Ayup! Is Apple losing its dominance in the world of mobile photography? For a little context, I recently discovered the OPPO Find X9 Ultra. It’s right at the top of most listicles covering the best mobile camera of 2026. It’s also one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. And…it’s got a 200MP Hasselblad camera. Yep!
I’m already tempted, and I’m sure a lot of other Apple users will be too. For anyone looking for the best of the best when it comes to mobile photography, the iPhone no longer reigns supreme.
The Oppo Find X9 Ultra has become my favorite Android phone. Its cameras are the best I’ve ever tested, its software is excellent, and its performance and battery life are similarly impressive. The trade-off here is that this phone is large, heavy, and expensive. It won’t be for everyone, but if you care about cameras more than anything else, you won’t be disappointed with this one.
Camera Partnerships
As I write this, you can buy mobile versions of Leica and Hasselblad cameras. A Xiaomi partnership with Leica produced the Leitzphone, and the aforementioned OPPO partnership with Hasselblad produced the Find X9 Ultra.
Both are Android phones. Both were released this year. Both are receiving some seriously positive reviews.
The Leica Leitzphone is, without a doubt, one of the best camera phones I’ve ever used. Mainly because it shares the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s outstanding camera hardware: a 1-inch main camera, large 200MP telephoto with a true 75-100mm mechanical zoom, producing image quality that can look genuinely photographic.
Aside from 200MP being completely ridiculous and unnecessary, you can already feel a level of innovation that just isn’t happening at Apple. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy with the camera performance of the 17 Pro Max. But it could always be better.
As someone invested in mobile photography, I won’t stick around if better options are available. Which there are.
Where Does This Leave Apple?
Well, something needs to happen, I guess. A partnership with a premium camera brand gets my vote. Sony already makes the image sensors, I believe. Maybe they could lean into that, but would it be enough? They certainly count as a premium brand in many respects, but they’re no Leica. What about a Fujifilm collab? Hmmmmm, now that would be interesting. It’d certainly be a talking point.
Of course, whatever they do, even if it’s nothing, the performance of the camera is what matters here. The current Pro iPhone models are good. In fact, they’re very good. But they’re no longer the best.
Additionally, can you really call it an iPhone Pro with so few manual controls in the native camera app? Nope, didn’t think so.
That’s the issue Apple now faces. As it stands, all I’m dreaming about is owning a Hasselblad mobile camera, rather than the next iPhone.
As I kept reading through everything Apple dropped and every review that followed, no one was really saying a word about the camera app itself. Not one mention of true manual control. Not one single new feature for photographers who want to shoot with intention.