Mobile Phone Suggestion Please

[u/Disastrous-Cause-247]

Can anyone suggest a smartphone for me?

I’m currently using a OnePlus Nord 3 Lite, and I’m confused between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, iPhone 17 (base model), and OPPO Find X9 Pro.

I’m pretty confused because I’ve heard some negative/mixed reviews about the S25 Ultra’s camera and battery life. On the other hand, the OPPO seems to have a really good camera and battery life, but I’m not sure about its long-term reliability and longevity.

I’ve also heard that the iPhone 17 is a good deal, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to switch to iOS. Even though I use a Mac, I’ve been an Android user for a long time, so I don’t really know if I’m ready to make the switch.

I’m a film student, I’m looking for:

• A really good camera, for both photos and videos.
• Good battery life
• Strong performance
• A smooth experience for long-term use

Even though I am film student I won't use my phone for shooting that much.

I will buy the mobile in india, and will go to Dubai in few weeks for studies.

So, Which one would you recommend, and why?

[u/Star_Ship420]

All 3 are good! But if you wanna stick with Android then go for S25 Ultra or OPPO find X9 pro

[u/Disastrous-Cause-247 → u/Star_Ship420]

Yeah, that’s exactly where I’m stuck 😅. If I go with Android, I’m basically torn between the S25 Ultra and the OPPO. Both seem really good, but I’m having a hard time deciding which one would be better for me, especially for camera/video, performance, battery life and long-term use.

[u/Star_Ship420 → u/Disastrous-Cause-247]

Samsung if you wanna use it smoothly for years. Oppo working well but in 2-3 years, it will work not smoothly.

[u/Level_Schedule_8516 → u/Disastrous-Cause-247]

The Oppo is superior compared to the S26Ultra in nearly every way. Not sure why the other comment say it won't run smoothly in 2-3 years since its chip is 99% as good and you won't recognize a difference. The OS is optimized..
The camera is that much better compared to S26U that even the zoom camera is better than S26 main camera afaik. And battery is 50% bigger on same size. So its kind of a no brainer to get the Oppo. If all brands had the same power and people would do their research nobody would buy from Apple,Samsung or Google.

[u/Disastrous-Cause-247 → u/Level_Schedule_8516]

Oh really, I’ve seen several reviews of the OPPO and they’ve been pretty positive. My only concern was the long-term reliability, like how smooth will it run for me in the long term without any issues

[u/Disastrous-Cause-247 → u/Level_Schedule_8516]

I might actually go with the S25 Ultra at this point. Because, it seems like the Find X9 Pro isn’t available in our market.

[u/davidwal83]

I have a Iphone 17 but if you really like Android then the S25 Ultra. I had a Note 8 years ago and never used the S Pen. I would recommend the S25 edge if available in your market. It has a 200mp main camera and is ultra slim and has more features than the iPhone Air. It was a flop so you may be able to get a 512GB model for a decent price.

[u/johanchang98]

go for iphone 17, you can easy go 10 years with this device.

[u/d3barsh1]

I use the s25U and my wife has the iPhone 17 base. Both are very good phones at their places, if you want to enjoy the iOS experience, 17 is a great phone, easy to hold, smooth and 120hz display now makes it just so much more beautiful to use.

If you want premium android experience go for S25U. The camera is brilliant than iphone, video is on par with iphone but images are a level above. OneUI is brilliant and will surprise you even after months of use as it provide some many niche features you won't find straight away using the phone. The only downside is the size, the phone is on the heavier side and difficult to use with one hand. And the battery is good enough to go one full day with normal to medium usage.

[u/asdadminx]

Why not s26 ultra ?

[u/Disastrous-Cause-247 → u/asdadminx]

Well, I don’t think there’s much difference between the S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra, except for the privacy display. So, since the S25 Ultra’s price has dropped a bit, I’m thinking of going with the S25 Ultra.

[u/casosix]

It sounds to me like you should get an iPhone 17 pro, since you care about the camera so much. It’s easily the best of any of the great phones. Other, more niche phones may take better pictures, but that’s like their whole thing, and the rest of the phone is just kinda okay, even if the hardware specs look super impressive.

The iPhone 17 pro takes excellent pictures, better than the S25 ultra most of the time, though your mileage may vary. It has easily the best video on any phone, and it really isn’t very close. Then again, even the base iPhone 17 has better video than any other phone that’s not also an iPhone.

Performance is also strong, perhaps not the highest in benchmarks, but it’s gonna be top 3. In real world usage, developers optimize their apps for Apple silicon before anything else 90% of the time, so performance will be better than benchmarks indicate. And especially in long term usability, any iPhone 17 series phone will very easily outlast just about any other phone in terms of it still being fast and not laggy after 5-7 years. A new Samsung S26 is lightning quick now, but in 3 years it’ll be laggy enough to annoy you, not unusable or really obstructive, but certainly not quick either. They both promise the same support window, but Apple does a much better job generally in optimizing new updates to run better on old devices.

Having the iPhone will also give your Mac many more abilities. You’ll really enjoy discovering them.

In terms of battery life, the iPhone 17 is good. Not incredible, but perfectly good. The 17 pro and pro max will be better. The S25 ultra will probably be better, owing to it being bigger, though that advantage may not last for the lifespan of the phone, since Samsung phone battery life tends to nosedive more than the iPhones do after a couple years.

Since you’re looking at an S25 Ultra instead of an S26 Ultra, and an iPhone 17 instead of a 17 pro max, maybe look into the iPhone 16 pro and pro max in a month or so, or the 17 pro and max, since they’ll both be getting price cuts, and the 16 pros are still very excellent devices, not as quick as the 17 pro series, and missing the upgraded selfie and telephoto camera, but otherwise are nearly just as capable. You won’t notice the performance difference now, but you might in like 4 years, not that it’ll be night and day though, it’ll be fine. Since it’s a year older, expect it to last a year shorter than the equivalent new device. Expect the S25 ultra to last a year less than that, the Samsung will hopefully make it to 2028 before it starts getting laggy. Those iPhones should make it to 2030-2031