Best telephoto lens to get your smartphone closer to the action

Capture the scene no matter the distance.

By James Jennifer Davidson | Published Jun 23, 2021 3:22 PM EDT

Gear & Reviews

The hand of a man who has in his hand a phone with a color desktop and the picture is focused on the phone. — Picture perfect. Drew Hays, Unsplash

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Whether you’re a professional with a creative vision or a casual photographer looking to experiment, having a telephoto lens for your smartphone can enhance your pictures. Unlike a camera phone’s zoom feature, which adjusts a lens’ focal length so you can look at things either closer up or further away, a telephoto lens has a narrower field of view and longer reach without a range of focal lengths. Smartphone telephoto lenses are perfect for taking long-distance shots and detailed portraits of nature, wildlife, concerts, products, and more. Here are our favorites.

Lens Type: There are two types of telephoto lenses. A telephoto zoom lens slides through focal lengths, while a telephoto prime lens has a fixed focal length. Consider which one will be best for you and your style of photography.
Phone Model: Make sure the telephoto lens you buy is compatible with your phone and camera. Most lenses are equipped with a universal clip that attaches to single, dual, and even triple cameras on multiple generations of smartphones.
Focal Length: Consider the focal length of each lens. The focal length is the distance between your smartphone camera’s image sensor and where light converges to focus the image inside the lens. Telephoto lenses for smartphones have optical zooms from 2x to 22x, with equivalent focal lengths as high as 200mm.