Smartphone recommendations

The iPhone 14 Pro Max provides you with a consistently great quality image. It also does a lot of the work for you, meaning you don’t have to bother with difficult settings and specifications. The user interface is incredibly easy to use. It even comes with ‘cinematic mode’, meaning you’ll have sleek-looking footage, and you can even adjust things such as the focus after you’re done recording.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a very powerful built-in stabiliser, allowing you to shoot steady footage while running with your phone in your hand! It also has multiple lenses, and creates a good quality picture no matter how dark or light it is. To top it off, you can shoot slow mo videos with 120-240 frames per second, plus it has great battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has multiple convenient modes for filming, with presets which ensure optimal picture quality in every scenario. Such as portrait video mode, or pro mode for video.

The phone also has multiple features that help stabilise your footage. And it has a powerful zoom lens so you can shoot video from further away, without loss of quality.

The Google Pixel 7 Pro will actively help you shoot better footage. With its advanced software, it gives you pop ups on screen with advice, such as ‘tilt your phone,’ ‘use this mode’ or ‘hold still’. It will also automatically fix common oversights to improve your footage.

This new model also has a strong AI that can sharpen blurry images, and optimise lighting as well. It also has a rather big sensor, meaning less noise in your images, and it has track focus, keeping your subject in focus at all times.

These iPhones have fewer features than their 14 Pro Max kin, but still use the same intelligent software to create great image quality in any situation. They still shoot great quality footage - even in the dark-, have multiple lenses you can easily switch between, and still stabilise your footage. A great option at a slightly lower price point.

These phones are close in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The zoom lens zooms in slightly less far (but still quite far). It has a slightly smaller sensor, meaning there is a bit more noise in your picture, but the image quality in general is still great. These phones also have great stabilisation for your recordings. Overall they produce great footage, just with less fancy features than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

These phones have the same technology as the professional Sony cameras. Think of features such as 480 autofocus points, focus tracking, and even a dedicated record button on the phone. So why are these not at the top of our list of recommendations?

That is because Sony expects you to use the Sony Video Pro app if you want to shoot good footage with your smartphone. You have to know exactly how to set your settings in this app. If you don't, your footage will look terrible, and therefore be unusable. So, if you’re into cameras, know how to operate them, and are looking for a cinematic camera that fits in your pocket, these phones are for you! Otherwise, we recommend you pick a different phone from the list on this page.