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In the Techradar review it mentioned they found it slow to move from shot to shot & slow saving. How fair a comment is this?
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/nokia-lumia-1020-1165253/review
Well, its no DSLR, but I've not missed a shot due to it being slow. It is saving larger than most Phones sized pics, so its would not be surprising if it took a few more milliseconds.
The pluses way out number any perceived minuses in my book...
JETninja said:
Well, its no DSLR, but I've not missed a shot due to it being slow. It is saving larger than most Phones sized pics, so its would not be surprising if it took a few more milliseconds.
The pluses way out number any perceived minuses in my book...
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Do you think the review was unfair in this respect then?
Super Chimp said:
Do you think the review was unfair in this respect then?
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The camera is a little slower than what I am used to, but it takes great shots. If timing is an issue I tend to use the Nokia Pro Cam application as my lens. It takes several pictures in rapid succession and overcomes this issue.
Overall, the phone and camera are exceptional in my opinion. Like everything else, there are some small tradeoffs.
N!njaDuck said:
The camera is a little slower than what I am used to, but it takes great shots. If timing is an issue I tend to use the Nokia Pro Cam application as my lens. It takes several pictures in rapid succession and overcomes this issue.
Overall, the phone and camera are exceptional in my opinion. Like everything else, there are some small tradeoffs.
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Can I widen this out & ask owners of the 1020 how fair in general they felt that review was?
Super Chimp said:
Can I widen this out & ask owners of the 1020 how fair in general they felt that review was?
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I would say it is a pretty fair review of the platform more so than the phone specifically.
I find that there is an app for almost everything I need on the platform, but I am not a super active social media person checking in every few minutes on 10 different platforms.
The phone itself is smooth and I have yet to experience any snags. The reviewer makes mention of the camera making it weird to hold. I actually find that it helps it from slipping out of my hand and prevents the camera from laying against surfaces when you put the phone down. Who would have thought that a large growth coming out of a phone would actually have some appeal to me.
Just for balance I will mention that I use an android tablet, so this is not some MS/Nokia pitch. It is just a really nice phone.
Now they just need to release the wireless charging cover so I can stop missing my 920 so much.
Hope this helps someone.
The review is written by an obvious iOS fanboy. He bags on Win 8 constantly. Ok, I'm 54, so I can give a rats ass about no Instagram or Vine, yet I can find any app I want and i probably have close to 100 already. From Formula One to Yelp. And wow, its too much for him to swipe down a bit to check his email. Yes, I think it was a highly biased review. Waiting on the Anandtech review myself, but doesn't matter. I've had it over a week and dig it over all. It fast, games are good, surfing great, screen doesn't really show the finger prints like my Samsung Focus did.
I was a bit bemused by his comments about notifications as I wouldn't say iOS was the greatest on this under the current version.
the procam app takes an extra second to save an image, but it's also saving a 5mp and a 38mp (?) image at the same time, so it's a given. if quick auto setting type images are needed, the stock camera lens as well as the nokia smartshot (?) lens both take fast pictures.
Camera Sensor Speed
The Giant Sensor speed is too low for Slow Motion.
It would be enough for 720P@60FPS but not for higher Framerates.
Also the Delay between 2 Pictures is toooo long.
The Processing power is like the Galaxy S2 or so...
Wait for the Nokia Lumia 1030 with Galaxy Note 4 Processing Power and 50 Megapixel Sensor.
Also see this ﴾Cluick Here IU﴿
I will like to know what is good about the z3 what is bad and is it worth geting it
gunay said:
I will like to know what is good about the z3 what is bad and is it worth geting it
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There are threads about like that already here, i think you'll find them by search function.
Google.com will answer those questions.
gunay said:
I will like to know what is good about the z3 what is bad and is it worth geting it
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60931189&postcount=13
All but that is more than good...
change to z3
Ulver said:
Google.com will answer those questions.
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google is no help I'm asking cause I'm thinking of changing from note 4 to xperia z3
I think if you have the chance to use order device running Lollipop, you will see Z3 is the most stable.
This depends on what you need..
If you want a bigger screen with S-Pen and & fast charging and better selfie camera then stay on Note 4
For me I didn't buy Note 4... I bought Z3.. I care about the frontal loud speakers and water resistance
And yes note 4 screen is qHD but for me I prefer the amazing brightness level and the white color on the IPS screen of the Z3.. Just open the Facebook app and youtube on the both of them and you will understand me well
The camera On Z3 is better in low light without flash for me
Finally you need to focus on what you need to decide the best for you
Hani88 said:
This depends on what you need..
If you want a bigger screen with S-Pen and & fast charging and better selfie camera then stay on Note 4
For me I didn't buy Note 4... I bought Z3.. I care about the frontal loud speakers and water resistance
And yes note 4 screen is qHD but for me I prefer the amazing brightness level and the white color on the IPS screen of the Z3.. Just open the Facebook app and youtube on the both of them and you will understand me well
The camera On Z3 is better in low light without flash for me
Finally you need to focus on what you need to decide the best for you
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what i look for is battery life camera and design
Good:
Premium build quality - metal frame, glass front and back
Stereo Speaker - quite loud
Decent camera - low light image are good (Prefer using manual mode instead of auto and night scene for low light image for lesser noise)
Great User Interface - better looking app in the software side. eg, music, movie, album and etc
Water resistant - with some limitation, condensation may happen. (eg, putting your device into slightly cold water when the device is hot)
Noise cancellation headphone - If you like music and afford to buy it.
Great battery life - after updated to lollipop, the battery life not as good as kitkat but still manage to get 1.5day of light usage (without stamina mode)
Bad:
Rear camera - Noise are easily visible without appropriate setting, manual setting are not flexible (eg, customizing the exposure to different value, at the same time trying to change ISO value will make the exposure back to default setting, not more that once customization can be apply simultaneously in a shot)
Front camera - have to make sure that you don't like to take selfie everyday but occasionally should be ok
Bad after sale service - experience horrible service center in my country, may vary on other country only if something bad happen to your phone
This is just my experience of using z3 in 3 month, hope will helps. Value for money is the only reason for you to buy the device right now, since z3+/z4 will be announced soon, it is better to wait for it if you don't mind paying more. Will not getting any huge different in term of speed when you switching note 4 to z3.
gunay said:
what i look for is battery life camera and design
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The battery life and the camera are amazing in Z3
The design is cool for me and the devices is thin and light
gunay said:
what i look for is battery life camera and design
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Click to collapse
Battery Life: Xperia Z3 is very good in this aspect, if not one of the best smartphones in this aspect.
Camera: Well, I´m going to to be honest, the camera just sucks, yes, they said 20.7 Megapixels to catch you but actually the pics that this camera takes are so blurry and without many details, one of the worst smartphone cameras that I ever tried before. The front camera is even more worse than rear one,.
Desing: The Desgin of Sony Xperia Z3 is one of the best and more elegant that I ever see.
I like this phone (Z3) for his battery, desing and smoth UI, but the camera is the main reason why I´m going to move to Galaxy S6.
Camera is great, camera software is pretty lousy.
Is $300 for a z3 a decent price at the moment?
getbuzzin said:
Is $300 for a z3 a decent price at the moment?
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New? Well, even refurbished that is a great deal. Currently selling for about $500 brand new I believe.
With phones starting to ship now I figured I'd get the ball rolling with a camera discussion / Image sample thread. I'll be sure to update this post once I have the device and get some sample shots. With the not so great reviews of the camera, I think this is a great thread to discuss the camera of the Essential phone. I'm sure it's going to bring a lot of debate
I'm wondering what is the actual sensor being used for the camera. Is it one of the Sony Exmor sensors that most phones use these days? If so, which one? It seems odd to me that this had not been reported on the way it usually is with flagship phones claiming to have great cameras, like the Pixel and U11.
I feel like the 360 camera was a bad choice as a first accessory.
A super high quality normal snap-on sensor would have changed the way this phone was received.
Goronok said:
I feel like the 360 camera was a bad choice as a first accessory.
A super high quality normal snap-on sensor would have changed the way this phone was received.
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The camera issues are software related.
The processing may need tweaking with real world shooting. The app has issues. I think they will sort the camera out. For me it's not a big deal since I almost always have a camera with an APS-C sensor around. I only do phone cameras in an emergency.
tech_head said:
The camera issues are software related.
The processing may need tweaking with real world shooting. The app has issues. I think they will sort the camera out. For me it's not a big deal since I almost always have a camera with an APS-C sensor around. I only do phone cameras in an emergency.
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Essential is saying it's software related in PR statements. But the camera issues have been around for months and they haven't been able to fix it. Droid Life reported on it back in June: http://www.droid-life.com/2017/06/05/essential-phone-camera-sample/
I think it's likely that they are using small 1/3 sensors (in order to have no camera hump in a thin phone); they seem to been avoiding publishing any information about what the actual sensors are in the phone and their size. That would definitely explain the low light issues. No software update is going to fix that.
And there have been so many cell phones that have come out with camera issues and promises of software fixes that never materialize. At best minor improvements happen. So I would not hold my breath for Essential being able to make huge imporvements. If they could have, they would have before they started handing it out to reviewers. It's not like they couldn't go out and snap photos like the reviewers are doing and see the problems (and if they didn't do that, then that level of incompetence makes me believe even less that there will be a miracle fix).
So I think people should be prepared for this being what the camera is more or less going to be like, with maybe some minor improvements.
cb474 said:
I'm wondering what is the actual sensor being used for the camera. Is it one of the Sony Exmor sensors that most phones use these days? If so, which one? It seems odd to me that this had not been reported on the way it usually is with flagship phones claiming to have great cameras, like the Pixel and U11.
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Sony IMX258
360 camera is IMX378
Kay1000RR said:
Sony IMX258
360 camera is IMX378
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Thanks. Yeah, I saw that yesterday. As I predicted, the sensor, IMX258, is a 1/3 sensor (and two years old at that). Super disappointing. This definitely explains the bad low light performance (along with EIS instead of OIS). As I said, I really doubt software updates are going to do much to improve it. Samsung has been putting larger sensors (1/2.5) in their phones for four years now. I big part of why the Pixel and U11 have good cameras are because of the 1/2.3 sensors in them. There is just no excuse for a so called "flagship" phone these days have a 1/3 sensor in it.
It seems like Essential was just overly obssessed with their perfectly flat back idea (which I don't even think looks so great, it's almost too plain) and thought they could do "magic" by combining two 1/3 sensors, one in BW mode, and somehow produce better pictures from two lower grade sensors. 2X bad information does not equal good information. Yeah, maybe they'll get a little extra detail out of the extra monochrome sensor. But it's not going to compete with a larger sensor. And it really doesn't look like they have even used the extra monochrome sensor well (while suffering the expense of severe shutter lag while the camera tries to interpolate the information from two sensors).
I'm really disappointed that they cheaped out on the camera and were overly obssessed with not having even the tiniest camera hump (which I think Samsung and Apple have proven people are totally fine with and still think their designs are great). What attracts me to the Essential phone is the large screen in a small phone size (and the titanium and ceramic are nice pluses); but I really don't give a damn about a perfectly flat back. To get the nice design with the screen I was willing to accept the lack of a 3.5 mm jack and other corners they cut on features. But they hyped the camera as being great, when they knew they had inferior sensors in it. If they can't get the things they do have in the phone right, it's hard for me to still want to get this phone (or trust this company).
cb474 said:
Thanks. Yeah, I saw that yesterday. As I predicted, the sensor, IMX258, is a 1/3 sensor (and two years old at that). Super disappointing. This definitely explains the bad low light performance (along with EIS instead of OIS). As I said, I really doubt software updates are going to do much to improve it. Samsung has been putting larger sensors (1/2.5) in their phones for four years now. I big part of why the Pixel and U11 have good cameras are because of the 1/2.3 sensors in them. There is just no excuse for a so called "flagship" phone these days have a 1/3 sensor in it.
It seems like Essential was just overly obssessed with their perfectly flat back idea (which I don't even think looks so great, it's almost too plain) and thought they could do "magic" by combining two 1/3 sensors, one in BW mode, and somehow produce better pictures from two lower grade sensors. 2X bad information does not equal good information. Yeah, maybe they'll get a little extra detail out of the extra monochrome sensor. But it's not going to compete with a larger sensor. And it really doesn't look like they have even used the extra monochrome sensor well (while suffering the expense of severe shutter lag while the camera tries to interpolate the information from two sensors).
I'm really disappointed that they cheaped out on the camera and were overly obssessed with not having even the tiniest camera hump (which I think Samsung and Apple have proven people are totally fine with and still think their designs are great). What attracts me to the Essential phone is the large screen in a small phone size (and the titanium and ceramic are nice pluses); but I really don't give a damn about a perfectly flat back. To get the nice design with the screen I was willing to accept the lack of a 3.5 mm jack and other corners they cut on features. But they hyped the camera as being great, when they knew they had inferior sensors in it. If they can't get the things they do have in the phone right, it's hard for me to still want to get this phone (or trust this company).
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You are are neglecting to factor in the increase in pixel density of the larger sensors.
The 258 has an area of 4.84mm^2 the 318 has an area of 5.24 mm^2 this is a 8% increase in area but a 60% increase in pixel.
With the pixels smaller the light collection ability and noise performance is not necessarily better.
The 318 is the newest mobile sensor that Sony has and it has 1um pixels.
They claim no drop in low light performance and noise from their 1.12um pixel sensors.
Mind you , they do not claim an increase in low light performance or noise,
So I'm not ready to dismiss the camera yet.
I'm not quite ready to dismiss it either. While the LG G6 may not win any awards for its main camera, it is definitely serviceable. Technically, the essential phone should take better snaps with the monochrome sensor combo too.
The Google camera port should help sweeten things too. I dunno, we'll see.
Goronok said:
I'm not quite ready to dismiss it either. While the LG G6 may not win any awards for its main camera, it is definitely serviceable. Technically, the essential phone should take better snaps with the monochrome sensor combo too.
The Google camera port should help sweeten things too. I dunno, we'll see.
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Google camera is a port? Not just an app? Will it take advantage of both sensors?
km8j said:
Google camera is a port? Not just an app? Will it take advantage of both sensors?
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A developer ported the Pixel version of the app with its special SW processing. So it's not really the Google camera but the Pixel camera app. I asked Michael Fisher if he tried the Pixel cam port and if it made a difference and he heard it does improve the camera but he hasn't tried it himself.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
It also might help even more once we get Root as there is adb command to do that allows the Google HDR+ camera to use the hardware imaging processor in the qualcomn chips to work with it. Will be trying this as soon as I can.
IM0001 said:
It also might help even more once we get Root as there is adb command to do that allows the Google HDR+ camera to use the hardware imaging processor in the qualcomn chips to work with it. Will be trying this as soon as I can.
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Interested in seeing this.
tech_head said:
You are are neglecting to factor in the increase in pixel density of the larger sensors.
The 258 has an area of 4.84mm^2 the 318 has an area of 5.24 mm^2 this is a 8% increase in area but a 60% increase in pixel.
With the pixels smaller the light collection ability and noise performance is not necessarily better.
The 318 is the newest mobile sensor that Sony has and it has 1um pixels.
They claim no drop in low light performance and noise from their 1.12um pixel sensors.
Mind you , they do not claim an increase in low light performance or noise,
So I'm not ready to dismiss the camera yet.
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Huh?
The 1/2.3 sensor in the phones I was mentioning is something like the IMX378 (in the Pixel). The IMX318 is not in any of the phones I was talking about. The IMX378 in the Pixel and and the sensor in the U11 (IMX362) are physically larger and have larger pixels, 1.55 um and 1.4 um respectively. Or also something like the IMX333 in the S8. That's why they do exactly what I said which is capture more light, rather than mindlessly chase higher megapixel counts.
The IMX318 is just a megapixel chasing sensor (22.5 MP), which is probably why it's only in more gimmicky phones, like the Zenfone and the Mi Note 2. Anyway, it has absolutely zero to do with any of the phones or types of sensors I was talking about. I have no idea why you brought it up.
km8j said:
Google camera is a port? Not just an app? Will it take advantage of both sensors?
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It's both. Someone ported over the pixel HDR+ processing to work on most snapdragon 820/821/835 devices.
Really works quite well, although no, I don't think it will utilize the B&W sensor.
cb474 said:
Huh?
The 1/2.3 sensor in the phones I was mentioning is something like the IMX378 (in the Pixel). The IMX318 is not in any of the phones I was talking about. The IMX378 in the Pixel and and the sensor in the U11 (IMX362) are physically larger and have larger pixels, 1.55 um and 1.4 um respectively. Or also something like the IMX333 in the S8. That's why they do exactly what I said which is capture more light, rather than mindlessly chase higher megapixel counts.
The IMX318 is just a megapixel chasing sensor (22.5 MP), which is probably why it's only in more gimmicky phones, like the Zenfone and the Mi Note 2. Anyway, it has absolutely zero to do with any of the phones or types of sensors I was talking about. I have no idea why you brought it up.
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Okay, you are right about the 318.
The other sensors, Sony promotes a for cameras and they do not promote mobile. At least officially.
Essential made a design decision not to have a camera bump and also what would fit in the package.
Design is all about trade-offs. I've seen the pics of how full the thing is. Maybe one of the others just wouldn't fit? I don't know. I do know that if the bezels were larger I wouldn't be interested. If it were thicker, same thing.
I love the design of this phone but ya it does have tradeoffs for sure. Camera is one of them. They could have easily made the bottom bezel match the top like the S8 and put in a larger sensor for sure but decision was made to go for the super wow factor which is not necessarily a bad one in my eyes. That being said idk if i personally can "Downgrade" from the pixels camera...
tech_head said:
Okay, you are right about the 318.
The other sensors, Sony promotes a for cameras and they do not promote mobile. At least officially.
Essential made a design decision not to have a camera bump and also what would fit in the package.
Design is all about trade-offs. I've seen the pics of how full the thing is. Maybe one of the others just wouldn't fit? I don't know. I do know that if the bezels were larger I wouldn't be interested. If it were thicker, same thing.
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Whatever those sensors were originally intended for, they have been used in the best phone cameras for some time now. Samsung started using sensors like that in 2013 and Nokia, really the inventor of the modern high quality phone camera, started doing it in 2007. So Essential knew what they were doing (or not doing as the case may be).
I agree that there are trade offs with design. But Essential didn't say: in order to have a perfectly flat back we decided not to use the state of the art sensors found in other top phone cameras and do something that we think is good enough for standard users. Instead they went out of their way to promote the camera as what would be one of the stand out features of the phone. The even specifically hyped how great it's low light peformance would be. But anyone who knew the sensors they were using (without OIS) could have predicted it would not be as good as they claimed. In fact, the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus tried the exact same configuration a year before, two IMX258 sensors, one RGB the other Monochrome, with no OIS, and that camera had the exact same performance problems. So no one can say with a straight face that they didn't know what would happen.
Not only am I disappointed in the substandard performance of the camera in the Essential Phone (for a contemporary flagship), but I think Essential was totally dishonest in how they promoted this phone and apparently thought their stupid customers and reviewers wouldn't notice. Which also contradicts their claim they would be a different kind of consumer friendly company. To me, the whole clearly dishonest camera hyping episode reveals that Essential is a very different, not so nice, kind of company than they claimed and it makes me very skeptical of their claims about everything else in the phone and that they plan to do.
So I think the way things unfolded is a little different than simply Essential decided to make a design trade off.
Also, Essential has made an awful lot of design trade offs. No 3.5 mm jack. No stereo speakers. No water proofing. No sd card. And now a subpar camera. At some point it's not worth it. I was willing to live with those other things, even though I was not excited about them (especially the 3.5 mm jack). But at least the features that are there should live up to the quality the phone claims to have and the camera just does not come close.
Lastly, I really don't get it, the obsession with the perfectly flat back. The great thing about the Esssential design is the front; it's the bezeless screen and fitting a relatively large screen in a phone much smaller than usual. Secondarly the titanium and ceramic are nice touches. But who gives sh.. about the perfectly flat back? Seriously. I don't think this would have affected anyone's perception of the phone. It would have taken a very minor hump to get an IMX378 in there and without the two sensors taking up more space, they could have had OIS. It also would have fit the Essential branding. They could have said: "We are not jumping on the dual camera gimmick band wagon (since dual cameras pretty much are a gimmick, all the different ways it's done). Large sensors and OIS are what makes cameras good. So that's what we're doing. Just the 'essential' things."
In the end, the flat back just seems like a misguided obsession of Rubin himself in his desire to make his fantasy personal perfect phone.
Sounds like the phone isn't for you lol. Quite the post.
jerflash said:
I love the design of this phone but ya it does have tradeoffs for sure. Camera is one of them. They could have easily made the bottom bezel match the top like the S8 and put in a larger sensor for sure but decision was made to go for the super wow factor which is not necessarily a bad one in my eyes. That being said idk if i personally can "Downgrade" from the pixels camera...
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I doubt the design was by essential alone and instead their design choice limited by the display provided by Sharp who just released a similar phone.
"Samsung S9 Plus vs Note 8 4k Video Comparison" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/H66s74YZtyQ
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
MicroMod777 said:
"Samsung S9 Plus vs Note 8 4k Video Comparison" on YouTube
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You could definitely see the 9+ captured better detail.
deviusdragger said:
You could definitely see the 9+ captured better detail.
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Yea the S9+ has almost double the bitrate, and fps. Sound quality does seem a bit better on Note 8.
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
How did the file sizes compare at the end ?
One's using h265 and the other h264 ?
4k means huge sizes. I recorded an hours worth of 1080p 60fps on my v20 and the total size was 16GB
When the lights go dim, the 9+ walks away from the pack. Party's over, there's simply no comparison!
S9+ not quite walking away with much here is it
The Note 8 looked better to me until it started moving. Then it was much better on the S9+, I think.
One Twelve said:
S9+ not quite walking away with much here is it
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That's not low light LOL.
I'm talking sub 1 lux levels. Think a 10x12 room with a night light or clock radio in the corner.
Also, his lens isn't clean *enough*.
If you really want to make sure your lens is optically clean you MUST use a lens pen. There are other ways used by laser techs but aren't even valid outside a class 100 clean room anyhow.
Anyhow, under low light the S9+ most certainly walks away from the Note 8. I have both phones and honestly was surprised at the difference.
The only thing I haven't tested is audio zoom and distortion at high levels. At the next warm up I will certainly zoom into one of the subs and see if it turns into clip city.
Excessive AF hunting seems to be reduced. Now if we could get rid of the AR artifacts and rolling shutter distortion we'd have some serious reasons to leave the pro gear at home. (haha I kid, but hey it's getting closer all the time!)
FYI indoors is low light and that scene is as bright maybe a little more. But the point is in such a situation anything from the S7 on up is fine. With LG's G4 and upwards. That is perspective. Comparison. Not just seeing something alone and imagining how much better it must be which is hype
His lens is clean enough for the purpose. Its called micro fiber, you should try it some time.
One Twelve said:
FYI indoors is low light and that scene is as bright maybe a little more. But the point is in such a situation anything from the S7 on up is fine. With LG's G4 and upwards. That is perspective. Comparison. Not just seeing something alone and imagining how much better it must be which is hype
His lens is clean enough for the purpose. Its called micro fiber, you should try it some time.
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I'm not saying it's not fine, I'm saying the S9+ is demonstrably superior to both, enough to warrant purchasing even if you own the 8+ based on the camera alone. And indoor lighting certainly can vary from overly bright or totally dark.
There is no imagining anything here. I own the devices and can clearly see the differences in processing both on stills and video.
Additionally, if I can easily see artifacts produced by a FOD covered screen, it's definitely NOT clean enough! Microfiber is nice and soft and won't scratch delicate surfaces/coatings however if it's not clean it's not going to produce a clean surface. A lens pen will. They are cheap and no one that's even a bit serious about photography shouldn't have one!
cpufrost said:
Additionally, if I can easily see artifacts produced by a FOD covered screen, it's definitely NOT clean enough! Microfiber is nice and soft and won't scratch delicate surfaces/coatings however if it's not clean it's not going to produce a clean surface. A lens pen will. They are cheap and no one that's even a bit serious about photography shouldn't have one!
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Which lenspen do you use with your phone ?
https://www.amazon.com/Lenspen-NMCP-1-LensPen-MicroPro/dp/B007G620ZE
or
https://www.amazon.com/LensPen-MBK-1-Camera-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B0010HAAIO
hopefully these aren't knockoffs with pads that come off after a few uses
Never heard of these products in mobile camera space.
How do you tell its clean, eyeball it at an angle like with any lens.
You're saying a lens pen will do better than microfiber. Well, i've ordered the first one since it works out to a quarter of the price of the second on amazon India and has a pad small enough to fit.
Hard to tell what coatings these phone camera lenses have, i'd imagine something that makes them resistant to scratching. Whether a lens pen will be safe to use in that case
Yes there are knockoffs but the lens pen brand, Nikon, etc. are OK.
The smaller pads work best but a 10mm pad still works. Use the brush first to remove loose dust and then use the pad.
I usually swipe across a few times.
You will know when it's "optically clean" when you can point the camera at a bright, pinpoint source of light (streetlight at night, etc.) and there's no halo or line shaped artifacts. The pens are quite gentle as they are designed for cleaning optics with AR coatings which are much more sensitive than the outer glass cover. If you look at the camera lens on a phone at a slight angle you will notice a purple looking color. That's the coating on the lens. Fortunately, this is protected with a window.
And this is why I use a UV filter on my expensive Nikor |N| and Canon L glass because a $30 filter is much cheaper than repairs that can cost $1000 or more!
I think S9+ is designed for better camera compared to Note 8
Hi guys. I bought an A52 4G for myself a few weeks ago and here is my brutally honest review. As you will see, there are some things I wasn't satisfied with but I needed a phone quickly and for my budget and availability, I thought I'd give Samsung a chance.
Pros
1. Lots of QoL services by Samsung like always on display and apps like Gallery by Samsung can be more useful than Photos by Google. I also mapped the double tap power button to start the flashlight.
2. The 720G chipset along with a 90hz display feels plenty powerful especially for those coming from an older midrange device. However, it's not as fast and instantaneous as stock Android or OxygenOS. Also, you will face lots of stutters and bugs if you enable animation to .5x. At default 1x, animations are too damn slow.
3. Stereo speakers. Sound quality is average though. I don't use it much so I don't care.
4. Water resistance. It's nice of Samsung to bring this feature to a midrange device.
5. The macro camera can be useful for taking pictures of very small items like coins. The selfie camera seems alright.
6. The display, despite having kind of inaccurate colors is actually a lot better looking than most Chinese brand (OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme, etc) phone displays. Most Chinese brand displays tend to have a washed out, pale look to them despite having high refresh rates.
7. Battery life is pretty decent. If you don't use it much, it'll last a couple days easily. Of course, battery will degrade over time so a few years later, you might need to change the battery or the phone itself.
Cons
1. Sound quality output through the 3.5mm jack is very bad. My previous phone (Moto G5s Plus) had a much better built-in DAC. But at least the jack is there so I guess it's better than nothing but I'd suggest you get a good type-c to 3.5mm converter and use that instead if you're looking for decent audio.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very inaccurate and kind of pale. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Also, the amoled screen can be fatiguing to your eyes. Not everyone faces this but personally I have this problem.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. It would be better if Samsung didn't provide this crappy 15 watt charger and made the phone cheaper so I could buy a 25 watt charger myself. I don't see the logic in this. The phone supports 25 watt charging but Samsung includes a 15 watt charger in the box.
4. The lightly colored matte plastic back looks awesome in the beginning but with some mild use, the colors are already starting to fade and become yellowish. So put a case or skin on it if you wanna preserve that awesome color.
5. The colors and details of the main camera are not very good for an upper midrange device in 2021. I saw some reviews on YouTube with review units provided by Samsung that showed much better camera quality than what I'm getting with my retail unit. Especially after you take a picture, if you zoom in on a person's face for example, the details are just not there. Also, the colors are inaccurate and not life like. Hopefully, someone can make a good GCAM for this phone. Otherwise, expect to live with an average camera.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions. EDIT: Luckily, it stopped doing this.
7. If the bezels were a bit narrower especially the sides and top, it would have quite a flagship killer look. Even the A51 has narrower bezels on the side. But I know Samsung did this on purpose so their more expensive S series phones would look more special than the A series.
8. It's a bit on the heavier side if you compare it to the A51. Putting a case and tempered glass on it will only increase the weight further. I find myself having to put the phone down on a table or bed to use it. I can't hold it in the air for long due to its weight.
Bugs1. "Force dark mode" option in developer settings automatically turns itself off whenever you restart your device.
2. If you set animation to .5x instead of the default 1x, and cycle through your recent apps, there's a weird stutter.
Conclusion
If you can live with Samsung's annoying OneUI stutters or slow animations, this isn't a bad phone especially if you can get it for around $300 USD. I'd call this a good phone for moms/dads and grandmas/grandpas. If you're a young millennial trying to live on the cutting edge, I'd pass on this one and get something that's a little faster, maybe the new Nord CE (it has a more washed out display than the A52 though).
Well! My phone have just arrived. I'm switching from an S7 edge that I've been using for the last 4 years. So far I find that the screen is pretty good! Better than the S7E. The speed is excellent and of course, the ONE UI 3.1 is superb. I've already uninstalled some unwanted apps. As regards the camera, haven't tested it yet. But obviously, the GCAM will make it better.
LanguageSoez said:
Well! My phone have just arrived. I'm switching from an S7 edge that I've been using for the last 4 years. So far I find that the screen is pretty good! Better than the S7E. The speed is excellent and of course, the ONE UI 3.1 is superb. I've already uninstalled some unwanted apps. As regards the camera, haven't tested it yet. But obviously, the GCAM will make it better.
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Of course it'll be better than a 4 year old phone lol. If you think one UI is superb, try using stock android or oxygenos, you will be blown away.
I got A72 and the picture quality coming out from the stabilized Sony IMX 686 sensor with pixel binned 16 MP pictures is superior to Samsung HM2 108 MP giving just 12MP images ... So is A52, I don't believe your "honest review" ....
neoxcool said:
I got A72 and the picture quality coming out from the stabilized Sony IMX 686 sensor with pixel binned 16 MP pictures is superior to Samsung HM2 108 MP giving just 12MP images ... So is A52, I don't believe your "honest review" ....
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A72 is not A52. Specs are one thing, software is another. You don't have to believe anything. As I said in my review, you should experience the phones in person preferably from friends who bought it and then make a decision.
The OP is obviously a satisfied customer
Griping about it being water resistant is really picking at nits. It adds little cost and help to seal out dust, extending the usable service life of the device.
Charging a phone while using isn't a good idea and it should charge slow whilst using regardless of the wattage capacity of the charger brick being used.
NiceGuyIncel said:
Hi guys. I bought an A52 4G for myself a few weeks ago and here is my brutally honest review. As you will see, there are a lot of things I wasn't satisfied with but for my budget and availability, this was one of the better ones.
Pros:
1. Lots of QoL services by Samsung like always on display and apps like Gallery by Samsung can be more useful than Photos by Google. I also mapped the double tap power button to start the flashlight.
2. The 720G chipset along with a 90hz display feels plenty smooth especially for those coming from an older midrange device. It's not as fast and instantaneous as stock android or oxygenos but this is probably the fastest that Samsung OneUI has ever been.
3. Stereo speakers. Quality is average though. I don't use it much so I don't care.
4. Water resistance. It can be useful if you like to take your phone to the bathroom or live in a rainy area but I feel this feature is more suitable for flagship phones. The 4G version of the A52 really don't need this feature and it would be better if the device was slightly cheaper instead.
Cons:
1. Sound quality output through the 3.5mm jack is very bland. My previous phone (Moto G5s Plus) had a much better built-in DAC. But at least the jack is there so I guess it's better than nothing but I'd suggest you get a good type-c to 3.5mm converter and use that instead if you're looking for quality audio.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very boring and washed out. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Hopefully, the xda community will do something about this, maybe a graphics engine or some app that can tinker with the display settings more finely.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. So I really don't know why Samsung pulled an Apple with the charger.
4. The lightly colored matte plastic back looks awesome in the beginning but with some mild use, the colors are already starting to fade and become yellowish. So put a case or skin on it if you wanna preserve that awesome color.
5. The colors and details of the main camera really sucks for an upper midrange device in 2021. I saw some reviews on YouTube with review units provided by Samsung that showed much better camera quality than what I'm getting with my retail unit. Luckily, some people have already started working on gcam for this device and from what I've heard the results are much better than Samsung's default camera app.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions.
7. If the bezels were a bit narrower especially the sides and top, it would have quite a flagship killer look. But I know Samsung did this on purpose so their more expensive S series phones would look more special than the A series.
8. It's a bit on the heavier side if you compare it to the A51. Putting a case and tempered glass on it will only increase the weight further.
9. The amoled screen can be fatiguing to your eyes. Not everyone faces this but personally I have this problem.
Conclusion: That wraps up my brutally honest review of the A52 4G. I hope you enjoyed the fact that I didn't jump up and down and say this is the best phone ever like most YouTube "reviewers". They say that whenever a new phone comes out. Of course the people who are gonna upgrade from a 5 year old phone will also say this is the best phone they ever used. From their perspective, it makes sense but I believe you should thoroughly research the market and only buy what YOU like the most. I was moving to another country where phones are quite expensive so I just grabbed this cause I was in a hurry. If you have the time, research other phones and try to use them in person. That way you will know for sure what you're getting because specs can be misleading. I'd suggest you look into Poco F3, OnePlus Nord, Moto G100, Moto G60 and other similarly priced devices before going for the A52. Don't assume that just because it's a Samsung, it's gonna be a great phone. Samsung intentionally nerfed this phone so there is more incentive for people to go for the more expensive S series phones.
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I appreciate your feedback. I'm certain most of those who are still undecided will as well.
To be frank, this device has received overwhelming amounts of good press, which, as a consumer, is a good thing.
That said, constructive criticism is a key component towards improving upon future A series models and/or polishing the current user experience.
AHE_XDA said:
I appreciate your feedback. I'm certain most of those who are still undecided will as well.
To be frank, this device has received overwhelming amounts of good press, which, as a consumer, is a good thing.
That said, constructive criticism is a key component towards improving upon future A series models and/or polishing the current user experience.
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Paid press is always good press...
The Samsung Fold series always get rave reviews but they're expensive, fragile and limited devices. Worse I'm being kind in my criticism.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions.
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Weird, I have never encountered this.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. So I really don't know why Samsung pulled an Apple with the charger
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Click to collapse
I don't mind this at all since it's already proven that fast charging does hurt your battery longevity.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very boring and washed out. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Hopefully, the xda community will do something about this, maybe a graphics engine or some app that can tinker with the display settings more finely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this, although I prefer it for the occasional media consumption. For general usage, it might lead to some eye strain for some people which includes me.
The build despite plastic is decent enough considering the trade-offs with its other specs at this price point and an IP6X is always welcome. The camera is nothing spectacular but not bad, given that it's harder to quantify the expected degrees of quality per $ at this price range. Performance is fine for the majority of the time but there are occasional stutters or lag you will encounter. Overall, I'm very satisfied with my purchase. It's also worth noting that warranty and software support tend to get overlooked when looking at the price.
I was considering Poco F3 as an alternative before getting my A52 however, I didn't go through with the Poco F3 because of various issues and concerns that I can't be arsed to list.
This phone is on my list to upgrade from my Essential PH-1. Keeping an eye on ROM development and Gcam development. I can get it for around $354 depending on the COP to USD conversion rate in Colombia. Anyone know better deals out in the wild?
NiceGuyIncel said:
Hi guys. I bought an A52 4G for myself a few weeks ago and here is my brutally honest review. As you will see, there are some things I wasn't satisfied with but I needed a phone quickly and for my budget and availability, I thought I'd give Samsung a chance.
Pros
1. Lots of QoL services by Samsung like always on display and apps like Gallery by Samsung can be more useful than Photos by Google. I also mapped the double tap power button to start the flashlight.
2. The 720G chipset along with a 90hz display feels plenty powerful especially for those coming from an older midrange device. However, it's not as fast and instantaneous as stock Android or OxygenOS. Also, you will face lots of stutters and bugs if you enable animation to .5x. At default 1x, animations are too damn slow.
3. Stereo speakers. Sound quality is average though. I don't use it much so I don't care.
4. Water resistance. It's nice of Samsung to bring this feature to a midrange device.
5. The macro camera can be useful for taking pictures of very small items like coins. The selfie camera seems alright.
6. The display, despite having kind of inaccurate colors is actually a lot better looking than most Chinese brand (OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme, etc) phone displays. Most Chinese brand displays tend to have a washed out, pale look to them despite having high refresh rates.
7. Battery life is pretty decent. If you don't use it much, it'll last a couple days easily. Of course, battery will degrade over time so a few years later, you might need to change the battery or the phone itself.
Cons
1. Sound quality output through the 3.5mm jack is very bad. My previous phone (Moto G5s Plus) had a much better built-in DAC. But at least the jack is there so I guess it's better than nothing but I'd suggest you get a good type-c to 3.5mm converter and use that instead if you're looking for decent audio.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very inaccurate and kind of pale. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Also, the amoled screen can be fatiguing to your eyes. Not everyone faces this but personally I have this problem.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. It would be better if Samsung didn't provide this crappy 15 watt charger and made the phone cheaper so I could buy a 25 watt charger myself. I don't see the logic in this. The phone supports 25 watt charging but Samsung includes a 15 watt charger in the box.
4. The lightly colored matte plastic back looks awesome in the beginning but with some mild use, the colors are already starting to fade and become yellowish. So put a case or skin on it if you wanna preserve that awesome color.
5. The colors and details of the main camera are not very good for an upper midrange device in 2021. I saw some reviews on YouTube with review units provided by Samsung that showed much better camera quality than what I'm getting with my retail unit. Especially after you take a picture, if you zoom in on a person's face for example, the details are just not there. Also, the colors are inaccurate and not life like. Hopefully, someone can make a good GCAM for this phone. Otherwise, expect to live with an average camera.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions. EDIT: Luckily, it stopped doing this.
7. If the bezels were a bit narrower especially the sides and top, it would have quite a flagship killer look. Even the A51 has narrower bezels on the side. But I know Samsung did this on purpose so their more expensive S series phones would look more special than the A series.
8. It's a bit on the heavier side if you compare it to the A51. Putting a case and tempered glass on it will only increase the weight further. I find myself having to put the phone down on a table or bed to use it. I can't hold it in the air for long due to its weight.
Bugs1. "Force dark mode" option in developer settings automatically turns itself off whenever you restart your device.
2. If you set animation to .5x instead of the default 1x, and cycle through your recent apps, there's a weird stutter.
Conclusion
If you can live with Samsung's annoying OneUI stutters or slow animations, this isn't a bad phone especially if you can get it for around $300 USD. I'd call this a good phone for moms/dads and grandmas/grandpas. If you're a young millennial trying to live on the cutting edge, I'd pass on this one and get something that's a little faster, maybe the new Nord CE (it has a more washed out display than the A52 though).
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Click to collapse
Well, I will answer this from the perspective of an Indian Millenial coming from Mi A2 (and having only used crappy Micromax and Redmi phones in the past, this is something which I think most Indian youth can relate to). Let's go point by point :
1. UI
Having used stock android and MIUI, I can confidently say that OneUI is definitely a bit clumsy, but it is easy to get used to compared to FuncTouch and MIUI. Also, *there is no Google dialer*, meaning you can safely do call recording. Also OneUI has "Link to Windows" baked right into it, which is a huge boon in my opinion as it kinda compensates for the lack of DeX support, I think this is one of the most underrated feature of Samsung phones.
2. Ads and Bloatware scene
Now this maybe specific to India only. I set the device up using GeekyRanjit's guide on "How to setup Samssung devices" on YT, and so far (1 month later) I have got no ads except wallpaper services message when I swipe from right on lock screen. Also, all bloatware can be either disabled or uninstalled (unlike MIUI and ColourOS), so no problem there. Overall it is much much better than Redmi, Poco and Realme offerings. Though here Oneplus NORD maybe better.
3. Camera
TBH I bought this phone for the camera, and consider the competition it did not let me down, sure there is a bit of over sharpening going on in most images and indoor/low light photos and videos have a ton of noise but considering the competition in 15k-25k INR, it is definitely better. I use Gcam 7.3.018 by Urynx05, and it does improve video stabilisation a lot thanks to OIS (only Oneplus NORD has OIS in this price). For night mode, stock night mode is better than night sight (much brighter and well balanced). Daylight pics, it is a mixed bag, macro camera is good but could have been better,but considering how rarely it is used, it is fine.
4. Display
Most Indian milllenials like me are currently upgrading from LCD to Amoled. I having never used an Amoled, am satisfied with the display. But yeah you are right Amoled displays do cause more eye fatigue than LCD.
5. Availability and Customer support
This is where this phone shines! Here in India, this phone is available like everywhere, in most mobile shop in any market no matter, how small or rural the area, this unfortunately is not the case for OnePlus and Redmi, POCO (infamous for flash sales and black-marketing)etc., thus Galaxy A52's actual competitors are phones from Vivo and Oppo, which are usually more pricey. Also, Samsung customer services is next to Apple.
Set your priorities before buying a phone and you won't be disappointed, my suggestion, if you want good camera hardware and reliable phone go for it, but if you want to do gaming I would suggest you to look elsewhere say iQOO Z3 for 20k INR.
I am trying to get either this phone or s10? I was leaning more towards a52 since it could get up to android 14 opposed to 12 on s10.
Which one should i get?