Ryan Haines / Android Authority
It’s hard to find a smartphone these days that doesn’t have at least one high-quality camera. Today you can find 48MP, 50MP, 64MP and 108MP cameras on cheap phones. In fact, we’re seeing 200MP phones on flagships and upper mid-rangers.
So that got us wondering if you’re actually shooting images at full resolution (ie 32MP or higher) on your phone’s camera. Go ahead and vote in our poll below, and leave a comment if you’d like clarification on your choice.
Take full resolution pictures with your camera?
109 votes
Almost all phones today default to what’s called a pixel-binned shooting mode for photos. Pixel binning sees data from adjacent camera pixels combined into one, resulting in reduced resolution but cleaner, brighter shots. These shots typically weigh between 8MP and 16MP and feature much smaller file sizes than a full-resolution snap. So we can understand if you stick with this default shooting mode and don’t select the full resolution shooting option.
Still, many phones actually have a full-resolution mode (with the exception of devices like the Pixel 7 series), and this can be quite handy in good situations. Using the full resolution mode can provide more detail than the default recording mode in daytime situations, although the higher noise levels are less so. This mode can sometimes provide a more natural looking image compared to the normal shooting mode.