The following versatile milestone is video recording, and the iPhone is still way ahead

 

For the most part, no matter what smartphone you buy, it's probably capable of snapping some pretty great pictures. And if you jump into the cameras Pro Mode, you can practically remove the need for using a DSLR thanks to the upgrades we've seen in both the actual sensors and software processing. So it doesn't matter whether it's the iPhone 13 Pro Max or the OnePlus 9 Pro — the smartphone market has almost plateaued.

It's part of the reason why we're seeing more companies focus on "gimmicky" features like being able to snap photos of the moon. Now, I'm not 100% convinced that there isn't some black magic going on to turn a picture of a potato in the sky into an actual clear image of the man on the moon. But I digress.

Photography on cell phones arrived at its top, essentially until more current camera sensors are created for cell phones. So what's next? As I would like to think, it's videography.

Gone are the days where you need to utilize a reduced camera to record your children playing or just to record something different that is noteworthy. All things being equal, the minimal camera lives in your pocket or sack and flames up instantly. What's more, despite the fact that we have telephones like the Galaxy S21 Ultra that can record 8K video, it's not the best insight to do as such.

Video recording has its series of restrictions, and except if you settle on a particular gadget like the Sony Xperia 1 III with its large number of camera includes, your recordings may fall somewhat short. We're living during a time where anybody can just hit record on their telephones and transfer a video to YouTube. TikTok is extremely popular now, and it doesn't resemble it's dialing back at any point in the near future.

Video recording on Android is ... not great

Moving past that, though, we're at a bit of an impasse on the Android side of things. Most recently, the Pixel 5a went through a bit of controversy, as Google's latest device suffered from overheating issues when recording 4K video. As a result, the phone only records 4K video for less than 10 minutes before the phone gives you a warning.

This is even more frustrating because it's not like the Pixel 5a is the only device with these issues. Over the past year, we've seen similar problems plague the likes of the OnePlus 9 Pro and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Consistent issues with some of the best Android phones include the Snapdragon 888's chipset running too hot. Since this also occurs with the Pixel 5a and its mid-tier Snapdragon 765G chipset, it looks like it's more of a Qualcomm problem than anything.

One series of gadgets has apparently figured out how to stay away from this pattern, and that is the iPhone. Say what you will, however Apple's hand crafted silicon has withstood any of these issues and keeps on being the best cell phone for video recording. Some YouTube makers like Austin Evans have begun utilizing iPhones as "b-roll" cameras since whatever Apple is doing is working.

What's significantly crazier is that Apple has to some degree adopted to Google's strategy (until the Pixel 6 grounds) by utilizing a threesome of 12MP sensors consistently. The thing that matters is that Apple quite often utilizes overhauled sensors with each delivery, however it's still a threesome of 12MP focal points. These won't snatch features like the Galaxy S21 Ultra's 108MP essential sensor or the 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HP1 sensor that will be coming to cell phones soon.

The battle isn't over

All of this is to say that if the Android world wants to try and make a go and cut Apple down a peg or two, it needs a device that can swing for the fences without compromise. Perhaps that will be the Pixel 6 Pro, with the Google Tensor processor handling all of the heavy lifting.

But until that day arrives, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max will remain the best smartphones for recording video. It's disappointing given the quality-parity between the best Android camera phones and the iPhone. The next mobile battleground is videography, and the Android world has a lot of work left to do to catch up to Apple.