5 Android Phones That Had Variable Aperture Cameras Before The iPhone 18 Pro

Long earlier than Apple launched the iPhone 18 Pro with a variable aperture on the primary digicam, which we take into account one of the best smartphone digicam of 2026, different Android gamers walked this path earlier than — and finally exited it. The first was Samsung with the 2018 Galaxy S9 and S9+. Over the years, different corporations adopted, like Huawei with the Mate 50 Pro, Sony with the Xperia Pro-I, and Xiaomi with its 14 Ultra cellphone. Always targeted on the premium phase — and finally increasing to the mid-range – what these smartphone producers tried to realize was a technique to differentiate themselves from the wave of telephones with comparable specs.

By combining the experience of well-known manufacturers like Leica and Zeiss, these smartphone producers may carry extra customization to their choices as, often, smartphones use a hard and fast aperture to seize essentially the most gentle throughout a number of situations. With variable aperture, prospects can choose manually how a lot gentle they need the cellphone to soak up, which might influence depth of discipline and provide extra creativity when taking photographs.

Variable aperture cameras on telephones could be nice for group photographs, the place you’ll be able to be certain that a number of topics stay in focus. Photos can even look sharper, and photographers can play with completely different lighting situations, object motion, and extra. Still, most of those corporations finally determined to part out the know-how, saving the additional effort that they might relatively put elsewhere. These are some Android telephones that had variable aperture cameras earlier than the iPhone.

Introduced in March 2018, the Galaxy S9 was the primary smartphone with a variable aperture with a f1.5 and f.24 twin possibility. According to Samsung, this smartphone labored just like the human eye, as it might modify to completely different lighting situations. Besides that, Samsung’s digicam would additionally seize as much as 12 variations of the identical photograph to make sure the picture would have nice distinction, whereas lowering noise. This digicam was additionally answerable for Super Slow-mo captures at 960 frames per second, automated Motion Detection, and Samsung’s AR Emoji, a response to Apple’s standard Memojis that you might even set as your individual wallpaper. All that was doable due to a rear 12MP digicam and a 12MP telephoto lens, and an 8MP selfie digicam.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 additionally marked a couple of different enhancements over the earlier era, which solely had one foremost digicam. While Apple was shifting ahead with Face ID know-how, Samsung had a fingerprint sensor behind the cellphone — simply beneath the cameras — which may develop into handy when you found the place to position your finger, however would most occasions simply hold your digicam lenses smudged with a ‘clear your lenses” notification earlier than you might take any photograph.

Samsung continued to supply a variable aperture with its subsequent releases, together with the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Note 10. However, prices and complexity of the {hardware} made the corporate ditch the know-how. While Galaxy S27 was rumored to carry the characteristic again, these stay the explanation why Samsung would possibly by no means restore it again to its telephones.

In 2021, in partnership with ZEISS, Sony launched the Xperia Pro-I smartphone. This gadget has been the one Sony cellphone with a variable aperture. With f/2.0 to f/4.0 aperture, the corporate promised “excellent low gentle efficiency, excessive dynamic vary, and exquisite bokeh.” Sony additionally promoted this Xperia Pro-I cellphone as the primary smartphone to report 4K video at 120fps. While the PRO-I did not reside as much as the expectations of a second era with variable aperture, Sony finally switched to true steady optical zoom with telephoto lenses shifting the glass ingredient between focal lengths like 85mm and 125mm.

The Sony Xperia Pro-I featured a 6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED show with 120Hz refresh charge. It had the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G processor, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage with as much as 1TB of expandable storage through a microSDXC slot. Focused for images lovers, this cellphone featured a triple-camera system led by a 12MP 1.0-inch Exmor RS foremost sensor with variable aperture and 24mm Zeiss Tessar T optics. This cellphone additionally featured a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide lens. Sony additionally had a 3D iToF depth sensor to enhance photographs, along with an 8MP front-facing digicam.

Even although Sony is presently absent from the U.S. market, it nonetheless sells smartphones in a couple of areas. Among its choices, Sony has the Xperia 10 VIII, the Xperia 1 VII, and the Xperia 10 VII, tackling the mid-range cellphone phase.

Released in 2022, Huawei was one other firm to introduce variable aperture for its foremost digicam. Called Ultra Aperture XMAGE Camera, Huawei Mate 50 Pro targeted on a Professional mode that might give customers 10 completely different aperture sizes to select from. With a 50MP sensor, the corporate mentioned the lens was in a position to soak up 24% extra gentle than the earlier mannequin due to a ultra-large f/1.4 aperture and RYYB sensor. This sensor was additionally answerable for an improved Super Night Mode to offer low-light ambient photographs a brand new life.

This cellphone additionally featured a 64MP periscope telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom and a 13MP ultrawide lens. The selfie digicam featured a 13MP digicam with a 3D ToF sensor for 3D face unlock. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro had a 6.74-inch OLED show with 120Hz refresh charge, and it was powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset with 8GB of RAM, and as much as 512GB of storage.

Unlike Samsung, Huawei continued releasing smartphones with a variable aperture, which included the 2023 Huawei P60 Pro telephones, the Huawei Pura 70 Pro lineup launched in 2024, and extra lately the Pura 80 Pro and 80 extremely in 2025. Even extra apparently, the corporate introduced this know-how to mid-range lineups with the Huawei Nova 13 Pro and Nova 14 Pro. They characteristic a 50MP RYYB sensor with an f/1.4 to f/4.0 aperture, which reveals a singular case of an organization that stored betting on this know-how for its telephones.

Xiaomi was most likely one of many loudest corporations in regards to the variable aperture characteristic. First partnering with Leica, the corporate provided a dual-step mechanism with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra in 2023, after which improved the know-how by 2024 within the 14 Ultra with a stepless 10-blade aperture. However, after two large years of specializing in this perform, the corporate silently eliminated the variable aperture with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and moved again to a hard and fast f/1.63 aperture.

Among the explanations, Xiaomi targeted on fixing the “telephoto hole” drawback by providing a steady mechanical optical zoom with the 17 Ultra possibility, including superior sensors with dynamic vary know-how that might deal with highlights and excessive gentle distinction immediately on the pixel stage, and likewise as a result of weight and thickness of earlier fashions. By dropping the additional mechanical motor, the corporate was in a position to make the primary module easier, lighter, and fewer susceptible to mechanical put on over time.

While Xiaomi moved away from the know-how, on the time it launched, the corporate actually promoted a cellphone targeted on photographers, with a quad rear digicam system sporting a foremost 50MP 1.0-inch sensor, and three further 50MP lenses for ultrawide, 3.2x optical zoom, and 5x optical periscope telephotos. The cellphone additionally featured a 32MP selfie digicam to take sharp photographs, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor with as much as 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

In 2024, Honor turned the newest smartphone maker (earlier than Apple) to wager on variable aperture. With its all-new Magic6 Pro, Honor opted for a 50MP foremost digicam with variable aperture between f/1.4 and f/2.0, promising “to seize fast-paced moments in distinctive readability with out compromising on particulars.” The smartphone additionally featured a 180MP telephoto digicam with 2.5x optical zoom, as much as 100x digital zoom, and a 50MP ultra-wide lens.

Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy S9, the place the first focus was the variable aperture, this Honor launch was much more than that, with an enormous concentrate on AI. The firm touted enhancements with the MagicOS 8.0, its personal model of Android with Magic Capsule and Magical Portal options. For instance, the Magic Portal would perceive messages and consumer habits to streamline duties — like recognizing an tackle on a message and direct customers to Google Maps. Magic Capsule, alternatively, customers would get extra informational and associated choices on the notifications banner on the high of the display.

This cellphone additionally featured a 6.8-inch OLED show with 120Hz refresh charge, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor paired with as much as 6GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 5,600 mAh silicon-carbon battery with 80W of wired charging. What’s extra attention-grabbing is that, to this point, Honor continues to wager on variable aperture, as its newest Magic7 Pro mannequin nonetheless incorporates a bodily two-step variable aperture.