Looking for a new phone to live stream your exploits or showcase adventures to your social media followers? You need one of the best phones for streaming, equipped with a set of powerful cameras, good processing speed, and other key features.
Finding the right phone can be difficult even in the best of times, so let us help. Read on for a breakdown of the best iOS and best Android phones for live streaming in 2023, many of which you can find at retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and more.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is one of the best phones for influencers of all stripes. Though it’s quite pricey, usually over $1,000, there’s a lot to like about this model. It has a very powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, plus a 6.8 inch AMOLED display, which scales between 10 Hz and 120 Hz to ensure top-tier, smooth performance for media viewing and streaming alike.
Perhaps more important is the excellent suite of cameras on this high-quality Android phone. They include a 108-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and even dual optical zoom sensors for 3x and 10x magnification. The front camera quality is 40 megapixels, offering your viewers stellar results when live streaming.
The rest of the phone features excellent specs, making it one of the best smartphones overall. It takes excellent pictures in brightness and dark modes, and it comes with S Pen support and functionality.
Twelve GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage make it a phenomenal phone in terms of processing speed and overall filesharing functionality. The battery is also excellent, clocking in at 87 hours before needing to be recharged. While it doesn't come with a microSD card slot, that's an ultimately minor downside, given the other areas in which it excels.
Huawei P30 Pro
The Huawei P30 Pro is another top phone for live streamers. Featuring a full-sized 6.47-inch OLED screen, the phone is smooth and fun to use and available in several different colors and surface textures.
However, the standout feature is the camera performance, which makes it a top choice for live streaming. The 40-megapixel sensor camera and the Superzoom lens ensure that you can capture your activities and the world around you in crystal-clear resolution. The 20-megapixel wide-angle lens is also great for demonstrating excellent views to your followers on social media.
The super spectral sensor increases light demand from the camera suite by 40%, ensuring any photos or streaming videos you take will be perfectly illuminated. You’ll also want to check out the night mode, which balances light and colors appropriately. AL HDR+ functionality makes your pictures and videos clear no matter what.
On the downside, it doesn’t come with a headphone jack or wireless charging, but it also has good battery capacity. Bottom line: choose this if you want a relatively more affordable phone for live streaming and video capture.
Google Pixel 5
You can’t forget Google’s Pixel 5, which has 128 GB of storage space by default. This stellar phone has a clean Android interface, which makes it an absolute joy to use. Everything is powered with a Snapdragon 756G chipset, supporting 5G functionality, 8 GB of RAM, and plenty of storage expansion options.
The 6-inch OLED display comes with a 90 Hz refresh rate, so it's great for viewing and transmitting media in equal measure. Meanwhile, the 4080 mAh battery ensures you won't need to recharge the phone all that often. It’s relatively fast charging for a cell phone, too.
Regarding cameras, the 12.2-megapixel primary lens is a great choice and a staple of the Pixel line of phones. You'll also enjoy the 16-megapixel ultra-wide secondary camera, replacing the telephoto lens found in previous Pixel iterations.
The eight-megapixel selfie camera is also a favorite for live streamers and influencers. In contrast with other Pixel phones, this device is powerful enough to capture any subject, even in lowlight environments.
Overall, it’s a comfortable and lightweight mobile phone with solid battery life and many different features that make it usable at any time of day.
OnePlus 8 Pro
The OnePlus 8 Pro is another very popular phone for live streaming, and for good reason. It's not excessively expensive and has a reasonably powerful 4510 mAh battery. Super-fast wireless charging also lets you keep your phone charged up and ready to go 24/7.
But there's a lot more to check out about this phone, like the set of four rear cameras, like a 48-megapixel main camera, an eight-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, an ultra-wide 48-megapixel camera, and a five-megapixel color filter camera.
The color filter camera is especially notable since it lets you apply various artistic filters to your shots while in the field. That's a great choice for Instagram influencers in particular.
Meanwhile, the action camera reduces lowlight clutter and light blur, letting you capture steady videos. It’s ideal for streaming live footage to your followers in the early morning or around dusk.
All in all, this is a stellar camera for live streamers through and through. The big disadvantage is that you only get 5G functionality on T-Mobile, so keep that in mind if you have a different wireless carrier.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
Apple's iPhone 11 Pro Max could be one of the best iPhones for live streaming and influencing, as it's very powerful without necessarily breaking the bank. It's still a higher-budget phone, but it offers many advantages, like a 6.5-inch Retina XDR OLED display. The robust and durable glass pairs well with the long-lasting battery.
On the reverse side of the phone, you'll find a triple camera system featuring 12-megapixel wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto cameras. All of these support night mode, which will automatically switch on whenever you need to take a low-light shot. The fourth and final camera at the front is a 12-megapixel variety with a real-depth portrait mode and 4K video capture functionality.
The iOS 13 software means that the phone is capable of photo and video recording easily, and it comes with 8 W charging adapters. Wireless charging is supported, too — that’s a great thing for influencers, as you’ll be able to stream content to your viewers without worrying about running out of battery at an inopportune time.
The only big downside is the relatively meager 64 GB of storage space, so don’t forget to export your media to the cloud frequently to free up more room in your phone.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE is a good all-around phone for occasional live streamers and influencers, featuring a 120 Hz 6.5-inch screen size. You can lock the screen in 120 Hz mode to ensure smooth scrolling. A microSD card slot complements 6 GB of RAM and 120 GB of storage, so you will likely never run out of storage space for your media.
The large battery ensures top-tier battery life, and the phone charges quickly thanks to 22 W charging and wireless charging functionalities. Reverse wireless charging is included, as well.
As far as cameras are concerned, there's a lot to like. On the back, you'll find a 12-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera, and an eight-megapixel telephoto camera, all of which are great for streaming photos and videos to your followers. The 32-megapixel front camera is also exceptional, providing the same image quality as the other phones in the S20 series.
Apple iPhone 12 Mini
The Apple iPhone 12 Mini comes with 64 GB of storage space out of the box, offering a pretty good price-to-power ratio compared to other iPhone models. It's still packed with plenty of exceptional features, like a powerful and nimble screen, lots of power, and MagSafe charging functionality.
The two rear cameras are a 12-megapixel standard wide-angle camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, featuring a 120° field of view. Meanwhile, the 12-megapixel selfie camera is a top choice for live streamers and influencers, as it can capture good photos with sharp pixels and exceptional detail.
5G connectivity is included by default, and you’ll also benefit from the A14 bionic chip’s phenomenal power. This ensures the phone won't lag or stutter while downloading or transmitting media from your phone to a server or your chosen social media platform. Lastly, don't forget that this miniature phone is easy to keep in a small pocket or purse.
Try Navi Today
As you can see, there are lots of stellar phones you can use for streaming and influencing activities. If you’re still not sure which to pick, rely on Navi to help.
Navi’s Phone Navigator service is just what you need to find the ideal phone based on your budget, carrier network, and more. Try it today!
