Top 5 Camera Phones to Buy This Diwali: iPhone 18 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and More
The festive season is all about making memories, and what better way to preserve them than with a smartphone that can capture every detail? Whether you're shooting Diwali decorations, taking portraits of friends and family, or trying to get a clear shot of fireworks in the night sky, your phone's camera can make a significant difference. But with so many smartphones promising impressive photography, choosing the right one can get confusing. That's why we've put together a list of five camera phones that stand out for their hardware, zoom capabilities, low-light features and video recording capabilities. Here are the top 5 camera phones to buy this Diwali.
Google Pixel 11 Pro XL
The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL features three rear cameras. The main camera is 50MP, an 48MP ultrawide is 48MP, the telephoto is 48MP with OIS and 5x optical zoom, and Pro Zoom goes up to 120x. The front camera is 42MP with autofocus. Rear video goes up to 8K at 30fps with Video Boost, and up to 4K at 60fps. Software features include Magic Capture, Camera Looks, Pro controls, Instant Night Sight, Astrophotography and Real Tone.
The display is a 6.8-inch Super Actua LTPO OLED panel, with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,600 nits at peak. The chip is the Google Tensor G6 processor, paired with the Titan M3 security chip, 12GB RAM, and 256GB storage. The battery is 5,115mAh, with 45W fast charging and supports 25W PixelSnap Qi2.2 wireless charging. The phone runs Android 17, with seven years of OS updates and 7 years of security patches, and Pixel Drop updates. It has an IP68 rating, weighs 226 g, and is 8.5mm thick.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has four rear cameras. The main camera is 200MP with an f/1.4 lens and OIS. The ultrawide is 50MP with autofocus. There are two telephoto lenses: a 10MP lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP periscope with 5x optical zoom, which Samsung lists at 10x optical-quality zoom. The front camera is 12MP. Rear video goes up to 8K at 30fps, and Super Steady mode adds a horizontal lock to keep video level.
The display is a 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, Vision Booster, and a built-in Privacy Display. The chip is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, with up to 16GB of RAM. The battery is 5,000mAh with 60W fast charging and 25W wireless charging. The phone is also light, weighing 214 g, and has an IP68 rating. It runs Android 16 with One UI 8.5 and supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
Oppo Find X10 Pro Max
The Oppo Find X10 Pro Max has the world’s first triple 200MP rear camera system and a 3.2MP multispectral sensor, all tuned by Hasselblad. The front camera is 50MP with autofocus. Rear video goes up to 8K at 30fps, 4K at 120fps, and 4K Dolby Vision recording goes up to 120fps. Oppo also sells a Hasselblad Teleconverter Kit for Rs 24,999.
Find X10 Pro Max has a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and 3,600 nits of peak brightness. The chip is the MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro based on a 2nm process, with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.1 storage. The battery is 8,000mAh with 80W fast charging, along with 50W AIRVOOC wireless charging. The phone runs ColorOS 17, supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.2, NFC, and has IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings.
iPhone 18 Pro Max
The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 48MP Pro Fusion camera system. The Fusion Main camera has a variable aperture that switches between f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0, a 24mm focal length and second-generation sensor-shift OIS. The Fusion Ultra Wide has a 120-degree field of view. The Fusion Telephoto has 4x optical zoom, 3D sensor-shift OIS, and a tetraprism design. Apple lists 8x optical-quality zoom, a 16x optical-quality zoom range and digital zoom up to 40x. The front camera is an 18MP Center Stage camera.
Video is where the phone goes furthest. It records 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120fps on the Fusion Main camera, with Cinematic mode up to 4K Dolby Vision at 60fps and Action mode up to 2.8K Dolby Vision at 60fps. ProRes goes up to 4K at 120fps with external recording, and the phone supports ProRes RAW and Apple Log 2.
The display is a 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel with ProMotion up to 120Hz. The display can reach up to 3,000 nits peak outdoors. The chip is the A20 Pro, with a 6-core CPU, a 7-core GPU, and a vapour chamber for cooling. Apple lists up to 43 hours of video playback, and up to 50% charge in around 15 minutes with a 60W-capable adapter. The body is aluminium with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back. The phone has an IP68 rating. Storage goes up to 2TB, and you can buy this in different colours: Black, Silver, Glacier and Burgundy.
Vivo X300 Ultra
The Vivo X300 Ultra has a ZEISS-tuned triple camera. The main camera is a 200MP Sony LYTIA 901 sensor with OIS. The ultrawide is a 50MP LYT818 sensor with autofocus. The telephoto is a 200MP sensor with OIS and 3.7x optical zoom. A 5MP multispectral sensor helps with colour. The front camera is a 50MP autofocus sensor. Video goes up to 4K at 120fps with 10-bit Log and Dolby Vision. Vivo sells ZEISS telephoto extenders for the phone, with the ZEISS Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra at Rs 27,999 and the Imaging Grip Kit at Rs 11,999.
The display is a 6.82-inch 2K AMOLED panel with 144Hz, 4,500 nits of peak brightness. The chip is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset paired with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.1 storage. The battery is 6,600mAh with 100W fast charging. The phone has IP68 and IP69 ratings, runs OriginOS 6 on Android 16, and supports NFC.