Need help narrowing down options for a new Phone.

trooper11

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Jun 22, 2020
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Hey everyone,

I've been doing a lot of research trying to narrow down a good phone that meets my needs. I'm feeling hesitant about my picks, so maybe people here can put in their thoughts. So my needs for this phone first. This is a phone for my dad and beyond the needs I will list, he isn't going to be a power user. He needs more than the basics, but he has no interest in $1000+ phones with features that don't matter. Even looks don't matter since this will be going in a rugged case.

So here are the main needs:

1. All around high performance (no gaming) - when he is traveling this will be in heavy use for work related tasks and heavy photo/video use. want to make sure it has smooth multitasking performance. I'm thinking anything with an 855+ or greater fits and at least 6gb of ram.

2. At least 128gb of storage. Id love an option with an SD card since this phone will be heavily used for video and photos, but in this crazy market, higher end phones leave that off.

3. High end camera. So I'm not saying bleeding edge due to cost, but this might be the most important part of the phone. Specifically, Id prefer it have a good telephoto lens along with the main sensor. Macro will be used some, but telephoto moreso. Low light performance is very important too since he will often be shooting in less ideal lighting situations. Also, I need OIS available for all of the cameras in photo and video mode. I'm fine with 1080p video as long as the quality and features are there. He will use this extensively for work.

4. Average or better battery life. The goal here is getting through a work day without charging, so around 8 hours.

5. This will be used on ATT in the US, so that does limit which unlocked phones I can use.

6. I prefer something running the least amount of bloatware and is the most 'worry free' experience. As I said, this is for my dad, so I don't want there to be any weird incompatibilities with the Play Store or running apps.

7. I'd prefer a phone with decent support potential. So companies that have a track record for updating phones for awhile.

Ok, so as far as budget, I was trying to hit around $500-700. The OnePlus 7t at 499 has been at the top of my list, but I'm open to anything that can hit my criteria or bests the 7t in ways that matter for its intended use. Thanks!
 

Javier P

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Feb 21, 2014
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Welcome to the forums. I would go for the 7T as well, excellent performance, great battery life and pretty decent camera. For some specific pictures there are different Gcam ports that could even improve their quality.
 

trooper11

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Jun 22, 2020
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Yeah, the 7t seemed to be a really good deal overall, but with the amount of options out there, it was a bit overwhelming to evaluate them.

I did see that the 7t does not off OIS when using telephoto, so that was concerning.
 

Mooncatt

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Look at the LG V-series phones. The V60 is the latest and is one of the top cameras even in auto mode. The V-Series in general has always been the best when it comes to manual modes (both photo and video), though the older ones did suffer a bit in auto mode. The V60 would be a bit above your price range unless you found a good deal somewhere, but older versions like the V50 used should be right in there.

In terms of battery life, the V60 is the best I've had. It doesn't have a true telephoto lens, but it still performs great at 2x digital zoom (I saw one test that ranked it better than the V50's 2x optical zoom camera). Don't let the 64 MP main sensor fool you, as those photos are often junk. Keep it at 16MP binned, and it'll do great. For video, you not only get manual video controls, but audio controls as well. Everyone talks about getting Brand X and a Gcam port, but Gcam would be a step backwards compared to what LG's stock camera app can do. They also allow for SD cards and have the internal storage you want. As an added bonus, they keep the headphone jack, which can also be used with video recording for live audio monitoring and adjustment.
 

yuanyasmine

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OnePlus 7T is fast and smooth. Excellent display, stereo sound, clean and simple UI.
But if your priority is the camera, go for another brand. Oneplus 7T camera is not bad, but you can find a better camera from another brand, particularly the selfie camera, I'm not satisfied with it.
 

trooper11

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Jun 22, 2020
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Thanks everyone for the additional suggestions! I was frustrated to find I could no longer buy the 7T (non tmobile version) new from one plus, Amazon, etc. I wanted to at least be able to get a warranty if I'm going to spend so much. So unless they show up in stock again, Ill have to consider alternatives listed here. If anyone else has suggestions, please share!
 

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