Disappointed Pixel 4a 5G user. Can anyone recommend a non-Google phone that can match the Pixels photo prowess?

loafer87gt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Messages
445
I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my old Pixel 2 to a Pixel 4a 5G and am very underwhelmed. Although larger, the display is not as vibrant, the speakers are very muffled and vibrate the body of the phone badly, it powers off in -15 C (relatively balmy in Canada!) temperatures, and the camera is a noticeable downgrade due to issues with the latest version of Google Camera. Normally I would wait for fixes to appear that rectify these issues, but if there is one thing I've learned about Google over the years is they are even worse than Microsoft in listening to their users and will likely ignore the bugs noted by users. Anyways, I am not happy with this phone at all, and would like to know what would be my best option. I loooooved the camera on my Pixel 2. I could just point my camera and click and 9 times out of 10 I would have a beautiful photo that would very closely match what I was seeing with my eyes. The Pixel 4a is very laggy, has a very cool color cast to all the photos, by default uses their Nightsight mode (presumably a bug as others are frustrated by this reading through the Google Camera reviews on Play) and they also removed HDR+ functionality on their latest devices. I am wondering, what would be a good phone that offers a bug free user experience with great camera quality. I have read several reviews comparing the iPhone 12 and newer Galaxy models to the Pixel, and they all seem to trade blows back and forth. I am just wondering if there are any other users who walked away from the horrible Google software experience, and whom they went with. Would I be totally lost moving from the Android eco-system to an iPhone?
 
That's disappointing to hear, as a Pixel 2 user I was also considering the Pixel 4a 5G as a potential upgrade.
However since Android 11 and due to financial instabillity and lack of travel brought on from the pandemic, i'm likely just gonna hold onto my Pixel 2 for a while.
 
Honestly if all your apps are available on ISO and you don't have any purchases tied to the phone, the 12 non pro looks to be great bang for the buck. Look at the s20 FE edition for an affordable s20 version
 
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