When you’re travelling or exploring the wild, capturing distant subjects with clarity can be a real challenge. Whether it’s a faraway mountain peak glowing at sunrise, a rare bird resting on a high branch, or wildlife roaming freely at a safe distance, your phone camera’s zoom capabilities truly matter. This is where telephoto lenses make a huge difference. Unlike digital zoom, which often reduces image quality, a telephoto lens provides true optical zoom, helping you capture crisp, detailed photos without pixelation.
Today’s premium smartphones come packed with incredible photography features, and telephoto lenses are becoming a standard for creators, adventurers, travel lovers, and wildlife enthusiasts. They offer flexibility, improve portrait photography, and allow you to click professional-grade images on the go. Simply put, if you want to travel light without carrying bulky cameras, choosing a phone with a good telephoto setup is a game-changer. In this blog, we explore 10 Phones with Telephoto Lens—perfect for capturing sharp travel landscapes, wildlife shots, architectural details, and more.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
A powerhouse for Zoom lovers, the S24 Ultra features a dedicated 10MP periscope telephoto lens offering up to 10x optical zoom. With superb stabilisation, incredible AI enhancements, and rich colour reproduction, it remains one of the most reliable phones for wildlife photography. The 50MP secondary telephoto lens further enhances flexibility, making it perfect for both short and long-range shots.
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Apple introduced its tetraprism telephoto lens with up to 5x optical zoom, producing sharp results even in low light. Thanks to sensor-shift stabilisation and Apple’s computational photography smarts, the iPhone photography lens excels in capturing distant scenes with a natural colour palette. Great for travellers who value consistency and ease of shooting.
Google Pixel 8 Pro
The Pixel 8 Pro combines a 48MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and Google’s unmatched HDR algorithms. Its Super Res Zoom produces exceptionally detailed wildlife shots, and the camera handles challenging lighting conditions brilliantly. Colour accuracy and contrast make Pixel phones favourites among pro photographers and casual users alike.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Still a top contender, the S23 Ultra Phones with Telephoto Lens offer 3x and 10x optical zoom—making it ideal for versatile travel photography. Its periscope lens captures crisp details even at high zoom levels, and its night mode is excellent for twilight wildlife shots. It’s a fantastic option if you want a slightly older but still powerful device.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
A flagship built for photography enthusiasts, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is equipped with a 75mm telephoto and a 120mm periscope telephoto lens. Its Leica-engineered imaging delivers outstanding clarity, depth, and colour science. The phone’s larger sensor size allows better low-light performance—perfect for dawn or dusk wildlife sightings.
OnePlus 12
OnePlus continues to improve its camera game, and the OnePlus 12 features a lens for mobile phone camera with 3x optical zoom and excellent hybrid zoom performance. Hasselblad tuning enhances colour accuracy, giving you beautifully balanced travel and wildlife photos. Its fast shutter response makes it great for capturing quick moments.
Vivo X100 Pro
The X100 Pro uses a Zeiss-powered 50MP telephoto lens with a 4.3x optical zoom and outstanding stabilisation. Its astrophotography modes and portrait telephoto abilities make it incredibly versatile. Wildlife photographers will also appreciate the smooth zoom transitions and natural bokeh.
OPPO Find X7 Ultra
A premium photography smartphone, the Find X7 Ultra houses dual periscope telephoto lenses for exceptional zoom capabilities. Whether you’re capturing distant animals in their natural habitat or zooming into cityscapes, this phone delivers stunning clarity. The colour tones are vibrant yet realistic.
Sony Xperia 1 V
Sony brings its Alpha camera expertise to smartphones. The Xperia 1 V’s variable zoom telephoto module (85–125mm) offers stepless optical zoom, giving you unparalleled freedom during wildlife and travel shoots. Its manual controls are perfect for photography purists who enjoy tinkering with ISO, shutter speed, and focus.
Huawei P60 Pro
Despite limited availability in some regions, the P60 Pro is revered for its 48MP telephoto camera with advanced stabilisation and a wide aperture. It takes exceptionally clear zoom images even in low light, making it ideal for sunrise treks, forest trails, and distant landscapes. Huawei’s image processing is top-notch for wildlife detail capture.
Final Words
Choosing the right Phones with Telephoto Lens can transform your travel and wildlife photography experience. Whether you need high optical zoom, dependable stabilisation, or pro-grade image algorithms, these 10 phones deliver exceptional performance in real-world shooting conditions. From Samsung’s zoom mastery to Apple’s colour accuracy and Xiaomi’s Leica-powered optics, each option offers unique advantages tailored for different types of photographers.
If you want to take your mobile photography even further, consider enhancing your shots with high-quality external lenses designed specifically for smartphones. Apexel India offers professional-grade telephoto attachments, macro lenses, wide-angle lenses, and universal clip-on kits that bring DSLR-level clarity to your phone. Check out our latest travel-friendly lens collection.