The Best Pre Owned Phones for Cameras
A great camera often features high up on one’s choice of phone. These lovingly refurbished second hand phones have the best cameras in the game. If you are looking for a device that’ll take great pics, consider one of these.
Pre owned iPhone 11 series: iPhone 11 | iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 11 Pro Max
All of these phones have great cameras.
The iPhone 11: Dual lens camera with ultra-wide and wide lenses.
iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max: Triple-lens camera with ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto lenses.
The wide lens is similar to your standard lens from previous models, and is a 12 MP lens.
The ultra-wide lens allows you to zoom out to get more of the landscape into your picture. This is also a 12 MP lens.
The telephoto lens on the refurbished iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max devices allows you to zoom in closer, and is a great tool for portrait and product photography. This is also a 12 MP lens.
All phones in the iPhone 11 series have 4K video and a 12 MP selfie camera.
On top of these great cameras, the iPhone 11 series has an excellent night mode which lets in more light for night photography. And the features on the photo and video editing apps are great.
Second hand Samsung Galaxy S10 series: S10 | S10+
The main, triple-lens camera on the S10 and S10+ are identical.
The first lens is a 12 MP basic lens, and takes nice, sharp pictures in both bright and low light.
The ultra-wide lens is a 16 MP lens, and like the iPhone 11 camera, lets you zoom out to take more into your picture.
The third, telephoto lens is also a 12 MP lens and lets you zoom in on objects in the distance without compromising the quality of your image.
The main camera comes with 4 K video.
The difference between the devices comes in the selfie camera. The S10 has a single, 10 MP selfie camera, while the S10+ has the same plus a second 8 MP selfie camera. If you are big on selfies and want superb quality, then look at the S10+ which reviews note as taking awesome selfies. The selfie cameras on both phones have 4 K video.
Note on the S10e: while the cameras on the S10 and S10+ are particularly good, the camera specifications on a pre owned Galaxy S10e aren’t half bad.
Instead of a triple lens main camera, the refurbished S10e comes with a dual lens main camera. The first lens is the same basic 12 MP lens as the other devices, which takes nice, sharp pictures. The second lens is the same 16 MP ultra-wide lens as the S10 and S10+. The selfie camera is the same 10 MP and 4 K video lens as the S10.
Pre owned Samsung Galaxy Note10 series: Note10 | Note10+
The cameras on the S10 (covered above) and the Note10 are almost identical. They have the same triple-lens main camera and the same 10 MP selfie camera. The only minor difference is in the aperture of the selfie and telephoto lenses of the cameras. The larger the aperture, the more light the lens lets in. Reviews suggest that the difference between the two devices is so small that it is very difficult to distinguish any difference in the images.
So, essentially there’s nothing between them.
The differences between the S10+ and the Note10+ are more pronounced. The Note10+ has better specifications on the main camera. It’s telephoto lens has a wider aperture, which lets in more light and ensures that it performs better in low-light environments. It also offers a “time-of-flight sensor” which allows the camera to capture more accurate depth information which is a plus for portrait photography. And so overall, you can expect better photos from the Note10+ than the S10+, although the differences are extremely small.
On the selfie camera, the S10+ wins. Where the S10+ has a dual lens selfie camera (10 MP and 8 MP lenses), the Note10+ selfie camera has a single 10 MP lens. If you are big on your selfies, then go with the S10+.
Refurbished iPhone XS series: iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
The cameras on the iPhone XS and XS Max are the same. There is no difference between them. And so if you are choosing between these two pre owned iPhones, the camera shouldn’t factor into your decision.
The iPhone XS phones have a dual lens camera: telephoto and wide lenses.
As with the iPhone 11, the wide lens is your standard iPhone lens which on this phone is a 12 MP lens.
The telephoto lens allows you to zoom in closer to your subject. This is also a 12 MP lens and like the iPhone 11 is great for portrait and product photography.
The main camera also offers 4 K video.
The selfie camera on a second hand iPhone XS is a 7 MP lens and has video.
The iPhone XS is the first iPhone with a dual lens camera which is worth bearing in mind if you are choosing between a pre owned iPhone XS and an earlier model (like a second hand iPhone X or XR for example) and the camera is important to you.
Second hand Galaxy S20 series: S20 | S20+ | S20 Ultra
All three of these refurbished phones offer triple lens cameras.
S20: 12 MP main lens, 64 MP telephoto lens, 12 MP ultra-wide lens
S20+: 12 MP main lens, 64 MP telephoto lens, 12 MP ultra-wide lens, and depth vision
S20 Ultra: 108 MP main lens, 48 MP telephoto lens, 12 MP ultra-wide lens, and depth vision
The cameras on the S20 and S20+ are very similar, except for the “time-of-flight depth vision”. This doesn’t, however, make a big difference to the quality of the images and so isn’t a big consideration if price is important to you.
The S20 Ultra offers the best performance in zoom. However, despite it’s seemingly better specifications, reviews suggest that the standard pictures on this device are not that much better than the S20 or S20+. If quality in zoom in important, go for the S20 Ultra. Otherwise the other devices are more affordable and offer excellent images.
