The story began a few days ago when I went for a haircut and overheard a conversation between two men sitting next to me. Their dialogue went like this:

"I saw your WeChat Moments. You switched from an iPhone to an imaging phone, right? The photos you took of flowers look amazing."

"Didn't you switch too? I got a vivo, and you got a Huawei, didn't you?"

"You used to hate posting photos. Why did you start posting them yourself? When are you going to start posting selfies?"

"My friend, you're too caught up in appearances."

A detail in this conversation struck me—the term 'imaging phone.' For a long time, such devices were simply called 'Android phones,' and the typical remark was, 'What, switching from an iPhone to an Android? That's a downgrade!'

At some point, things changed. The term 'imaging phone,' once dismissed as 'pretentious,' 'marketing hype,' or a 'pseudo-concept,' gradually gained traction, becoming a common yet widespread term. This transformation occurred amidst fierce competition in the smartphone market. Over the past decade, global smartphone shipments have declined year after year, with Chinese Android brands, including Huawei (which was forced to migrate to HarmonyOS), being the main competitors. The lightweight, artistic, and somewhat ethereal term 'imaging' became a lifeline for Chinese smartphones in a market defined by Stock competition (fierce competition for existing market share).

Grasping this lifeline, Chinese smartphones survived a cycle. Philosophically speaking, every grand cause has a humble effect. Everything that happened in the past was to make the present possible. The decade-long struggle among Chinese smartphone manufacturers might have been just to make that one man realize his bias.

Perhaps this is a bit self-indulgent, but I quite like this story.

Even today, many people firmly believe that iPhones are superior to other smartphones. For instance, a certain internet celebrity once sparked controversy by referring to 'iPhone people' and 'Android people.' Preference for a particular smartphone is subjective, influenced by usage habits, needs, and brand loyalty. However, no one today would argue that iPhones have superior imaging capabilities compared to other smartphones.

Yet, a decade ago, it was widely accepted that iPhones outperformed Android phones in photography and videography. Many even believed that Android phones lacked imaging capabilities altogether.

Back then, Android phones commonly suffered from overexposure in photography. Scenes like low light, backlighting, and telephoto were nearly impossible to handle. This was because Apple not only had its own operating system but also advantages in self-developed imaging hardware like ISPs. In 2016, most Android phones used the stock ISP provided by Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors. Manufacturers could only make superficial adjustments, unable to deeply optimize capabilities like focusing, imaging, and video processing. As a result, the imaging capabilities of Android phones were uniformly weak.

During that period, iPhones consistently topped the DXOMARK rankings. The iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 7 Plus were crowned as the imaging kings of their time. Whenever a new flagship Android phone was released, it would inevitably include a photography comparison with the iPhone during its launch event. However, after much praise at the launch, these phones would face widespread ridicule online, reinforcing the industry perception that 'Apple sets the standard for smartphone imaging, while others are just trying to catch up.'

The situation was even worse for video recording. The tech community at the time claimed, 'There are only two types of smartphone videos: those shot on an iPhone and those shot on anything else.' The iPhone 6s series was the first flagship to support stable 4K 30fps recording, while most Android flagships of the same period were limited to 1080P 30fps. A few models labeled as 4K had issues like false advertising, frequency reduction, and inability to record for extended periods. Even at weddings or conferences, photographers could be seen shooting videos with iPhones, as organizers believed it looked more professional and prestigious.

Overcoming deep-seated biases is an incredibly difficult task.

To break through the rigid landscape of smartphone imaging, Chinese manufacturers needed a starting point. In 2016, that opportunity arose in the form of multi-camera setups.

In 2016, Huawei's P9 series, in collaboration with Leica, introduced a dual-camera system with a color + monochrome sensor. The significance of the P9 lay in its departure from the cliché of competing with Apple solely on lens specifications and image clarity. Instead, it attempted to break free from Apple's technological framework and find a new focal point. Most importantly, the P9's dual-camera system delivered clearer lines and shadows, capturing the essence of what photography enthusiasts called 'German imaging style.' This demonstrated the necessity of multi-camera setups.

Shifting the focus from lens specifications to multi-camera collaboration laid the foundation for the future development of Chinese smartphone imaging.

To put it bluntly, during that phase, Huawei's P series single-handedly carried the torch for smartphone imaging. Even Huawei's other flagship series, the Mate, lagged significantly behind the P series in imaging performance at the time. Fortunately, the rapid and positive market feedback from the P series proved the viability of imaging phones, leading the entire industry to recognize this as a direction worth pursuing, rather than another fleeting innovation that would fade into obscurity.

In 2018, Huawei's P20 series debuted with the Sony IMX600 1/1.7-inch sensor, ushering in a new era of larger smartphone sensors—now commonly referred to by manufacturers as 'a bigger sensor dominates.' This generation achieved a qualitative leap in low-light photography, earning the nickname 'Huawei's night vision goggles.' From this point onward, the P20 series topped the DXOMARK rankings, marking the beginning of Chinese imaging phones comprehensively surpassing Apple.

The subsequent P30 series introduced the RYYB ultra-light-sensitive sensor and 5x optical periscope telephoto lens, targeting low-light and telephoto photography—two weak spots in smartphone imaging. The controversial 'moon photography' feature propelled the P30 series into the spotlight, clearly demonstrating that Chinese smartphones could outperform Apple in imaging, at least in certain aspects.

That same year, OPPO Reno launched 10x hybrid zoom, vivo X30 Pro introduced a periscope telephoto lens, and Xiaomi CC9 Pro boasted a 108MP ultra-large sensor. The 'large sensor, multi-camera, full focal range' trifecta pioneered by Huawei's P series became the standard imaging configuration for Chinese flagship phones. The iPhone 11 Pro series, released in the same year, introduced a triple-camera system for the first time but fell behind in imaging hardware specifications.

By bypassing Apple's smartphone imaging ecosystem and instead collaborating with legacy camera manufacturers, exploring AI + imaging solutions, and refining the hardware-software synergy of multi-camera systems, Chinese manufacturers forged an alternative path. Changing the landscape suddenly seemed less daunting.

In 2019, Huawei, having just become the world's top smartphone brand by shipments, suddenly faced U.S. sanctions. This halted the production of Huawei's flagship phones, including the P series. Fortunately, the path to imaging phones pioneered by the P series was not abandoned but instead accelerated through collective efforts from several major brands. The systematic transcend (surpassing) of Apple by Chinese brands in smartphone imaging gradually became inevitable.

During this new phase, several key changes occurred. First, manufacturers realized that relying on stock imaging capabilities from SoC vendors and assembling components from the supply chain was a dead end. Having accumulated resources, OEMs began investing in self-developed imaging technologies. In 2021, Xiaomi released the Surge C1 self-developed ISP, OPPO unveiled the MariSilicon X self-developed imaging NPU, and vivo launched the self-developed V1 imaging chip, driving innovation through proprietary technologies across multiple imaging capabilities. That same year, despite hardware limitations, Huawei introduced a breakthrough in algorithms with the optical computing system in the P50 series.

On another front, major smartphone manufacturers drew inspiration from Huawei's collaboration with Leica and began forming their own 'imaging partnerships.' After Huawei ended its partnership with Leica, Xiaomi became Leica's new partner, while vivo and OPPO initiated optical collaborations with Zeiss and Hasselblad, respectively.

By 2022, Chinese smartphone brands dominated the top positions on the DXOMARK rankings. The path of imaging phones, once a unique direction explored by Huawei, had become a collective strength of Chinese smartphone brands.

Extreme imaging demands such as ultra-wide-angle, telephoto, low-light, and instant capture were fully met during this phase. On one hand, the imaging capabilities and performances of various domestic brands became more differentiated, enriching consumer choices. The notion that 'Android phones only stack specs and have similar imaging capabilities' was Completely abandon (completely abandoned).

On the other hand, 'no weaknesses across all focal lengths and lighting conditions' became a unique hallmark of Chinese imaging phones. Features like all-primary cameras, AI, and optical algorithms, which Apple did not pursue, formed a diverse arsenal, enabling Chinese brands to maintain strong, sustainable competitiveness in the global market.

From 2019 to 2022, the development of imaging phones can be summarized as follows: in static photography, Chinese brands achieved comprehensive leadership.

From 2022 to 2023, few users still believed that Apple's imaging capabilities were superior across the board. However, a new viewpoint emerged: 'For photography, choose Android; for videography, choose Apple.'""In other words, videography might have been Apple's last stronghold in imaging. By 2024, even this defense had largely crumbled. That year, Chinese smartphone brands competed fiercely in videography. For instance, the vivo X200 series achieved 4K 60fps 10-bit Log video recording, while the OPPO Find X8 series enabled 4K 60fps video recording across all lenses. Chinese flagship phones comprehensively surpassed the iPhone 16 series in video stabilization, telephoto video, and low-light video capabilities. The video post-production ecosystems of Huawei, Xiaomi, and other brands developed rapidly, challenging the stereotype that only Apple offered sophisticated post-production software.

Starting that year, it seemed that no Chinese brand's flagship imaging phone felt compelled to compare its imaging capabilities with the iPhone during launch events. Instead, they collectively shifted to new frontiers. Also around this time, Chinese flagship phones uniformly introduced 'Stage Mode' and 'Concert Mode.' Capturing high-definition photos and videos of concerts from the mountain top (top of a hill or stadium), a technically demanding and once niche scenario, suddenly became a competitive focal point. This exemplifies the extreme internal competition among Chinese imaging phones.

But it was precisely this fierce competition that swept away the dismissive term 'Android phone.'

Today, it's rare to hear someone specifically praise the iPhone's photography or see it used extensively for imaging creation. Some may still argue that Apple's imaging is more natural and pure (pure), while Huawei, vivo, and other brands offer overly complex imaging capabilities. However, when it comes to choosing a phone for concert photography, landscape shots during travels, or posting photos on WeChat Moments or Xiaohongshu, users have likely formed fair judgments.

The term 'imaging phone' has finally established itself in the Chinese market, gaining stability through word-of-mouth.

Now, in 2026, the thing that Chinese smartphone brands are more often compared to is DSLR cameras. A few years ago, claiming that smartphones could rival professional cameras would have been labeled as ignorant, paid promotion, or PR spin. But on the path of imaging, rapid and frequent changes seem to be the main theme.

vivo has unveiled a new product form equipped with Zeiss teleconverters, leveraging a combination of smartphone lens groups to break down the final barriers between imaging smartphones and DSLR cameras. Huawei Pura 90 Pro Max is equipped with a 1/1.28-inch sensor + a 200-megapixel telephoto lens, along with chip-level 200-megapixel RAW domain real-time processing technology, enabling it to achieve 20x optical zoom high-definition video recording. These are already scenes in the uncharted territory of smartphone imaging.

The origin of imaging smartphones may have been to shed the reputation of being low-end, or to vie for a slice of the high-end market share. This is a highly utilitarian and pragmatic endeavor. It is far from easygoing or casual; it can be described as very 'attached to form.' However, after a decade of being 'attached to form,' many things have indeed changed. In areas such as AI imaging, full-focal-length main cameras, and independent supply chains, China has become a rule-setter in the imaging smartphone game. Imaging capabilities have begun to comprehensively spread to mid-range and low-end models through Chinese brands, making 'taking better photos' one of the few experiences that has seen a price drop in an era of across-the-board price hikes for digital products. More importantly, imaging smartphones have yet to hit a ceiling today and continue to infuse the core smartphone industry with enduring vitality.

It has taken over a decade for Chinese smartphones to reach the point where users are happy to press the shutter button.

So be it if we're 'attached to form'; being 'attached to form' is the beginning of transcending form.