Dual-camera phones are not particularly new. However, since the Apple iPhone 7 Plus was announced in 2016, manufacturers have been finding new routes to produce the best camera on phones with the help of a dual camera setup.
In fact, we witnessed a groundbreaking three-camera setup on the Huawei P20 Pro, followed by Samsung Galaxy A7 and now more handsets. But if you notice, the best camera phone in the market right now – the Pixel 3/XL still does the job with just one sensor, and phones like the Galaxy A9 with four cameras fail to match it.
There was a time when there were few phones with two rear cameras, but things have changed so much that the trend has entered the budget phone market too.
So, what are some of the popular dual-camera phones that we can find in the Indian mobile market today? Let’s have a look.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus brings along a new variable aperture which changes as per the demand of the condition. Meaning, the low-light performance improves as it lets more light to enter the camera.
The only issue here's is the aggressive noise reduction algorithm that soften the details. But still, the phone is great for any kind of photography, and IP68 certification makes it usable in different environments.
Read the full review- Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus
OnePlus 6T
If you're looking for an all-rounder with a well-above-average camera in its class, the OnePlus 6T might just be your thing. The dual rear camera features a wide-angle lens paired with a 16MP sensor, as well as a secondary 20MP lens and sensor combination. Both lenses have a f/1.7 aperture. The front camera is a 16MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture.
Of all the phones under Rs 40,000, the OnePlus 6T is among the best for camera performance. While it can't boast of a camera like the Google Pixel 3, for its price, the OnePlus 6T can take some outstanding pictures.
Read our detailed OnePlus 6T review.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro succeeds an already great smartphone, and so brings enhanced cameras as the key update over its predecessor. It is also the first Xiaomi phone to have two cameras on the front for selfies, meaning it can click bokeh shots from both the sides.
Daylight shots are plenty impressive; but the Note 6 Pro brings impressive low-light photography to the budget smartphone segment, and that's rare. Pictures clicked in low light with the Redmi Note 6 Pro don't show heavy noise or grain, and that's something rare on smartphones of this range.
It retails for Rs 14,699 on Amazon.
The Honor View 20 Pro has two rear cameras. But the second is a ToF (time of flight) 3D camera, rather than one that adds a zoomed or wide-angle view. AI images have a more natural look than those of some older Huawei/Honor models when using the main sensor. There’s a multi-exposure mode for night shooting too. It’s very similar to the super night mode introduced in the Huawei P20 Pro.
The Honor View 20 has quite possibly the best camera you can get at the price right now. This is in part because Honor is first off the blocks to have a go at using Sony’s new ultra-high res hardware. But it also benefits from much of the camera processing development work put into phones like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro.
Read our full review here
The iPhone X was one of the most anticipated phones of 2017- a decade of iPhones and all that- and what we got was a major departure from the tired old iPhone designs. The iPhone X's dual camera setup is similar to the iPhone 8 Plus, but with small differences that take the photography to another level.
The f/2.4 aperture delivers natural-looking, detailed shots in daylight, and has improved low-light capabilities as well. Being able to loop, bounce or long-expose photos is a fun little extra that you get with the iOS upgrade.
The TrueDepth front camera is true to its name, and takes excellent selfies, particularly with portrait mode.
If you don't mind shelling out Rs 74,999 (or Rs 94,500 for the 256GB version), then the iPhone X is one of the best dual camera phones on the market right now.
The Galaxy Note is is currently the best dual camera smartphone in India. The newly launched flagship bears the same camera setup as the Galaxy S9 Plus.
The dual 12MP rear camera uses variable-aperture technology to switch between an f/1.5 aperture for low-light photography and an f/2.4 aperture for normal lighting conditions.
The secondary lens enables 2x optical zoom, which helps to capture sharp telephoto snapshots for distant subject. It has a fixed f/2.4 fixed aperture, and it retains the optical image stabilization like the primary lens. It works well, and it's very useful for those with shaky hands. There was ample of noise in the night-time shots with the telephoto lens, everything else remains perfectly crisp.
Front camera does selfies at 8MP and has autofocus, which is a first for a Galaxy Note phone. The camera app is filled with tons of mode options like AR stickers, wide group selfies, HD Super Slow Motion at 960fps and more. The camera app is dense, but it's still very easy to use and fast.
On top of everything, users get to opt for multiple storage variants as huge as 512GB storage with microSD card support.
Read full review: Samsung Galaxy note 9 review
Comparing the iPhone XS and iPhone X with the same photo, it’s clear that the Smart HDR mode is the key difference here. While the overall quality of the snap is largely the same, the detail and brightness throughout is improved, which bodes well for when your photography skills are poorer but you still want to get a great picture.
Apple is talking up the improved portrait mode too, with both the ability to take better pictures of people (with smarter capabilities of working out where the edges of their head lie, so they stay sharp against a blurred background) and the capability of adjusting the level of blur behind them.
Read the full review: iPhone XS
The LG G7 ThinQ is an impressive little phone from the brand (irritating name aside), bringing with it a strong package and a decent price in many regions. There's an attempt to right the wrongs of the LG G6 – and it's resulted in a good alternative to the traditional big hitters.
The smart camera here is great if you want to capture more of the picture, with a much wider field of view bringing in more information. The smart sensor tries to work out what's in front of you – with great results, but only when it gets things right. It's not the best camera out there, but you can take some stellar shots.
Read the full review: LG G7 ThinQ review
The OnePlus 6/6T doesn't feel out of the place alongside the likes of Samsung, Sony or LG. In fact, the company has made a better value for money device when compared to most flagship currently. While the OnePlus 6T is a complete powerhouse in the performance department, it's no less in the optics department too.
It has the same camera configuration on paper as its predecessor, but OnePlus has increased the size of the sensor on the main 16MP camera by 19%, and it now has a 1.22um pixel size (up from 1.12um), enabling it to pull in more light and thus perform better in low-light conditions. Which makes it one of the better phones for photography in its range.
Read review: OnePlus 6T
The Honor 10's camera is actually the area where you can expect the it to perform better than its expensive alternatives. On the back of the Honor 10 sits a bug-eyed pair of camera lenses. One uses a 16MP colour sensor, the other a 20MP monochrome sensor.
Huawei and Honor have used a similar setup before, the higher-resolution 20MP camera being used to let you zoom at 2x and see more detail than you would from simply cropping into the standard 16MP image.
The camera performance is commendable and there's virtually zero shutter lag. Focusing is reasonably fast and you can use Auto mode and get the best possible shot in most cases.
Read the full review: Honor 10 review
The recently announced Mi A2 is the second generation of Xiaomi's Android One device. After the success of the Mi A1 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Xiaomi has announced the slightly costlier Mi A2.
Since its partnership with Xiaomi for the Mi A1, search giant Google has partnered with Nokia, Motorola and other OEMs for premium Android One devices. Now, the two companies have partnered once again for the Mi A2.
The Mi A2 offers several upgrades over its predecessor, including an all new 18:9 display, improved cameras and an upgraded SoC. While these upgrades are good, the company has also taken some steps back by slightly reducing the battery capacity instead of increasing it and removing the 3.5mm audio jack.
Read the full review here: Xiaomi Mi A2 Review
The Honor Play is one of the most powerful devices from the company in the country and has been priced very competitively. The main highlight of the device is the Kirin 970 SoC, which is the company's current flagship SoC.
The Honor Play is gaming centric device and has been equipped with the company's GPU Turbo, a software and hardware solution that is claimed to increase the device's performance by up to 60% while reducing the battery consumption by up to 30% while gaming.
Coming to the cameras, the device sports a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 16MP primary sensor and a 2MP secondary depth sensor. The cameras come with features such as phase detection autofocus and EIS. Honor has said that it will push an OTA to enable AI stabilisation on the device in the coming days.
Similar to the MI A2, the Redmi Note 6 Pro also succeeds to an already great smartphone and brings enhanced cameras as the key update over its predecessor. It is also the first Xiaomi phone to have two cameras on the front for selfies, meaning it can click bokeh photos from both the sides.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro is capable of capturing impressive shots in both low and good light situations. Even in low light scenarios, the phone clicks clear pictures with a decent amount of details. Another thing that we specifically like about the Redmi Note 6 Pro camera is how well it captures colours even in low-light. Pictures clicked in low light with the Redmi Note 6 Pro doesn’t show heavy noise or grain, and that's something rare on smartphones of this range.
The only downside is the inconsistent edge detections in bokeh shots.
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