Going back to an iPhone for its camera?

gangzoom

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Looking to buy a new phone for my wife. Use to be locked into the Apple ecosystem till the iPhone 5 than moved Samsung. Been very happy with Samsung phones but recently have noticed photos taken by friends on iPhone 11s looks sharper than on my S9.

My wife has a A7, and doesn't use any of Androids configurable features over iOS. She does need a new phone and its her birthday coming up along with a recent promotion at work, so am keen to get her something biggish - so £1000 phones isn't out of the question if its 'worth' it.

I've looked at the S20 but it really doesn't look like a massive upgrade from my S9, the Huawei P40 had a good camera but no Google stuff is a killer, Pixel 5 phone camera reviews don't seem that great, so am ending up looking at the Apple iPhone 12 range.......

We both still use MBPs for work (2013 and 2017 models), and our iPad from 2014 is still working fine, so going back to iPhone again is hardly breaking the mould.

I wouldn't mind looking at another Android phone but just cannot see one that fits my wifes needs...good camera, minimal setup fuss?
 
If camera is your major concern then you should be going for iPhone really, nothing less.
 
Pixel 5 takes great pics, easily on par or better than any other phone out there for stills. Might not have a telephoto like some, but can still get decent digitally zoomed pics if not zooming too much. The colours are natural, portrait mode in my opinion can't be beaten (or the front camera), astrophotography mode is great and Google's photo processing is as good as it gets.

I'll disagree with anyone who says the Pixel doesn't take great pics and it's stock Android requires minimal set up. And depending on other requirements, the 4a & 4a 5G are great value.
 
Which reviews suggest the pixel camera aren't great? Most reviews I have seen suggest the pixel is on a par with top spec iphones, only negative seems to be video capability (iphone wins here)
 
Which reviews suggest the pixel camera aren't great? Most reviews I have seen suggest the pixel is on a par with top spec iphones, only negative seems to be video capability (iphone wins here)
Pixel 5 actually has improved in video quality this year and finally added 4K 60. But you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn't agree the iPhone has the best video recording on a smartphone.
 
The main downside with the Pixel 5 is the speakers, the top one that’s used for calls/media sound, is underneath the display, which is good for looks, but in reality the sound in calls isn’t as clear and loud as a normal phone that doesn’t have the speaker under the screen, and I saw a video on YouTube saying that the bottom speaker is much louder than the top one, so sound isn’t equal on both speakers, which could be very annoying?
 
The main downside with the Pixel 5 is the speakers, the top one that’s used for calls/media sound, is underneath the display, which is good for looks, but in reality the sound in calls isn’t as clear and loud as a normal phone that doesn’t have the speaker under the screen, and I saw a video on YouTube saying that the bottom speaker is much louder than the top one, so sound isn’t equal on both speakers, which could be very annoying?

Speakers are not the greatest, but absolutely no issues with calls.
 
Thing with phones, you really need to try them for yourself. What bothers some might not bother others. The Pixel 5 speakers aren't the best but for watching a few videos & calls, they're more than adequate. I had no issues.

If you're looking at iPhones because you've pretty much ruled out Android and not bothered about a telephoto lens, the regular 12 might be the better buy.
 
Thanks all.

I think its between the iPhone 12 and Pixel 5. The telephoto lens on the iPhone at 50mm equivalent is attractive. I think I'll see what the Black Friday sales are like for the Pixel, either will be much than her current Samsung A7.
 
Thanks all.

I think its between the iPhone 12 and Pixel 5. The telephoto lens on the iPhone at 50mm equivalent is attractive. I think I'll see what the Black Friday sales are like for the Pixel, either will be much than her current Samsung A7.

yeah they definitely would be better than the Samsung A7
 
Went with the iPhone - Need it by the 14 of December and iPhone order times were just getting longer and longer. Crazy amount to spend on a phone, but its a special occasional after a long year so why not.

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Went with the iPhone - Need it by the 14 of December and iPhone order times were just getting longer and longer. Crazy amount to spend on a phone, but its a special occasional after a long year so why not.

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Congrats on the purchase, my wife ordered her 12 Pro Max on release day (6th), and got a date of 30th November, it stayed like that for over a week, then last Wednesday it suddenly changed to “being shipped” and the date changed to 23rd(tomorrow), but then on Friday it said that the phone will be delivered 21st(yesterday), so she actually got it much earlier than the date suggested.

She had the XS Max, so much closer to the 12 pro Max specs than a Samsung A7 is, but she’s still really pleased with the camera upgrades,low light performance etc, and the battery life is proving to be superb, even though the phone is still updating/sorting everything out in the background. She had 100% at 12pm, at 3pm she still had 87%, she was doing some social media, doing a video call with her family, and then reading a book while eating lunch. Very impressive:thumbsup:
 
Had a last minute change of heart, cancelled the iPhone Pro max order and have gone for a Samsung Note 20 Ultra for £925.

Cheaper, nicer colour, more storage, no need for new chargers, and I think my wife will like the S pen.

So looks like we are sticking with Android/Samsung- 4th Samsung phone since selling my old iPhone 5 :)
 
Had a last minute change of heart, cancelled the iPhone Pro max order and have gone for a Samsung Note 20 Ultra for £925.

Cheaper, nicer colour, more storage, no need for new chargers, and I think my wife will like the S pen.

So looks like we are sticking with Android/Samsung- 4th Samsung phone since selling my old iPhone 5 :)

oh I hate you, this is the last time you will get a reply from me on this forum!

Only kidding! I’m sure she will love her new phone, and in time for Christmas:thumbsup:
 
Only kidding! I’m sure she will love her new phone, and in time for Christmas:thumbsup:

Hopefully in time for her birthday in about 10 days. iPhone is on its way back to Apple, Samsung has taken my money but says 7 days for delivery.....So right now am about £2k spent on phones with no actual phone to show for it!!!

My S9 cost me £200 upfront and £15/month.....Oh those were the days :).
 
Hopefully in time for her birthday in about 10 days. iPhone is on its way back to Apple, Samsung has taken my money but says 7 days for delivery.....So right now am about £2k spent on phones with no actual phone to show for it!!!

My S9 cost me £200 upfront and £15/month.....Oh those were the days :).

yeah, now we’re in the days of spending what you could spend on a second hand car, on a phone! Ok it would be an older car, but still a car! It’s crazy really, but if you want the best and latest tech, then you have to fork out I suppose.
 
My wife today got 'her' new S20 Ultra, I say her because I've played more with it so far as she's gone to work and I'm just waiting for a meeting to starts so been updating the apps/transfering data.

I have to say its a beautiful bit of kit, and dare I say it, worth the £900+ asking price. The screen is simply amazing, going back to use my S9 all of a sudden feels a bit rubbish!!

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The camera is also fab, you can actually get loads of nature bokeh without using software!!

Samsung was even so generous as to supply a USB C charging plug in the box, very happy we ended up staying with Samsung :)

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Had more time to play with the camera, really impressed.

The 3 focal ranges available is quite astounding versus my S9.

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The 'magic’ of computational photography is also amazing, this shots are taken with very little light 2-3 second exposures, you simply cannot get these shots with a traditional camera without a tripod and a lot of time for trial/error.I was really impressed with the details on the wood surface and even scratches on the key is visible. Again this is a 2 second exposure HANDHELD shot!!

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Finally for just taking photos for enjoyment rather than pixel peeking, the ability of these phones to capture complex environments is on a different level. This shot would have been virtually impossible to get with my S9 or my EM5 II mirrorless camera, but this was straight out of the Note20.

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I'll hold off upgrading my own S9, but in a few years time I don't think I'll hesitate to get the best Android camera phone on the market :).
 

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