Recommend me a phone

[Dobby240]

My Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is playing up a little. YouTube especially and most apps crash every now and again while in use. Google maps just freezes while im driving and leaves me having to restart the app while I miss the turns I'm supposed to be taking when using it. (Not happy)  Infrequently the screen turn off and when it turns back on after 20 seconds or so, it displays this odd screen burn effect and then just refuses to turn on for a couple minutes. I think it's on it's way out.

 

I want a new phone but had bought the 1+ 6 when it came out and promptly returned after a couple of days it as it felt cheap and didn't have the features I wanted. 

 

I mainly use my phone for YouTube, Maps, Google Chrome and general phone use. 

This is of must haves (Within reason, obviously I can't have it all) a list I made when I returned the 1+ as a reminder for when I decide to get a new phone as some these were the things that hacked me off the most about it. I don't really play games on it anymore so I wouldn't put this in to your list. sorry.

 

Good Battery life,

Small glass covering the camera,

Minimal bloatware or better storage space,

Screen with bezels, (I didn't like the full phone screen thing even with my big hands.)

Must be able to find decent screen protectors and a phone case with a stand,

Front firing stereo speakers, 

Buttons that are not placed stupidly, (Like say the lock screen button is adjacent to the volume up button.),

Maybe an Aux input but not necessary, 

at least 4-6 gig (or higher) RAM,

Must work with google assistant while driving as this is how I change my playlist on Google play Music.

 

I've been looking at the Sony XZ2 premium and wondered if you lot had any other I should consider.

Thanks for your time. 

[Dobby240]

4 minutes ago, Dobby240 said:

Small glass covering the camera,

Screen with bezels, (I didn't like the full phone screen thing even with my big hands.)

Must be able to find decent screen protectors and a phone case with a stand,

Front firing stereo speakers, 

Buttons that are not placed stupidly, (Like say the lock screen button is adjacent to the volume up button.),

Must work with google assistant while driving as this is how I change my playlist on Google play Music.

Out of this list these are the thing I had a problem with the 1+

I only took out 3 things from the original list but these are things that I didn't realise at the time that I needed from a phone. 

[emosun]

9 minutes ago, Dobby240 said:

Good Battery life,

Small glass covering the camera,

Minimal bloatware or better storage space,

Screen with bezels, (I didn't like the full phone screen thing even with my big hands.)

Must be able to find decent screen protectors and a phone case with a stand,

Front firing stereo speakers, 

Buttons that are not placed stupidly, (Like say the lock screen button is adjacent to the volume up button.),

Maybe an Aux input but not necessary, 

at least 4-6 gig (or higher) RAM,

Must work with google assistant while driving as this is how I change my playlist on Google play Music.

and a partridge in a pear tree 

[nhatduy1611]

One plus 6 or one plus 6T. Pocophone with a custome default google launcher is the best value.

[Dobby240]

1 minute ago, emosun said:

and a partridge in a pear tree 

Yeah I know it extensive. The media things are most important to me. 

I did already say that I couldn't have it all though

[SupaKomputa]

Good Battery life, < Snapdragon 6xx series with 4000mah battery, lower end chipset have better battery life than flagship

Small glass covering the camera, < get a camera glass protector

Minimal bloatware or better storage space, < Pixel 3

Screen with bezels, (I didn't like the full phone screen thing even with my big hands.) < goodluck with that all phones now without bezel

Must be able to find decent screen protectors and a phone case with a stand, < samsung phones

Front firing stereo speakers, < you're asking too much

Buttons that are not placed stupidly, (Like say the lock screen button is adjacent to the volume up button.),

Maybe an Aux input but not necessary, < no phones with aux in

at least 4-6 gig (or higher) RAM, < plenty of option out there

Must work with google assistant while driving as this is how I change my playlist on Google play Music. < install google assistant

[Dobby240]

9 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Good Battery life, < Snapdragon 6xx series with 4000mah battery, lower end chipset have better battery life than flagship

 Small glass covering the camera, < get a camera glass protector

 Minimal bloatware or better storage space, < Pixel 3

 Screen with bezels, (I didn't like the full phone screen thing even with my big hands.) < goodluck with that all phones now without bezel

 Must be able to find decent screen protectors and a phone case with a stand, < samsung phones

Front firing stereo speakers, < you're asking too much

Buttons that are not placed stupidly, (Like say the lock screen button is adjacent to the volume up button.),

Maybe an Aux input but not necessary, < no phones with aux in

at least 4-6 gig (or higher) RAM, < plenty of option out there

Must work with google assistant while driving as this is how I change my playlist on Google play Music. < install google assistant

Thanks for the reply. What if the front firing speakers weren't stereo? Is that still too much? Good shout on the Pixel 3 though that does look good.

[Darkseth]

They are mostly stereo.

From my experience, it's more important that Audio is put out on both sides: Left and Right.

Much rather, than beeing actual front. Side is also fine~.

Also, it doesn't really have to be a true 2 channel stereo separation, the most important thing is, that the Audio sounds, as if it's comming right from the Middle.

But there are a few options with "stereo speakers" (and not just 1 speaker from the bottom).

Many of them however use the Earpiece as an "assistant", which does help.

 

Pixel 3 (XL) is one of them, Galaxy S9(+) and S10 now too, Pocophone F1 does.

 

Battery Life: I wouldn't say that lower end Chipsets from 600 series will lead to better battery Life than higher end Chipsets from 800 series.

Depending on what you do, the 600 chipset will have to work longer to be done with it's work.

Mostly, the best battery life smartphones are from High End regions.

Oneplus 6t, despite having "only" 3700 mAh, does have a pretty damn impressive battery life. 8 Hours+ screen on time isn't rare. But no stereo sound here.

 

I can recommend the 6T as an overall allrounder absolutely. The Software is awesome, more than enough Performance and Ram, Display is perfectly fine, Cameras are not the best, but on a very high level (a bit higher with GCam. Btw: There are a few different GCam versions, with different XML preset settings out there. Like for more natural colors, saturated colors, differences in sharpness etc).

Speaker has a bad position. It does sound very fine to me. It can be better, but i have no complains. However, positioning is bad (easy to cover up during Gaming etc), and no stereo at all. With Root and Mods it could be, but not without.

 

Aux Input: There isn't one, but i guess you mean a 3.5mm Headphone Jack (which is an Output, not Input But enough nitpicking). Most won't have it anymore. But np, just use an Adapter. I use the Oneplus 6t adapter, i have that constantly on my inears. Works fine, it's a small workaround, no issue there.

Also, having 8gb Ram feels awesome. sometimes, i have literaly more than 6gb used Ram, when i check it. Which means, at least 1 or 2 Apps more are held ready in Ram, compared to 6gb. But 8gb instead of 6 isn't the reason i spend 30 bucks more on Oneplus 6t. The Main Reason was the different Color options. Midnight (Matte) Black and Thunder Purple look so much better than glossy mirror Black.

 

 

Pocophone F1 is a decent Budget option, with a huge battery. But Camera is just mediocre. Okay at day, meh at low light (no OIS). Using the GCam port makes a HUGE difference.

Also, MIUI isn't "minimal bloatware", but there are several stock-like Custom Roms available.

 

Pixel phones won't have the best battery life. But it's decent, lowest bloat you can have, great camera experience, and still some bezels.