Shooting RAW on a phone used to be a thought experiment. The first phone RAW implementations in 2018 to 2020 captured a single raw frame from the sensor, which on a phone’s small sensor was a noisy file with limited dynamic range and no computational benefit. By 2026, the situation has changed completely. Apple’s ProRAW preserves the entire multi-frame computational stack while delivering a 14-bit DNG with editing latitude that genuinely competes with mirrorless RAW. Google and Samsung have their own approaches with different trade-offs. This article breaks down what each platform does, the practical workflow, and which one wins for which use case.
What a RAW file on a phone actually contains
A standard digital camera RAW file is the unprocessed sensor data: each pixel’s red, green, or blue value as recorded by the photodiode, at 12 or 14 bits per channel. The file is large (because there is no compression of the underlying signal), unprocessed (no sharpening, no noise reduction, no color rendering applied), and editable from scratch (the photographer chooses white balance, contrast, sharpening, and noise reduction in post).
A phone RAW file conceptually contains the same data but with one major variable: whether the multi-frame computational stack is applied before the RAW is written or whether the RAW is a single sensor exposure. This single question is what separates Apple ProRAW from Android phone RAW in 2026.
Apple ProRAW writes a DNG file that contains the multi-frame merged image (Smart HDR, Night mode, Deep Fusion all applied) with the full bit depth and editing flexibility of a RAW file. The result is a file that gives you the computational benefits of the phone plus the editing latitude of a mirrorless RAW. There is no other phone implementation in 2026 that does this.
Google Pixel RAW writes a DNG of a single sensor exposure. The computational benefits of Pixel’s pipeline (HDR+, Night Sight, etc.) are not in the RAW file. The user gets full RAW editing latitude but loses the multi-frame magic that makes Pixel JPEGs so good. To get both, the user can shoot Lightroom Mobile in raw mode, which runs Adobe’s own multi-frame pipeline.
Samsung Expert RAW writes a DNG of a single sensor exposure on most modes, with an option for “Stacked RAW” that captures multiple frames and merges them similarly to ProRAW. The Stacked RAW mode is closer to Apple’s approach but is buried in a separate app (Expert RAW, downloadable from Galaxy Store) and is not the default RAW mode.
File sizes and storage
A 12MP ProRAW file on iPhone is roughly 25-30 MB. The 48MP ProRAW Max mode on iPhone Pro produces files of 75-100 MB. A 50MP Pixel RAW is around 20-25 MB thanks to DNG compression. A 200MP Samsung Expert RAW is 50-70 MB at full resolution.
A day of shooting RAW produces several gigabytes. A weekend trip with 200 photos shot in ProRAW Max would be 15-20 GB. Cloud sync (iCloud, Google Photos, Samsung Cloud) scales with this, and the free tiers fill up fast. Most users settle into a hybrid workflow: RAW + JPEG for shots that matter, JPEG-only for the casual ones.
iPhone ProRAW in practice
To enable: Settings > Camera > Formats > Apple ProRAW > On. Then in the Camera app, tap the RAW button in the top right (it toggles from RAW Off to RAW On per shot, or sticky if enabled in settings).
ProRAW captures at 12MP by default. To capture at 48MP, switch to ProRAW Max in the Camera settings. The 48MP mode is slower (the phone takes 0.5 to 1 second to write the file) but produces files with more detail and more crop room.
In Apple Photos or Lightroom Mobile, the ProRAW file opens with all the standard RAW controls (exposure, highlights, shadows, white balance, color, masks, denoise). Apple’s Photos app in iOS 18+ handles ProRAW with surprising depth, including the new neural-engine-accelerated noise reduction that competes with Lightroom’s Enhance Denoise.
The standout feature: ProRAW gets the multi-frame benefits of the iPhone’s normal pipeline. A high-contrast scene that would clip in normal RAW is fully preserved in ProRAW because Smart HDR already merged the bracketed exposures. A night scene is already stacked. The user gets the iPhone’s computational genius plus the editing room of RAW.
Pixel RAW in practice
To enable: Camera app > Settings > Advanced > RAW + JPEG control. Then tap the file format icon to enable RAW capture per shot.
Pixel RAW captures a single sensor exposure as a DNG, simultaneously with the standard JPEG. The DNG is single-frame, which means high-contrast scenes need the photographer to expose carefully (no Smart HDR safety net) and night scenes are noisy single exposures (no Night Sight stacking).
The Pixel RAW workflow rewards careful exposure and an external pipeline like Lightroom Mobile, where the user can apply multi-frame stacks through Lightroom’s own raw HDR or Pano features. The native Google Photos editor opens the RAW with full controls and is sufficient for most edits.
The advantage of Pixel RAW is that the underlying sensor data is unprocessed, which gives the maximum flexibility in post. The disadvantage is that the photographer is giving up Pixel’s computational advantages by shooting RAW.
Samsung Expert RAW in practice
Expert RAW is a separate Samsung app, downloadable from the Galaxy Store on flagship Galaxy phones (S20 Ultra and later, Note 20 Ultra and later, Z Fold lineup). Once installed, it adds an “Expert RAW” mode to the camera app.
The mode offers full manual controls (ISO, shutter, white balance, focus, exposure compensation) plus RAW capture. The default RAW is single-frame, similar to Pixel. The “Multi-Frame RAW” toggle enables the closest equivalent to Apple ProRAW, stacking multiple exposures into the RAW for higher dynamic range and lower noise.
Samsung’s 200MP main sensor produces RAW files with enormous resolution at full output, which is useful for cropping but produces 50-70 MB files. The 50MP “binned” mode is the practical choice for most uses, producing 12-15 MB DNGs with cleaner per-pixel quality.
Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed handle Expert RAW files well. Samsung’s built-in editor is functional but less polished than Apple Photos.
Which platform wins for which use case
For the hybrid workflow (phone capture, desktop edit, professional output): iPhone ProRAW. The combination of multi-frame computational benefits plus full RAW editing latitude is unmatched. The DNG opens cleanly in Lightroom, Capture One, and Apple Photos with consistent results.
For the most flexible underlying data (the photographer wants total control without computational baking-in): Pixel RAW. The single-frame capture preserves the most “honest” sensor data and rewards photographers who already know how to expose and process manually.
For maximum reach and resolution (cropping into a 200MP file): Samsung Expert RAW. The combination of the 200MP main sensor, a 10x optical telephoto with its own large sensor, and Stacked RAW for the in-between focal lengths gives the most flexible “shoot wide, crop later” workflow.
For casual shooters who occasionally edit: any of the three is enough, and the JPEG companion file plus the RAW for important shots is the right workflow.
The bottom line
Phone RAW in 2026 is genuinely useful, not a marketing checkbox. iPhone ProRAW is the leader because it solves the multi-frame versus RAW trade-off that the other platforms still have. Pixel RAW and Samsung Expert RAW are good in different ways, and either is a meaningful upgrade over JPEG-only shooting for anyone who edits photos seriously. The storage cost is real, the editing learning curve is mild, and the output quality on important shots is dramatically better than the JPEG path. For the photographer who treats the phone as the primary camera, learning the platform’s RAW workflow is the single highest-impact upgrade after the device itself.
Frequently asked questions
What does RAW actually give me on a phone that JPEG does not?+
A RAW file is the unprocessed sensor data plus a debayered preview, typically 14-bit per channel instead of 8-bit. The practical difference: you can recover roughly 2-3 stops of clipped highlights, lift shadows by 3-4 stops without breaking the file, and re-do white balance from scratch in post. A JPEG bakes all of these decisions in at capture and offers limited recovery. For a well-exposed shot in good light, RAW and JPEG look the same. For high-contrast scenes, mixed lighting, or any image you intend to edit seriously, RAW is dramatically more flexible.
How big are RAW files on a current phone?+
iPhone ProRAW (12MP) files are roughly 25-30 MB each. iPhone 48MP ProRAW Max files run 75-100 MB. Pixel RAW DNGs from the 50MP main sensor are around 20-25 MB, smaller because Google uses lossless DNG compression. Samsung Expert RAW files from the 200MP main sensor at full resolution are 50-70 MB. A day of RAW shooting easily produces 5-10 GB of files, which means most users shoot JPEG by default and switch to RAW for specific shots they intend to edit. Cloud sync also costs more storage at these sizes.
Which photo editor handles phone RAW best?+
Lightroom Mobile is the most consistent across all three platforms. It opens ProRAW, Pixel RAW, and Expert RAW with full controls and applies the same color science. Apple Photos handles ProRAW natively on iPhone with full editing controls in iOS 18 and later. Capture One Mobile is excellent for ProRAW and good for the others. Snapseed handles all three but with fewer professional controls. For a workflow that moves between phone and desktop, Lightroom is the path of least resistance. For an iPhone-only workflow with cloud sync to Mac, Apple Photos is genuinely sufficient.
Does RAW disable computational features like HDR and night mode?+
On iPhone, ProRAW preserves the computational stack, including Smart HDR, Night mode, and Deep Fusion. The output is a DNG that contains the multi-frame merged scene with full editing latitude. This is unique to Apple's approach and is the main reason ProRAW is considered the gold standard. On Pixel and Samsung, RAW captures a single raw frame, which means you lose the multi-frame computational benefits when shooting RAW. Lightroom Mobile on Pixel and Samsung can capture multi-frame RAW through its own pipeline, but the native phone RAW is single-frame on Android.
Should I shoot RAW + JPEG or RAW only?+
RAW + JPEG by default is the safer workflow. The JPEG gives you an immediate shareable file that already has the computational processing applied (skin tones, color, HDR). The RAW sits in storage for the small percentage of photos you want to edit further. Storage cost is the trade-off. For most users, RAW + JPEG on important shoots and JPEG-only on casual shots is the right balance. For professional or serious hobby use, RAW + JPEG on everything and aggressive culling afterwards.
Priya Sharma
Priya Sharma writes for The Tested Hub.