Smartphones for Nightscape Photography

"A photo of Me with the Arch and Starry Sky" by Wu Zhengjie. Taken with a vivo X90 Pro+ ~ Night Category 1st Place winner in the vivo VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards 2023 (click image to enlarge).

The technology for smartphone cameras is changing rapidly! When I published version 1.1 of my Milky Way NightScapes ebook there were no mobile phone cameras that could decently capture blue hour twilight photographs, let alone photograph the Milky Way stars during the Astronomical Dusk!

Currently, there are are over a dozen smartphone cameras that can do a fairly good job of photographing starry night skies. I will list them below, in order of my preference (based on my research and some of the reviews listed at the bottom of this blog). This list will be updated periodically, so please come back.

MY BEST SMARTPHONE PICKS FOR NIGHTSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Vivo X90 Pro+
2. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
3. Google Pixel 7 Pro
4. Apple iPhone 14 Pro
5. Samsung Galaxy S23
6. Google Pixel 6 Pro
7. Apple iPhone 13 Pro
8. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
9. HUAWEI P50 Pro
10. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
11. Huawei P40 Pro+
12. Xiaomi 13 Pro
13. OnePlus 11
14. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
15. OnePlus 10 Pro

REVIEWS:

Best camera phone 2023: Smartphones with stargazing capabilities (March 2023)

The 10 Best Phones for Astrophotography (Apr 20, 2023)

5 Best Smartphones For Night Photography! (July 5, 2023)

Night Photography with vivo X90 Pro! - (May 10, 2023) Note: This YouTube video starts at the "Astro Shooting" — you may wish to rewind to the beginning, to see all the features

The Best Smartphones for Astrophotography in 2023 (April 25, 2023)