Best camera on a $5-600 dollar phone

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blackjack17

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#224233 8-Nov-2017 20:46

Looking for a Christmas present for my wife. We both have vodafone smart ultra 6s and while when we got them nearly 2 years ago I was very impressed, they have really started to slow down and the photo quality has always been average.

The phone will mainly be used for facebook, browsing and photos (new baby so mainly portraits). We have had Lg, sony, samsung and vodafone phones in the past so no real brand preference, we could even go for a Chinese phone provided it was rock solid and had NZ warranty.

My mother has a samsung S8 and it takes really nice photos, while we realise we won't be able to get the same quality on a $600 phone we do want a big step up from the ultra 6.

Any recommendations?

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#1897827 8-Nov-2017 21:02

Get a dedicated camera - Sony RX-100 v1 or later will blow away any phone and they're very compact. Mine's 5 years old and going strong, look on trademe.

Dial111

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#1897832 8-Nov-2017 21:09

timmmay:
Get a dedicated camera - Sony RX-100 v1 or later will blow away any phone and they're very compact. Mine's 5 years old and going strong, look on trademe.

how do you find browsing the net and FB? Is it carrier locked?

:)

blackjack17

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#1897833 8-Nov-2017 21:11

timmmay:

Get a dedicated camera - Sony RX-100 v1 or later will blow away any phone and they're very compact. Mine's 5 years old and going strong, look on trademe.

We have one (that was last years Christmas present). Yes the photos are better but 99% of the photos are intended for facebook/family sharing. She always has her phone on her and she needs a new phone anyway.

So really hoping for recommendations for a phone.

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NikT

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#1897860 8-Nov-2017 21:31

I have a slightly cryptic recommendation which is dependent on how much you like waiting in lines, and what you are doing this Friday..

Suffice to say there will be an absolutely ridiculous deal on a smartphone with an extremely good camera indeed at PB Tech's Black Friday sale. Have been working on this one for a while. :)

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blackjack17

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#1897865 8-Nov-2017 21:36

NikT:

I have a slightly cryptic recommendation which is dependent on how much you like waiting in lines, and what you are doing this Friday..

Suffice to say there will be an absolutely ridiculous deal on a smartphone with an extremely good camera indeed at PB Tech's Black Friday sale. Have been working on this one for a while. :)

Can you say which phone?

Will the deal be running cyber monday?

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michaelmurfy

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#1897871 8-Nov-2017 22:00

blackjack17:

Can you say which phone?

Will the deal be running cyber monday?

I heard PB Tech have got some black helicopters with the money they've saved by killing Price Busters. You don't want to risk having this knowledge until the deals are officially out due to this. I can trust Nik when he says "it is awesome and has a great camera" though.

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blakamin

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#1897876 8-Nov-2017 22:09

NikT:

I have a slightly cryptic recommendation which is dependent on how much you like waiting in lines, and what you are doing this Friday..

Suffice to say there will be an absolutely ridiculous deal on a smartphone with an extremely good camera indeed at PB Tech's Black Friday sale. Have been working on this one for a while. :)

I tried tagging you in this thread and it didn't work... WTF???

NikT

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#1897901 8-Nov-2017 22:49

blackjack17:

NikT:

I have a slightly cryptic recommendation which is dependent on how much you like waiting in lines, and what you are doing this Friday..

Suffice to say there will be an absolutely ridiculous deal on a smartphone with an extremely good camera indeed at PB Tech's Black Friday sale. Have been working on this one for a while. :)

Can you say which phone?

Will the deal be running cyber monday?

I cannot right now, but you'll find out tomorrow when the deals are revealed at ~midday-ish.

The pricing will be crazy enough that I'll be very surprised if they do not all sell out Black Friday. Stock levels are good, it's just an unprecedented deal.

michaelmurfy:

I heard PB Tech have got some black helicopters with the money they've saved by killing Price Busters. You don't want to risk having this knowledge until the deals are officially out due to this. I can trust Nik when he says "it is awesome and has a great camera" though.

I made the mistake of mentioning this deal to a colleague in PB's [redacted to protect the innocent] team and my inbox was promptly flooded with requests from staff to buy them, all of which were denied. :)

blakamin:

I tried tagging you in this thread and it didn't work... WTF???

I got the email alert/batsignal, so something worked!

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

Dial111

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#1897904 8-Nov-2017 22:53

NikT:
I have a slightly cryptic recommendation which is dependent on how much you like waiting in lines, and what you are doing this Friday..

Suffice to say there will be an absolutely ridiculous deal on a smartphone with an extremely good camera indeed at PB Tech's Black Friday sale. Have been working on this one for a while. :)

If this phone you speak of falls inside OP's budget after discount then it's really a process of elimination :-)

Sub $1000 phone
Great camera

Off to look brb...

timmmay

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#1897933 9-Nov-2017 07:11

blackjack17:

We have one (that was last years Christmas present). Yes the photos are better but 99% of the photos are intended for facebook/family sharing. She always has her phone on her and she needs a new phone anyway.

So really hoping for recommendations for a phone.

Yeah that's fair, my wife's the same - picks up the camera occasionally, but phone is often nearby.

I know some of the Chinese brands are pretty good hardware at reasonable prices. You can't depend on updates, but that's true for all Android other than ones made by Google. I'll check with a friend who has one what brand it is.

noroad

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#1898019 9-Nov-2017 08:33

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MPHSAM25201/Samsung-Galaxy-A5-2017-Smartphone-32GB-Gold-2-Year

16mp front and rear cameras that take very nice pictures and video's (for a phone). Its also in your price bracket.

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#1898065 9-Nov-2017 09:03

If someone's got privacy set then @ tags won't work.

As for the OP, one of the Huawei P series smartphones with Leica lens/tech? The P10 should be around this price now.

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#1898091 9-Nov-2017 09:34

noroad:

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MPHSAM25201/Samsung-Galaxy-A5-2017-Smartphone-32GB-Gold-2-Year

16mp front and rear cameras that take very nice pictures and video's (for a phone). Its also in your price bracket.

I got this for my wife a few weeks ago. Very nice just one thing to be aware of it has no optical image stabilisation so a steady hand is required.