Best camera phones? They are NOT the iPhone 13 Pro, Galaxy S22! Surprised?

The best camera phones tested by critics at DxOMark are not the iPhone 13 or the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The winners are surprising.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is still the third best camera phone scientifically, beating the iPhone 13 Pro.  (HT Tech)

If you had to buy a good camera phone, the obvious choices that come forward are the Apple iPhone 13, and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, you will be surprised to know that technically, these two are not the best camera phones in the world. In fact, if you head over to the DxOMark data sheet, you will be surprised to see the top three camera smartphones. And the funniest part is that you cannot buy these in India, and in many other markets around the world. In fact, most of these phones cannot be bought in most markets.

The DxOMark tests smartphone cameras and ranks them based on practical tests that involve scientific measures to rank the image quality. DxOMark has been doing this for years and it ranks all the top smartphones in the world every year. The iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones are also a part of the list. However, these are not the top phones and they never have been.

Top camera phones based on DxOMark scores

Based on the current DxOMark scores rating, here are the top camera smartphones tested from around the world.

- Honor Magic 4 Ultimate with a score of 146

- Huawei P50 Pro with a score of 144

- Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra with a score of 143

- Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ with a score of 139

- Apple iPhone 13 Pro with a score of 137

- Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max with a score of 137

- Huawei Mate 40 Pro with a score of 136

- Google Pixel 6 Pro with a score of 135

- Vivo X70 Pro+ with a score of 135

- Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders with a score of 133

As you can see, the top high-end flagship phones that are so sought after rank much lower in the top-10 list. The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max share the fifth and sixth spot, while the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra sits at a much lowly 15th and 16th spots.

The top two smartphones are from Honor and Huawei, both of which don't sell in India and several other markets. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was sold in limited batches in India last year and its successor is yet to arrive properly. In fact, the Xiaomi 12 Pro as Xiaomi's current flagship is nowhere in the top 10 list. And it is still astonishing to see the latest iPhone 13 Pro Max unable to beat the Mi 11 Ultra, despite all the advanced camera hardware that powers it.

Hence, if you are buying the iPhone 13 Pro assuming them to be the best camera phones proven scientifically, then you must know the truth. They are, however, one of the best camera phones you can buy today and being a mobile photographer, you are going to like the experience.