The Cheap And Easy Way You Can Instantly Upgrade Your Phone's Camera

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Smartphone manufacturers typically release their new gadgets on a yearly cadence. If your phone is aging, you may be considering buying a new phone, and every update brings a handful of upgrades, like a new processor for a slight performance boost and a new suite of cameras for better photos and videos. Despite the continuous upgrades and powerful performance, smartphone cameras aren't perfect. They have inherent limitations, such as the size of lenses, that make them inferior to dedicated cameras, like DSLRs and mirrorless ones. 

While you might want to get a DSLR or mirrorless camera for your photography or video shoots, they do come at an extra cost. You may not have the $300 or even $500 that some used DSLR cameras are going for, let alone new ones, which command high prices. If you're not keen on splurging on a dedicated camera but aren't fully satisfied with the results of your phone's camera, a cheap and easy way to get the most out of your phone's camera is to get a camera lens kit. 

They're not only affordable, but also prove handy in plugging some of the holes your phone's camera might be struggling with, like macro photography or capturing expansive landscapes. They can even make it possible to shoot videos or photos in a whole new way, and they're easy to use thanks to their plug-and-play approach: Simply clip the lens to your device, and then you can begin snapping photos or shooting videos.

Most modern smartphones feature a versatile camera module that offers several lenses for different purposes. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra features a quad-camera setup on the back (200MP wide, 10MP telephoto, 50MP periscope telephoto, and 50MP ultrawide), while the Google Pixel 9a offers a 48MP wide and 13MP ultrawide lens. The variety of camera lenses ensures that you can shoot different kinds of photos. Nevertheless, there's a limit that smartphone camera hardware can't surpass that makes camera lens kits come in handy. 

For instance, Chinese tech company Vivo offers an optional long-range 2.35x telephoto extender lens with its X300 Pro smartphone. That extends the distance at which the x300 Pro can shoot subjects without hampering image quality compared to the phone's built-in camera. Yet, your phone might not even have a range of camera lenses. Like the iPhone 16e, it might only have a single wide camera lens on the rear, which limits you in both photography and videography. That means you can't snap ultra-wide shots since you're working with a much smaller field of view, and you can't heavily zoom in on subjects from a distance. 

That's the kind of weakness that a camera lens kit can address. With the right lens kit, your single wide-camera phone can take shots that wouldn't otherwise be possible, such as ultrawides and even macro photos, on par with models that have dual or even triple rear camera lenses. Even if you have a phone with multiple lenses, a lens kit can still come in handy by enhancing your phone's camera capabilities. It might have a 5x optical zoom, for example, and a lens kit can give you more zoom range.

The short answer is, it depends. There are lots of smartphones on the market, and yours could have certain camera capabilities that your friend's phone doesn't — and vice versa. So there's no one-size-fits-all solution for which camera lens kit you should get, because you might only have issues with your phone's lenses when trying to shoot in a certain way. For instance, if you're more into birdwatching and would want your phone to take good close-up shots of birds from a distance, a lens kit with a long-range zoom lens will be more appropriate, such as the $80 Apelex 36x telephoto lens. 

The Apelex 36x telephoto lens includes a small metal tripod stand, which is useful for avoiding camera shake, which is more noticeable when you're zoomed in. Some lens kits include a variety of lenses that can elevate your phone's camera in almost all aspects, like the $25.99 Apelex 10-in-1 lens kit. It's compatible with most phones and comes with a wide selection of lenses and filters. It has four camera lenses (including a 15x macro, 2x telephoto, and 0.63x wide-angle lenses) and six filters. 

The $39.99 Xenvo Pro Lens Kit, on the other hand, only gets you a 0.45x wide lens and a 15x macro lens. The purpose of all of these examples is to show you that camera lens kits differ, with some geared toward multiple shooting styles while others are more specific. Before you decide to open your wallet, make sure you understand the kind of lens you'd like to get and how it can help upgrade your phone's camera.