Phones, phones, phones
People who know me, know about this fetish of mine. If you only see me every couple of months it is very probable that I will have a different phone every time. As a first note: Yes, I am very Android — that’s what enlargens my choice of phones by a billion, but I also like iPhones. There are just not that many, hence not so much to talk about.
I watch a minimum of 10 YouTube videos about smartphones every single day (MKBHD, Android Authority, Unbox Therapy, Technikfaultier, Mr. Mobile, UrAvrgConsumer, etc.) which makes me a reliable source of information if you wanna know what is going on in the market — and most of my (Android) friends will contact me when they need a new one — a) for recommendations or b) for getting one of the ones I have already tested and am trying to sell.
So, when I talk about “my phone” I have to mention different categories:
- The ones I am currently using
- The ones that my husband and sister are using (because they profit from my little collection)
- The ones I am really interested at the moment, but have not purchased, yet — because I cannot buy 10 phones a week ;)
- And the ones I just sold on Ebay (like the HONOR 10 in the image above, or the LG V30)
In order to know what is going on in the 2 big operating systems there are (Google and Apple) I need reference devices that get fast updates — meaning one Pixel from Google and one iPhone.
I still have the old Pixel 1, I guess I forgot to sell it on time and now it is too old ;) I had the Pixel 2 which is now with my sister’s boyfriend and I hated the Pixel 3 — just too ugly ;) so I did not get that one. Then recently I got the Pixel 3a XL for only 479 EUR — and you know what: I love it! It can do everything I need from a phone plus it has THE best camera, it is light, amazing value for money! And I could use it to install the new Android Q Beta, to check out dark mode and some new features. Unfortunately, installing betas always as the first person ever, also means that there are bugs — in my case I cannot do any banking on the Pixel 3a XL for the time being — so I use it to test the beta and chose my iPhone as my daily driver.
I am not willing to spend more than 1000 EUR on a phone. Never. There are so many great cheaper options out there nowadays. So, in order to test iOS I was looking for a cheaper alternative and I did find the iPhone XR for only 700 EUR (on Idealo) — again, not the most amazing specs but I am more than happy with what it does. It runs smoothly and has a great camera. The bad screen resolution is real, but not an issue for me at all. This is the phone I am using as my daily driver right now — updated to iOS 12.4 — I am waiting for the iOS 13 public beta, but again, I’ll need a different daily phone by then because of all the bugs it will have ;) Well, ACTUALLY … I did have a different daily phone ….
The HUAWEI P30 Pro was the phone of my choice. Stunning design, great cameraS, including wide angle and great zoom, night shots, etc. plus this cool color! Well, first, the US ban made me afraid that I would not get any updates on this one in the future and then my sister wanted to check it out — so it is with her for the moment … grrrr. This is a really great phone! If you do not like the looks of its OS you can install a launcher like Nova and it looks just like a Pixel — the battery is un-killable, and this camera is so damn versatile .. I must say, I miss it …
Samsung …. you love it or you hate it. I used to have every single Galaxy S until the competition got so much better. The Note though, with the new stylus is really intreaging — plus Samsung’s new One UI is really good looking and clever — so for me Samsung is back on the table of options. The Note 9 is currently with my husband — perfect size for him (it is big), amazing screen, great camera, good battery life. And he uses phones until they break — opposite to me, hehe ;) I did check out the new Galaxy S10 and S10e (both too small for me) and not the S10 plus — because it would be too similar to the Note 9. Except the cameras …
The P30 Pro spoiled me with its three cameras. Whatever the situation you’d always have the best lens with you — macro, zoom, wide angle … I got used to this really fast. So I miss it now and I am looking for a new phone with a 3 camera system. I could buy the P30 Pro again — you can get it for only 700 EUR on Idealo now (Huaweis will be getting really cheap now :( — but buying the same phone twice …. never. The Samsung S10+ has 3 cameras that are supposed to be good, but I had the Note 9, again too similar. And then the OnePlus 7 Pro came out and all my favorite YouTubers loved it. So, I did order it (769 EUR), because it has the most amazing screen ever and this cute pop up front camera. It will arrive this week. But I am not sure I am keeping it because the picture quality is probably not good enough, and the battery is draining fast due to the screen — will check both and send back if not satisfying.
If this is not the one, there are a ton of similar phones right now coming from Asia: Check out the Oppo Reno 10xZoom, the ZTE Axxon 10 Pro, the Xiaomi Mi9t Pro or the Redmi K20 Pro. And if 2 cameras are enough for you, check out the Asus Zenfone 6 with its crazy mechanism — giving you a 40 megapixels selfie cam!
Well, as you can see …. life is not easy ;)
