Xiaomi Mijia is a renown brand for budget, high quality electronics. So how does the Mijia stabilizer hold up? Well, turns out it does a pretty decent job, despite the app being a little simplistic. If you’re the kind of individual who films a lot of handheld footage with a smartphone, then a handheld smartphone gimbal is for you, and there’s honestly little reason to spend more money.

This is a review of the Samsung Galaxy S9 camera (not S9+) after using it for a month. Is it really worth upgrading? Well, if you’re using a smartphone from the last 1 – 3 years and you’re still happy with it, I don’t see why you would. Many of the hyped features are things the average user won’t really notice or care about in day to day use. The camera is WAY better in low light but the old phone still holds solid for day time.

This is a $200 smartphone so I don’t expect perfection; and in daylight the phone is a perfectly competent shooter with a wide dynamic range (detail in shadows and highlights), accurate color and straightforward user interface. But at night that story changes and if you, like many phone camera users, find yourself shooting the majority of your pictures indoors or in non-ideal lighting, you may want to consider something else. Many older flagship models, such as the LG V20, have far superior cameras to this phone and only cost a few dollars more.

There are a few places that Xiaomi can improve for its next iteration: for example, the camera is virtually unusable in low light due to its lack of optical stabilization. Also, the secondary zoom camera lens does not work in low light; the camera app defaults to the main camera with digital zoom (likely so that it is not as blurry from camera shake). The design could also be refined: thinner bezels, less regulatory text on the back of the phone and no backlight bleed from the hardware capacitive buttons would be welcome changes. Overall this is a decent phone from a company who has experience making solid budget devices.

After a week of playing with the S7 Edge, I’ve decided that I’m going to keep my LG for now. Even as a professional photographer the difference in the rear camera is not noticeable enough that I want to move to Samsung. Perhaps it was all the hype that played it up, or perhaps it was something else, but while I was impressed with the camera on this phone I wasn’t blown out of the water.

If you’re looking for the camera phone to buy this year, the LG G4 is the way to go. It’s an absolutely fantastic camera phone for amateurs and professionals alike. It had features other competitors are sorely missing – a removable battery and expandable storage. In theory it is an excellent balance of usability, form and function, but there’s a few little performance issues with the phone that prevent it from being the perfect device.

The Blu Win JR is best for only the most basic of phone users. While it is extremely inexpensive, its terrible camera quality and underwhelming design will leave users quickly asking for more. With a retail low of $70, it could make a great burner smartphone but it doesn’t work for much more than calling and minimal messaging.