This is the only reason I still buy flagship Android phones in 2026

There are plenty of reasons to buy flagship Android phones, such as bleeding-edge performance, wireless charging support, and premium designs. The list goes on, with high-end phones also offering super-fast charging, sharp and bright displays, IP68/69 ratings, and great build quality. Needless to say, you’re often getting a lot of features and perks by paying a premium.

However, colleague Andrew Grush recently questioned whether flagship phones are still worth it. I reckon they’re not worth it for most people, but there’s one reason why I still buy and use high-end Android phones over most mid-range devices. I simply want a fantastic camera experience.

The sole reason why I tend to buy and use flagship Android phones is because I value top-notch cameras above all else. Phones like the vivo X300 Pro, OPPO Find X9 Pro, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and others usually offer high-quality camera hardware. And it starts with the telephoto camera.

Telephoto cameras are a must on my phones, and they’re rare on mid-range devices from most manufacturers. That means I’m often forced to use flagship phones if I want great camera zoom. There are some mid-range phones with tele cameras, such as the realme 16 Pro Plus and Nothing Phone 3a series. But again, these devices are the exception rather than the rule. The best camera phones in this regard also pack cutting-edge tele camera features like wide apertures, larger sensors, macro focusing, 200MP sensors, and/or variable telephoto modules.

I’m not just buying a high-end Android phone for the zoom camera, although that’s certainly a big reason. I’m also buying them as they tend to have great primary camera hardware. Sure, even sub-$250 phones take good-quality 1x photos during the day, but they sometimes struggle in adverse scenarios. This includes low-light conditions, capturing fast-moving subjects, freezing subjects in mixed lighting, and more. Premium phones tend to excel in these situations, though.

I’m not a big fan of ultrawide cameras in general, but flagship Android phones also tend to offer better ultrawide shooters than mid-rangers. That’s not just good news for ultrawide photos, but it’s also great news for video. That’s because the wider perspective makes for more stable videos. Many brands even use the ultrawide camera to capture Super Steady videos. It therefore makes sense to have a decent ultrawide camera for improved video quality. In fact, the vivo X200 Ultra defaults to the ultrawide camera for 8K video.

So I clearly appreciate great camera hardware, but flagship Android phones usually offer better software features too. For example, Xiaomi’s mid-rangers and POCO’s flagships lack Leica color profiles. Meanwhile, mid-tier OnePlus phones lack the fun XPAN mode and smart scene functionality. Even the Google Pixel 9a lacks Action Pan and Camera Coach functionality. This also extends to video capabilities, as many mid-rangers miss out on options like 4K/120fps video capture and 8K video. Google’s mid-rangers and even the base Pixel flagships don’t support the cloud-based Video Boost feature, either.

In other words, I’d definitely buy a mid-range Android phone if it had great, flexible cameras. Because I really don’t give a crap about most other flagship phone features.

I don’t care if my phone has a QHD+ screen with 8,000 nits of peak brightness. I honestly don’t need 16GB of RAM on my phone, and I’d even settle on 8GB of memory. I don’t give a toss about wireless charging, either, nor do I care about most generative AI features. And despite being a silicon junkie, I don’t really expect or want cutting-edge flagship processors in my mid-range phone if it means a compromised camera experience. Although I do want my phone to be smooth and stay smooth over time.

So I really hope more manufacturers offer cheaper phones with telephoto cameras and great camera hardware in general. Because there’s really no excuse why a flexible, polished camera setup should be the domain of $1,000+ phones.