Phones with fastest cameras (2016 edition)

And more and more, we're taking pictures spontaneously, not as a memory, but as a means of communication: we often use pictures instead of words, and you need to look no further than Snapchat to see a proof.

That is why in a modern phone we value not only the quality of the pictures, but also the sheer speed of the camera. Being able to capture that one moment in a split second is empowering, and it could make all the difference. Luckily, smartphone makers have caught up with these elevated demands by the users and this year, in 2016, we are seeing phones that have the fastest and the best cameras so far. We at PhoneArena have developed a simple way to test the speed of a camera by simply capturing an image multiple times to get an average score, and see objectively which phone has the fastest camera. Take a look at the results right below.

It's remarkable that we have such a tight race: the Google Pixel and Apple iPhone 7 win it, but even the runner-ups in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG's V20 are fairly close.

However, we also wanted to see the larger picture: how do the fastest phone cameras in 2016 compare against the fastest phone cameras from last year? Is there any tangible improvement?

The answer is a resounding yes. The top performers from 2016, with their 1.1-second scores are way faster than last year's champions in the form of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus that scored 1.6 seconds and more. Moreover, camera speed improvements seem to have come to all major phones in 2016. And this is simply great news for consumers.