3 ms·

Potato. That's one of the downsides of budget phones.

by Fej 9y ago

bsharitt 9y ago
The super budget phones like the E4 are pretty bad, but you can get a pretty decent camera on a midrange Android phone. I've got a Moto G5 Plus that is a pretty solid phone with a decent camera(only real short coming is very low light). That phone is $230 for the base model, and I think it's about $40-$50 less if you get the Amazon ad supported version(which I think the aforementioned $99 E4 is).
- pasbesoin 9y ago
  The G5+ comes in 2 configurations, in the U.S. (UK/Europe and India are different.) 2 GB RAM / 32 GB flash, and 4 GB RAM / 64 GB flash. Both take a microSD card of up to 128 GB or 256 GB, depending on whose specs your reading -- I'd be cautious, if it makes a difference in your purchase decision, and believe the 128 GB. It is described as being compatible with all 4 of the U.S.'s major networks. Currently, it's on a fairly recent version of 7.0 . Interesting that the E4 is ahead of it, on 7.1 . Typical Motorola/Android inconsistency. The 2/32 version has an ad-free price on Amazon of $230, and an ad-full price (Amazon ads, like they've had on Kindle and Fire phones) of $180. However, a week+ ago, Amazon was putting the ad-free version on sale for $180, in typical Amazon fashion: On again, off again, on again... Until their inventory of the ad-free version sold out. The 4/64 version has been consistently holding at $300, for the ad-free version. I've read a comment or two about someone getting the ad-free version on sale for $40 or $50 off, but I haven't seen such a sale. The ad-full version has the Amazon discount price, but that wasn't of interest to me. I've also read comments stating that the 2/32 ad-free version has been at CostCo for $180, but I don't have a CostCo membership. Oh, and that if you want to root the thing, you should get the version free of Amazon's ad platform. My Nexus 5x bootlooped, and I ended up getting the 4/64 version of the G5+. Supposedly, there is a G5S+ version coming soon, with an upgraded camera package -- dual 13 megapixel cameras that enable some depth-of-field trickery and whatever else. The G5+ has a single 12 megapixel camera (as well as the "selfie" camera). The G5S+ is supposedly launching in Europe this August, and in the U.S. at some unannounced time in the fall. Pricing's also not known, but some think both models will be offered concurrently, with the S's pricing a bit higher. As for me, I needed something now, so I bought the G5+. I got frustrated with Amazon's pricing dance, and I figured 4/64 would provide a longer life as a second phone or experimental device. My purpose was/is to tide me over until the Pixel 2 launches, although I'm hesitant after my 5X experience. Thereafter, to have a backup device as well as one I can root and play with. The G5+ is a decent phone. Decent IPS screen. Battery can go all day with moderate use, plus perhaps a bit more. Has a fingerprint sensor, making having a locked device more convenient (the whole unlocking "coercion" concern, aside). The processor/GPU combination is not high end, but it's enough for email, browsing, Facebook, watching video, and the like. The camera's ok. The Nexus 5X's takes more attractive pictures. The G5+'s gets rid of the momentary lag that both the 5X and the 6P exhibit when the "shutter" is triggered. The Motorola camera app has a professional mode with significant control (ISO-equivalency, exposure control, etc.). One thing it doesn't seem to have is the ability to turn off taking photos at the screen's proportions. Essentially, it is discarding the top and bottom pixel lines built into the sensor, in order to match the screen's dimensions. I installed the open source, well-regarded app Open Camera to get around this. (Which it does, but I've been running into some typical single guy / small team project bugginess as I use it more.) Some of the Motorola app's pictures also exhibited some significant JPG-type low-quality distortion. (Perhaps it was lower light and/or moderate zoom, contributing.) I'm not sure, but maybe Open Camera does a bit better, in this regard. So, I got into a pretty good ramble, here. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay a grand for a phone. And if I did, it would have to be with a good warranty and some decent loss/damage/failure insurance (if affordable). And I'd need a guarantee of support. At least Apple devices tend to get good support for 3 - 4 years, unlike Android's crapshoot of too-often abaondon-ware. I'll see where the Pixel 2 prices come in. Although, no SD card... And now no headphone jack...
squarefoot 9y ago
True but even the best phone in the world couldn't reach the quality of a cheap dedicated camera. Megapixels don't count. Functions aside, it's all about the sensor, light, image distortion and noise. The smallest the sensor is, the more noisy (grainy) images will be due to the higher level of amplification needed (If your day photos are wonderful but night ones aren't that's the reason). To correct this phones should have large sensors, which is hard to do because there's no space to spare, but sadly they would also require larger and thicker lenses to avoid image distortion. All those requirements are incompatible with any phone form factor, so that at least today a 500 bucks phone is easily outperformed by a decent camera costing an order of magnitude less.

Potato. That's one of the downsides of budget phones.

by Fej 9y ago

Potato. That's one of the downsides of budget phones.

The super budget phones like the E4 are pretty bad, but you can get a pretty decent camera on a midrange Android phone. I've got a Moto G5 Plus that is a pretty solid phone with a decent camera(only real short coming is very low light). That phone is $230 for the base model, and I think it's about $40-$50 less if you get the Amazon ad supported version(which I think the aforementioned $99 E4 is).

pasbesoin 9y ago
The G5+ comes in 2 configurations, in the U.S. (UK/Europe and India are different.) 2 GB RAM / 32 GB flash, and 4 GB RAM / 64 GB flash. Both take a microSD card of up to 128 GB or 256 GB, depending on whose specs your reading -- I'd be cautious, if it makes a difference in your purchase decision, and believe the 128 GB. It is described as being compatible with all 4 of the U.S.'s major networks. Currently, it's on a fairly recent version of 7.0 . Interesting that the E4 is ahead of it, on 7.1 . Typical Motorola/Android inconsistency. The 2/32 version has an ad-free price on Amazon of $230, and an ad-full price (Amazon ads, like they've had on Kindle and Fire phones) of $180. However, a week+ ago, Amazon was putting the ad-free version on sale for $180, in typical Amazon fashion: On again, off again, on again... Until their inventory of the ad-free version sold out. The 4/64 version has been consistently holding at $300, for the ad-free version. I've read a comment or two about someone getting the ad-free version on sale for $40 or $50 off, but I haven't seen such a sale. The ad-full version has the Amazon discount price, but that wasn't of interest to me. I've also read comments stating that the 2/32 ad-free version has been at CostCo for $180, but I don't have a CostCo membership. Oh, and that if you want to root the thing, you should get the version free of Amazon's ad platform. My Nexus 5x bootlooped, and I ended up getting the 4/64 version of the G5+. Supposedly, there is a G5S+ version coming soon, with an upgraded camera package -- dual 13 megapixel cameras that enable some depth-of-field trickery and whatever else. The G5+ has a single 12 megapixel camera (as well as the "selfie" camera). The G5S+ is supposedly launching in Europe this August, and in the U.S. at some unannounced time in the fall. Pricing's also not known, but some think both models will be offered concurrently, with the S's pricing a bit higher. As for me, I needed something now, so I bought the G5+. I got frustrated with Amazon's pricing dance, and I figured 4/64 would provide a longer life as a second phone or experimental device. My purpose was/is to tide me over until the Pixel 2 launches, although I'm hesitant after my 5X experience. Thereafter, to have a backup device as well as one I can root and play with. The G5+ is a decent phone. Decent IPS screen. Battery can go all day with moderate use, plus perhaps a bit more. Has a fingerprint sensor, making having a locked device more convenient (the whole unlocking "coercion" concern, aside). The processor/GPU combination is not high end, but it's enough for email, browsing, Facebook, watching video, and the like. The camera's ok. The Nexus 5X's takes more attractive pictures. The G5+'s gets rid of the momentary lag that both the 5X and the 6P exhibit when the "shutter" is triggered. The Motorola camera app has a professional mode with significant control (ISO-equivalency, exposure control, etc.). One thing it doesn't seem to have is the ability to turn off taking photos at the screen's proportions. Essentially, it is discarding the top and bottom pixel lines built into the sensor, in order to match the screen's dimensions. I installed the open source, well-regarded app Open Camera to get around this. (Which it does, but I've been running into some typical single guy / small team project bugginess as I use it more.) Some of the Motorola app's pictures also exhibited some significant JPG-type low-quality distortion. (Perhaps it was lower light and/or moderate zoom, contributing.) I'm not sure, but maybe Open Camera does a bit better, in this regard. So, I got into a pretty good ramble, here. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay a grand for a phone. And if I did, it would have to be with a good warranty and some decent loss/damage/failure insurance (if affordable). And I'd need a guarantee of support. At least Apple devices tend to get good support for 3 - 4 years, unlike Android's crapshoot of too-often abaondon-ware. I'll see where the Pixel 2 prices come in. Although, no SD card... And now no headphone jack...

squarefoot 9y ago

True but even the best phone in the world couldn't reach the quality of a cheap dedicated camera. Megapixels don't count. Functions aside, it's all about the sensor, light, image distortion and noise. The smallest the sensor is, the more noisy (grainy) images will be due to the higher level of amplification needed (If your day photos are wonderful but night ones aren't that's the reason). To correct this phones should have large sensors, which is hard to do because there's no space to spare, but sadly they would also require larger and thicker lenses to avoid image distortion. All those requirements are incompatible with any phone form factor, so that at least today a 500 bucks phone is easily outperformed by a decent camera costing an order of magnitude less.