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Phone Camera Shopping 101: What to Look For?

Photo taking - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

Image credit: Harrison Moore on Unsplash

A good camera has always been a selling point for mobile phones. But with the ever increasing popularity of social media, selfies and filters, what used to be an accessary has become the USP of every mobile phone, driving dramatic improvements in smartphone camera technology over recent years.

We’ve come a long way since the first appearance of phone cameras back in 2000. We’re already hearing news of 64 megapixel cameras, 10x zoom, and now there’s even penta-cam systems. With more power and ever bigger numbers, the options out there can be bewildering.

How does this new tech help me? What do these specs even mean? If you’re looking at upgrading your phone soon here’s a guide to help you make better sense of it all.

Huawei p20 pro - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

There’s a lot going on with the Huawei P20 Pro.

More isn’t always better: the myth of megapixels

Today if you’re buying any sort of digital camera, the “megapixel” unit has become a indicator of quality. The more megapixels, the more powerful and better the camera right? Not necessarily.

If we go back to basics, the term “megapixel” simply means one million pixels, with a pixel referring the smallest unit of a graphic or digital image that can be displayed or represented on a screen. You can visualise pixels as tiny dots of colour that when combined with many others form an image.

A 5 megapixel (MP) camera, for example, is capable of taking photos with 5 million pixels while an 8 MP camera captures 8 million pixels. Today most phone cameras (especially flagship phone models) offer 12 megapixels or more – a tremendous leap from when the first iPhone launched in 2007 with a 2MP camera.

More megapixels is usually related to better quality or higher detailed images but not always. One issue is that the more megapixels a camera has, the more visual “noise” is introduced into your image.

Each pixel basically contains data from the light it receives. The more pixels you have, the more data is collected. This is great in that it allows you to have higher resolution images but with more data collected, more bad data is collected as well. That’s image noise.

When size does matter: your sensor and its pixels

What you should really be looking at when it comes to phone cameras, or cameras in general really is its image sensor.

Image sensor - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

A key component of all digital cameras: the image sensor

A key component in digital cameras, the sensor is a basically piece of hardware that measures the light passing through the camera lens. It does so with millions of receptors. The number of receptors on the sensor corresponds to the number of pixels the camera has.

Basics of digital imaging - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

From lenses to sensor to image processor: the basics of digital imaging

Wait, you may say, doesn’t more megapixels mean a better sensor? Not necessarily, because sizes of sensors differ and their sizes don’t always scale with their number of megapixels.

For example, if you had a 8MP camera and a 10MP camera both had the same size sensor, the 8MP camera would actually perform better and give you better images. In this case, it’s because the 8MP camera sensor would have a larger pixel size or a larger light receptor.

Here’s another way to look at it: imagine having a large sensor and a small sensor, both having 14MP. That’s 14 million receptors for each sensor. To cram all of them into a small sensor each of its 14 million receptors would need to be much smaller.

Smaller receptors (or small pixel sizes) tend to be less accurate in measuring light entering the camera lens and therefore collect more visual noise (bad information). Having pixels packed very closely together also increases the possibility of interference, leading to further errors and poorer image quality.

Most pixels measure between a narrow range of 1 to 2 micrometers/microns (µm).

As a real life example of how you should look beyond megapixels, consider how the Samsung Galaxy S5 and S6 offered 16 MP sensors versus the Samsung Galaxy S7, S8 and S9 offering 12 MP. As all of them had the same size sensor, the S7, S8 and S9 had larger pixel sizes. The 16MP S6 had a 1.12µm pixel size compared to the 12MP S7 phone’s 1.4µm.

Redmi note 7 pro - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

Phone marketing is moving beyond just megapixels as well (Source: Xiaomi)

There’s more than one way to zoom: digital vs. optical

Here’s another thing to consider: what kind of zoom does the phone’s camera use? There are two types available to mobile phone consumers today: digital and optical zoom.

Digital zoom uses software to process the image on your camera real-time and trim away the edges: sort of like the result you get by opening an image in a photo-editing software like Photoshop, cropping it, and enlarging what remains.

Optical zoom, on the other hand, is the “authentic” zooming experience where the lens is actually adjusted. It’s generally the superior option between the two – great for those serious photographers capturing natural landscapes or Demogorgon hunters who need to keep some distance from their subjects.

As you can imagine, the optical zoom in phones is very different from what you see in DSLR cameras. If phone cameras went the more traditional route, you’d get something like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom: too thick and heavy for most people to carry around in their pockets.

Mobile lens with different sensors - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

Instead, phone cameras use several lenses with 2 or 3 different sensors to achieve different levels of optical zoom, the quality of the image you get at each zoom level depending on the lens and sensors used at each level.

Today’s digital zoom technology has improved from simply cropping and expanding the resulting image to using clever algorithms and imaging AI to fill in missing visual information. Google’s Super Res Zoom technology in the Pixel 3 phone is one of the pioneers in this area.

For the best of both worlds, the most powerful phone cameras today, such as the Huawei P30 Pro and the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, use combination of optical and digital zoom or hybrid zoom.

Oppo zoom technology - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

Oppo is one of the leaders in zoom technology

Different lens, different perspectives: multiple cameras

We’ve been referring to your phone’s camera thus far but strictly speaking, if you’ve bought a phone in the past few years, chances are it has 2, 3 or even more cameras on its back.

Samsung phone - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

Many phones today come with multiple cameras

Why so many cameras? Generally speaking the more cameras and lenses your phone has, the more depth and colour processing capability it offers.

Different cameras give your smartphone different features: ultra wide-angle sensors give wider views of a scene; telephoto lens help you zoom in more accurately; monochrome cameras offer crisper, sharper images; depth sensors are used for a more natural background blur.

As mentioned above when we talked about hybrid zoom, having different cameras with different lenses allows us to use optical zoom as much as possible to preserve image quality while giving digital zoom enough information from several cameras to fill in the gaps.

The popularity of multi-camera phones really took off in 2018 with the success of the Huawei P20 Pro, which featured 3 cameras with a 40 MP RGB lens, a 20 MP monochrome lens, and an 8 MP telephoto lens.

In that same year Samsung’s mid-level Galaxy A9 came out with the world’s first quadruple rear camera setup with a primary 24 MP sensor, an ultra-wide 8 MP sensor, a telephoto 10 MP sensor, and a 5 MP depth sensor that improves bokeh effects.

Samsung galaxy a9 - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

The Samsung Galaxy A9 with its 4 rear cameras

That said, cramming more cameras in your mobile phone doesn’t mean it’s definitely going to take better pictures. The current king of multiple cameras, the Nokia Pureview 9, has 5 cameras but produces disappointing results.

Nokia pureview 9 - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

More cameras are good but other aspects (such as image processing software) are important as well.

Specific features to suit your needs

Are you someone who takes all your phone’s photos in auto mode or do you sometimes want more options? You might be looking for specific features that not all phone cameras have, or excel at.

Keeping it RAW

If you enjoy editing your photos or are particularly specific about how an image should look, you should look at phone cameras that shoot in RAW format. With no compression and loss of information, RAW files give photographers much more control when it comes to editing an image, allowing them to fine tune variables such as brightness, exposure and white balance. The main downside is that compared to JPEG files? RAW images are huge.

Going steady

If you plan to do a lot of shooting or filming outdoors, you may also want to look at what kind of stabilisation your next phone offers. Many flagship phones today offer Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) as a feature. OIS works by moving your phone’s image sensor to compensate for any shaking detected by the phone’s gyro-sensor.

Some phones like the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Google Pixel offer Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) instead. Compared to a OIS system, which relies on the physical adjustment of the sensor, a EIS system uses high-tech software. Each has its pros and cons with EIS generally better for capturing video while OIS primarily for photos.

When the lights go low

Lighting mode - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

Image credit: Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash

Low-light photography is an important feature to consider if you tend to take a lot of outdoor shots or like to snap photos on-the-go. Considering most users won’t know how to manually adjust their camera settings for the best low-light results, capturing good images in poor lighting in auto mode is a combination of hardware and software innovation.

Despite the fact that they only use a single rear-facing camera, the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are among the best options when it comes to low-light photography: a testament how Google’s impressive image processing software.

Google pixel 3 - Phone Camera | MyRepublic

The Google Pixel 3 and its impressive software-powered camera

Choosing a phone camera

The good news is that if you’re just a casual snapper, getting a flagship smartphone these days pretty much guarantees you get a good camera. In other words, you’re free to focus on other areas when shopping for your new phone: Is the operating system easy to use? How powerful is the phone’s processor? How good is the battery life? How resistant is it to breaking? Does it come in the colour that I want?

If you’re more serious about your phone camera’s prowess, you should look beyond its number megapixels to its microns (µm) figure i.e. its pixel size. Consider what kind of photos you like to take and look up the kinds of lens, cameras and image processing technology the smartphone has. The most expensive smartphone out there doesn’t necessarily have the best camera. Pick one that fits you best.

Privacy Policy

At MyRepublic, we are committed to maintain the security and confidentiality of the personal information held by us. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how we look after the personal information we obtain or you provide us with when you use our Website ([insert Card Con URL]), attend Card Con, or correspond with us relating to Card Con.

1. Your Privacy

We will take reasonable care to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete, up-to-date and stored in a secure environment, protected from unauthorised access, modification, loss or disclosure. 

2. Personal Information

a. “Personal Information” refers to your personal particulars obtained by us in the course of our dealings with you. Personal Information collected may include personal contact details, interests, comments and feedback, and communication preferences.

b. We may use “cookies” or other similar tracking technologies (“Cookies”), when you visit our Sites or use our products and services to distinguish you from other users. Through Cookies, it might also include how you use our Website to help us develop and improve our website, including details of your domain name and Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating system, browser version, cookie details, how long you stayed on a page, the route you took to navigate through the pages and the website that you visited prior to accessing our site.

c. We collect your personal information through the following means: 

– From you directly:
1. Data submitted through our web forms (including registration forms)
2. Data collected onsite during our exhibition(s), this includes personal information and activities
3. Data collected by  employees when in direct communication with persons / organisations

– By automated technologies / services, including:
1. Data gathered from services which use IP address to determine where the visitors to our site originate from
2. Information from actions made by an individual in response to direct marketing campaigns, including when an individual opens any emails or follows any links originating from our email communications
3. Information related to website navigation and usage
4. Data used to provide personalised marketing / user experiences while visiting our sites

– From third party sources, including:
1. Personal information or supplementary information from partners who we engage with in joint marketing efforts
2. Public data sources used to supplement or validate our existing datasets
3. Data services / suppliers used to obtain or supplement our existing datasets
4. Data which has been acquired as part of an acquisition or merger

3. How we use Your Personal Information

a. We may collect and use your Personal Information to:
1. Provide you with information and updates relating to Card Con.
2. Respond to you in relation to any enquiries you may have
3. Produce analytics relating to your usage of our products and response to our marketing activities
4. Improving our services and user experience
And where you have opted-in:
5. Deliver targeted promotional messaging relating to our services

c. MyRepublic will not use your Personal Information for any purpose not permitted by law or beyond the stated purpose you have consented to.

d. The Card Con Website contains links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites. 

4. Who do we share your Personal Information to

a. Apart from our staff, we may share your personal information with third parties to perform obligations or carry out services to us, related to the provision our products or services to you. Those entities may include:
(i) companies related to us;
(ii) our business partners, marketing partners and authorised service providers;
(iii) our professional advisors; and
(iv) our suppliers.

b. We are required to disclose your Personal Information to the parties described above so that they may carry out their obligations to us, and to you. Our disclosure of your Personal Information may, at times, be subject to their privacy policies. To every extent possible, we require these parties to act consistently with the personal information protections we have put in place.

c. We also reserve the right to disclose your Personal Information to law enforcement agencies, government regulators and our professional advisers, to the extent necessary as required by appliable laws.

d. If you post information on any of our Websites or social media platforms, any information on your post, such as your user name, may be seen by other visitors. 

5. How long do we retain your Personal Information

We retain your Personal Information for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, for legal or business purposes of MyRepublic, or as required or allowed by law. We will cease to retain such Personal Data when it is no longer required for the foregoing purposes. 

6. How you can access and update your Personal Information

a. You must ensure your listed customer details are current, complete and accurate. You may correct or update your customer details by contacting our Customer Support.

b. If you require access or a copy of your Personal Information within our possession, please contact us according to Clause 11 and we will assess your request. In some cases, we may impose a reasonable charge for making copies of Personal Information available to you. If so, we will advise you of the charge prior to making the information available to you. 

7. Withdrawing your Consent

a. You may request to withdraw your consent by contacting us according to Clause 11. Your request for withdrawal of consent will take effect within 30 days upon receipt of your request. Please note that use of your personal data may be essential for us to provide the product or service that you subscribed. Therefore, your withdrawal of consent may impair our ability to continue providing the product or service to you. Your withdrawal of consent does not affect our right to continue to collect, use and disclose personal data where permitted or required under applicable laws.

b. If you wish to withdraw your consent to receive marketing messages about our exclusive offers from us or our business partners, please contact our Customer Support or unsubscribe from our newsletter. Your request will be processed within 30 days. Non-marketing messages including product and service updates and notices will not be affected by your consent withdrawal. 

8. Protecting Your Personal Data

We take reasonable physical, technical and administrative steps to help prevent loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure or modification of Personal Information. However, please understand that the transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network may be subject to loss, interception and misuse. We do not represent, warrant or undertake that your Personal Information transmitted through online means will remain secure, and disclaim all liability arising from such transmission. 

9. Overseas Transfers

We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Policy and the data protection legislation when it is processed in, or otherwise accessed from, a location outside Singapore. In order to ensure the highest level of protection. MyRepublic abides by PDPA data standards. 

10. Cookies

a. Cookies helps us to provide you with a better customer experience, when browsing our Sites. Cookies are small data files and may contain unique identifiers stored on your device by an online site. When you use our Site, we may collect standard information that is sent from your browser to our Website, including technical and statistical information.

b. You can usually choose to set your browser settings to manage Cookies. If you choose to remove or reject Cookies, you may not be able to access all or parts of our Website or services. 

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may review, amend or update this Privacy Policy from time to time without prior written notice. Updates to the Privacy Policy will be published on this page. We recommend that your review this page periodically for updates. Your continuous use of our Websites, products and services, will be deemed acceptance of any changes or additions to this Privacy Policy. 

12. Contacting Us

If you have any query or feedback regarding this Privacy Policy, you may contact our Data Protection Officer at: [email protected].

Last updated 26 March 2025 

Card Con – Visitor Terms and Conditions

By registering for Card Con, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms and Conditions.

1. Introduction

1.1 These Terms and Conditions (“Terms“) govern the registration and participation of attendees (“Attendees“) in Card Con by MyRepublic (“Card Con“), organised by MyRepublic (“Organiser“).

1.2 By registering for Card Con, Participants agree to comply with these Terms and the Card Con Privacy Policy.

2. Registration

2.1 Registration for Card Conis free of charge.

2.2 Attendeesmust provide accurate and complete information during the online registrationon the Card Con website at https://myrepublic.net/sg/card-con/ (“Website”) and must present their QR code upon registration at Card Con.

2.3 MyRepublic reserves the right to refuse or revoke anAttendee’sregistration at its sole discretion.

3. Event Conduct

3.1 Attendeesshall conduct themselves respectfully and follow all rules set by the Organiser.

3.2 Any disruptive, illegal, or inappropriate behaviour, including but not limited to harassment, cheating or other misconduct, may result in immediate removal from the Event.

3.3 Attendeesmust adhere to all venue rules and regulations.

4. Intellectual Property

4.1 Attendeesshall not infringe on any third-party intellectual property rights during Card Con.

4.2 Unauthorised reproduction, distribution, or possession of copyrighted or trademarked materials is strictly prohibited.

4.3 The Organiser may take appropriate action against any Attendeefound violating intellectual property laws, including but not limited to removal from Card Con.

4.4 The Organiser disclaims all liability to the Attendees and any third parties for the infringement of laws, regulations, intellectual property rights, and venue requirements by the exhibitors, vendors and Attendees.

5. Liability Disclaimer

5.1 Subject to applicable law, the Organiser, the venue, the vendor,and the exhibitors disclaim all liability for any injury, damage or loss of any kind, including but not limited to personal injury, loss, or damage to property suffered by Attendeesduring the Event, even if it is caused by the negligence, omission, or fault of the Organiser, its employees, officers, agents, or sub-contractors in connection with the Website, or Card Con.

5.2 The Organiser shall not be responsible for any disputes, damages, or losses arising from transactions or interactions between Attendees, or between Attendees and the exhibitors at Card Con.

5.3 Attendeesattend Card Con at their own risk and are responsible for their own personal belongings.

6. Photography and Media Release

6.1 The Organiser may take photographs, videos, or other recordings during Card Confor promotional purposes.

6.2 By attending Card Con, Attendeesconsent to the use of their likeness in such media without compensation.

7. Tournament & Prize Terms (If Applicable)

7.1 Tournament participants must follow official tournament rules and regulations.

7.2 Prizes are non-transferable, and non-exchangeable.

7.3 Any disputes will be resolved by the Organiser or its appointed vendors, and their decision will be final.

8. Amendments and Cancellation

8.1 The Organiser reserves the right to amend these Terms at any time without prior notice.

8.2 The Organiser may cancel, postpone, or modify Card Conat its sole discretion without liability.

9. Governing Law

9.1 These Terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Singapore.

9.2 Any disputes arising from or related to these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore.