Struggling to chose a new phone based on camera quality

[Jonnybmac]

After my A70 has just bricked taking a photo in the rain I wish to have a phone that has atleast IP668 rating and better quality camera to take the sting out of having to now buy a new phone

I've been bouncing backwards and forwards towards the S20 ultra. I've had samsungs for around 4 contracts now so I'm kind of used to them. Although the A70 was a budget series it had a pretty good camera though sometimes it struggled with detail for what it costs I couldn't really argue

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You can see on the sunrise photo how grainy the detail becomes. The grass seems a bit blurry especially considering how close it is. It is the same for 3 and 4 with the grass and water looking rather low resolution.

I like the pixel 4, but the lack of a ultra-wide lense would mean photos like in image 5 would be unachievable. The Oneplus 8 seems a reasonable contender but watching videos it just seems to lack in some places. I've also watched video comparisons to the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 with a similar opinion.

Everything I'm comparing to is a benchmark to the S20 ultra which I guess is what I really want I'm just really put off by some of the camera hardware bugs they have really messed up with I'd really like some recent opinions on the latest fixes since I've read they've been trying desperately to fix this and some are looking to sue over it not performing as they expected.

Can anyone shed anymore information to help narrow things down somewhat? Up coming devices since I can probably borrow a phone for a month or two if it means I get something a little better.

I do slight editing in google photos but nothing major and generally upload photos to facebook

 

[Jonnybmac]

Yeah, it's pretty poor of the S20.. I think it's just going to be one of those models that effectively is duff from the get go. I kind of want to like it but my gut instinct is shelling out £1000 for a phone that only partially performs isn't the best option. I don't even really need the S20 performance since I don't game or anything on a phone it would purely be for web browsing and taking photos and my justification is that I could spend as much on a normal camera.

I'm not a fan on apple, forgot to say. I just hate the way they try to control everything by forcing you to buy into what they tell you rater than allowing you to make your own choices. Granted this offers a pretty closed ecosystem which has advantages but I do prefer android and would settle for 2nd best if it was only marginal.

I did think about the upcoming note but they are generally a lot more expensive than the S series? I think a grand is expensive so I don't really want to spend anymore than that really which the ultra can be had with current deals.

I do think I'm going to avoid the ultra though and possibly wait for what the pixel has to offer - hopefully a wide camera; if nothing else competes currently.

 

[Jonnybmac]

In fact, having read DXOMark - your photos look abnormally bad. That phone has a 64mb primary sensor. #3 looks more like what I'd expect out of a 5mb sensor. No way should your photos be looking that bad. Is it set on a really high compression / low resolution mode in the settings?

Not sure, it's broke now so will never know lol.

They are taken from google photos so many there has been some compression when uploaded to there maybe? I just assumed it was the best the phone had

Think I'm going to wait it out with my old phone and see what the pixel 5 spec is. I've just ordered an anker phone bank to get me through the day with my poor battery and will help on big day hikes anyways once I get my new phone

 

[Jonnybmac]

Yeah, the grass on that photo looks pretty smudged. I think a lot of cameras these days rely more on photo processing which can be a flip of the coin on whether it gets it right or not

 

[Jonnybmac]

No wonder they look bad, Google Photos compresses your photos. You could be using a Panasonic CM1 and it'd still look crap if you let Google strip all the detail out.

Yeah It's a reason I generally never deleted off my phone to retain the original but I never backed them up

There is an option within google photos to retain original image quality.

That feature costs but I think with my next phone I'll probably pay for it

 

[Jonnybmac]

I run, bike and go climbing a lot so not having to carry a phone and camera about with me and for what I do with photos a high end camera on a phone would do.

I'm going to hold out on the pixel 5 in hopes it has wide-angle as it will probably suit all my needs