This is a list of smartphones with a telephoto lens that offers a focal length (35mm equivalent) of at least 100mm or "4× optical zoom" with an imaging area equivalent to a 1/3.5″ or larger sensor.
Smartphone lenses are often marketed in terms of "optical zoom"[1] relative to the phone's main camera. For example, 120mm is usually referred to as "5× optical zoom", because the main camera's focal length is commonly around 24mm. However, only a few smartphones, such as the Sony Xperia 1 IV and V, include a true zoom lens that offers continuous optical zoom, whereas nearly all smartphones feature a collection of prime lenses interpolated by digital zoom.
Note that this is not a list of the "best" smartphone telephoto lenses, since there are many factors that affect image quality. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra's telephoto lens outperforms the S21 Ultra's, due to hardware and software improvements despite the S22 Ultra's smaller sensor size and shorter focal length.[2]
Another factor is that, within a fixed space, higher focal lengths further constrain the size of the image sensor. Inversely, some manufacturers have recently been able to improve image quality by switching to a lens with a slightly shorter focal length but a much larger sensor.[3] For example, the Vivo X90 Pro+'s 90mm lens still has a 60% larger effective sensor area when digitally cropped to match the field of view of the X80 Pro's 125mm lens.
As such, the following list excludes lenses using sensors smaller than 1/3.5″, which seems to be a lower bound for acceptable image quality (for comparison, most compact travel zoom cameras use 1/2.3″ sensors, which are over twice as large).
| Model | Sensor size | Optical zoom | Focal length | Aperture | Equivalent aperture | Pixel count | Release year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra[4] | 1/3.2" | 10× | 240mm | 4.9 | 37 | 10 MP | 2021 | ||||
| Huawei Mate 40 Pro+[5] | 1/3.5" | 10× | 240mm | 4.4 | 37 | 8 MP | 2020 | ||||
| Huawei Mate X2[6] | 1/3.5" | 10× | 240mm | 4.4 | 37 | 8 MP | 2021 | ||||
| Huawei P40 Pro+[7] | 1/3.5" | 10× | 240mm | 4.4 | 37 | 8 MP | 2020 | ||||
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra[8] | 1/3.5" | 10× | 230mm | 4.9 | 42 | 10 MP | 2023 | ||||
| Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra[9] | 1/3.5" | 10× | 230mm | 4.9 | 42 | 10 MP | 2022 | ||||
| Sony Xperia 1 VI[10] | 1/3.5" | data-sort-value=5× | 3.5-7× | data-sort-value=170mm | 85-170mm | data-sort-value=f/3.5 | 2.3-3.5 | data-sort-value=f/30 | 19-30 | 12 MP | 2024 |
| Oppo Find X7 Ultra[11] | 1/2.5" | 6× | 135mm | 4.3 | 26 | 50 MP | 2024 | ||||
| Sony Xperia 1 V[12] | 1/3.5" | data-sort-value=5× | 3.5-5× | data-sort-value=125mm | 85-125mm | data-sort-value=f/2.8 | 2.3-2.8 | data-sort-value=f/24 | 19-24 | 12 MP | 2023 |
| Sony Xperia 1 IV[13] | 1/3.5" | data-sort-value=5× | 3.5-5× | data-sort-value=125mm | 85-125mm | data-sort-value=f/2.8 | 2.3-2.8 | data-sort-value=f/24 | 19-24 | 12 MP | 2022 |
| Huawei P40 Pro[14] | 1/3.5" | 5× | 125mm | 3.4 | 29 | 12 MP | 2020 | ||||
| Xiaomi 14 Ultra[15] | 1/2.5" | 5× | 120mm | 2.5 | 15 | 50 MP | 2024 | ||||
| Xiaomi 13 Ultra[16] | 1/2.5" | 5× | 120mm | 3.0 | 18 | 50 MP | 2023 | ||||
| Xiaomi 12S Ultra[17] | 1/2.0" | 5× | 120mm | 4.1 | 22 | 48 MP | 2022 | ||||
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra[18] | 1/2.0" | 5× | 120mm | 4.1 | 22 | 48 MP | 2021 | ||||
| Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra[19] | 1/2.0" | 5× | 120mm | 4.1 | 22 | 48 MP | 2020 | ||||
| Google Pixel 9 Pro XL[20] | 1/2.5" | 5× | 120mm | 2.8 | 17 | 48 MP | 2024 | ||||
| Google Pixel 8 Pro[21] | 1/2.5" | 5× | 120mm | 2.8 | 17 | 48 MP | 2023 | ||||
| Google Pixel 7 Pro[22] | 1/2.5" | 5× | 120mm | 3.5 | 21 | 48 MP | 2022 | ||||
| Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max | 1/3.2" | 5× | 120mm | 2.8 | 21 | 12 MP | 2023 | ||||
| Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra[23] | 1/2.5" | 5× | 115mm | 3.4 | 21 | 50 MP | 2024 | ||||
| Google Pixel 6 Pro | 1/2.0" | 4x | 104mm | 3.5 | 19 | 48 MP | 2021 | ||||
| Vivo X100 Pro[24] | 1/2.3"[25] | 4× | 100mm | 2.5 | 14 | 50 MP | 2024 |