Buying guide: Best smartphones that replace your DSLR camera

| Published: Thursday, January 3, 2019, 18:30 [IST]

Every user likes to have a device which is capable of capturing DSLR like images. Such quality pics are generated because of the latest and advanced camera apps. Smartphones nowadays are so well developed that they now sport quad cameras at the rear, and a wide secondary front camera to capture a wider area of selfies.

Buying guide: Best smartphones that replace your DSLR camera

This kind of camera setup offers the best shots one would be looking for. These are the reasons users go for best camera phones, instead of looking for professional DSLRs. Since you are really excited about buying some of them, we share a list below that you can go through. As a buying guide, we recommend you to pick any device off the shelves.

These smartphones come with excellent front and rear cameras that generate brighter images in low-light, with reduced noise, using a new HDR algorithm. Additional digital camera options in taking pictures like a professional are the HDR, Panorama and many extras. They also now feature bokeh effect, which earlier only existed in DSLRs.

Their cameras are controlled by a powerful AI algorithm, with the capability to generate artistic bokeh effects with ease. There are more features which can make your photography like a pro.

Samsung Galaxy A7 2018

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Key Specs

6-inch (1080×2220 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display
2.2GHz Octa-Core processor
4 GB RAM with 64GB / 128 GB Storage
6GB RAM with 128GB storage
expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Dual SIM
24MP rear camera and 8MP 120° Ultra Wide camera and 5MP f/2.2 depth camera
24MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture
4G VoLTE
3300mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

Samsung Galaxy J8 2018

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy J8 2018
Key Specs

6-inch (1080×2220 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display
2.2GHz Octa-Core processor
4 GB RAM with 64GB / 128 GB Storage
6GB RAM with 128GB storage
expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Dual SIM
24MP rear camera and 8MP 120° Ultra Wide camera, 5MP rear camera
24MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture
4G VoLTE
3300mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

OPPO F9 Pro

Best Price of OPPO F9 Pro
Key Specs

6.3-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 aspect ratio display
Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor with ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
6GB RAM, 64GB internal memory
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
16MP rear camera and secondary 2MP camera
25MP front-facing camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3500mAh (typical) / 3415mAh (minimum) battery with VOOC Flash charge

OnePlus 6T

Best Price of OnePlus 6T
Key Specs

6.41-inch (2340 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 aspect ratio Optic AMOLED display with 100.63% sRGB color gamut, DCI-P3 color gamut, over 600 nits brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection
2.8GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU
6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.1) storage
8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB / 256GB (UFS 2.1) storage
Android 9.0 (Pie) with OxygenOS 9.0
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
16MP rear camera and secondary 20MP camera
16MP front-facing camera
4G VoLTE
3700mAh battery

OPPO F9

Best Price of OPPO F9
Key Specs

6.3-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 aspect ratio display
Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor with ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
4GB RAM
64GB internal memory
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
16MP rear camera and secondary 2MP camera
16MP front-facing camera
Fingerprint sensor
Dual 4G VoLTE
3500mAh (typical) / 3415mAh (minimum) battery

Samsung Galaxy A6 Plus

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy A6 Plus
Key Specs

6-inch (1080 x 2220 pixels) FHD+ Super AMOLED 18.5: 9 Infinity 2.5D curved glass display
1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU
4GB RAM
64GB internal storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Dual SIM
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
16MP rear camera and 5MP secondary rear camera
24MP front-facing camera
4G VoLTE
3500mAh battery

Vivo V11

Best Price of Vivo V11
Key Specs

6.3-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 IPS display
Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor with 800MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU (V11i)
6GB RAM
64GB storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
Funtouch OS 4.5 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
16MP rear camera and secondary 5MP camera
25MP front-facing camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3315mAh battery with fast charging

Samsung Galaxy A9 2018

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy A9 2018
Key Specs

6.3-inch (1080×2220 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display
Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 512 GPU
6GB / 8GB RAM with 128 GB Storage
expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Dual SIM ( nano + nano + microSD)
24MP rear camera + 10MP + 8MP 120° Ultra Wide camera + 5MP f/2.2 depth camera
24MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture
4G VoLTE
3800mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

Realme 2 Pro 128GB

Best Price of Realme 2 Pro 128GB
Key Specs

6.3-inch (1080 x 2340 pixels) 19.5:9 FullView 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection
Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 512 GPU
4GB LPDDR4X / 6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage
8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.1) storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
16MP rear camera andsecondary 2MP camera, f/2.4 aperture
16MP front-facing camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3500mAh built-in battery

OPPO R17

Best Price of OPPO R17
Key Specs

6.4-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio display with 91.5% screen-to-body ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection
Octa-Core Snapdragon 670 with 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 615 GPU
8GB RAM, 128GB internal memory
Dual SIM
ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
16MP rear camera and 5MP secondary rear camera
25MP front-facing camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3500mAh battery with (5V/4A) VOOC Flash charge

OPPO F7

Best Price of OPPO F7
Key Specs

6.23-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 IPS display
Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor with 800MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
4GB RAM with 64GB internal memory
6GB RAM with 128GB storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
16MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.8 aperture
25MP front-facing camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3400mAh (typical) / 3300mAh (minimum) battery

Huawei Nova 3i

Best Price of Huawei Nova 3i
Key Specs

6.3-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 2.5D curved glass display, 85% NTSC Color Gamut
Octa-Core Kirin 710 12nm with ARM Mali-G51 MP4 GPU
4GB RAM, 128GB internal storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2
Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
16MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 2MP rear camera
24MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture, secondary 2MP camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3340mAh (typical) / 3240mAh (minimum) battery

Samsung Galaxy A8 Star

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy A8 Star
Key Specs

6.28-inch FHD+ (1080×2220 pixels) FHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display
Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 512 GPU
6GB LPDDR4x RAM
64GB internal storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Dual SIM
16MP primary rear camera and 24MP secondary rear camera
24MP front-facing camera
4G VoLTE
3700mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

OnePlus 6

Best Price of OnePlus 6
Key Specs

6.28-inch (2280 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display with DCI-P3 color gamut, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
2.8GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU
6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage
8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.1) / 256GB (UFS 2.1) storage
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with OxygenOS 5.1
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
16MP rear camera and secondary 20MP camera
16MP front-facing camera
4G VoLTE
3300mAh battery

OPPO Find X

Best Price of OPPO Find X
Key Specs

6.42-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED 19:5:9 aspect ratio Panoramic Arc display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
2.5GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU
8GB RAM, 256GB storage
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ColorOS 5.1
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
16MP rear camera and secondary 20MP rear camera
25MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture
4G VoLTE
3,730mAh (typical) / 3645mAh (minimum) battery with VOOC flash charge fast charging

Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus 2018

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus 2018
Key Specs

6-inch (1080×2220 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED display
Octa-Core (2.2GHz Dual + 1.6GHz Hexa) Exynos 7885 14nm processor with Mali-G71 GPU
6GB RAM
64GB storage
expandable up to 256GB via micro SD card
Android 7.1.1 (Nougat)
Dual SIM
16MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.7 aperture
16MP front camera and secondary 8MP camera
Fingerprint sensor
4G VoLTE
3500mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

Honor 10

Best Price of Honor 10
Key Specs

5.84-inch ( 2240 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ LCD 2.5D curved glass display with 96% NTSC Color gamut
Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 (4 x 2.4 GHz A73+ 4 x 1.8 GHz A53) 10nm processor with Mali-G72 MP12 GPU
6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.1
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
16MP (RGB) primary camera and secondary 24MP (Monochrome) rear camera
24MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
Ultrasonic Fingerprint sensor, Infrared sensor
Dual 4G VoLTE
3400mAh (typical) / 3320mAh (minimum) battery with fast charging

Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 128GB

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy A7 2018
Key Specs

6-inch (1080×2220 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display
Octa-Core (2.2GHz Dual + 1.6GHz Hexa) Exynos 7885 14nm processor with Mali-G71 GPU
4 GB RAM with 64GB / 128 GB Storage
6GB RAM with 128GB storage
expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Dual SIM
24MP rear camera and 8MP 120° Ultra Wide camera and 5MP f/2.2 depth camera
24MP front camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
3300mAh battery

Huawei P20 Pro

Best Price of Huawei P20 Pro
Key Specs

6.1-inch ( 2240 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ OLED 2.5D curved glass display
Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 with 10nm processor + i7 co-processor,Mali-G72 MP12 GPU, NPU
6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.1
Single / Dual SIM
40 MP + 20 MP + 8 MP rear camera
24MP front-facing camera
Dual 4G VoLTE
4000mAh battery with fast charging

LG G7 ThinQ

Best Price of LG G7 ThinQ
Key Specs

6.1-inch (3120 x 1440 pixels) 19.5:9 FullVision Super Bright IPS Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut
Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU
LG G7 ThinQ - 4GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage / LG G7+ ThinQ - 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB storage (UFS 2.1)
expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD
Android 8.0 (Oreo) with LG UX
16MP rear camera and secondary 16MP camera
8MP front camera
4G VoLTE
3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0, Wireless charging

Huawei Nova 3

Best Price of Huawei Nova 3
Key Specs

6.3-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 3D curved glass display, 85% NTSC Color Gamut
Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 with 10nm processor with Mali-G72 MP12 GPU, i7 co-processor, NPU, GPU Turbo
6GB RAM
128GB internal storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2
Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
16MP rear camera and secondary 24MP rear camera
24MP front-facing cameraand secondary 2-megapixel camera
Fingerprint sensor
Dual 4G VoLTE
3750mAh (typical) / 3650mAh (minimum) battery

LG G7 Plus ThinQ

Best Price of LG G7 Plus ThinQ
Key Specs

6.1-inch (3120 x 1440 pixels) 19.5:9 FullVision Super Bright IPS Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut
Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU
6GB LPDDR4x RAM
128GB storage (UFS 2.1)
expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD
Android 8.0 (Oreo) with LG UX
Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
16MP rear camera and secondary 16MP camera
8MP front camera
4G VoLTE
3000mAh battery

Honor V10 (View 10)

Best Price of Honor V10
Key Specs

5.99-inch (2160 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 FullView display
Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 with 10nm processor + i7 co-processor, Mali-G72 MP12 GPU
4GB RAM with 64GB storage
6GB RAM, 64GB /128GB storage
expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0
Hybird Dual SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM / microSD)
16MP (RGB) + 20MP (Monochrome) Dual rear cameras
13MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
4G VoLTE
3750mAh (typical) / 3650mAh (minimum) battery

LG V30 Plus

Best Price of LG V30 Plus
Key Specs

6-inch (2880 x 1440 pixels) QHD+ OLED display with a 18:9 aspect ratio, 538 PPI, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform with Adreno 540 GPU
4GB LPDDR4x RAM
128GB (UFS 2.0) internal memory
expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD
Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with LG UX 6.0+
Hybrid Dual SIM
16MP rear camera and 13MP secondary camera
5MP front camera
4G VoLTE
3,300mAh battery

Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

Best Price of Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL
Key Specs

Pixel 3 - 5.5-inch (1080 x 2160 pixels) FHD+ OLED 18:9 display, 443 PPI, HDR support, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
Pixel 3 XL - 6.3-inch (2880 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD+ OLED 18.5:9 display, 523 PPI, HDR support, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU
4GB DDR4X RAM, 64GB / 128GB storage
Android 9.0 (Pie)
12.2MP rear camera with LED flash, 1.4μm pixel size, ƒ/1.8 aperture, 76° FOV, Dual PD auto focus, OIS, EIS, 4K video recording at up to 30 fps, 720p at up to 240 fps, Spectral + flicker sensor
8MP auto focus front camera with f/1.8 aperture, 75° FOV, secondary 8MP fixed focus camera with f/2.2 aperture aperture, 97° FOV, 1080p video recording at up to 30 fps
Fingerprint sensor
Active Edge
Water and dust Resistant (IP68)
Stereo front-firing speakers, 3 microphones
4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11ac 2x2MIMO (2.4/5 GHz), Bluetooth 5 LE, GPS, USB Type-C Gen 1 , NFC
Pixel 3 - 2915 mAh (Pixel 3) / 3430mAh (Pixel 3 XL) battery

Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus

Best Price of Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus
Key Specs

S9 - 5.8-inch Quad HD+ (2960 × 1440 pixels) Super AMOLED Infinity display with 570ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
S9+ - 6.2-inch Quad HD+ (2960 × 1440 pixels) Super AMOLED Infinity display with 529ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 9 Series 9810 processor with Mali G72MP18 GPU
S9 - 4GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB/256GB storage (UFS 2.1), expandable memory up to 400GB with microSD
S9+ - 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB/256GB storage (UFS 2.1), expandable memory up to 400GB with microSD
Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
S9 - 12MP Dual Pixel rear camera with LED Flash, f/2.4-f/1.5 variable aperture, 960fps super slo-mo
S9+ - 12MP primary rear camera with f/2.4-f/1.5 variable aperture, LED Flash, 960fps super slo-mo, 12MP secondary rear camera with f/2.4 aperture
8MP auto focus front-facing camera with wide-angle lens, f/1.7 aperture
Water and dust resistant (IP68)
Stereo speakers tuned by AKG, Dolby Atmos
Sensors - Accelerometer, Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor, Proximity Sensor, RGB Light Sensor, Iris Sensor, Pressure Sensor
S9 Dimensions: 147.7mm x 68.7mm x 8.5mm; Weight: 163g
S9+ Dimensions: 158.1mm x 73.8mm x 8.5mm; Weight: 189g
4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 5 (LE up to 2Mbps), GPS with GLONASS, USB 3.1, NFC, MST
S9 - 3000mAh battery with fast Charging both on wired and wireless (WPC and PMA) charging
S9+ - 3500mAh battery

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Best Price of Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Key Specs

6.4-inch Quad HD+ (2960 × 1440 pixels) Super AMOLED Infinity display with 516ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass protection
Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 9 Series 9810 processor with Mali G72MP18 GPU
6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB storage / 8GB LPDDR4x RAM with 512GB storage (UFS 2.1), expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD
Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Single / Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
12MP primary rear camera and 12MP secondary rear camera
8MP auto focus front-facing camera
4G VoLTE
4000mAh battery

Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max

Best Price of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
Key Specs

iPhone XS - 5.8-inch (2436 x 1125 pixels) OLED 458ppi Super Retina HDR display, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) 3D Touch
iPhone XS Max - 6.5-inch (2688 x 1245 pixels) OLED 458ppi Super Retina HDR display, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) 3D Touch
Six-core A12 Bionic 64-bit 7nm processor with four-core GPU, Next-generation Neural Engine
64GB, 256GB, 512GB storage options
iOS 12
Water and dust resistant (IP68)
Dual SIM (nano + eSIM / physical SIM in China)
12MP wide-angle (f/1.8) and telephoto (f/2.4) cameras, Dual optical image stabilization, Optical zoom; Six‑element lens, Quad-LED True Tone flash, 4K video recording at 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 240 fps
7MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1080p video recording,Retina Flash
TrueDepth camera for FaceID facial recognition, Stereo speakers, Four microphones
4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac with MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC with reader mode, GPS with GLONASS
Dimensions (XS) - 143.6×70.9×7.7 mm; Weight: 177g
Dimensions (XS Max) - 157.5×77.4×7.7 mm; Weight: 208g
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery