Samsung Note 20 Ultra camera issue, new phone?

[nOOky]

My two year old phone has apparently a common issue. The camera module is defective. Opening the camera app it is blurry. It can be fixed by tapping the phone, which apparently is like smacking the side of an old television, the lens then focuses properly. It is not a software issue, it is definitely hardware based on my searching. I like the phone otherwise, nothing new has a memory card slot etc. The camera module can be fixed, but I'm not sure I want to dive into that myself. Sending it in would take weeks and I'd need a replacement in the meantime. There is no service nearby as we are rural and hours from a city big enough to drop it off at.

I don't really have a problem with rapping the thing every time I want to take a photo, but in daylight when the screen get washed out from sunlight, I can't tell if the thing is blurry or not. We're travelling to New Zealand in about a month, I don't want to miss shots and have them come out blurry. Plus who knopws how long the tapping fix will last before it causes other issues.

I can afford a new phone, I'm wondering if I should just trade it in. But then I lose my storage, currently I have a 512gb memory card almost full, and I hate to think of paying $100-$300 extra for internal storage on a new phone when a memory card is so cheap. Thoughts, experiences?

 

[SKORPI0]

My almost 2 year old unlocked Note 20 Ultra 5G (Mystic Bronze) still functions like new. First thing I got before using it was a protective case with a movable slot that covers the lens.
Luckily I've never dropped it, I'm always aware how I hold it and just being careful handling it. The 512GB microSD I got with it is almost full too, lots of 4K videos (some 8K) and pics,
copied to a external HDD and backup to Google Photos.

I remember the days when you brought a camera using film to a place to have it developed and photos printed, and waited days for it. Taking selfies and photos of everyday activities is nice to have in an instant. I'm amazed at the photo/video quality of such a small sensor. Of course it you can't compare it larger/full frame sensors.

The one thing that irks me is the absence of a microSD slot on the S21 and S22 that followed. So I didn't upgrade, probably won't until an Android phone does.
Still waiting on Android 13 with One UI 5 to be availalble via Google-Fi.

On the other hand, I also still have a Note 9 (Cloud Silver-512GB) that also works like new. Had to replace the battery last year since it expanded after I removed it from it's protective case.
The 512GB microSD card became full after about 2 years. Replaced it with a 256GB I had in hand. This was my first smart phone after such a long time without a cell phone >10 years,
circumstances dictated that I needed one.

 

[nOOky]

Yea I'd be happy with the phone if the camera still functioned correctly after less than 2 years. It's on Android 13. I'm going to reach out to Samsung and see how long repair would take, or if they would cross ship a replacement.

 

[SKORPI0]

Yea I'd be happy with the phone if the camera still functioned correctly after less than 2 years. It's on Android 13. I'm going to reach out to Samsung and see how long repair would take, or if they would cross ship a replacement.

Well what do you know, just got notification on One UI 5 upgrade (Android 13) today. I've been checking every day for this.
Pic taken with the Note 9.