I Dislike This Phone

[MorpheusPA]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy A12 last year as my first cell phone ever (I'm tech-avoidant until I suddenly go tech-dependent). It's not that I hate it--hate is a strong word--but it only has 16 Gb of storage, 3 Gb of RAM, and it's not exactly what I'd call fast. The camera is...OK.

I rapidly started using it as a portable WiFi and cell attached computer with everything from the lighting system to the mower to weather, astronomy calculations, other robots attached to the thing. It's my primary camera nowadays unless I really need good photos. I've slogged the storage and regularly slog the RAM too.

I'm looking at the Samsung Galaxy A52s (128 Gb storage, 6 Gb RAM), much superior camera, still with the typical Samsung peculiarities, but I'm OK with that. The Google Pixel 6 Pro was under consideration for the camera, but the lack of SD card expansion and price were both problematic.

Ideas are welcome.

[turf_toes]

Andy might have some thoughts on that. I believe he is a Samsung guy.

[bpgreen]

I've been using Samsung Notes for years. I've been very happy with them. My current phone is a Note 9 with 6 gb ram and 128 gb storage.

They've discontinued the Note line, but apparently the s22 ultra is the closest thing to it. I think I bought mine in 2018. I've bought my last few phones at Costco because they throw in lots of extras.

The big selling point of the Note for many people is the pen. But I've never used it. I forget which Note was my first, but I think I bought my first one in 2013 or 2014 (based mostly on remembering the project I was on at the time).

For me, the selling point was the size. I could use it as a tablet replacement to some extent. It's big enough that it's not a strain to read things.

Since I don't use the pen, I could probably get the s22+, but the ultra has an option of up to 512 gb storage and 12 gb ram and the plus maxes out at 256/8.

The downside is that they're pricy (Note and galaxy s series both). On the other hand, I've had this one since 2018 and don't plan to upgrade yet.

[MorpheusPA]

I evaluated the S22 and S22+ and did discard them for the price reason; I was trying for sub-$400 right now (two bridges of mine broke, plus it's not been a cheap summer; I can swing it no problem with my latest bonus, but...)

The pen is also something I would never use; I'm a fingertip person. On a tablet, maybe--as a paintbrush. But on a phone, never. And for screen real estate, I also need large due to my eyes. The A12 actually fit the bill on that with 6.5" screen. The A52s also has 6.5", but uses slightly more of its screen with less edge.

If it swells too much bigger than 6.5", it won't fit in my pants. So that's another limitation. I wear dress pants most of the time.

[andy10917]

Andy might have some thoughts on that. I believe he is a Samsung guy.

S22 Ultra here

[MorpheusPA]

What is it with Samsung and removing the SD card from upper-end phones? OK, I get it. They're not the fastest. I could use a USB-C drive if I want to offload photos other than to my computer, like on a trip. But they're cheap, mean I can skimp just a bit on (expensive) flash memory, and store TONS of images on a 512 Gb SD card while giving up a tiny bit of space on the battery.

That 108 megapixel camera is sweet...and the physical zoom is impeccable...but interestingly, the wide image is comparable to the A52s.

It's also out of my price range for right now, I'm afraid.

[andy10917]

I think I paid around $400 by trading in my S-10. Deals have gotten better than that (since initial release)

[MorpheusPA]

They'll give me $100 on my A12. Besides, I was going to keep that as a secondary data pad for the downstairs.

[edslawn]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy A12 last year as my first cell phone ever (I'm tech-avoidant until I suddenly go tech-dependent). It's not that I hate it--hate is a strong word--but it only has 16 Gb of storage, 3 Gb of RAM, and it's not exactly what I'd call fast. The camera is...OK.

I rapidly started using it as a portable WiFi and cell attached computer with everything from the lighting system to the mower to weather, astronomy calculations, other robots attached to the thing. It's my primary camera nowadays unless I really need good photos. I've slogged the storage and regularly slog the RAM too.

I'm looking at the Samsung Galaxy A52s (128 Gb storage, 6 Gb RAM), much superior camera, still with the typical Samsung peculiarities, but I'm OK with that. The Google Pixel 6 Pro was under consideration for the camera, but the lack of SD card expansion and price were both problematic.

Ideas are welcome.

I have used Google Pixels for years and buy direct from Google. Two reasons: 1) no bloatware (all those apps that they install and you can't remove), 2) it is a pure Android experience so you don't have second-rate programmers creating "improvements" to the user interface that slow down the phone. This makes the storage needs lower and UI performance much better. Also, when buying direct, you can switch carriers since Pixels will generally run on all carriers.

I have the pixel 6 now. Great price on a very nice phone.

[edslawn]

What is it with Samsung and removing the SD card from upper-end phones? OK, I get it. They're not the fastest. I could use a USB-C drive if I want to offload photos other than to my computer, like on a trip. But they're cheap, mean I can skimp just a bit on (expensive) flash memory, and store TONS of images on a 512 Gb SD card while giving up a tiny bit of space on the battery.

That 108 megapixel camera is sweet...and the physical zoom is impeccable...but interestingly, the wide image is comparable to the A52s.

It's also out of my price range for right now, I'm afraid.

This lack of SD support on new phones is disappointing. They want you on a cloud storage subscription for life . I use some cloud storage but I also have a Synology NAS which can give you essentially a "cloud" of your very own. Synology has software to backup your phone pics automagically when you are home or even when you are away if you setup a secure VPN connection. This option has upfront cost but no monthly--plus you can show your pics on the TV.

[MorpheusPA]

This lack of SD support on new phones is disappointing. They want you on a cloud storage subscription for life . I use some cloud storage but I also have a Synology NAS which can give you essentially a "cloud" of your very own. Synology has software to backup your phone pics automagically when you are home or even when you are away if you setup a secure VPN connection. This option has upfront cost but no monthly--plus you can show your pics on the TV.

The explanation I got was that they want the little bit of extra space for battery; they can add about 200 mA that way without risk of puncture. Now warranted, I am not often away form home, so it's not like I stockpile photos on the camera that much. But still.

Oddly, my LG will automagically attach to computer and phone. But I usually look at the images on my computer; the monitor is color-balanced since I use it to display reference images for painting.

Ultimately, while I do like the S22+ Ultra and the Google 6 Pro, I had to settle this year. The A12 is simply hitting its limits. And my second bridge snapped and fell out yesterday (fortunately, the first one is already replaced).

So it's the A52s for at least a year or so, or until the next major bonus. Which is actually due in December anyway, so... I tend to hate yearly upgrades (inconvenient, a waste of technology that's completely usable, and a waste of rare elements), so hopefully I do like it and it lasts longer. Plus I have thirty days to say it's not for me...

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

I've been through a few phone companies. I started with Samsung whatever their first two models were. I don't remember why but I ended my Samsung career with a Note, because it was huge. Everyone laughed at me holding a dinner plate to my face to make a call. Who's laughing now???

By the time the Note died, prices had gone through the roof, and that was several roofs ago. After asking around I ended up with a One Plus 3 with lots of RAM and onboard memory. I have always taken pictures and stored them in Dropbox on the phone. Dropbox automatically links to Dropbox on the computer, so whenever the phone fills up with pictures, I can copy them from Dropbox to the hard drive and delete everything from the phone to start over. I don't think that ever happened with the One Plus, but I still do it periodically anyway. Later I updated to a newer One Plus which I got from BackMarket online. That was a mistake. It was supposed to be completely unlocked, but it turned out to be a special model that T-Mobile ordered, so it had T-Mobile bloatware installed. It was also not fully 5G compatible, so my carrier, Cricket Wireless (ATT) stopped supporting the phone a year or so ago. They gave me a Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G for free. I thought it would tide me over until I could shop around, but I've been using it ever since. One thing I like about it is the 4,000MA battery which lasts for several days. Since then I have done much shopping and have my eye on a Pixel 7, probably when the Pixel 8 models come out.

One thing for certain is I'll never deal with Samsung again...I hope and pray. I got real tired of seeing new versions of Android being released and Samsung not getting their spin on the interface for many months. One Plus is very speedy with updates, and of course, Pixel is instantaneous.

[MorpheusPA]

So far, I gotta say I love the A52s. It now functions as my mobile computer, the photos are crisp and clear, and the processor is more than enough for me. I can see myself using this until it up and dies, which I hope is far in the future.