New Phone Decisions

[TheAndyPanda]

So I am looking for a new phone and am having trouble making a decision. Currently I am between the Samsung S10e and Pixel 3a XL. I have listed the main pros and cons of both, in my opinion, below. My priorities are camera and battery life, but I do appreciate the specs and water resistance of the S10e. I am concerned about the 3a being slow or slowing down more quickly over time. As you can see I am not looking at flagships right now, mostly because of costs. I am upgrading from an LG G4. What are your thoughts? Is there another phone that I am missing? I am going to be on Koodo in Ontario, Canada.

S10e

Pros

• Dual cameras are more versatile
• IP68 rating
• Generally faster specs overall (processor etc.)

Cons

• ~$150 more expensive then the 3a XL
• Hole punch screen
• Smaller battery

3a XL

Pros

• Google camera software, nightsight etc.
• Less expensive
• Battery life
• Software updates (speed and longevity) 

Cons

• No water resistance
• Lower specs on processor etc.

Any and all opinions to help me choose would be great!

[TVwazhere]

3 hours ago, TheAndyPanda said:

Cons

• Hole punch screen

I literally just got the S10+. This might just be me, but I've already mentally blocked out the "notch"/hole/slot" in the screen, because of it's location it never affects the content I'm trying to view (including videos that are in traditional ratios of 16:9)

 

Also as I was just casually talking with the verizon Rep, he brought me over to the Pixel 3 (not the 3a) just to demonstrate how "2014" the phone looked in terms of build, camera and overall android experience. While i wasnt sold on 2014 build quality, the android skin and camera were definitely lacking, just comparing against my old S8+

[TVwazhere]

Also if you havent done so yet, do yourself a favor. Go into one of the stores and just hold them. See how they feel, their size and their weight in your hand. I couldnt have really given two shits about two front cams over one, a .3" bigger screen or a 200mah bigger battery between the S10 and S10+, it comes down to how familiar the S10+_ felt size wise and weight wise in my hand compared to the S10. IT can have the most amazing specs, but if it doesnt feel right in your hand, you wont enjoy using it, period. 

[Bouzoo]

Few things here. While Google supports their phones for 3 years and you will definitely be getting updates faster and more often, Samsung S line actually gets security patches for even longer as it seems, seeing how S6 Edge got a January 2019 patch. But take that with a grain of salt since things do change. Also 3aXL doesn't have the Pixel Core that makes Pixel outstanding in photography. 

[Airdragonz]

In that price range, you could wait for the OnePlus 7, which is due to be released soon (announced tomorrow). But between those phones, Pixel seems like a better option for you based on the pros/cons you listed.  On a daily basis, the "slowness" from the less ram and slower cpu shouldn't make a large difference. It'll really show itself in heavy multitasking or performance-heavy apps. If water resistance is really necessary for you, then just get the s10e. 

[TheAndyPanda]

12 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

I literally just got the S10+. This might just be me, but I've already mentally blocked out the "notch"/hole/slot" in the screen, because of it's location it never affects the content I'm trying to view (including videos that are in traditional ratios of 16:9)

That's nice to hear actually, as I was worried about video playback.

 

5 minutes ago, Airdragonz said:

In that price range, you could wait for the OnePlus 7, which is due to be released soon (announced tomorrow).

I really value the headphone jack and the 6T removed it so I think the 7 might as well. 

[Daniel Z.]

For battery and camera, I would go iPhone XR. My average SoT is 8 hours 30minutes this week. Very fast, very smooth. Other than that, the S10e is good, Pixel devices are too laggy and have too many bugs.

[DrMacintosh]

30 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Also as I was just casually talking with the verizon Rep, he brought me over to the Pixel 3 (not the 3a) jsut to demonstrate how "2014" the phone looked in terms of build, camera and overall android experience. 

This sales tactic disgusts me. But people these days are rather shallow and buy phones for what they look like and how people perceive them when using said phone. 

 

Personally I think the 8/8 Plus are the best designed phones on the market because while they may be “old looking” they are practical, don’t have any cutouts or notches, are relatively cheap, and come with a white front glass option  

[Daniel Z.]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

This sales tactic disgusts me. But people these days are rather shallow and buy phones for what they look like and how people perceive them when using said phone. 

 

Personally I think the 8/8 Plus are the best designed phones on the market because while they may be “old looking” they are practical, don’t have any cutouts or notches, are relatively cheap, and come with a white front glass option  

I agree, but I do dislike the iPhone 8 design. Best designed phone is probably the S9 IMO.

[DarkDragon2K04]

Well I feel you should go for the s10e because even standard pixel 3s have began to slow down a little bit and Samsung has a better brand name if you are into that. The one plus 7 series will be announced tommorow. They are sure to have good specs for the costs and be speedy for a long time but one plus are not know for their cameras and there are rumors they will use a pop up selfie camera but we can wait and see this time tomorrow it will be know

[DrMacintosh]

33 minutes ago, TheAndyPanda said:

My priorities are camera and battery life, but I do appreciate the specs and water resistance of the S10e.

The 3a XL debatably has the better camera of the two. As for battery life, neither are great but I’d speculate the 3a XL would win thanks to its weak SoC and it’s lower and more practical screen resolution. 

 

Have you considered the iPhone XR? It seems to be the best middle ground of the two. It has industry leading performance, a fantastic camera, IP-67 water resistance, and great battery life for a price close to the S10e. 

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, Daniel Z. said:

Best designed phone is probably the S9 IMO.

Blegh, cant stand the curved edges. Massive turnoff. 

[TheAndyPanda]

23 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

The 3a XL debatably has the better camera of the two. As for battery life, neither are great but I’d speculate the 3a XL would win thanks to its weak SoC and it’s lower and more practical screen resolution. 

 

Have you considered the iPhone XR? It seems to be the best middle ground of the two. It has industry leading performance, a fantastic camera, IP-67 water resistance, and great battery life for a price close to the S10e. 

I know the cameras are close to each other. The pixel seems to pull ahead in software with the S10e having the advantage on hardware. As for battery life, I think anything would be better then my current phone, on it's 3rd replacement, but I would agree with you on the XL.

 

As for the iPhone suggested by you and others, I have never been able to get behind the Apple ecosystem unfortunately, it's not them it's me.

[TVwazhere]

2 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

This sales tactic disgusts me. But people these days are rather shallow and buy phones for what they look like and how people perceive them when using said phone. 

I'm not sure how allowing me to hold and compare both phones side by side and be able to just handle the phones for a few minutes is a terrible sales tactic, but I could see the argument if he was trying to upsell me to a more expensive phone just because I wanted to fit in with a click/social group. His point was more about the hardware and software rather than "this one makes you look cooler". Trust me, he wasnt selling me on anything other than what I went in to buy (he did sure try his hardest to get me to buy the insurance though)

[DrMacintosh]

17 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

but I could see the argument if he was trying to upsell me to a more expensive phone just because I wanted to fit in with a click/social group

That’s what I meant. I’m opposed to trying to sell one phone over the other based on looks alone.