I’ve been writing about phones for almost 20 years, and 2025 will remain in the memory for years to come as the year that most phone makers delivered their very best camera phones.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve used every major smartphone camera, starting with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which launched back in January. Samsung was the second phone brand to make zoom a key part of its cameras – Huawei did so first on its P-series – but while it once had a significant advantage over its key competitors, that advantage has mostly eroded.