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I enter another phase of phone choices now and one that will again be led by photography. The Meego-based N9 looks nice but I suspect I’ll be going to Android now. I don’t need high-end but I want a great camera and I want 2 day battery life (in a phone-only mode.) Screen size should be 3.5 – 4.2″ and nothing more. Price, up to about 400 Euro. I don’t need a slider as i’ll do most of my thumbing on the Galaxy Tab so here’s the shortlist.

• HTC Desire HD
• Sony Xperia Arc
• HTC Incredible S
• LG Electronics P990 Optimus Speed

Incredible S looks good value and photos seem OK but I wonder how sensitive it is.  The search starts here.

What will I do in the meantime? Galaxy Tab + Headset + N82 as pub-phone.

Update: Just 2 days after putting the N8 away I’m suffering. The old N82 might be good (I prefer the form factor) but the screen, battery life and photo quality has me reaching for the N8 again. Once you’ve had the best (show me any camera that is as high quality and connected as this one) you can’t go back. The big problem though is that this isn’t really my camera. It’s a long-term loan device for testing N8 firmware upgrades. Ah! There’s my loophole. Ill keep it until I’ve tested Anna and the camera firmware upgrade that is due soon. The N8 is back in the stable.

Over the last 6 years my phone choice has been largely influenced by the camera on it and of the phones I’ve had, only the Nokia ones have stood the test of time.

That might change soon though because the new Google Plus service raises the bar for sharing on a cameraphone.

The Instant Upload service automatically sends every photo and video taken to Picasa where it can be tagged, modified and shared, from any web browser on any device. The Google Plus application for Android exposes these images too which means its easier than ever to make them public or to share them with pre-defined groups (circles) of people. Only a Picasa app for tagging, sorting, slideshow and basic editing would make this better.

Having tested Instant Upload with photos and a video today I’m finding it powerful. So powerful that I want my next cameraphone to run Android. I’ve tried this before with the Onnia pro and Experia X10 so I’ll be treading carefully, especially as the Nokia N9 is coming!

• Support for WVGA video recording – The already great video recording will be enhanced to fit the wide screen format and hence resolution is also slightly increased to 864 * 480 pixles. (the preset size will still be VGA, user has to change to get WVGA)
• Upload of pictures to Facebook – It will be possible to upload pictures directly from the picture menu you have on the home screen or from the Media UI.
• Youtube video uploading – It will be possible to upload videos to Youtube directly from the Media UI.
• Conversational messaging – “Conversations” will be nicely integrated in the messaging menu in order to easily find and inspire to more conversations with your friends.
• DLNA support – The new software will support DLNA media server for easy transfer of audio and still pictures. (Note that video is not supported)
• UI improvements – On top of above, several minor UI improvements have been done in order to optimize the user experience.
• The Facebook application that is now available on PlayNow for free download will be included in the sw.

Owners are reporting that the device is now faster and smoother too.

The best news, and the news that has put the Satio back on top of the list though comes from Satio owner ‘tpagpuss‘ who has Gravity, Ovi Maps and Opera Mobile 10.5 running on it after modifying the phone to accept Nokia software.  He also linked me to some great low-light pics taken with the flash proving that it’s at least as good as the N82. It actually looks better than my two-year old N82 to me. Finally, I found this blog from another Satio owner who says “Shooting Pictures on the Go hasn’t been this much Fun since i got my beloved N82 some Years ago ” He’s posted a nice gallery of pics taken with the Satio here.

There’s a universal feeling that battery life isn’t that good but i’m betting that it’s going to beat my N82 which needs charging every 5 hours under my usage conditions. Two batteries is normal for me.

• Priority for me: Top-quality camera – Check
• Opera Mobile 10.5 – Check
• Ovi Maps – Check
• Google Maps – Check
• Gravity – Check
• Faster, better screen than my N82 – Check
• One or Two-handed operation – Check

The only thing I’m missing on my list is Ovi Store.

The risk remains that Nokia will come out with a Satio-beater next week but in this day and age that risk is always there. I have no doubt that the Satio will be an old phone in just a month or two. This afternoon I will wander down to the O2 store to see what they can do. I’m a new customer with them since last week and haven’t taken a data or voice plan yet so I’m expecting some flexibility on the price. I’m hoping for flat data over two sim cards and the phone for under 50 Euros per month.

Check back later or follow my tweets to see how I get on.