looking for a phone worth upgrading too.

[CWALD]

Hello. I have recently paid off my LG V40 and am trying to determine if there is a phone worth upgrading too or if I should just enjoy a lower phone bill for a while. My main two uses besides calls and web browsing are RAW telephoto photography and using it in the car where it simultaneously runs as my maps, pandora, dashcam, and the occasional call with screen brightness maxed. I have used Samsung, Apple, LG, and Motorola in the past. I will not consider Apple devices and I like LG the best so far.

 

Needs:

Telephoto camera (more zoom factor the better)

Ultra Wide angle camera (for dashcam)

Large Battery (Even on the charger it will loose charge while in the car)

micro SD slot or at least 256GB of storage (for RAW photos)

GSM connectivity (Verizon is the only carrier in my region) 

 

Wants:

Barometer 

High FPS video recording at 1440p or higher

Inexpensive (lol)

 

Phones I have found that might be worth considering:

LG G9 (if/when it releases)

Vivo X30 Pro (lacking storage but good camera options?)

OPPO Find X2 Pro (getting expensive)

Huawei P40 Pro Plus (no play store, will Verizon let it on the network?, telephoto camera has lower resolution but good zoom)

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Chaos Network]

15 minutes ago, CWALD said:

Hello. I have recently paid off my LG V40 and am trying to determine if there is a phone worth upgrading too or if I should just enjoy a lower phone bill for a while. My main two uses besides calls and web browsing are RAW telephoto photography and using it in the car where it simultaneously runs as my maps, pandora, dashcam, and the occasional call with screen brightness maxed. I have used Samsung, Apple, LG, and Motorola in the past. I will not consider Apple devices and I like LG the best so far.

 

Needs:

Telephoto camera (more zoom factor the better)

Ultra Wide angle camera (for dashcam)

Large Battery (Even on the charger it will loose charge while in the car)

micro SD slot or at least 256GB of storage (for RAW photos)

GSM connectivity (Verizon is the only carrier in my region) 

 

Wants:

Barometer 

High FPS video recording at 1440p or higher

Inexpensive (lol)

 

Phones I have found that might be worth considering:

LG G9 (if/when it releases)

Vivo X30 Pro (lacking storage but good camera options?)

OPPO Find X2 Pro (getting expensive)

Huawei P40 Pro Plus (no play store, will Verizon let it on the network?, telephoto camera has lower resolution but good zoom)

 

 

Thanks in advance!

Latest samsung note, is probably your best option, unless you just wanna get the LG V60

[Origami Cactus]

V40 is a very nice phone, i wouldn't upgrade it, unless you feel like you are really lacking something.

[CWALD]

5 minutes ago, Chaos Network said:

Latest samsung note, is probably your best option, unless you just wanna get the LG V60

The V60 lacks a telephoto lens and has no optical zoom that I can see. I'll add the Note 20 to my list although its getting pricey and I get frustrated with there OS.

 

Thanks though!

[CWALD]

6 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

V40 is a very nice phone, i wouldn't upgrade it, unless you feel like you are really lacking something.

Yea, I try not to wait because I'm so rough on my battery. Might see what comes out next spring though. Thanks!

[HanZie82]

If the Note20 is to expensive the you might want to consider the Note 10 or even 9 (altho that doesnt have the lenses you require). But are very much cheaper. And still hella fast.

 

I dont use my phone to much atm (we all know why) but my Note10 lasts almost 2 days. And has a 2x tele lens and a wideshot one. It has all the things you want except for the price.

Or you get lucky and find something useful 2nd hand or you choose between cheap and not what you want, or what you want and not as cheap...

[CWALD]

6 minutes ago, HanZie82 said:

If the Note20 is to expensive the you might want to consider the Note 10 or even 9 (altho that doesnt have the lenses you require). But are very much cheaper. And still hella fast.

 

I dont use my phone to much atm (we all know why) but my Note10 lasts almost 2 days. And has a 2x tele lens and a wideshot one. It has all the things you want except for the price.

Or you get lucky and find something useful 2nd hand or you choose between cheap and not what you want, or what you want and not as cheap...

Not a bad thought but while the Note 10 does have a big battery, it is barely an upgrade to the camera and a slight downgrade on the CPU. (although it has a ton of ram, lol).

 

Thanks but I'm thinking I might hold on to my V40 for a bit.

[HanZie82]

4 minutes ago, CWALD said:

Not a bad thought but while the Note 10 does have a big battery, it is barely an upgrade to the camera and a slight downgrade on the CPU. (although it has a ton of ram, lol).

 

Thanks but I'm thinking I might hold on to my V40 for a bit.

Never used a V40, so i dont know about that one.
But the software is also a big thing in usability and speed. Samsung has that pretty sorted.
But if its that little of an upgrade, yeah surely dont. Would just be a waste.

Maybe if you a bit handy and the phone is up for it, replace the battery for a new one.

 

[CWALD]

3 minutes ago, HanZie82 said:

Never used a V40, so i dont know about that one.
But the software is also a big thing in usability and speed. Samsung has that pretty sorted.
But if its that little of an upgrade, yeah surely dont. Would just be a waste.

Maybe if you a bit handy and the phone is up for it, replace the battery for a new one.

 

Thats a neat idea, I might look into that. Thanks!

[Lord Vile]

5 hours ago, CWALD said:

Hello. I have recently paid off my LG V40 and am trying to determine if there is a phone worth upgrading too or if I should just enjoy a lower phone bill for a while. My main two uses besides calls and web browsing are RAW telephoto photography and using it in the car where it simultaneously runs as my maps, pandora, dashcam, and the occasional call with screen brightness maxed. I have used Samsung, Apple, LG, and Motorola in the past. I will not consider Apple devices and I like LG the best so far.

 

Needs:

Telephoto camera (more zoom factor the better)

You'll only get 5x max and you won't use it, it's bordering a gimmick tbh.

5 hours ago, CWALD said:

Ultra Wide angle camera (for dashcam)

Large Battery (Even on the charger it will loose charge while in the car)

micro SD slot or at least 256GB of storage (for RAW photos)

Why are you taking Raw photos on a phone? The sensors are tiny without processing they're horrendous

5 hours ago, CWALD said:

GSM connectivity (Verizon is the only carrier in my region) 

 

Wants:

Barometer 

High FPS video recording at 1440p or higher

Inexpensive (lol)

 

Phones I have found that might be worth considering:

LG G9 (if/when it releases)

Vivo X30 Pro (lacking storage but good camera options?)

OPPO Find X2 Pro (getting expensive)

Huawei P40 Pro Plus (no play store, will Verizon let it on the network?, telephoto camera has lower resolution but good zoom)

 

 

Thanks in advance!

Best camera is the Google pixel or an iPhone, if it really matters that much to you get a real camera.

[Guest]

@CWALD

I'll echo a couple other people and just say hang on to your phone; you just paid it off and now it's finally yours, do you really want to start that process of paying a higher monthly payment for ~2 years again? Now you got the freedom to swap your battery should it fail on you (since the warranty is likely done), insure it and get the same one for a low deductible, or just bask in the fact that you own your phone. Until it stops fulfilling your needs, I say run it into the ground. These incremental upgrades from year to year aren't worth it in a practical sense, and definitely not worth the price. You'd be surprised how far a phone will go with weekly restarts and annual factory resets. Just my two cents.

[CWALD]

14 hours ago, Lord Vile said:

You'll only get 5x max and you won't use it, it's bordering a gimmick tbh.

I use mine all the time and some of these phones have up to 10x optical zoom

14 hours ago, Lord Vile said:

Why are you taking Raw photos on a phone? The sensors are tiny without processing they're horrendous

I thought that at first to until I tried it. despite the pixel density it does surprisingly well and I do the processing myself in Photoshop.

14 hours ago, Lord Vile said:

Best camera is the Google pixel or an iPhone, if it really matters that much to you get a real camera.

The only reason the pixel is "good" is because of its post processing, outside of that it is a terrible phone for the money. I do have a DSLR that I go out with once or twice a week but I end up using the phone a lot as well.

[CWALD]

4 hours ago, Stylized_Violence said:

@CWALD

I'll echo a couple other people and just say hang on to your phone; you just paid it off and now it's finally yours, do you really want to start that process of paying a higher monthly payment for ~2 years again? Now you got the freedom to swap your battery should it fail on you (since the warranty is likely done), insure it and get the same one for a low deductible, or just bask in the fact that you own your phone. Until it stops fulfilling your needs, I say run it into the ground. These incremental upgrades from year to year aren't worth it in a practical sense, and definitely not worth the price. You'd be surprised how far a phone will go with weekly restarts and annual factory resets. Just my two cents.

Yea, this is what I'm leaning towards at this point, I just wanted to see if there was something amazing out there for my use case. I will have to get something at some point because my job requires I have something with a recent version of Android but I can probably put it off for 6 months and then get a last gen budget pixel off the used market or something.

 

Thank!

[Lord Vile]

1 hour ago, CWALD said:

I use mine all the time and some of these phones have up to 10x optical zoom

I thought that at first to until I tried it. despite the pixel density it does surprisingly well and I do the processing myself in Photoshop.

The only reason the pixel is "good" is because of its post processing, outside of that it is a terrible phone for the money. I do have a DSLR that I go out with once or twice a week but I end up using the phone a lot as well.

You talking about he P40? It has 5x optical and 10x hybrid which is just 5x with post processing.

 

They're bad there's literally no point in doing it. 

 

Phone cameras are all about post processing the actual hardware isn't great. 

[CWALD]

1 hour ago, Lord Vile said:

You talking about he P40? It has 5x optical and 10x hybrid which is just 5x with post processing.

 

They're bad there's literally no point in doing it. 

 

Phone cameras are all about post processing the actual hardware isn't great. 

Thank you, the articlel I read just said it was 10x. But given how much I like the V40 with only 2x zoom, I feel that 5x is plenty for my needs.

 

I am fully aware that even compared to a 10 year old DSLR, modern camera phones are not great and as I said before, I have a DSLR that I use regularly. But I also use my phone a lot with surprising results even in RAW mode. There are communities and competitions just for this type of photography, people have started being able to sell some of it, and even a 2 megapixel phone camera is enough to practice rules of composition, color coordination, posing, etc... As someone who started with black and white film in high school, I think the tools we have today are amazing and the best camera to take any photo with is the camera you have with you. I did not make this post to try and find a phone camera to replace my DSLR, I made it to find if there was a tool that would fill my needs better then what I already had. Thank you for your opinion.