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Welcome to Android Police’s second-ever Mobile Photography Week where we focus on what the handset in your pocket can shoot for you. Throughout the next week, we’ll be publishing editorials, how-to guides, product recommendations, and analysis on how you can use your smartphone’s camera for the better.
Smartphone photography has been the major battleground for Android phone makers for the last decade, and that remains the case in 2023. Right now, the smartphone camera to beat in the US is likely theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultrawith its 200MP main sensor, 12MP ultra-wide, and two telephoto cameras. That said, theGoogle Pixel 7 Progives it a run for its money, and we should probably also consider what Apple’s iPhone can do too.
Elsewhere, outside the US, the competition is fierce with the newHuawei P60 Protaking the top spot on many best camera phone lists. It isn’t just Huawei though with stiff competition from Xiaomi, Oppo, and Honor. If you’re a fan of what your smartphone can do with its many sensors, be sure to check back through to Sunday, May 21 as we’ll be publishing lots of articles each day this week.
Sunday: Cheap phone photography, editing apps, and a history lesson
The technological foundation of mobile photography
Got time for a history lesson today? We’ve dived into how the smartphone in your pocket can take such beautiful imagery all week, but now we’re going back to the very beginning.
How to take a good photo on a cheap phone
You don’t need a top-end smartphone that costs over $1,000 to be able to take a good photo. This guide talks you through what to do if you don’t own a flagship phone.
Saturday: Camera terminology, and third-party apps
Understanding your phone’s camera specs
The terminology used by manufacturers to describe smartphone cameras is complicated. If you don’t know your aperture from your μm, you’ll need our guide to camera terms to make your next smartphone purchase easier, or just to understand the current phone in your pocket.
How to view your Pixel portrait photos with bokeh off
The Portrait mode on Pixel phones brings in a bokeh effect, but it’s not particularly easy to be able to turn that feature off. We’re here to talk you through how you can play around with bokeh when you don’t think it has worked perfectly in your photography.
Friday: Pixel 7 Pro tips, and do megapixels matter on phones?
Does megapixel count matter for smartphones?
Every phone manufacturer wants you to see its megapixel count when it announces a new smartphone. It’s why we’ve got 200MP cameras on Samsung’s top-of-the-line Ultra phones now. But it’s not all about that number, so we’ve dived into the specs sheets to see how much megapixels truly matter in 2023.
How to make a video call on Android
Which video call app is best for you to use on Android? We talk you through each of the options and how to use them to make your experience with your selfie camera better than ever.
The 7 best Google Pixel 7 Pro camera tips
Own a Pixel 7 Pro? It’s one of the very best camera phones around, which means you’ve got a lot of photography features at your fingertips. Here we talk you through our favorite tips of what you can do with these three main cameras.
Thursday: Photo editing tips, stabilization, and pixel binning
4 essential smartphone photo editing tips for beginners
Are you the sort of person that takes a photo and immediately sends it to your friends without any touch-ups? Take a bit of time to learn some photo editing techniques, and you may be able to vastly improve the results you get with your smartphone camera. We’ve got some absolute beginner tips you may find helpful.
OIS vs EIS: everything you need to know
Your phone will likely have some combination of optical image stabilization or electronic image stabilization. You may even have both working on your phone’s rear cameras. Read this guide to better understand how it works on your phone.
Why your high-end Samsung phone may take 12MP photos
Samsung’s top-end Galaxy series handsets like theS22 UltraandS23 Ultraboth use a technique calledpixel binning, which means your phone’s camera may be taking 12MP shots with either a 108MP or even a 200MP camera. We explain what it all means, and how it impacts your photography.
Wednesday: Pixel 7 tips, RAW photos, and Pixel 6 guidance
Google Pixel 7 camera tips: 9 tips for smartphone shutterbugs
If you own a Pixel 7 series phone, you’ve got one of the best camera phones money can buy. We’ve put together a guide of tips and tricks to help you make the most of your smartphone’s highly competent cameras on the front and back.
How to take and edit RAW photos on Android
Ever felt like making mobile photography more complicated? Our guide to RAW photography on your Android phone will make your life a bit easier than if you’re starting from scratch without any guidance.
Tuesday: Computational photography, backgrounds, and Samsung Gallery
What is computational photography?
Your phone’s software plays a very big part in what photographs you can capture, so it’s not all about hardware. Our beginner’s guide to computational photography will give you a better idea of what the software of your phone’s camera is doing behind the scenes to ensure your photos are ready for sharing on social media.
How to remove backgrounds from your photos
Removing backgrounds from any image isn’t easy. There’s a reason people spend years getting good at using tools like Photoshop, but there are alternatives you’re able to use on your phone to make professional shots without a background. Read our guide to learn the tools we recommend for making yourself a PNG.
Monday: Best apps, Google Photos, and a Pixel 7 camera showdown
Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Pixel 7 camera showdown
Spoilers: the Pixel 7 Pro is the best. But the question is, by how much? Google’s latest flagship pair of smartphones have largely similar specs, so we put both the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro to the test, and here’s what we found the cameras on each device were able to capture.
