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Advice on phone upgrade

A

AndrewL116

Lurker
Hello all

I'm hoping for a bit of advice on an appropriate phone upgrade.

I currently have the Galaxy S9. It was an 'upgrade' from the S7, but I dislike it. An opportunity has now come to upgrade the phone again.

My issues with the S9 are battery life and a very slow camera (by this I mean that it takes the phone an age to transition from the home screen to a photo/video-ready state). Both have been issues since I first acquired the phone.

The S10, S20 and S21 are my upgrade options, although the S21 will come with a cost, whereas the S10 and S20 are free (via an extension to my current plan). Is there a clear winner for me here? I would say that my phone use is standard (social media, web browsing, calls/texts, simple games). I'm really looking to address my issues with the S9 without sacrificing elsewhere.

Many thanks.
 
AndrewL116 said:
Hello all

I'm hoping for a bit of advice on an appropriate phone upgrade.

I currently have the Galaxy S9. It was an 'upgrade' from the S7, but I dislike it. An opportunity has now come to upgrade the phone again.

My issues with the S9 are battery life and a very slow camera (by this I mean that it takes the phone an age to transition from the home screen to a photo/video-ready state). Both have been issues since I first acquired the phone.

The S10, S20 and S21 are my upgrade options, although the S21 will come with a cost, whereas the S10 and S20 are free (via an extension to my current plan). Is there a clear winner for me here? I would say that my phone use is standard (social media, web browsing, calls/texts, simple games). I'm really looking to address my issues with the S9 without sacrificing elsewhere.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

How old is your device?
 
I am in a position where my carrier is offering upgrade deals. Given my general lack of enthusiasm for this model, I'd rather jettison the device in favour of a new phone. I appreciate the offer of assistance though!
 
AndrewL116 said:
Hello all

I'm hoping for a bit of advice on an appropriate phone upgrade.

I currently have the Galaxy S9. It was an 'upgrade' from the S7, but I dislike it. An opportunity has now come to upgrade the phone again.

My issues with the S9 are battery life and a very slow camera (by this I mean that it takes the phone an age to transition from the home screen to a photo/video-ready state). Both have been issues since I first acquired the phone.

The S10, S20 and S21 are my upgrade options, although the S21 will come with a cost, whereas the S10 and S20 are free (via an extension to my current plan). Is there a clear winner for me here? I would say that my phone use is standard (social media, web browsing, calls/texts, simple games). I'm really looking to address my issues with the S9 without sacrificing elsewhere.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...
well i'm all for the latest and greatest.......so.....the s21 would be the one i recommend.

just keep in mind that most phones by design lasts about 3-4 years.....so....getting the most current phone will allow you to have the phone a bit longer. after 3-4 years the phone will slow down, things will not work right, and your battery life will be terrible.

and truly the choice is yours in the end. if you can afford it, the s21 would be the one i would pick out of the choices you give. personally i would have gotten the s22 ultra, but i just got the z fold 3 last year so unless the z fold 4 coming this year is jaw dropping in features, i will probably wait until next year to see if i want to upgrade.
 
AndrewL116 said:
Hello all

I'm hoping for a bit of advice on an appropriate phone upgrade.

I currently have the Galaxy S9. It was an 'upgrade' from the S7, but I dislike it. An opportunity has now come to upgrade the phone again.

My issues with the S9 are battery life and a very slow camera (by this I mean that it takes the phone an age to transition from the home screen to a photo/video-ready state). Both have been issues since I first acquired the phone.

The S10, S20 and S21 are my upgrade options, although the S21 will come with a cost, whereas the S10 and S20 are free (via an extension to my current plan). Is there a clear winner for me here? I would say that my phone use is standard (social media, web browsing, calls/texts, simple games). I'm really looking to address my issues with the S9 without sacrificing elsewhere.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Is the Note20 Ultra an upgrade option for you? I bought one in June last year, and I'm still very happy with it, has great battery life, camera isn't slow, and takes micro-SD. I bought it to replace a Huawei Mate10, I'd been using for over three years, that was showing warnings about ageing battery.
 
Many thanks to all of you for your replies.

Ocnbrze, the S22 phones are outside my budget, although I would if I could! Thank you for the S21 recommendation.

Mikedt, I hadn't considered the Note at all. I will do some reading and perhaps pop in to my local store to have a look at it. Thank you.
 
AndrewL116 said:
Many thanks to all of you for your replies.

Ocnbrze, the S22 phones are outside my budget, although I would if I could! Thank you for the S21 recommendation.

Mikedt, I hadn't considered the Note at all. I will do some reading and perhaps pop in to my local store to have a look at it. Thank you.
Click to expand...
i have had the Note 4,5,8 and the note 10+ i love the Note series......if you do not mind a big screen, you will absolutely love the Note series. definitely take a look at it!!!!!!
 
Hi,

AndrewL116 I see your main concern with the upgrade is that the smartphone should have a decent battery and camera. Here you have already picked great models to upgrade I recommend you should get Galaxy S21 Ultra. If available get the one with Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G.

The battery life is decent runs a full day with approx. 10 to 11 hours with moderate use. Cameras are awesome 12 MP wide-angle, 64MP Telephoto with 3X hybrid zoom. You can capture super steady action videos with the 12MP steady camera. Moreover, you get 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps video recording options. Get Galaxy S21 Ultra you will love it.
AndrewL116 said:
Hello all

I'm hoping for a bit of advice on an appropriate phone upgrade.

I currently have the Galaxy S9. It was an 'upgrade' from the S7, but I dislike it. An opportunity has now come to upgrade the phone again.

My issues with the S9 are battery life and a very slow camera (by this I mean that it takes the phone an age to transition from the home screen to a photo/video-ready state). Both have been issues since I first acquired the phone.

The S10, S20 and S21 are my upgrade options, although the S21 will come with a cost, whereas the S10 and S20 are free (via an extension to my current plan). Is there a clear winner for me here? I would say that my phone use is standard (social media, web browsing, calls/texts, simple games). I'm really looking to address my issues with the S9 without sacrificing elsewhere.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...
 
I wouldn't bother with the s10: that's 3 years old, so will have only a short software support period left, and also will have been manufactured at least 2 years ago which means that the battery has been sitting gradually degrading for that long. It's a bad choice at this point.

I'd personally take the s21 for those reasons, but I expect that the s20 is viable (I've no experience of that model). Actually I have an s21 next to me right now, and find the battery life fine (even though I set it to only charge to 85%) and have no problem with the speed of response.
 
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