't ever really trust the framing on what the phone screen is showing you the pixel only captures audio in mono and lastly Google has acknowledged lens issues which won't be fixed in this generation of hardware this is the most flare prone phone we've ever tested still for those potential problems the pixel is a punchy performer which does a great job in most shooting scenarios number four the huawei mate 9 moving from number five on this list to number four we couldn't possibly find more polar opposites in terms of features and design while way in like a team-up again for a second generation dual camera system the may 9 is the most feature-rich camera for producing still images we've ever seen like as image processing is even-handed and this Hardware plays with light and contrast in ways no other phone can replicate the combo is capable of producing stunning images Grasso treated to an adjustable wide aperture mode delivering almost DSLR style background blur this is the absolute best software blur we've ever seen the mate 9 is a powerhouse but that power comes with one of the most complex camera apps of the year requiring users to brute-force memorize not only where settings live but also which features can be used in various modes this is only the second Huawei to shoot UHD video and we're happy to see that increased resolution but it's not the strongest performer on this list for moving images image stabilization is somewhat livelier than we'd like to see but we are happy to hear some of the best audio capture on any of the phones released this year it's not for the faint of heart but the may 9 is one of the most formidable camera packages available on a mobile device today number three the iPhone 7 plus what if you could take apples consistent image processing and add more cutting-edge hardware well hypothetical person who asked that question you would have the iPhone 7 plus dual cameras are all the rage these days no surprising is three of the five phones on this list are sporting multiple sensors was such a new hardware idea on phones in the year 2016 we would have expected Apple to invent dual cameras in the year 2018 but surprisingly apples actually on the pulse here the iPhone solution enables a nifty hardware zoom and a less flexible portrait mode to help blur photo backgrounds alongside the image processing HDR slow motion video and video stabilization we've all come to know and love from iPhones past you probably won't find a more consistent performer on any phone though this app is feeling dated and adding new features while trying to maintain some notion of simplicity is an ever increasing exercise in futility we also have to continue knocking Apple for capturing only mono audio while shooting video someday maybe they'll learn that most iPhone users have two ears it could happen it's a shame the smaller iPhone doesn't sport this extra sensor but for folks shopping the larger iPhone you're in for a photo treat number two the galaxy s7 and s an edge Samsung emits a dual sensor setup will likely get some flavor of that for next year's galaxy's but the s7 and s7 edge represent the best all-rounder cameras on this list they win precious few fights outright the dual pixel technology for example borrowed from DSLRs is the fastest and most accurate focus lock we've seen on a phone and the launch burst and recycled times are also incredibly quick everything else is simply top-notch we don't have the best manual mode but it's still excellent we don't have the best audio capture for video but it's still very good we don't have the smoothest image stabilization but it's some of the smoothest video we can capture from a phone good optics great low-light capabilities and excellent out of the box novice experience and plenty of room to grow for people who want to learn more or improve their content creation image processing can still land into that hyped up Samsung look of saturation and sharpening the lens can produce some colorful flaring though nowhere near as destructive as the pixel and the super wide aperture which improves low-light shots can make lining up macro photos a little more difficult but there just aren't any outright deal-breakers here the galaxy s7 represents the best balance of pros and cons on this list though in a year of more daring camera experiments it just doesn't quite land our top spot number one the LG v 20 the top dog the king of the hill our number one for 2016 you will not find a more complete platform for content creation than what LG has delivered on the V 20 another dual camera experiment the normal and ultra wide lenses are flexible and fun to use the biggest criticism of this phone is that it has one of the weaker auto modes on this list delivering overly compressed JPEGs which can look a bit bland but no other phone out of the box does a better job of encouraging the user to actually participate in creating their own images options and settings are nearly as comprehensive as what you might find on a standalone camera but unlike Huawei this app is laid out in a much more familiar way and modes are easier to navigate this phone is the undisputed champ of providing feedback histograms are valuable for helping users in brightness audio meters give you real-time visual feedback if things get loud and with no Nokia release this year LG stepped up to provide the best audio capture platform of 2016 not only can you see what's happening you don't need to trust that the phone is capturing good audio the v20 will output audio while recording for users to monitor over both cabled and Bluetooth headphones so you can hear in real-time that you really are getting what you want feedback elevates this phone to a true creation platform which encourages rather than discourage --is empowers rather than intimidates it's not paying lip service to these manual modes it really wants you to get as much out of this camera as you can once you get used to that ability to reference it's tough going back to phones which lack those visual and audio cues the highest bitrate video capture of the year the absolute best audio capture a very good simple mode for casual shooters which grows into the most comprehensive collection of photo and video options available all wrapped up in one of the more durable phones of the year for folks who are apt to really take this tech out into the field the LG v20 is an absolute monster plus a few honorable mentions as stated at the beginning of this video 2016 was a great year for phone cameras we saw Motorola in HTC improves significantly providing some of the best shooters those companies have ever produced and an insane collection of mid-range er phones proved you don't need to pay top dollar for excellent output so what was your favorite camera of the year did your phone make our top 5 drop us a comment down below this video as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for all of our 2016 wrap-up videos and for those who really want to dive deep into camera performance make sure you catch our real camera reviews for the full scoop on what these phones can really do for pocket now i'm juan carlos bag nails i'm gadget guy on twitter and instagram and i will catch you all on the next video