Choosing a good cell phone (?!)

[thewas]

That article reads like someone who does not fully understand image processing and what it can do. I certainly would not call the photos "fake", but processing has significantly enhanced them. Cameras and photographers have been doing that for many years, well before digital, so to me the idea that they are swapping in other images seems a bit absurd.

No, in the moon case it is not just upscaling but using stored image information from the moon to add details which were not captured, it has happend also when photographing similar shapes and the AI thinking it was a moon.

 

[Winemaker]

No, in the moon case it is not just upscaling but using stored image information from the moon to add details which were not captured, it has happend also when photographing similar shapes and the AI thinking it was a moon.

Then my cell phone took me for a ....

 

[wwenze]

That article reads like someone who does not fully understand image processing and what it can do. I certainly would not call the photos "fake", but processing has significantly enhanced them. Cameras and photographers have been doing that for many years, well before digital, so to me the idea that they are swapping in other images seems a bit absurd.

The experimenter put a blurred photo of the moon on a computer screen and told the phone to photograph it. It generated a new moon.

 

[DonH56]

The camera does not know (or care) if the source is a photograph or the actual moon. It will apply edge-sharpening, interpolation/extrapolation of the image data, color highlighting, and all the other tricks of modern photography to create a sharp image. I used to work for a company that produced high-resolution high-speed imagers with fancy processing that would do things very much like what I say in the comparison, long before "AI" was popular. My part was circuit design, so I do not claim to understand the image processing side (despite a course or two, long forgotten), but the image enhancement was astounding to me. The article says they do not know how it is done; a grad course in image processing would help.

All that said, I do not know the current state of image processing or AI (analog circuits guy, not image processing algorithms), but it seems a stretch to think that AI is finding a different picture to present to the user.

Here are a couple of random examples of image processing. These are just about noise and use fairly simple processing well below what Samsung (or most any image-processing program) can do.

Take picture, add 70% noise, then process. The result is not perfect, but with 70% noise added is unrecognizable to me.

A less drastic example:

There are other examples of blurred pictures

 

[Apesbrain]

The Pixel 6a at around $300 remains a very capable phone.

 

[Dialectic]

The TL;DR on the following is, don't buy a Google Pixel phone. I cannot speak for non-Google Android devices, but the Google Pixel devices are crude instruments compared to iPhones.

I formerly used Blackberries and iPhones at work (at one point having to carry three work phones 24 hours a day). Consequently, for personal use, I was averse to anything but Androids, which were strictly banned by my company for business.

I happily used a Google Nexus 4 until its 4G data bands disappeared in the United States in 2017. My experience was fine.

Then I got a Pixel 2. The first one I got from Google had a contaminated camera sensor; Google replaced it with a refurbished phone. The refurbished phone had consistent problems with poor battery life and heat. I nevertheless tolerated it for five years.

Then I got a Pixel 7. It had marginally better battery life than the Pixel 2. However, with the Pixel 7, I had frequent lockups (especially while using Android Auto), overheating (not while playing games or doing anything computationally demanding), and poor call quality. The breaking point for me with the Pixel 7 was the day when it malfunctioned and crashed during six separate voice calls in one day.

I'm not working now, so my aversion to iPhones has faded. Because I like small phones, I just shelled out a ridiculous sum for a mint iPhone 13 Mini. It is superior to the Pixel 7 for making calls, not dying or crashing when I need it to work, and most other "normal" use cases.

I still use the Pixel 7 over WiFi for Signal (which is reportedly more secure under Android than under iOS) and taking family photos.

 

[Ste_S]

I've always had a total rejection for everything Apple. I'm definitely wrong but it seems like a world for posh people.

Am I the only one who read this sentence, read the equipment list in your sig, read that sentence again, and lol'd?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Am I the only one who read this sentence, read the equipment list in your sig, read that sentence again, and lol'd?

You aren't the only one no.

 

[ThatM1key]

I grew up with Android, tinkering, changing Rom, custom Rom, kernel..... things unthinkable on iOS, I like that, if the phone is mine, I can do what I want with it. This fact of a closed ecosystem annoys me and then Apple makes you pay even for the air you breathe, if you enter an Apple store.

In the end I got an S23 Ultra 12/512, I find it amazing and I still discovered 1/10 of the potential or maybe even less, but I am no example in this regard coming from a POCO F1 from 2017.

Hopefully that S23 Ultra is factory unlocked. If it is that, I would see if the eSim is truly unlocked. The S21 Ultra's (Factory Unlocked) has a locked eSim problem. I don't know if it ever got fixed with the S22 Ultra or even the S23 Ultra.

My old S20 Ultra had true unlocked eSim. That phone was the GOAT for features. Samsung dangled the carrot in front of us with the S21 Ultra. "You want 120hz at full resolution with 5G mmWave support?, Your gonna have to give up a unlocked eSim and Micro SD Card support for that, buddy." I would've returned my S21 Ultra for a different one but the seller said there ALL like that, and he was damn right. If I known about that problem, I would've gotten a Google Pixel 7 Pro.

Also with the S21-S23 Ultra's (Probably the S20 Ultra too), you cannot use 2 eSims at the same time. S24 Ultra fixed this problem but Google allowed 2 active eSims since the Pixel 7 Series. Everybody gives Google shit but they try harder then Samsung these days (That's coming from a guy that owned various Samsung products.)

 

[Winemaker]

Sono l'unico che ha letto questa frase, letto la lista dell'equipaggiamento nella tua firma, letto di nuova quella frase e

 

[Lambda]

A phone is only as good as its operating system.

Do you want an operating system from a company whose main business is to sell your data?
Or worse a Chinese version of this operating system?

Apple has its flaws too, but when it comes to privacy and security, they are on another level. Plus, selling your data is not their primary business model.

So maybe a Pixel With Graphene or Linage OS

 

[Petrushka]

Not an unreasonable amount of time, but possibly close to twice as long as the typical lifecycle for many. A sad situation, but as many people cycle through phones every two years, few manufacturers look to provide support, or a phone that still works as it should, much longer than this.

I still using an iPhone 7.

 

[whereisbrian]

Why using a last generation cell phone, a Samsung S9 is enough to make a phone call, sending SMS, and browsing internet.

 

[AdrianusG]

I agree with @Blumlein 88 that the choice isn't up for debate here. But I, for one, refuse to use Apple products not just because of their weird, wonky way of working (my opinion, obviously), but also because my feeling is files are files and I should be able to move mp3s wherever the hell I want - mobile phone, desktop computer, AVR, hard drive in the car, anywhere. And they should be compatible in all of those places. So for me, the decision has long been settled.

Totally agree, no IPhone for me ever!

They, from the get go offered no expandable memory/Micro SD card support, and they were the first brand to ditch the HP jack, (unfortunately virtually everyone followed them shortly after with this BS.) ,and indeed just how cumbersome it is to get music or other files onto the device , and i know because my wife DOES have one (unfortunately).
I know android has it's quirks as well, but as long as their is even one company left which sells Android phones, than no IPhone.

 

[Petrushka]

Why using a last generation cell phone, a Samsung S9 is enough to make a phone call, sending SMS, and browsing internet.

Was this addressed to me? My phone is 8 generations behind and works perfectly.

 

[whereisbrian]

Was this addressed to me? My phone is 8 generations behind and works perfectly.

My post was not for you, sorry.

 

[Chr1]

Reckon my next phone will be a Xiaomi 13T Pro. Seems to have a very good camera for it's price point. Don't want to spend top dollar on a flagship device but want something with a very good camera and it seems to get excellent reviews. I am currently using a Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro which is a good budget phone but the camera is obviously an area where corners were cut to keep it cheap. Looks like the 13T Pro has flagship camera performance but at roughly half the price of the Samsung S24 Plus, Pixel 9 Pro etc.

 

[DLS79]

Why using a last generation cell phone, a Samsung S9 is enough to make a phone call, sending SMS, and browsing internet.

I'm not sure I've mentioned this here before, but we now live in a world where desktops and laptops have far more power than your average consumer needs for personal use. I know people who only have a phone & tablet, or in some cases only a phone. Going forward I'd say a phone is is more than enough processing power for a lot of people.

That's why Samsung release Dex mode several years back, and Google is working on their own native version. Their higher tier models all support it, and it allows you to turn your Samsung phone or tablet into a desktop.

 

[whereisbrian]

I used a refurbished Dell 6520 from 2012 for listening dematerialized FLAC files with a 2023 chinese DAC
Last year, i try an Ericsson T29S during 3 months, for fun.

 

[Chr1]

Looks like this thread has wandered off topic somewhat. Just read the original post from the OP and skimmed. He was looking for a phone with a very good camera and audio section. Obviously if all you need is something that makes calls with the ability to browse the Internet, pretty much anything made in the last 20 years will do...The phone above can do neither photos nor Internet.

PS What is a dematerialised flac? Very esoteric sounding!
I am assuming uncompressed and that this is Google translate or some such...