Comparison of mobile phone camcorders
This is a historical comparison of the video recording functionality in mobile phone cameras.
Summary[edit]
Tables[edit]
Maximum resolutions mentioned allow continous recording for at least one minute.
(I.e. “720p@960fps” does not count if it is limited to few seconds.)
- Bold text: Camera mode with highest pixel rate.
- Green text: Improvement over previous year.
- “OIS” = “Optical image stabilization” (i.e. the lens moves to compensate for unwanted camera shakes).
| Manufacturer→
Year ↓ |
Maximum continuous[note 1] pixel rate | Samsung (flagships) | Samsung (mid-class) | Apple | Huawei | OnePlus | LG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | None | ||||||||
| 2008 | None | ||||||||
| 2009 | 27648000 | 720p@30fps
240p@120fps* |
480p@30fps 4:3 | ||||||
| 2010 | 27648000 | 720p@30fps | 720p@30fps | ||||||
| 2011 | 62208000 | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | ||||||
| 2012 | 62208000 | 1080p@30fps
480p@120fps* |
720p@30fps (S3 mini) | 1080p@30fps | |||||
| 2013 | 248832000 | 2160p@30fps
1080p@60fps 720p@120fps* |
1080p@30fps (S4 mini) | 1080p@30fps
720p@120fps |
1080p@30fps | 2160p@30fps
720p@120fps |
|||
| 2014 | 248832000 | OIS (Note 4)
2160p@30fps 1080p@60fps 720p@120fps* |
1080p@30fps (S5 mini) | 1080p@60fps
720p@240fps |
1080p@30fps | 2160p@30fps
720p@120fps |
2160p@30fps
1080p@60fps 720p@120fps |
||
| 2015 | 248832000 | OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@60fps 720p@120fps |
1080p@30fps (Galaxy A and J series) | OIS (6s+ only)
2160p@30fps 1080p@120fps 720p@240fps |
1080p@30fps | 2160p@30fps
720p@120fps |
2160p@30fps
720p@120fps |
||
| 2016 | 248832000 | OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@60fps 720p@240fps |
1080p@30fps (Galaxy A and J series) | OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@120fps 720p@240fps |
OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@60fps |
2160p@30fps
720p@120fps |
|||
| 2017 | 497664000 | OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@60fps 720p@240fps |
1080p@30fps (Galaxy A and J series) | OIS
2160p@60fps 1080p@240fps 720p@240fps |
OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@60fps 720p@120fps* |
||||
| 2018 | 497664000 | OIS
2160p@60fps 1080p@120fps 720p@240fps |
1080p@30fps (Galaxy A7[1]) | OIS
2160p@60fps 1080p@240fps 720p@240fps |
OIS
2160p@30fps 1080p@120fps 720p@240fps |
2160p@60fps
720p@480fps |
|||
| 2019 | 497664000 | OIS
2160p@60fps 1080p@240fps 720p@240fps |
OIS
2160p@60fps 1080p@240fps 720p@240fps |
||||||
| 2020 | 995328000 | OIS
2160p@120fps 1080p@480fps 720p@960fps |
OIS
2160p@120fps 1080p@480fps 720p@960fps |
||||||
- * = Not in real-time (but menial).
| Manufacturer→
Year ↓ |
Samsung | Apple | Huawei | LG | Sony | HTC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | None | ||||||
| 2008 | None | ||||||
| 2009 | 240p@30fps | None | |||||
| 2010 | 480p@30fps | 480p@30fps | |||||
| 2011 | 480p@30fps | 480p@30fps | |||||
| 2012 | 720p@30fps | 720p@30fps | |||||
| 2013 | 1080p@30fps | 720p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | ||
| 2014 | 1440p@30fps | 720p@30fps | |||||
| 2015 | 1440p@30fps | 720p@30fps | |||||
| 2016 | 1440p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | |||||
| 2017 | 1440p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | |||||
| 2018 | 1440p@30fps | 1080p@30fps | |||||
| 2019 | 2160p@30fps | 720p@240fps | |||||
| 2020 | 2160p@60fps | ||||||
Graphs[edit]
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Smartphone camcorder comparison[edit]
This is a comparison of the video recording capabilities of the rear cameras common mobile phones.
Samsung[edit]
(There are more models, but let's first add (focus on) the popular flagship series: Galaxy Note series and Galaxy S series.)
It also includes the fixed maximum length per video. A new video can be recorded after the time limit is reached, but the device might deny video recording (e.g. S5 for 2160p) to prevent overheating, or also when no more space storage or battery power is left.
The photo capture during video recording, if supports, captures photos at the highest possible resolution at the video's aspect ratio, which meant that the 2014-2015 mobile phones (16 Mexapixels at 16:9 aspect ratio) could capture full-resolution still images during video recording at up to 1080p.
Above 30 fps, there is only one video resolution available (e.g. 1080p@60fps, but no option for 720p@60fps for space storage saving).
| Smartphone model | Release year | 30fps | 60fps | 120fps | 240fps | >240fps | Time limits | Optical image stabilization (OIS)? | Real-time slow motion method? | Photo capture during video recording | Image sensor model | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S1 | 2010 | 720p (max. 1 hour) | No | No | No |No | style="background:#F99;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;" class="table-no"|No | 1h | No | (No) | ||||||
| Galaxy S2 | 2011 H1 | 1080p (max. 1 hour) | No | No | No | No | 1h | No | (No) | No | First 1080p-supportive mobile phone generation. | ||||
| Galaxy Note 1 | 2011 H2 | 1080p (max. 1 hour) | No | No | No | No | 1h | No | (No) | ||||||
| Galaxy S3[note 2] | 2012 H1 | 1080p (max. 1 hour) | No | No | No | No | 1h | No | (No) | Yes (only without digital video stabilization)}} | |||||
| Galaxy Note 2 | 2012 H2 | 1080p (max. 1 hour) | No | 720×480p 3:2 | No | No | 1h output video length [note 3] | No | No | ||||||
| Galaxy S4[note 4] | 2013 H1 | 1080p (max. 1 hour) | No | 800×450p 16:9 | No | No | 1h | No | No | ||||||
| Galaxy Note 3 | 2013 H2 | 2160p (max. 5 minutes) | 1080p (max. 1 hour) | 720p (max. 1 hour) | No | No | No | No | |||||||
| Galaxy S5[note 5] | 2014 H1 | 2160p | 1080p | 720p | No | No | No | No | |||||||
| Galaxy Note 4 | 2014 H2 | 2160p | 1080p[note 6] | 720p | No | No | Yes | No | |||||||
| 2015 H1+H2 | 2160p | 1080p | 720p | No | No | Yes | Yes | Both in same row because of identical data. | |||||||
| Galaxy S7 | 2016 H1 | 2160p (no time limits) | 1080p | No | 720p | No | None | Yes | Yes | 2160p video recording is limited to 10 minutes since Android 7 update. | |||||
| Galaxy Note 7 | 2016 H2 | 2160p | 1080p | [incomplete] | 720p | No | Yes | Yes | |||||||
| Galaxy S8 | 2017 H1 | 2160p | 1080p | [incomplete] | 720p | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Galaxy Note 8 | 2017 H2 | 2160p | 1080p | [incomplete] | 720p | No | Yes | Yes | |||||||
| Galaxy S9 | 2018 H1 | (2160p) | 2160p | [incomplete] | 720p | 960fps for limited time[which?] | |||||||||
| Galaxy Note 9 | 2018 H2 | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Galaxy S10 | 2019 H1 | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Galaxy Note 10 | 2019 H2 | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Galaxy S11 | 2020 H1 | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Galaxy Note 11 | 2020 H2 | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | ||||||||||
| Galaxy S12 | 2021 H1 | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | [incomplete] | Yes | |||||||||
| Samsung Omnia HD | 2009 H1 | 720p | No | Unknown | No | No | Unknown | First mobile phone in the world to support 720p HD video recording, thus the name. | |||||||
| Samsung Omnia 2 | 2009 H1 | D1 (3:2 720×480) | No | QVGA | No | No | No | ||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) | December 2015 | 1080p | No | No | No | Yes | (No) |
Apple[edit]
All iPhones use the real-time slow-motion recording method.
- Improvement compared to previous flagship phone.
- Bold highlighting: Camera mode with highest pixel rate throughput.
- Grey text: Same resolution available at a higher framerate.
All listed phones include variants such as iPhone 6s Plus or iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The video frame dimensions are always in the 16:9 format, unless otherways specified.
| Device | Release year | 30fps | 60fps | 120fps | 240fps | >240fps | Pixel rate
per second |
Optical image stabilization (OIS) | Audio recording | Image sensor model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 2G | 2007 H1 | No[note 7] | No | No | No | 0 | No | No | ||
| iPhone 3G[note 8] | 2008 | No | No | No | No | No | No | |||
| iPhone 3GS | 2009 | 640×480p 4:3 | No | No | No | 9.216.000 | No | Mono | ||
| iPhone 4 | 2010 | 720p | No | No | No | 27.648.000 | No | Mono | ||
| iPhone 4s | 2011 | 1080p | No | No | No | 62.208.000 | No | Mono | ||
| iPhone 5 | 2012 H1 | 1080p | No | No | No | 62.208.000 | No | Mono | ||
| iPhone 5s | 2013 H2 | 1080p | No | 720p | No | 110.592.000 | No | Mono | ||
| iPhone 6/6+ | 2014 H2 | 1080p | 1080p | 720p | 720p | 221.184.000 | No[note 9] | Mono | ||
| iPhone 6s/6s+ | 2015 H2 | 2160p | 1080p | 1080p | 720p | 248.832.000 | Only 6s+ | Mono | ||
| iPhone SE | 2016 H1 | 2160p | 1080p | 1080p | 720p | 248.832.000 | No | Mono | ||
| iPhone 7/7+ | 2016 H2 | 2160p | 1080p | 1080p | 720p | 248.832.000 | Yes[note 10] | Mono | ||
| iPhone 8/8+/X | 2017 H2 | 2160p | 2160p | 1080p | 1080p | 497.664.000 | Yes | Mono | ||
| iPhone XS/XS+/XR | 2018 H2 | 2160p | 2160p | 1080p | 1080p | 497.664.000 | Yes | Stereo | ||
| iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max | 2019 H2 | 2160p | 2160p | 1080p | 1080p | 497.664.000 | Yes | Stereo | ||
| iPhone 12 | 2020 H2 | 2160p | 2160p | 2160p | [note 11] | 1080p@360fps 1080p@480fps |
995.328.000 | Yes | Stereo | |
| Device | Release year | 30fps | 60fps | 120fps | 240fps | >240fps | Pixels per second | OIS | OIS | Audio recording |
OnePlus[edit]
- OnePlus 6: 720p@480fps (max. 1 minute). Whether real-time method or menial method: unknown yet.
Sony[edit]
The Xperia Z1 can officially not record at 2160p, 1080p@60fps or 720p@120fps, but modifications can enable those recording modes, similarly to the Galaxy S4 GT-i9506 LTE-A. The Xperia Z1 is eqipped with the same CPU (Snapdragon 800) and GPU (Adreno 330) as the Galaxy Note 3 that supports 2160p@30fps and 1080p@60fps and 720p@120fps video recording.
LG Mobile[edit]
LG V series[edit]
The LG V10 (2015) was praised for a camera user interface that allowed setting resolution, framerate and bitrate independently from each other.
In addition, similarly to the Sony FDR-AXP33 camcorder, many features of the user interface remain accessible, even during video recording.
Unlike on Samsung's manual camera mode, it also allows adjusting the “ISO” light sensitivity while filming.
Asus[edit]
- Asus PadFone 2 – 720p@60fps
References[edit]
- ↑ hSamsung Galaxy A7 (2018) review – GSMArena team, 9 November 2018
Related navigation boxes: Electronics • Mobile phones • Data storage • User experience and user interfaces
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ “Continuous” duration is considered at least one minute (60s) per video.
- ↑ Slow motion achievable through modifications, due to similar hardware as Galaxy Note 2.
- ↑ The menial slow motion recording method, when in use, shortens the maximum real-life recording duration to 1/2 (30m), 1/4 (15m) or 1/8 (7m30s), depending on the selected slow-motion mode, due to the respectiively stretched video output file. This applies to the Note 2, S4, Note 3, S5 and Note 4.
- ↑ The Galaxy S4 GT-i9506 can record at the same resolutions and framerates as the Galaxy Note 3 with modifications, due to same CPU and GPU chipsets.
- ↑ Only the LTE-A version G901F supports 2560×1440p “WQHD”. All flagships since the Note 4 support it.
- ↑ The Note 4 (Android 4.4.4) could be updated to Android 5 and then Android 6. However, with Android 5, choosing “1080p@60fps” actually records at 30fps due to an undocumented bug in Samsung's documentation, which was fixed with the Android 6 update.
- ↑ It was possible to enable video recording at QVGA 320×240@15fps with non-official (Jailbreak-involving) modifications.
- ↑ Video recording on the iPhone 3G at 320×240@30fps can be enabled using inofficial modifications that involve jailbreaking.
- ↑ Unlike the plain iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus was equipped with optical image stabilization hardware. However, it only activates for photos, not for videos.
- ↑ The tele photo camera of the iPhone 7+ is not equipped with optical image stabilization.
- ↑ 1440p@240fps (2560×1440) could be technically possible for the iPhone 12, but Apple did not use 1440p on the iPhone 6 despite technically possible, therefore they might neglect it again.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- 2015 rumor: 1080p@480fps chipset “MediaTek MT6795”, never released.
