Just a month or so ago, I published a comparison piece comparing flagship smartphone cameras, and while the results of all of the phones included were impressive, these phones are not for everyone.
Sure, the photos are impressive, but are they impressive enough to justify the extreme prices these flagship phones cost? The cheapest phone in that comparison was the OPPO Find X8 Pro which starts at $1,799. For many people that price cannot be justified — of the seven million smartphones purchased by Australians in 2024, 54.2% were in the sub-$700 category! That is 80,000 phones per week!
For this reason we decided to see just what you get for that mid-range price when it comes to the camera capabilities and if all of the mid-range cameras are created equal. Can you still get decent images from a phone that is a fraction of the price of the flagship smartphones? Read on to see the results.
There are a LOT of mid-range smartphones on the market so it was difficult to choose. We ended up choosing what we considered decent samples of each manufacturer, showcasing what we thought were their best offerings in this affordable phone range. The phones chosen by us were the:
- Google Pixel 9a – from $849
- Samsung Galaxy A56 – from $699 (currently on sale)
- Nothing Phone 3a Pro – from $849
- OPPO Reno13 F – from $599 (currently on sale for $499)
- motorola edge 60 fusion – from $699
- motorola moto g75 – from $499 (on sale until July 9 for $327)
The hardware onboard:
| Google Pixel 9a | Samsung Galaxy A56 | Nothing Phone 3a Pro |
| Wide: 48MP, f/1.7, 25mm, 0.8µm, Ultra-Wide: 13MP, f/2.2, 120deg. Selfie: 13MP, f/2.2 | Wide: 50MP, f/1.8, 1.0µm, Ultra-Wide: 12MP, f/2.2, 123deg. Macro: 5MP, f/2.4 Selfie: 12MP, f/2.2 | Wide: 50MP, f/1.9, 1.0µm Ultra-Wide: 8MP, f/2.2, 120deg. Perisc Tele: 50MP, f/2.6, 70mm Selfie: 50MP, f/2.2 |
| OPPO Reno13 F | motorola edge 60 fusion | motorola moto g75 |
| Wide: 50MP, f/1.8, 26mm Ultra-Wide: 8MP, f/2.2, 112deg. Macro: 2MP, f/2.4 Selfie: 32MP, f/2.4 | Wide: 50MP, f/1.9, 1.0µm Ultra-Wide: 13MP, f/2.2, 120deg. Selfie: 32MP, f/2.2 | Wide: 50MP, f/1.8, 0.8µm Ultra-Wide: 8MP, f/2.2, 119deg. Selfie: 16MP, f/2.5 |
The Pictures
The difference between all the images above is not great. The strange thing to me is the difference between the two motorola phones — the edge 60 fusion has an image similar to the rest but the g75 has enhanced all the colours to an extreme. While it is a bit more pleasing to the eye, it is not realistic to the scenery that day.
Even after zooming in on the images, the detail displayed was extremely similar.
This image is a tough one. The moto g75 seems to wash out a lot of the detail, the Pixel 9a seems too dark, as if the light behind the building overpowered the exposure. In my opinion, the best is the Samsung Galaxy A56, which strikes a nice balance between detail and colouring. The Nothing phone has over-sharpened a lot of the details in processing, making it a bit harsh.
For the above image I’m going for the Samsung again, although in this one the Pixel 9a is close to the closest in true colour and shade on the day. The Samsung, though, once again offers a nice balance between the detail and colouring, highlighting sections of the image that are important.
When taking important photos, you need to decide whether you want accurate pictures or ones that look good for future reference and keepsakes. It is often a difficult balance for smartphones with many over-processing images in that search for the best-looking image. Google has always had more of an approach that attempts to publish an image that looks like it do to you on the day — not something you always want.
This is a difficult image as there is so much going on. I’m going for the Google Pixel 9a here with it showing great detail and not just accurate colours, but pleasing colours. The Samsung and Nothing Phone were not far behind here though.
The Google Pixel 9a and the Samsung Galaxy A56 excel here, not just in the bright colours of the ‘grafitti’ but also in the lighting of the rest of the image. In the end, I don’t think I can split these two. The moto g75 overpowers with its colour enhancement again, and the Nothing Phone and the Reno13 F is a bit dark in its lighting.
This image is colourful in the extreme, both in person and in enhanced images. The g75 once again over-saturates the colours and the Reno13 and the Nothing Phone go the other way. The best here is likely the Galaxy A56 again, with the moto edge 60 fusion and Pixel 9a not far behind.
This one is a tough one with the sun bright behind the camera. For me I’m going with three here — the Pixel 9a, the Nothing Phone and the moto edge 60 fusion due to their accurate colouring and detail included.
All of these are acceptable. The moto g75 once again over-saturates colours but the rest of these images are very similar in colours and detail. The Pixel and Galaxy phones have greater detail, just, when zooming in on the images.
These are all zoomed in 5X, and for me, they all look good, but the best detail when you zoom each image up individually is noticed in the Reno13 F and the Pixel 9a. They offer better detail and less pixelation than the rest.
The Samsung here oversaturates the colouring of the green monkey and, while the moto g75 is good here, the other three are better with accurate colours and excellent detail.
Once again, these are all good images with the best, for my eye, are the Pixel 9a, the Nothing Phone and the Galaxy A56. These offer better detail of the houses etc.
I like the Reno13 F and the Nothing Phone here with a nice balance of detail and colour enhancement. In the end, though, most of these are great images.
OPPO Reno13 F does well here with great colours and detail without over-saturating the colours.
The OPPO Reno13 F was having a good day here with another great image with a nice balance between colours and detail. The Pixel 9a and Galaxy A56 are not far behind.
Pixel 9a and Nothing Phone here with real good colouring and detail of the finer pieces in this building.
The more Pixel 9a and the Galaxy A56 are excellent here but even the cheapest here did well with a colourful piece of graffiti in the night.
Pixel 9a and Nothing Phone here with the most accurate colours and good detail.
All of these are excellent. Strangely, the Pixel 9a has a different colouring to the rest.
The Pixel 9a here by a long way. Next though is the Galaxy A56.
Once again the Pixel 9a excels with its night algorithms with the most accurate colours and detail. Interestingly, the Reno13 F has been too dark in nearly all of these low light images.
The Pixel 9a is once again a great image but the Galaxy A56 is probably more pleasing to the eye with the colours more enhanced.
Final Thoughts
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that is never more evident when showing a number of images to different people. Your eye and brain may prefer different looking images to me so there is no right or wrong either way. From the above images though you can firstly see that there are trends to each camera setup and how their images appear.
Secondly, you can see that even these mid-range smartphones can produce great images in virtually all conditions. While they all produced decent images, you can see why some cost more than others. I feel that the motorola edge 60 fusion punched above its RRP of $699 and while the Pixel 9a and the Nothing Phone produced high-level imaging in all conditions, they are the highest in price.
The Samsung Galaxy A56, especially with its current sale price of RRP$699, is my pick of the bunch. Its images were great, and when it didn’t win a location, it was not far behind the best. For this reason it takes the prize this year. If budget is not an issue though, maybe you should look at the Pixel 9a because it had the best camera overall — it is just $150 more in price making the choice more challenging.
The conclusion is more of an overall observation and should be no surprise — you get what you pay for — in this category. The images basically vary with the price of the phone in the mid-range, but when comparing these mid-range images to those from a flagship smartphone, they are pretty good.
Remember, flagship smartphones cost more than twice these phones and I can tell you now, the images in these mid-range smartphones are not half as good. For this reason, do not feel that buying a mid-range smartphone is that much of a compromise. The pricing is much better bang for your buck.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
