What mid-range smartphone for camera?

What mid-range smartphone for camera?

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Discussion

Freegs

Original Poster:

96 posts

113 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
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Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some advice regarding a decent mid range £350 smartphone with the camera quality being my primary interest. I've owned a Panasonic LX100 compact for the past 12 months but not used it as much as I had expected. That, coupled with the fact that my ageing Motorola G3 is sorely in need of replacement and one of my friends now works for Nikon and can get me a hefty discount on their DSLR's means i'm looking to replace the LX100 with a new phone for snaps on the go.

There seems a plethora of choice in the current market, further confused by the option of buying an older 'flagship' model such as the Samsung S6 (will I be sacrificing the recent advances in UI/Hardwear/Android?). The Moto G5 plus is quite a popular mid-range model but I don't think the camera is it's strongest point. I have been very impressed with Samsung S camera's and am considering the S6. There are newer choices such as the Oneplus 3T which seems good but the camera does not receive rave reviews.

Any real-world advice would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Tom

anonymous-user

54 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
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I'd get whatever last years or the year before that 'flagship' phone is in your budget as the cameras are streets ahead of the 2017 mid range. Theyre more likely to have 'fast charge' as well which is a bonus.

£350 might be strong money for an S6 but a solid choice imo .

caelite

4,274 posts

112 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
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£350 will buy you one of the Sony Xperia X models (compact, or full sized), offers one of the best cameras about & a solid, modern handset.

Captain Smerc

3,021 posts

116 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
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Motorola G5 Plus for me , camera is excellent IMO .

Shiv_P

2,746 posts

105 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
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LG V20 has a reasonable main camera and a wide angle camera which is really handy.

Freegs

Original Poster:

96 posts

113 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
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Thanks all for the advice, very much appreciated! Further research has shown that galaxy S7's are available around the £350 mark albeit second hand but as new so I think that's my best bet as the battery is supposedly considerably better than the S6 and there's a micro SD for expandable memory.

AlexS

1,551 posts

232 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
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The Moto G5 plus has the same camera as the Galaxy S7.

Andehh

7,110 posts

206 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
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AlexS said:
The Moto G5 plus has the same camera as the Galaxy S7.
Does it? My S7 camera is amazing! Handy thread as I am in the same process a OP, looking for a mid spec phone for wife, good camera is all we care about!

nmd87

837 posts

190 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
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I was all set to go for a Moto G5 plus but have seen some negative reviews of the camera so having second thoughts.

Freegs

Original Poster:

96 posts

113 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
AlexS said:
The Moto G5 plus has the same camera as the Galaxy S7.
Just to shed some more light on this from my research.

Although the camera hardware appears to be very similar (sony) unit, the lens design is different on the S7 and the G5 + features no optical stabilisation. In all the comparisons i've seen the S7 comes out on top and in my opinion the shots are quite a bit better looking than the G5+. This is no doubt down to the Samsung image processing above all else.

That being said the quality of the G5+'s photography is still generally agreed to be excellent.

clonmult

10,529 posts

209 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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caelite said:
£350 will buy you one of the Sony Xperia X models (compact, or full sized), offers one of the best cameras about & a solid, modern handset.
The problem there is that whilst the Sony camera/lens is pretty good, the Sony camera software isn't exactly shocking, but it isn't particularly good (jpg compression and post processing are dubious, shot to shot time is poor considering the processor speed).

Most mobile cameras are fairly evenly matched these days, and there really isn't much difference between the mid range and supposed "top end" mobiles cameras.

Chicken Chaser

7,798 posts

224 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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Im also looking for the same parameters, since my LG G3 suddenly started boot looping last week at 20 months use. I was keen on the G6 but seeing how LG phones have the same problem through the G4 and G5, im tempted to look at something like a Oneplus. Ideally want removeable storage so that i dont lose stuff if it breaks, and potentially a removeable battery.

Shiv_P

2,746 posts

105 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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Chicken Chaser said:
Im also looking for the same parameters, since my LG G3 suddenly started boot looping last week at 20 months use. I was keen on the G6 but seeing how LG phones have the same problem through the G4 and G5, im tempted to look at something like a Oneplus. Ideally want removeable storage so that i dont lose stuff if it breaks, and potentially a removeable battery.
I have a V20 - had to get it from abroad via ebay but it has removable storage, dual SIM, removable battery, dual screen, dual cameras and it's very nice. Looks like around £310 on the bay now as well which is a steal compared to what I paid £400 a couple months ago

nmd87

837 posts

190 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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Chicken Chaser said:
Im also looking for the same parameters, since my LG G3 suddenly started boot looping last week at 20 months use. I was keen on the G6 but seeing how LG phones have the same problem through the G4 and G5, im tempted to look at something like a Oneplus. Ideally want removeable storage so that i dont lose stuff if it breaks, and potentially a removeable battery.
The Nexus 5X is affected, too. I've just got rid of mine due to having issues with it. I'll be avoiding LG in future.

Jonny_

4,128 posts

207 months

Thursday 29th June 2017
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Can't speak for the Moto G5+, but I'm using a regular G5 at the moment and compared to my old Sony Z3 Compact, the G5 camera is pretty poor.

Chicken Chaser

7,798 posts

224 months

Saturday 1st July 2017
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Well I have to get a new one now! Dropped the g3 yesterday and smashed the screen so been looking at the likes of a HTC 10, Galaxy S7, Huawei P10. Anyone got one?