What phone should I get?

[PedalRoll]

I currently have an iPhone 5. It’s a work phone and I will be leaving this job soon so will need to get my own.

Criteria are: light weight, good camera and long battery life. Also let’s not forget reasonably priced.

I don’t care about whether it’s android or iPhone. I am in fact interested in going android or whatever else is out there.

Thanks all.

[Chunder fuzz]

Also let’s not forget reasonably priced.

What sort of price range roughly? One persons reasonable is another's expensive.

[Neo]

My android phone is in for a warranty replacement. If I were buying I like the Asus Zen Fone Zoom. Has the octacore processor and all the specs, dual front cameras for effects and a big 5000mAh battery. Plus it's only $309 via Kogan. A bit hard to believe.

[crollsurf]

Only you know what you want or may want so it's worth doing the research but a few things to consider:

Battery
iPhones last longer than Samsung/Android phones. I have a Samsung S9+ and get 2 days easily with a few power savings like Flight mode and closing all apps. I have brightness up and listen to 2+hours of music, an hour or 2 of Netflix and rattle off 10+ photos (Pano shots are a battery killer) on a typical day. You can get 3 days in a pinch and 4 if you're careful before needing to carry a charger.

Screen size and brightness
Even if you use topo maps and compass, having a phone for navigation is worthwhile so you need one of the larger phones to aid in navigation, you don't need a tablet. You also want good brightness so you can see the map in sunshine/bright shade. Size is also nice if you're into Netflix at night and reviewing the photo you just took. I don't bother with topo maps anymore although I do carry a compass just in case.

Protection
I would recommend getting a dustproof and waterproof phone. You can get covers but they are typically bulky, heavy and affect the screen. I have my phone in a case that doesn't cover the screen, it came with the phone. Nice to be able to pull out the phone in the rain without having worry about getting it wet.

Camera
This is possibly the big ticket item. The phone manufacturers are at war when it comes to picture quality. Each trying to out-do the other, so you can get an amazingly good photo for viewing on a computer/laptop, especially if you buy one of the best Apple or Samsungs (there are other brands fighting in this space as well).
Reasons for NOT considering a top flight phone:
- You are an amateur/semi/professional photographer so you will be taking Camera gear anyway.
- You don't care much for photography.
- You are not light/ultralight so the weight savings is not that big a deal.
- Got no money, the average phone still takes an OK shot but you wont get the same quality stabilization/white colour and other features the best phone Cameras offer.

However if you do like taking photos and want to lighten your load, then I would recommend spending the money and getting the phone with the best camera you can afford and leaving your old camera at home.

I went for the Samsung S9+ and I'm very happy with it in general and the image quality. It's expensive and on a plan, I'm paying ~$90/month over 2 years. What won me over was best of breed optics and software (sabilization/fast auto focus etc) and the 2X zoom, which is fine in many cases but still Iimiting. Having a Camera in my pocket is so much easier and I save over 350g by not dragging around my old non-dustproof, non-waterproof Camera.

Hope that helps with your decision making.

[PedalRoll]

Neo, that Asus is insane. I don’t know much but I do know that the camera on that thing is pretty impressive. Also the gorilla glass is a bonus.

Croll, what phones are dust and waterproof? I remember Telstra had one. When I am researching phones they all seem to same to me. A little consuming really.

[Chunder fuzz]

Depends on what you call waterproof or how waterproof you need it.

E.g. the iPhone 7, 8 and X series have an IPX67 rating, which means dust proof and you can drop them in water to 1m for upto 30 minutes. The Samsung S8 has an IPX68 rating, which is up to 1.5m for 30 minutes and dustproof.

[crollsurf]

Google, first item!
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/mobile-phone/best-waterproof-phone-3647101/
Gives a good outline on what the Ingress Protection rating means as well

[ChrisJHC]

Regardless of which phone, I strongly recommend getting a kit to attach your phone to your hiking pole as an impromptu monopod.

You can stick the end in the ground and use the camera timer to put yourself into your photos - always tricky when you’re hiking solo.

I use a Leki camera adapter (for my Leki poles) plus a Quadlock phone case with a camera mount.
There are many other options but that one works well for me (and I use the Quadlock in other applications).

[Neo]

Neo, that Asus is insane. I don’t know much but I do know that the camera on that thing is pretty impressive. Also the gorilla glass is a bonus.

Croll, what phones are dust and waterproof? I remember Telstra had one. When I am researching phones they all seem to same to me. A little consuming really.

Yeah I was pondering buying a phone outright if mine was kaput. It biggest bissue was battery life (an HTC thing but otherwise awesome phones). So that Asus looos like a full specked affordable phone with good sounding camera... And maybe the biggest battery. Power performance then dependsnl on the internals/processor quality and how much the screen sucks on the battery.

[danman]

i just bought (well on a plan - $85 a month) a huawei mate 20 pro

coming from a samsung galaxy s7 which was basically cactus (back had half peeled off due to battery expanding, cracked rear causing camera issues, battery struggling to last 8 hours), my main desires were: good camera, good battery, relatively tough (at least dust resistant and waterproof)

so far it fits the bill. it has 3 lenses, goes up to 40 megapixel, 3x optical zoom and so far my pictures are coming out pretty good. i'm not 100% convinced it outperforms my old galaxy s7 in ALL circumstances though. certainly low light is better, better zoom, i like the ultrawide lens, but i think in some lights the samsung just picked up the colour better.

maybe it's just the trashed battery in the samdung that i was used to, but i can't stop raving about this battery. its 4000mah which is more than all the sammies or apples and i can easily pull 2 days from it without worrying at all.

i can't vouch for the toughness yet, i bought a spigen case for it to give it a boost, no issues so far but i am trying to baby it to an extent.

[Neo]

Thanks for the info danman.

I baby a new phone until I get a screen guard and a case. Usually in a sock. Usually have to order online too as shops only stock apple & samsung accessories

[Gadgetgeek]

Another one to look at is the Moto G series phones, I had a gen 3 that I ran for about two years, and its still going strong. I've since bumped to a Unihertz atom, a little baby phone from a smaller manufacturer, but its pretty great for what I need it for. Of course not everyone wants a 2.5 inch screen.

Right now there a pretty good selection on the market, with each main maker kinda having an edge in one category. But its certainly worth looking at the last gen of phones as a lot are available on the market cheap with the new releases, and many can be had refurbed for not much at all. Main thing is battery, so find out if the refurb has a new battery with a warranty.
https://www.gsmarena.com is a good site for comparisons, as they also list international versions.