The Only Phone Feature I Care About Now is a Macro Camera

If you can’t handle pictures of bugs less cute than the above jumping spider, you probably don’t want to go any further.

I’ve recently come to the realization that my decade-long love affair with the flagship phone has come to a necessary end. Mid-range phones are now better than I need them to be, so there’s no reason to pay the asking price for the best phones on the market.

That got me thinking—what’s one feature that’s a deal-breaker for me if a phone doesn’t have it? Something that, if a phone didn’t have it at all, would make it a no-go for me. Surprisingly, the only truly non-negotiable feature I can think of personally is a good macro camera.

Why Macro Changed the Way I See Phones

The first phone I owned where I took notice of the macro mode was my old Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. Now, these phones don’t really have a dedicated macro lens like you’d buy for an SLR or mirrorless camera. No, it’s usually a special mode of the ultrawide camera, but the results are no less stunning.

Person taking a phone call on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra showing its rear cameras.

I’ve never been much of a shutterbug, even though I’ve had camera phones for just over 20 years, predating smartphones by a good few years. I’m not that bothered about photographing landscapes or what I had for lunch. My use of phone cameras over the years has been largely utilitarian. Taking photos of computer parts, or sending my wife a photo of a thing in the store to make sure I’m buying the right one.

However, I’ve been a lifelong fan of the small things. The only thing I wanted for my birthday in the 4th grade was a microscope (which I got) and I spent hours looking at salt crystals and bee stingers in a specimen slide.

So always having a camera capable of capturing the tiny fauna and flora I encounter turned into the beginnings of a new hobby. After plenty of practice, I daresay I’ve become pretty decent at it, and I’m saving up for a proper probe-style macro lens for our mirrorless camera, but even then the macro mode in your phone is what you’ll always have ready.

Why I Won’t Buy a Phone Without One

A hand holding a smartphone with three cameras crossed out.

Which is why I can’t bring myself to buy a phone that doesn’t have a good macro camera. Having to pull out an SLR or attach a macro lens kit to my phone means I’m simply going to miss the cool shots I want. The vast majority of the best macro shots I’ve taken only exist because I could get my phone out and ready in seconds.

I’m getting to the end of my contract period with my iPhone 14 Pro, and I’ve been looking at a good mid-range Android phone to replace it. My wife’s been enjoying her Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, and it’s not that expensive these days, but it can’t do what I need it to. So even the novelty of the folding screen isn’t enough to make me sacrifice macro mode. Even when mid-range phones do have macro modes, they might not be very good at all. Which might be the thing that keeps me in the flagship arena, or more likely have me buying a much cheaper flagship from the previous year.

The Tiny Details I’ve Come to Love

It’s easy to completely ignore the tiny ecosystems that are just doing their thing all around us every day. As you sit and work at a desk, there’s a war between two ant armies going on under your nose. Somewhere a tiny gecko stalks insect prey. It never ends, and it’s endlessly fascinating to me.

What’s even better about these macro modes is that you don’t have to limit yourself to photos either, you can even take video at this scale. It’s just a pain to keep things in focus with such a shallow depth of field.

Still, insects, spiders, and reptiles have too much detail in them that the naked eye can’t see. These are some of my personal favorite photos I’ve taken over the last four years.

I’m planning to collage the best of these together and print them in high-quality form on A3 paper, frame it and put it up in my home. I’ve never felt like decorating my home with photos I’ve taken myself until now, so personally it’s a pretty big deal for me.

How Macro Cameras Are Changing Phone Photography

Just like adding ultrawide and telephoto lenses expands the type of photos you can take with a phone, macro modes expand the bottom of the range of possible photos. Now you can capture distant, large, and (with macro shots) very small or close-up subjects. It’s a whole new area of creative expression, and makes you aware of the small-scale world most of us just stomp through blindly every day.

The idea of losing access to this part of the photography realm doesn’t sit well with me. I’d rather give up screen resolution, processing power, or even a little battery life instead of giving up on a good macro camera.