New Android phone with wide-angle camera

dulcificum · 22 Mar 2019 at 17:35

Long overdue a new phone and my current one hasn't been able to get a GPS lock for six months and the on/off button hasn't worked for over a year so I guess it's time to take the plunge.

What do people look for in a phone these days anyway?

I only have a few requirements:

No bigger than 15cm x 7.5cm. I don't care how thick it is, in fact the thicker the better if I can actually get through the day on less than 2 charges.
I would have said replaceable battery in the past but it seems this is no longer really an option so I'll just say strong preference for long battery life.
I would also have said dual SIM is a must-have but it still seems it hasn't made it over to high end phones in the EU market for some mind-boggling reason.
At least 64GB internal storage. Whatsapp rapes my phone and I barely have room left for apps.
Dealbreaker: must have wide-angle camera. I adore the wide-angle lens on the LG G5 and couldn't live without it.
That's it, I think everything else is just nice to haves. It would be nice it if doesn't break at the slightest knock. I don't think I've ever used a front camera so don't care about that.
Price is not as big a concern if it's worth it though I'm usually happy with being a generation or two behind.

Edit: ******* hell, been so long I forgot I even need to say this. Obviously a headphone jack is a total dealbreaker!

Phone experts, throw me your suggestions!

kona786 · 22 Mar 2019 at 20:09

Samsung S10e is probably the smallest most complete phone with a wide angle shooter.

rG-tom · 22 Mar 2019 at 22:30

Even the normal S10 is smaller than that

Galaxy S10 – 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8 mm

Dual SIM, 0.5x and 2x cameras...ideal.

dulcificum · 22 Mar 2019 at 22:59

Thanks, sounds interesting....

Is wide angle that much of a rarity in the current generation?

And I'm still concerned about battery life. Having used an SII, S3 and S5, I still don't fully trust Samsung with that.

Size isn't a bulk issue - I simply need easy one-handed operation. Like I say, the current fetish for thin phones with minimal mAh frustrates me no end. Depth is the one dimension I'm happy to go as deep as my pockets allow.

What about the competitors? OnePlusOne, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo, Pixel, etc. No innovation outside the big two in the last ten years?

While size and camera are dealbreakers, I would have thought there would be a lot of options across the battery life/price/other specs dimensions?

dulcificum · 22 Mar 2019 at 23:02

EDIT: Christ, £600. I did say I didn't mind skipping a generation or two or is that the price these days for a phone that can actually hold the apps you need without constantly paring down the internal storage?

rG-tom · 23 Mar 2019 at 07:33

Wide angle lenses have only really been about in this generation of phone and usually a touch bigger than your size tewuest, and yes phones are just more expensive now but they're way better.

S10 has a decent 3400mah battery too. If the latest Samsung you've used is an s5 an S10 will be incredible

StevieP · 23 Mar 2019 at 08:01

LG G7 - I've got one and I love it!

neoboy · 23 Mar 2019 at 12:00

If you don't want to spend a lot, maybe look at something like Samsung A30? There's the slightly better (and bigger so slightly out of your size spec) M30 with a 5000 mAh battery.

dulcificum · 25 Mar 2019 at 02:47

rG-tom said:
Wide angle lenses have only really been about in this generation of phone and usually a touch bigger than your size tewuest, and yes phones are just more expensive now but they're way better.

S10 has a decent 3400mah battery too. If the latest Samsung you've used is an s5 an S10 will be incredible

Really? Been using a LG G5 for about three years.

3400mAh doesn't mean much without know what realistic power usage is. What are we talking in real world experience?

I'm sure an S10 will be great but I'm more concerned about my specific requirements.

neoboy said:
If you don't want to spend a lot, maybe look at something like Samsung A30? There's the slightly better (and bigger so slightly out of your size spec) M30 with a 5000 mAh battery.

In what ways does it match with my use case? I'd rather spend £100 more and not compromise on performance and timewasting.

StevieP said:
LG G7 - I've got one and I love it!

Tel me more. How does it compare to the G5 (apart from appalling decision to get rid of removable battery?)

What about the OnePlusOne 7?

StevieP · 25 Mar 2019 at 08:34

dulcificum said:
Tel me more. How does it compare to the G5 (apart from appalling decision to get rid of removable battery?)

I love it - it's easy, a nice form factor (it's taller than the G6 but works well) and does everything I need it to!

Hand on heart I don't think the camera is quite as good as the Galaxy S7 I had before but the wide angle lens more than makes up for it!

Strangely though, they have decided to take away the wide angle lens from the front facing camera like it is on the G6 - I'm not much of a selfie taker but it made the pictures far better!

Battery on the G7 is fine - easily gets through a day with fairly heavy use!

dulcificum · 26 Mar 2019 at 23:28

StevieP said:
Battery on the G7 is fine - easily gets through a day with fairly heavy use!

Huh? It only has a 3000 mAh battery compared to 2800 mAh battery on the G5. I can run down the G5 with an almost-new battery in about 3 hours just with some mp3s, Whatsapp and light web browsing, not even playing games!

I wish it were possible to buy phones without expensive front camera components and save a bit of cash. Like I say, I can't think of a time I've ever used a front camera or would want to...

neoboy · 27 Mar 2019 at 08:05

Paradoxically it is the mid range phones where you are more likely to find 4000+ mAh batteries.

StevieP · 27 Mar 2019 at 09:10

dulcificum said:
Huh? It only has a 3000 mAh battery compared to 2800 mAh battery on the G5. I can run down the G5 with an almost-new battery in about 3 hours just with some mp3s, Whatsapp and light web browsing, not even playing games!

I wish it were possible to buy phones without expensive front camera components and save a bit of cash. Like I say, I can't think of a time I've ever used a front camera or would want to...

I probably ought to qualify that with "fairly heavy use for me" - I'm not constantly on my phone and don't use it for listening to music or watching films - mostly for browsing, emails and short videos through Twitter/YouTube!

dulcificum · 27 Mar 2019 at 22:23

StevieP said:
I probably ought to qualify that with "fairly heavy use for me" - I'm not constantly on my phone and don't use it for listening to music or watching films - mostly for browsing, emails and short videos through Twitter/YouTube!

Yeah, the second most important factor for me is probably battery life tbh. I love the look and style of it and enjoyed the G5 more than many other phones but I'm really looking for recommendations about the £300 price point (second hand) with a decent form factor, good battery and wide angle camera.

dulcificum · 11 Apr 2019 at 22:46

[del]

dulcificum · 19 Apr 2019 at 14:05

Sounds like that's pretty much my only options then?

MrRockliffe · 19 Apr 2019 at 14:28

Import a Snapdragon based S10 - better battery life and cheaper

Mrp1980 · 19 Apr 2019 at 21:24

Huawei P30 I have the P20 pro and it's been a great phone good battery life and only just bigger than the size you specified, they can be had pretty cheap if you look around, definitely worth a look.

dulcificum · 24 Apr 2019 at 16:32

Mrp1980 said:
Huawei P30 I have the P20 pro and it's been a great phone good battery life and only just bigger than the size you specified, they can be had pretty cheap if you look around, definitely worth a look.

Sounds good. Does £400 sound about right?

Although I'm reading the battery life is poor and the lack of microSD is just ridiculous...

MrRockliffe said:
Import a Snapdragon based S10 - better battery life and cheaper

Hmmm, interesting. But looks like £600+

dulcificum · 1 May 2019 at 05:37

kona786 said:
Samsung S10e is probably the smallest most complete phone with a wide angle shooter.

Thanks. Turns out that, while it's a lot more than I want to spend, this is probably the best answer.

I went ahead and collated all the options I was recommended into a matrix:

Basically none are perfect and the battery life of all of them leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, there's only really about 5 realistic options that would actually work.

The G7 and G8 have too poor battery, G8 and S10 are way too much than I want to spend on a phone, and many top phones don't have an ultrawide lens or basic necessities such as a headphone jack.

I'm going to get an S10e and hope against hope the battery can last half a day.