Gofre's 2020 Smartphone Buying Guide (last updated November 2020)

Reply 440

username612415

OP

21

Original post by onlytruejx68

The Pixel 5 is actually a really good phone imo, enjoy :yy:

Yeah I think it's the phone I've had the biggest change of heart on, it just nails the essentials really well and delivers an unobtrusive pure Android experience. For someone like me who's moved on from being a power user to a more relaxed but still highly engaged enthusiast, it's pretty ideal.

You've hit the nail on the head there. Samsung is at this point imo taking advantage of the fact that for a lot of Android users out there, at least here in the UK, Samsung is the de facto Android manufacturer out there, and it comes across as them just testing what they can get away with to maximise profits, which is really sad, because the S7-S10 was a golden era of nearly perfect (at the time) phones, but as of late they've dropped what made them special down the gutter.

I still to this day think the S9 is the closest we've got to a "perfect" phone for its time, that thing was seriously difficult to find fault with. I know Samsung have shifted their focus to foldables, and I do think this will long term be the direction the market goes and think their early investment will pay massive dividends for them in a few years as they become the de-facto brand when they become mainstream and attainable, but I'd love to see them reinvigorate their flagship lineup. With the Note line supposedly getting canned this year, I'd like to see that open up space for a new approach.

Reply 441

username5537378

9

Yeah, Google has made a really compelling offering by not overdoing things. If it were my money, it'd be the OnePlus 8T that I'd be buying, but that's because my priorities are different to yours, and for your use case, the Pixel 5 is probably the better option.

Honestly, the only real complaint I could come up about the S9 is the Exynos processor, but on the whole Samsung got so much right with the S9, it really was peak Samsung imo.

Yeah, I can understand the desire to focus more on foldables, considering they more or less are the future of phones, but at the same time, they are the future, not the present, and as such it'd be nice to see Samsung make a more compelling flagship(I've gone into all my problems with the S21 in this thread). I think they were some rumours suggesting the Note is here to stay for one more generation(though if I'm being honest, I've been seeing these rumours for a while), but also that it'd probably be the one phone.

Also, the Poco F2 Pro is no longer available for around the £400 mark, and for the ~500 price it's generally selling at, it's not the most compelling offering.

Reply 442

username612415

OP

21

Original post by onlytruejx68

Yeah, Google has made a really compelling offering by not overdoing things. If it were my money, it'd be the OnePlus 8T that I'd be buying, but that's because my priorities are different to yours, and for your use case, the Pixel 5 is probably the better option.

Honestly, the only real complaint I could come up about the S9 is the Exynos processor, but on the whole Samsung got so much right with the S9, it really was peak Samsung imo.

Yeah, I can understand the desire to focus more on foldables, considering they more or less are the future of phones, but at the same time, they are the future, not the present, and as such it'd be nice to see Samsung make a more compelling flagship(I've gone into all my problems with the S21 in this thread). I think they were some rumours suggesting the Note is here to stay for one more generation(though if I'm being honest, I've been seeing these rumours for a while), but also that it'd probably be the one phone.

Also, the Poco F2 Pro is no longer available for around the £400 mark, and for the ~500 price it's generally selling at, it's not the most compelling offering.

Yeah up until a few weeks ago the OnePlus 8 Pro was my contingency if this phone ever died, but the change of circumstances coupled with a very tempting upgrade offer (I would normally buy outright but an RTX 3070 was my expenditure for this month and found a solid offer not much more than buying the phone and plan separately) made this the better choice.

Even Exynos wasn't a massive downside back then, looking at GSMArena's numbers the S9 benchmarked within a couple of percent of the LG G7 running the top tier Snapdragon chipset at the time, with only an hour difference in their endurance rating coming off the same 3000MaH battery capacity. It certainly wasn't like the 10/20 where you were seeing a big hit to performance, battery life or both, which ended up being a major factor for kicking out the S20U once the OP8P came along, and my refusal to include the N20U at all.

Reply 443

username612415

OP

21

Right, inaugural update for 2021 coming over the weekend. Planned slate of changes;

* Sub-£400 stock of the Poco F2 has well and truly gone now, so time for a new Editor's Choice. I can't think off the top of my head of another 865 based phone that consistently sells this low, so odds are I'll end up looking at 765G phones instead. The OnePlus Nord is looking like the frontrunner right now for the best all-round option, but I'll be traveling for other contenders too.

*The Galaxy S21 Ultra will be joining the flagship category and taking my top Android recommendation. While the changes over the S20U are mostly iterative improvements, those improvements are certainly meaningful- they've delivered another class leading display that is no longer hamstrung by having to compromise on either refresh rate or resolution, the camera system now delivers stellar image quality across all sensors as well as huge versatility where before it only offered the latter, until more SD888 based phones arrive outside of China it's the new performance king, and it's got a massive battery capable of powering it all for over a day without issues. It comfortably one-ups the OP8P in most key areas besides price, and while that price is eye-watering, this isn't a budget constrained category. The 8 Pro will stick around as a more value oriented option that offers 90% of the same flagship experience for a much lower price.

* Now that January sales are in the rear view, I can finally overhaul the budget section. This will be the biggest chunk of work and I may rework the price boundaries, and this will likely remain nebulous as I'm frankly not thrilled at the prospect of any of the current sub-£150 options.

* The S21U will be joining the Camera section as a joint-top recommendation with the iPhone 12 Max. Both offer an unrivalled combination of versatility and image quality across all sensors, and most people will be choosing based on their operating system preference. The Pixel 5 will stick around as my choice for best "single lens" stills phone on the market, while the Xperia 1 II will be bumped to honourable mentions- as much as I love its potential in the hands of a photography enthusiast, they're not the people reading this guide.

*Probay a bunch of little changes that I can't think of right now.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 444

username5537378

9

The Mi 11 has been launched in the UK for a price of £749, any thoughts?

Reply 445

username612415

OP

21

Original post by onlytruejx68

The Mi 11 has been launched in the UK for a price of £749, any thoughts?

Easily the top Android option on the market right now from a combination of specs and value, getting close enough to the S21U across the board and with the first top-tier camera system from Xiaomi in quite a while, but with the OnePlus 9 series arriving next week that title may be short-lived. It would make it into the Flagship category of the guide if I had any motivation to update it. Maybe next week, we'll see how I feel.