KPH tech blog

After listing my checklist of wants and dislikes in my previous blog post, in this blog I wanted to start analysing the phones that tick most of the boxes.

Thanks to my checklist, I’ve managed to narrow down my options, and without further ado, here’s my thoughts on some of the competition:

OnePlus

The so-called company of flagship killers. It’d be wrong of me not to at least consider their phones, and I have. The new OnePlus Nord is right in my ballpark in terms of pricing, BUT… the screen is too big. 6.44″ inches means it’s 0.22″ inches larger than my S9 Plus, and as Phone Arena’s size comparison shows, it would unfortunately me a bit too unwieldy for my hands.

The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro aren’t much better I’m afraid, at 6.65″ inches and 6.78″ inches respectively – grief, that’s on the verge of the 7″ inch Google Nexus tablet from 2013!! Way too big for a ‘mobile’ smartphone, in my opinion.

Then there’s the new OnePlus 8T. At the time of writing, it’s specs are unconfirmed, but GSMArena has it down for a 6.55″ inch screen – a tad bigger than the Nord but a tad smaller than the OnePlus 8.

Still, it’s looking like OnePlus’s entire, current range of phones are too big for me, and so, even though I’ve heard great things about their devices, unfortunately this rules them out.

Sony Xperia – The Mark II’s

After introducing us to their new-style Xperia phones with cinematic 21:9 screens in 2019, this year we’re onto the Mark II’s – a naming convention carried over from Sony’s Alpha series of cameras. That should tell you at whom they’re aiming their phones.

I love Sony’s choice. And from the looks of them, even though the 21:9 Xperia 1 II sits at an eye-watering 6.5″ inches, because the phone is also narrower, it might be that much easier to hold and use than my Galaxy S9 Plus.

Having said that, it too is way out of my budget, and the newly-announced Xperia 5 II is also, disappointingly, outside of my budget. That means my only option would be the Xperia 10 II, or the budget Xperia L4.

The Xperia L4 looks like too much of a compromise for me, and unfortunately, even though the Xperia 5 II gets a 6.1″ inch, 120hz screen, as well the Photo Pro and Cinema Pro apps – which also appear on the Xperia 1 II – the Xperia 10 II misses out on those ‘Pro’ apps.

That’s a shame. I was really impressed with the reviews of the Photo Pro and Cinema Pro apps, particularly Cinema Pro with the ability to focus-rack within the app, similar to how I use my DSLR when shooting video with a manual, vintage SLR lens.

But if those apps aren’t coming to the Xperia 10 II, then I’m not sure there’s enough features to entice me to that phone.

It’d be wonderful if the Xperia 5 II benefitted from some Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals, because that would bring it down to my budget, and for around the £500 price point, I’m not sure I’d be able to say no. Great OLED screen, nice device size (0.1″ inch smaller than my S9 Plus), Micro SD card support, 3.5mm headphone port, stereo speakers, 128gb or 256gb internal storage (both with 8gb RAM), and the perfect camera combo of standard, ultra wide-angle & telephoto lenses.

But unless a price cut comes my way, either for the Xperia 1 II or the Xperia 5 II, unfortunately the Xperia Mark II line is also ruled out.

Google’s Pixel phones

Always leave the best til last.

As I’ve already mentioned, in the last I would not have even considered a stock Android phone – for instance, the Nexus phones or, their replacement, the Pixel phone series.

As much as others love them for their simplicity, for me, it’s a high price to pay for a barebones experience. For the same price, you could always get a more feature-rich Samsung.

But this year is different, and I’m in a different situation. Also, unlike Samsung, most OEM’s are now streamlining their User Interfaces to give a more stock experience, which means that Google’s Pixels are in the best position. Pole position, if you will, especially with their exceptional reputation for computational photography.

Unlike last year’s Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, this year’s line-up is more wallet friendly. And I love what Google have done with the Pixels in 2020.

I’m not surprised the 2019 Pixel 3a far outsold the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, and to be fair, even though they’re still floating around, with their lacklustre battery capacities, I’m not sure I like the 4 or 4 XL.

The Pixel 4a, on the other hand, is one of those devices that comes around once in a blue moon. Wow. Just… wow.

And the 4a 5G… double wow.

Pixel 5… triple wow.

Because these 3 phones are so high up on my list, I’ve decided I need a brand new blog post just to discuss them in more detail. See you after the break…

– Chris JK.