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My Phone Appears Close To Death....

In the Which weekly scoop this morning they have good things to say about the A52 and A72 but (to me and in comparison to the old A3) they are BIGGG!

Jim
 
jimpey said:
In the Which weekly scoop this morning they have good things to say about the A52 and A72 but (to me and in comparison to the old A3) they are BIGGG!

Jim
Click to expand...

They're both superb phones

And yes big; but that's what the market wants these days

More so folk like me with shovel like hands :D
 
My phones have grown in size over the years. I'd be surprised if most people didn't quickly get used to a larger phone. Typing accuracy improves, readability of text and websites is better. My first smartphone was an HTC Wildfire S with a 3.2in screen, my current Motorola G 8 Power has a 6.4in screen. Important to note that the Motorola is not double the size as the HTC had wasted space top and bottom on the front. There is no way I would go back to such a small phone again.
 
I have to admit that I'm coming around to the idea of a larger phone.. within reason.
My little Samsung continues to work well since it's little crisis last week.. but it is slowing and the battery is beginning to fail noticeably.. so still looking for a new phone.

Thing is.. the more I learn about the various bits which 'yer typical' manufacturer cobbles together in order to produce a range of phones which meet not only price points.. but also differing sets of needs.. the harder it is getting to decide.

Add in that just as with hi-fi.. reviewers all seem to have their prejudices... and are pretty much obliged to find, and possibly exaggerate differences which many of us might not even notice.

A friend I spoke to ..who spends far more than the £10-15k+ I have spent on audio kit.. has an opposite view of phones. He was adamant that I would never need or feel the benefit of 5G. or indeed poncey cameras.. because I don't use my phone for streaming etc., and I have a couple of very decent proper cameras. It's difficult to argue. He swears by his Moto G7 'Power', because it apparently gets the basics right..and has a masive battery. OTOH.. a recent review of the current version.. G9 'Power' claims it has actually been downgraded with a lower resolution screen and other bits... It's a minefield.

I'm still drawn to the Pixels.. but also still trying to get my head around the massive Samsung range. I discovered the Samsung 'M' range yesterday. It seems they were originally intended for the Indian market but are also available in the UK. Trying to work out where they 'sit' in the Samsung heirarchy alongside the A and S series is another complication..

Such fun!!
 
in the end you'll probably find those in your price range are a much of a muchness.

I suggest writing the model numbers on some small pieces of paper, throwing the papers into your fruit bowl, shut your eyes and take your pick. I am told of certain parties where car keys in a fruit bowl will determine the outcome of the evening......
 
Mullardman said:
A friend I spoke to ..who spends far more than the £10-15k+ I have spent on audio kit.. has an opposite view of phones. He was adamant that I would never need or feel the benefit of 5G. or indeed poncey cameras.. because I don't use my phone for streaming etc., and I have a couple of very decent proper cameras. It's difficult to argue.
Click to expand...
'The best camera is the one you have with you at the time the opportunity arises'. On that basis, I always have my phone with me, but only take the camera out when I'm expecting to take pictures. So having a phone with a decent enough camera seems like a valid consideration.
 
Mullardman said:
I have to admit that I'm coming around to the idea of a larger phone.. within reason.
My little Samsung continues to work well since it's little crisis last week.. but it is slowing and the battery is beginning to fail noticeably.. so still looking for a new phone.

Thing is.. the more I learn about the various bits which 'yer typical' manufacturer cobbles together in order to produce a range of phones which meet not only price points.. but also differing sets of needs.. the harder it is getting to decide.

Add in that just as with hi-fi.. reviewers all seem to have their prejudices... and are pretty much obliged to find, and possibly exaggerate differences which many of us might not even notice.

A friend I spoke to ..who spends far more than the £10-15k+ I have spent on audio kit.. has an opposite view of phones. He was adamant that I would never need or feel the benefit of 5G. or indeed poncey cameras.. because I don't use my phone for streaming etc., and I have a couple of very decent proper cameras. It's difficult to argue. He swears by his Moto G7 'Power', because it apparently gets the basics right..and has a masive battery. OTOH.. a recent review of the current version.. G9 'Power' claims it has actually been downgraded with a lower resolution screen and other bits... It's a minefield.

I'm still drawn to the Pixels.. but also still trying to get my head around the massive Samsung range. I discovered the Samsung 'M' range yesterday. It seems they were originally intended for the Indian market but are also available in the UK. Trying to work out where they 'sit' in the Samsung heirarchy alongside the A and S series is another complication..

Such fun!!
Click to expand...

IMO the A52 would be the one to go for...

But again, if you don't want to spend c£400 on a phone, look at the likes of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite or the Redmi Note 10 Pro:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08JMCXHZ9/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08XM1ZJQ8/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

I have the 10T Lite as of yesterday; it's a superb phone so far and does everything I need of it...
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
'The best camera is the one you have with you at the time the opportunity arises'. On that basis, I always have my phone with me, but only take the camera out when I'm expecting to take pictures. So having a phone with a decent enough camera seems like a valid consideration.
Click to expand...

i agree my phone has taken over almost all picture taking duties. The only time i dig out the big camera is for using long lenses for animal photos.
 
Mullardman said:
I have to admit that I'm coming around to the idea of a larger phone.. within reason.
My little Samsung continues to work well since it's little crisis last week.. but it is slowing and the battery is beginning to fail noticeably.. so still looking for a new phone.

Thing is.. the more I learn about the various bits which 'yer typical' manufacturer cobbles together in order to produce a range of phones which meet not only price points.. but also differing sets of needs.. the harder it is getting to decide.

Add in that just as with hi-fi.. reviewers all seem to have their prejudices... and are pretty much obliged to find, and possibly exaggerate differences which many of us might not even notice.

A friend I spoke to ..who spends far more than the £10-15k+ I have spent on audio kit.. has an opposite view of phones. He was adamant that I would never need or feel the benefit of 5G. or indeed poncey cameras.. because I don't use my phone for streaming etc., and I have a couple of very decent proper cameras. It's difficult to argue. He swears by his Moto G7 'Power', because it apparently gets the basics right..and has a masive battery. OTOH.. a recent review of the current version.. G9 'Power' claims it has actually been downgraded with a lower resolution screen and other bits... It's a minefield.

I'm still drawn to the Pixels.. but also still trying to get my head around the massive Samsung range. I discovered the Samsung 'M' range yesterday. It seems they were originally intended for the Indian market but are also available in the UK. Trying to work out where they 'sit' in the Samsung heirarchy alongside the A and S series is another complication..

Such fun!!
Click to expand...
I do think that you're possibly delving a little deeper into all this than you really need to..?

All of the mid-range Samsungs will be pretty much identical in spec at pretty similar prices. If you like one of the designs and Samsung's UI then go for one. I personally don't and I like that the Pixels are guaranteed to be supported for several years with security updates.

As others have said, either number the Samsungs and roll a couple of dice to choose one. I would probably rule the Motorolas out based on your comments about size alone. A friend of mine has one (G6 or G7 Plus from memory) and it's a great phone for the money (and near-stock Android look and feel too which is nice).

Worst-case at this price point if you don't like what you buy, sell it on - you won't take much of a bath on them if you do. But with the Pixel 4a available at just £300 that has to be where the smart money goes imo - it's just a great all-rounder.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
'The best camera is the one you have with you at the time the opportunity arises'. On that basis, I always have my phone with me, but only take the camera out when I'm expecting to take pictures. So having a phone with a decent enough camera seems like a valid consideration.
Click to expand...
Woodface said:
The direction of travel across Europe appears rightwards, look at France as an example.
Click to expand...

As you might expect Sue.. I'm in the middle on that too... I now only lug around a DSLR and a bag of lenses when I go out specifically 'on a shoot'. But I also have a rather fine Lumix TZ 200 which is not onerous to take out and blows my phone camera into the weeds... :)

Guess I'm just an awkward cuss... ;)
 
I struggle to compose "proper" pictures using my phone. My long sight, varifocal lenses and screen reflections in sunlight make composing rather a point and hope job for me. The quality of the camera on a phone is last thing I consider.
 
Same here CC. I'm about as long sighted as you can get at +6.25 or thereabouts. The combo of that plus varifocals with 'everything on' lenses makes using screens in bright light near impossible. That's why I bought a compact with a nice viewfinder. (TZ-200).. but I digress..

The winner is.... Samsung A52 128 Gig. Ordered moments ago. It was a very close run thing and I almost pressed the button on the Pixel 4a.. but a couple of things were a bit off putting...

So.. I splashed out a bit more and ended up with an illogical combination of what I actually need.. and what I want. It's only money.
 
Mullardman said:
Same here CC. I'm about as long sighted as you can get at +6.25 or thereabouts. The combo of that plus varifocals with 'everything on' lenses makes using screens in bright light near impossible. That's why I bought a compact with a nice viewfinder. (TZ-200).. but I digress..

The winner is.... Samsung A52 128 Gig. Ordered moments ago. It was a very close run thing and I almost pressed the button on the Pixel 4a.. but a couple of things were a bit off putting...

So.. I splashed out a bit more and ended up with an illogical combination of what I actually need.. and what I want. It's only money.
Click to expand...

They are a good phone; well reviewed :)

What was it about the Pixel 4a that you didn't think was right
 
It was just a couple of things.. not so much 'not right'..as an emphasis on features that are of little interest to me. Camera. I only take 'casual' shots with a phone. My Lumix is almost always with me otherwise. That said a play with the multiple cameras on the Samsung could be interesting. Battery looks better on the A52..and assorted technical parameters too. Not of much interest is Google Assistant. The much more rudimentary version which comes with the Google app on my Samsung A3 is just an annoyance.
Also read some individual reviews claiming that the Pixel will not work with other chargers or charging from devices such as PC etc. What's that all about? Maybe a workaround/fix for that.. but who needs the hassle?
Talk by reviewers of 'thick bezels', 'cheap finish' etc.. on any device..is largely irrelevant..as most people keep their phone in some sort of protective case.
I have nothing but good experiences of Samsung kit. Another consideration.
 
mansr said:
That's bollocks.
Click to expand...

This! I charged my Pixel 4X with an Anker wireless charger plugged onto a Samsung fast charger etc... Also did it via USB C with an aftermarket Anker fast charger as the wifes phone doesn't support wireless charging etc...

They're all very much of the same, bar the OnePlus chargers etc
 
Well..
I've been playing with my new A52 for a few days now. Generally it works well and I'm slowly working my way through the process of customising it to suit my purposes. Lots more to do and to get my head around but there's no rush.

However.. one thing has me totally mystified so far.. Getting music onto the damned thing. I freely admit to never grasping why music files in particular seem to be so congenitally awkward to deal with but this is ridiculous.

Stepping back a bit... I usually use a little Sansa Clip for portable music.. but since the A52 has much more storage and (I foolishly assumed) more up to date functionality... maybe time to make use of it.

It happened that by coincidence I had just backed up my Innuos Zen Mini to a portable hard drive and on examination..found that my whole digital collection.. as FLAC files comes out at 256 Gig. The A52 has 128gig internal storage plus the 128 SD card I've put in.... Obviously not all available.. but you get my drift?

Initial thoughts were to just stick a bigger SD card in and load the lot onto the phone 'as is'. but I took fright at the price of 256 gig cards. It's not THAT important to me.
So.. next thought was to convert the files to MP3 (best quality obviously) and I wasted hours chasing around after free software to do so but found nothing satisfactory.

Later... somewhere along the way I found myself in the phone's settings and discovered that it will automatically 'Transcode' (i.e. Convert) any downloaded files to MP3... which made me even happier with the time wasted earlier...:mad:

Things get increasingly blurry as I try to recall the number of blind alleys I followed in what ought to be a simple quest.. but looking around the A52 I could find no 'Play Music' type app. Examining the pre-loaded You Tube Music app seemed to say that it could be used also to play my own music.. but.. no joy...

A bit of Googling revealed that Samsung no longer pre-load their 'Samsung Music' app.. but I installed it from the Play Store. Helpfully.. it keeps telling me that it will play my music as soon as I load some...

I also have Orange Squeeze on the A52....as a controller for my Innuos.. and alongside every album/track is a 3 dot menu offering 'Download to device'. tried it..and it places a Download icon at the top of the screen but does nothing else that I can discern.

So.. tried Squeezeplay..which is the player I use for playing stuff from the Innuos on my Android devices. It too has 'Download to device'..which at least comes up briefly with 'Download started'.. after which.. nothing....

Is it me?
 
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