"Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
06/19/2015 at 13:57 • Filed to: None
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"Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
06/19/2015 at 13:57 • Filed to: None | 0
| 12 |
Getting a new phone within the next month or so. I’m curious what you all think I should do.
Here are the features I want, in no particular order:
1. A decent camera. Preferably one that actually has stability and at least a little bit of zoom. (Currently, my phone is 13mp but it’s pretty blurry if I’m not outside in daylight, and it only has digital zoom. Meaning it just crops the picture instead of really zooming.) Oh, and it should have an actual button for the shutter. And I know a lot of phones now have some slow-motion recording capabilities, and that would be pretty awesome to have. But not 100% important.
2. A decent battery. That should be a given, though.
3. A real keyboard. I hate typing on touch-screens. This is not vital, but it’s a major plus.
Lastly, if it’s available in colors, that’s a huge plus. Preferably yellow, light blue, or pink.
CB
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:00 |
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If I may, I’d like to interject about QWERTY keyboards on phones, specifically sliders. My advice? If you want to keep your phone for a while, don’t get a slider. I’ve had two (Sony Vivaz Pro and a Samsung Galaxy S Glide), and both of them were dead in less than two years. I guess the sliding back and forth wears out the cable that connects to the screen. The only phones I know of that still have non-sliding keyboards are Blackberrys.
Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:02 |
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1. OnePlus One. HANDS DOWN. Unless you have Verizon. Great support. Great camera. If you can wait, the OnePlus Two (I KNOW. THE IMAGINATION FROM THEM IS REAL.) is coming out soon. The sacrifice for the keyboard is worth it. Ridicuously a good deal off contract too.
2. I’m an apple user. So I’m going to say Apple iPhone 6 Plus. Great screen. Huge battery. I’m going to put an iOS phone on here since like iOS with apps and stuff connect with friends the easiest.
3. If keyboard is a huge thing. Blackberry Passport. New Blackberry, and no one does it better than the original real keyboarders.
PS9
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:02 |
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Real keyboards are dead. Sorry. Unless you’re cool with getting a blackberry, the very earliest thing I can recommend to you with an actual keyboard on it is a Galaxy Epic 4G and that thing’s muahfuggin ancient.
ttyymmnn
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:04 |
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I have an iPhone 5S and the camera is, in the right conditions, quite good. I’m sure it’s even better on the 6. And you can use the volume button on the side for the shutter.
KirkyV
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:22 |
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I’ve got a couple of recommendations, but I’ll start out by saying that I don’t really know of any decent phones with physical keyboards or actual physical zoom on the camera, these days. Keyboards are - rather unfortunately - very much out of fashion at the moment, and can only really be found on Blackberries - which I wouldn’t recommend at this point; you’d be giving up on too much - and the occasional low-end budget phone, and I can only think of one or two phones in history - both Samungs that were basically compact cameras with phones stuck to them - that have had actual physical zoom lenses. Really, if you want to be able to zoom on phone pictures, your best bet is to get something that can take pictures with a lot of detail, and then crop in post. Or just buy a good point ‘n’ shoot.
If large screen-size - that is, 5.5 inch plus - isn’t an issue, and you want something that’s great off-contract, then the two options you should consider are the OnePlus One and the ASUS Zenfone 2 full-spec version. Both offer excellent performance for the price, though I’d lean towards the OnePlus, personally—the Zenfone does have the better camera, though. If you’re willing to wait, and you would prefer something with a slightly smaller screen, then the new LG/Google Nexus 5 - the Nexus 5 II - will likely make for a very compelling option - I’m planning to get one to replace my original Nexus 5 - and there’s also the upcoming OnePlus Two to consider, though that’ll likely have the same 5.5-inch screen size as the One.
If you’re planning to buy on contract, then the two phones of the moment would appear to be the LG G4 and the Samsung Galaxy S6. Personally, of the two I’d go with the LG, but that’s mainly down to my having had a better experience with their hardware in the past than I have with Samsung.
There’s plenty of other options to consider, of course. Normally, I’d be recommending a HTC of some sort, but their current flagship is getting a little long in the tooth compared to LG and Samsung’s options; they should be putting out something new relatively soon. There’s Apple’s iPhones, too, but I haven’t had an iPhone for quite a while at this point - Android is very much my preference - so I don’t really feel qualified to comment on those.
Jack Does Cars
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:23 |
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I was at the AT&T store the other day, and was messing around with the LG G4. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. The camera is sublime, it’s very fast, the screen is easy to see, and it appears to be made of high quality materials.
I currently havea Moto X 2, and it is great, as well. The back of the phone is made of leather, and that’s really cool.
ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> Rainbow
06/19/2015 at 14:26 |
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If you’re not dependent on apps or any specific app ecosystem, the Windows Phones usually have great cameras, and will do anything else you’d need them to.
The Lumia 830 is a very good phone. I still love my Lumia 920, but it is starting to show its age. The Lumia 1020 still has the best phone/camera combo ever released. The actual zoom is incredible, but it is a large phone and the camera bulge is always excited to see you.
With the upcoming Windows 10 for Phones update, it’s a good time to get on board with Windows Phone. All of these phones will get W10, possibly not all the features thought; hardware depending. I would guess the 920 is the most likely to get a bit less content.
The 1020 and 920 are super cheap on ebay/refurb’ed as well. So you could easily get one to play with without breaking the bank.
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> KirkyV
06/19/2015 at 14:35 |
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Lumia 1020 has physical zoom.
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KirkyV
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
06/19/2015 at 14:49 |
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Does it? I was under the impression that it cropped like anything else, but could still generate high-detail images because of the 41-megapixel camera sensor. There’s no actual physical movement in the camera pod.
Make no mistake, I understand that it still produces incredibly impressive images - it probably has the best camera ever put on a smartphone, even when compared against Samsung’s actual-cameras-with-phones - but, unless I’m mistaken, there’s no physical zoom. I was actually thinking of the Lumia when I discussed cropping in post.
In any case, I didn’t recommend it because it’s really rather old at this point - same reason I didn’t recommend the Samsung cameras - and I feel like you’d be giving up on too much, app-wise, by going Windows Phone. Of course, it really depends on the individual, but I can only work with what I know.
I have some experience with Windows Phone, but it’s been a long time; I used to have an LG Optimus 7, which was part of the first batch of Windows Phone 7... Phones. I actually quite liked a fair bit of the OS, but I found the app disparity a little limiting—and while I’ve no doubt it’s improved, my recent forays into the Windows app store to figure out if a Surface 3 is the right tablet for me - of course, it can run all sorts of x86 Windows applications, but I wouldn’t just be using it as a laptop - weren’t exactly promising.
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> KirkyV
06/19/2015 at 15:06 |
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I thought it did have physical zoom, guess I was wrong. Nothing on the wiki said it did.
There is still an app-gap, but the WP experience is much better than it was when you had your WP phones. I still adore my 920 despite it being over 2 years old at this point. Mostly because MS hasn’t brought out anything else that makes me want to switch, but I still just really like the phone. It’s heavy, which I like because it feels like a quality product, I don’t have many issues with the device or the OS either.
And we also bought a new house, so I’m actually glad there aren’t any new phones out right now because I can’t afford one anyway.
boxrocket
> Rainbow
06/20/2015 at 01:25 |
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You’re more or less SOL finding a single phone to meet all your requirements, but excepting the physical keyboard, I can’t recommend a higher-end Lumia enough. Best cameras in the business with physical camera buttons; come with colorful bodies standard and use polycarbonate so they’re fairly durable; Windows Phone is the most modern major mobile OS and it shows with the excellent battery life (the Lumia 1520 still tops many battery rundown tests, even against some of the Motorolas with the extra-capacity batteries), excellent keyboard with available Swype-style input, and designed to be used how smartphones are used nowadays, with texting and social media highly optimized.
Depending on your carrier, check out the Lumia 830, 930/Icon, and 1520, or, even better, wait until Windows 10 for Mobile comes out later this year with a whole crop of new models. You can also look into the 920, 925, and 1020 for older models that still perform well. My daily driver is 1020, and I also have a 925, 1520, 520, and 900, and all work about as well as the day I got them.
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boxrocket
> KirkyV
06/20/2015 at 01:39 |
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I have a 1020 (using it to post this), and looking in the camera module as I’m zooming, I don’t quite see any movement, but the lens elements may move slightly? Can’t quite tell. It is considered “lossless”, but best results are actually from taking a non-zoomed shot (to minimize possible shake and blur) and crop the full-resolution image. The Nokia-developed and now Microsoft-branded Lumia Camera app satisfies about 99% of my camera needs, the other 1% being for B&W and slow-motion captures without post-processing. It’s a lot faster than it used to be, and will get faster with later software updates.