musicMagpie Blog

Upgrading your phone? With so many options out there, it can be overwhelming. To help you, we looked at some of the best devices released this year, with their key features, so you can choose your next phone.

---

Google Pixel 3a

Whilst the Google Pixel 3 is only a few months old, the tech giant have released their budget version of the device "" a great phone for a fraction of the price. As it is a budget version, some of Google's most exciting features won't be present, but there is still plenty to shout about.

It's a slightly smaller phone with a 5.6inch display and your three colour choices are Clearly White, Just Black and Purple-ish.

For storage, your option is a 4GB RAM with 64GB "" that's it. The design is keeping in line with that of the flagship Pixel 3, but the body of the 3a is made from plastic rather than glass. This means wireless charging isn't an option. The 3a has a headphone jack which is a rarity at this point. This device keeps the Active Edge feature, where squeezing the edges of the device will bring up Google Assistant.

The only camera on the back is 12.2MP whereas the front facing camera is 8MP. The battery is 3,000mAh and with scaled back features and an older chipset (using the Snapdragon 670), the phone will last you an entire day no matter how intense your usage is.

---

Samsung Galaxy S10

Samsung's flagship device is a mere three months old but it has set the precedent for 2019 smartphones. The biggest talking point has been the hole punch camera on the screen, with an almost edge to edge display that's barely disturbed by the snapper.

The HDR10+ panel allows for intense colours, making your experience watching content even better than before. The phone's screen is 6.1inch so you may not be able to hold it comfortably in one hand, but it's all the better for streaming video.

The device is almost on its own for sticking with the seemingly now defunct headphone jack. Alongside that, you have the option to up your storage if 128GB or even 512GB aren't sufficient. On the back is a triple lens camera, broken down into a 12MP regular lens, 12MP optical zoom and 16MP ultra-wide lens. The front facing camera is 10MP.

Inside the Samsung Galaxy S10 is the Snapdragon 855 chipset and a 3,400mAh battery. An amazing addition is the Wireless PowerShare feature, allowing you to share the juice from your device to another.

---

Honor View 20

Having been released in January, the Honor View 20 was one of the first 2019 smartphones, kicking the year off in style.

Pitted as an affordable option for smartphones, the Honor View 20 retails at £499, up to a third of the price of a top end iPhone. Storage options are 128GB with 6GB of RAM or 256GB of storage with 8GB of RAM.

The View 20 was ahead of the curve for design too, bringing in the hole punch front-facing camera just weeks before Samsung. Speaking of cameras, there are two rear snappers with the main being 48MP and the other is a 3D time of flight depth camera. If the battery is where your concern lies, this device uses a 4,000mAh battery that will last an entire day and uses fast charging.

In spite of the new wave of phones using an in screen fingerprint scanner, the Honor View 20 has a rear scanner instead. Your colour choices are Midnight Black, Phantom Blue and Midnight Blue, all of which have a chevron style, separating them from the rest of the pack.

---

Huawei P30 Pro

Huawei have their sights set on becoming the biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world within just a year. With devices like the P30 Pro, it's easy to see why they could just do it.

There are three colours with 128GB memory "" Black, Aurora (a mixture between light green through to dark blue) and Breathing Crystal (mixing light blue through to purple). For a 512GB option, the colour is Amber Sunrise, a light orange colour that trickles out to a burnt orange and red.

The bezels on the display are stripped back to a minimum and the front facing camera is in the smallest possible notch. The P30 Pro uses an in-screen finger print scanner to unlock the device too, on the 6.47inch display. The device uses Android 9 out of the box.

One of the biggest talking points of every Huawei phone is the camera and the P30 Pro has four rear cameras, beating out most of its competition. This is made up of a 40MP main sensor, 8MP telephoto camera, 20MP ultra-wide angle lens and a time of flight depth-sensing camera. With a 4,200mAh battery tucked inside, it's one of the biggest available.

---

OnePlus 7 Pro

The flagship OnePlus device was released only a matter of weeks ago but it garnered a lot of critical acclaim off the bat. First off, the 6.67inch display doesn't have a notch or the hole-punch made famous by the Samsung Galaxy S10. Instead, the front facing camera is a pop up from the top of the device when the camera app is open and in selfie mode.

For the rear cameras to take your best snaps, it's a triple camera. The main camera is 48MP, the ultra-wide lens is 16MP and the telephoto lens that offers three times optical zoom is 8MP.

Inside the phone is the top of the line Snapdragon 855 processor, offering a swift experience when jumping through apps. When it comes to storage options, the basic version of the device is 6GB RAM with 128 GB storage, which goes up to 8GB RAM and 256GB Storage. The phone runs all day with a huge 4,000mAh battery.

The phone has a cooling system to make sure it doesn't get too hot when gaming, using social media or calling. The device is compatible with wireless charging and has an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

Colour options are Mirror Grey, Nebula Blue and Almond which is to launch soon. There is a 5G compatible device that is available exclusively on EE.

---

Need some cash to upgrade to a brand new phone? Click Sell my phone with musicMagpie and get paid the SAME DAY we receive it! Plus, you can use the cash to buy refurbished phones on the musicMagpie store too!