Saying is that the best camera is what you have, and maybe that’s why point-and-shoot cameras are on their way to extinction, as the smartphone photography is getting popular than ever. Why is that so? Well, the answer is simple; we always carry our phones, but not the dedicated cameras. Mostly because they’re more flexible and durable to carry around in our pockets, and on top of that the smartphone cameras are quick, simple to use and take great captures; may you talk about the photos or videos. They’ve dramatically evolved a lot over the past years, in quality and features, both aspects.

Though it’s clear that smartphones these days are capable shooters, it’s not easy to find out which one’s the best since there are lots of them. Researching about which camera would be best out of the popular handsets might be a gruesome task for you. While for us, it’s a privilege, you know because we love comparing smartphones. If you are interested in knowing which is the best camera smartphones among these three handsets; Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Huawei Nexus 6P and Motorola Moto X Force, then you have come to right place.

Having a good camera app with tons of modes to play around maybe important from an enthusiast perspective, as they like to try a lot, but sometimes, the stock camera app from Google is more than fine. The point is that you have access to quite a large database of third-party camera app despite the default app provided by the company in the system fails. But you won’t be able to change the camera module itself once you purchase a device. Well, there may be a lot of talk about Project Ara, but let’s face it, the dream of owning a modular phone is still far away for average consumers. And if you’re going to invest a big chunk of money you should know why the hardware is of foremost importance, and then comes the software part. Among these three high-end handsets from Samsung, Huawei and Motorola, let’s find out which device has what hardware. Meaning, which device uses which camera sensors; let’s get you educated on the sensors used on these smartphones.

Comparison: Hardware Specifications of Rear Camera Module

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 uses Sony Exmor IMX240 sensor; it is of an improved quality when compared with the Sony Exmor IMX230 used on the Motorola Moto X Force. There might be a resolution difference between these two handsets as the Moto handset comes with higher 21-megapixel while Samsung handset comes with a 16-megapixel resolution. But what’s important is that it is ahead in the aperture number game, as it sports a f/1.9 lens while X Force has f/2.0 aperture number. Make a note that lesser number means it will do a better job in capturing the light, so lesser is better.

Camera Manufacturer

& Model

Resolution Aperture Number (f number) PDAF/Laser AF Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) Flash Type Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Sony IMX240/ Samsung S5K2P2* 16 f/1.9 Yes, Laser AF Yes

Dual LED Huawei Nexus 6P Sony IMX377 12.3 f/2.0 Yes, IR Laser AF No Broad-Spectrum CRI-90 Dual Flash

Motorola Moto X Force Sony IMX230 21 f/2.0 Yes, PDAF Yes CCT (Colour Correlated Temperature) Flash with dual LED

While Nexus talk big game even with the smallest resolution out of the three devices here. It sports 12.3-megapixel resolution, but it makes up for in having the largest lens with 1.55 μm pixels, and thus it has that big bump on the top rear side. But what it lacks is that it doesn’t have Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) feature as well as Moto X Force also lacks it, while Galaxy Note 5 offers a combination of OIS and software stabilization, called Steady Shot. Talking about the autofocus game, the Samsung handset has Laser assist as well as Nexus 6P too, whereas X Force has Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF). These features assist module in focusing quick and capturing photos as soon as you hit the shutter button.

Comparison: Hardware Specification of Front Camera Module

Taking selfies are all rage these days and smartphone manufacturers are mainly taking interests because of a lot of demand for a best selfie camera. Here we three smartphones to compare, let’s find out the specifics of front modules used on these handsets. The highest resolution of 8-megapixel is housed on the Nexus 6P while other two handsets; Note 5 and X Force sports 5-megapixel resolution. But here again, Note 5 is a prime contender as it has a best aperture number, f/1.9 and a wide-angle lens, which is a killer combination for selfie camera to work during low light conditions and fits a large number of people in one selfie.

Resolution Aperture Number (F number) Wide-Angle Lens Flash Samsung Galaxy Note 5 5 f/1.9 Yes No Huawei Nexus 6P 8 f/2.4 N/A No Motorola Moto X Force 5 f/2.0 Yes Yes

The wide-angle lens is also present on the Moto device, but it doesn’t have good aperture number at f/2.0, although, it does have a front flash to cater the need of capturing selfies in low light condition. The Huawei handset has the highest resolution of all, but its aperture number is quite high at f/2.4 while it is unknown whether the lens used is wide-angled or not. Below you can see a table depicting the difference between video features on these handsets.

4K Recording (fps) Slow Motion (fps) Timelapse Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Yes



Yes Yes Huawei Nexus 6P Yes (30 fps) Yes (240 fps) Yes Motorola Moto X Force Yes (30 fps) Yes No

Camera Samples: Indoor Conditions

Scene 1

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Indoor Captures (5) Huawei Nexus 6P – Indoor Captures (4) Motorola Moto X Force – Indoor Captures (5)

Scene 2

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Indoor Captures (4) Huawei Nexus 6P – Indoor Captures (3) Motorola Moto X Force – Indoor Captures (4)

Scene 3

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Indoor Captures (3) Huawei Nexus 6P – Indoor Captures (2)

Scene 4

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Indoor Captures (1) Huawei Nexus 6P – Indoor Captures (1)

Camera Samples: Outdoor Conditions

Scene 1

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Outdoor Captures (5) Huawei Nexus 6P – Outdoor Captures (5) Motorola Moto X Force – Outdoor Captures (5)

Scene 2

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Outdoor Captures (4) Huawei Nexus 6P – Outdoor Captures (4)

Scene 3

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Outdoor Captures (3) Huawei Nexus 6P – Outdoor Captures (3) Motorola Moto X Force – Outdoor Captures (3)

Scene 4

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 – Outdoor Captures (2) Huawei Nexus 6P – Outdoor Captures (2)

You can see the camera samples from the three handsets side-by-side. We would like you to see them and be a judge what camera samples you like or not. After that, you can vote for the handset in below poll, which yielded best results according to you.



Best Camera Smart Phone

What can be understood from the above camera samples and the detailed hardware comparison of the camera modules and features, is that Samsung Galaxy Note 5 offers superior quality captures, as well as it has a more features to offer than other two handsets. Talking about the Huawei Nexus 6P and Motorola Moto X Force, the outputs on these handsets was surprisingly similar, despite quite the difference in resolution and some other camera specifics. So, it’s settled, the winner among these three high-end smartphones the Galaxy Note 5.