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Advice needed - new phone

Hi all,

I'm of on a drunken jolly to Poland soon (think stag weekend without the imminent wedlock) and don't fancy taking my reasonably nice camera, and very expensive smartphone with me for obvious reasons.

I'm looking for a basic phone with the best camera I can find, on a budget of a maximum of £75. Used is fine, and preferably unlocked or on Vodafone.

The problem is I don't really know which phones have good cameras. I was looking for a Sony Ericsson W995 (my girlfriend has one and the camera is pretty good for a phone), but can't find one in-budget - other than that has anyone got any suggestions for phones with good cameras, old or new?

Thanks

akbray
 
The Sony Eriksson Elm/Silver Elm has a pretty good camera, but a budget digital camera is going to do a better job and cost less unless you are buyi9ng it on a contract.
 
Most HTC phones seem to have good cameras, relatively speaking. My old HTC Touch Diamond 2 and its 5MP cam still takes some of the best pictures of any phone that I've owned since, which is why I swap to that when going abroad.. even if it's a bit on the slow side for modern Smartphone's and WinMo 6.5.3 is so last decade.
 
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Id suggest a pocket digital camera on your budget. You can pick up a few good compact cameras in the £50-100 range which will do a much better job than a mobile phone at that price. Wont be much bigger than a mobile phone but will do far superior photos and in some cases video and fit in your pocket fine.

Why not get a cheap 10-30 quid mobile from carphone warehouse if you need a phone for the holiday...
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/deal-finder
As long as it isnt a branded handset from carphone warehouse it will normally be unlocked.

Then spend around 50 quid (try to push more 70 would be nice) on a compact camera from say argos...
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Brows...14419441|Compact+digital+cameras|14419442.htm

Job done around budget, best of both worlds :)
 
Captain_cretin - if I just bought a basic camera, I would also have to buy a basic phone, so negating the cost benefit. I'd also have to carry around 2 devices, which I'd rather avoid. I've never even heard of the Elm so I'll look it up.

Mark.J - my experience with HTC cameras is the opposite - I have owned 2 HTC devices (O2 XDA Orbit 2 and Desire) and the camera on both was terrible. It's one of the many reasons I opted for the Galaxy S2 this time around.

Butler - thanks for the tips - I'll take a look at those models too.

Cheers

Andy
 
A sub £100 phone simply isnt going to have a superb camera, you may strike lucky and get a used bargain but for the most part its going to be 5 Megapixels or less, and either have a poor flash or worse no flash.

Carrying 2 devices is a pain i agree, but it may be the best solution (or compromise) if you want the best of both worlds and the budget is limited.

Also how important is this holiday to you? If memories you are likely to get from it are important then id recommend a separate camera even more.

For a phone with decent functionality (OS and features) with a decent camera built in, id think you are looking at more the £100-120 and up price range.
 
Something like that Camera atleast in form factor etc is what i would recommend (though probably not a Casino or a refurb at that price especially with only 6 months warranty, i personally avoid ebay like the plague also, but thats maybe just me) ;)

There are brand new Fuji, Samsung, Canons etc just on Argos for only a tad over 10 quid more for that. No doubt like for like (Id check amazon first) can be found alot cheaper.

I think we are both in agreement though a 50 quid or so compact camera like that will do a better job than almost any phone.

Id personally go for just a basic cheap PAYG unlocked mobile from CPW (they do em from £5 and up) and spend the better part of the budget on a camera, especially if the holiday was important and i plan on taking lots of snaps. Sure carrying both may be a pain, but if you are shoving one lump of plastic in your pocket another tiny lump wont really hurt. I dare say if he is going soon anyway Poland wont be exactly warm and he/she will be wearing a coat most places with a single pocket big enough for both devices.
 
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I dont know the sim free/unlocked price of the Elm, but I got mine on a £10 a month contract, so even if it is over budget, it might be worth buying on contract over that time.
Most of the photos I took in China last Christmas were taken on it as my Nikon camera's battery charger was in the lost luggage.
 
Got a W995 on order for less than my budget. I meant to order a C905, but made a mistake, but the W995 will do the job.

The reason I don't want to buy both a camera and a chaeapy phone is that I already have to carry too many, since I will have to carry wallet, work mobile (they are very strict about personal use, but I still need to be contactable), 2 different types of medication and a few other bits and pieces.

Also image quality isn't that important - I just want to be able to take some happy snaps / blackmail evidence ;-), so nothing too demanding.

With that little lot in my pockets I don't really want to have to add another phone and a camera too

Thanks for your comment.

akbray
 
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