[TurboKat]

I had been enjoying my time with the Nothing 2a. Phone was pretty fast, camera was also decent, OS was excellent. But, during the Puja holidays, it was snatched away from me by a couple of thieves on a motorbike. I was walking home from a puja mandap, when my mom called. Just as I took out the phone to accept the call, the thieves appeared out of nowhere and snatched it from me. I filed a police complaint, but haven't received any response till now.

In the meantime, dad was using my ex Samsung M30s as he found his Samsung M02 to be too slow. The display had shattered when he dropped the phone accidentally one day. So he shifted back to his old M02. Buying a new phone was difficult for me at the moment. So I decided to use the M30S after repairing the display. Original display costs a whopping 6000 bucks (including service charge). As the phone is more than 5 years old, I didn't see value in spending 6k just for the display. Went to ask for display prices at another store. They agreed to put a duplicate OLED (not AMOLED) display for 2000. It's been almost a week. The phone is running fine. Will be upgrading to another phone around next year as the M30S has plenty of juice left as of now.

[pankajn1702]

After spending nearly 8 years on iOS, I made a plunge to break free from the walled garden and bought the Pixel 8a during the sale in 2024.

Outgoing phone - iPhone 12 64gb, White - purchased in early 2022. Used for 2.5 years. Storage had become an issue, as nearly 35gb was used by the OS. And it had started to age in terms of battery and performance.



I needed a handy phone, as my hands are small.
Clean Ui with no bloatware and longest security upgrades with best sill photography in budget. Pixel was simply a no brainer.



Pixel 8a - 128gb Black
Android has its own fun and I am in no favor of either OS. But Android wins the features and functionality areas hands down, while iPhone's video capabilities are second to none.
Pixel has some of the best still photography capabilities plus some features which iOS may never get like Private space in Android 15. It is like having another phone inside your phone



I am happy with my decision.

Hole in the pocket: 15k
The math:
iPhone 12 sold for 18k
Pixel 8a bought for 33k (Reliance digital)


To keep my urge of using Apple, I still have my iPad 8th gen bought 4 years ago. That will keep me happy too but the usage has become very limited over last few months. Mainly used by son to play FC mobile

[madmax_rak]

Hi

I have been using Motorola Edge 30 since last 2 years. I recently received an android update, and I have happily accepted it. After a week of OS update, there appeared a green line on the right side. I was shocked, as I never heard that Motorola has this issue of greenline. A short Google search had proved me wrong. There were a lot of Motorola users with similar issues. So lines kept on increasing as days passed by. Currently, there are around 6-7 thin lines on the screen. I did visit Motorola service centre to check whether they replace it free of charge as it is a display bug. But they were not showing any positive signs and were insisting on me submitting the phone there to seek approval from Motorola. Also, it would take a minimum of three weeks to get to know if it is repairable without any charge. I left the spot without submitting my phone.

Now I have started searching for an all rounder phone within the maximum budget of 35k. I did find Honor 200 and iQOO Z9s Pro suit my usage. Anyone have experience on these phones? Or any other suggestions?

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by TurboKat

Will be upgrading to another phone around next year as the M30S has plenty of juice left as of now.

I would suggest you to tread carefully with the M30s. The exynos 9611 that is powering this phone is a flawed chip and can give up anytime. You can search for "Exynos 9611 issue" in the internet and see the results. As a precaution, please invest in a good cloud storage (if you have not already) and make sure you have a copy of all your important data. I had an M30s in 2020-21 and it gave up right in the middle of the 2nd wave of the pandemic. I couldn't buy a replacement due to the lockdown. I was using a spare 3G phone for a couple of months.

Originally Posted by madmax_rak

Now I have started searching for an all rounder phone within the maximum budget of 35k. I did find Honor 200 and iQOO Z9s Pro suit my usage. Anyone have experience on these phones? Or any other suggestions?

The phones you have listed are good in Isolation but they have a poor brand perception and resale value in general. These brands are pretty much non-existent outside of the tech enthusiast space and social media space.
If that doesn't bother you, you can consider below options as you have a budget of 35k.

Poco F6 - Best performance to price ratio - Weak cameras though
Iqoo Neo 9 pro
Realme GT 6T
Vivo T3 Ultra
Oneplus Nord 4 - (Oneplus as a brand has been getting a lot of flak for lack of QC lately, however the Nord 4 is a good product)

[yedukrishnan199]

Originally Posted by madmax_rak

Hi

I have been using Motorola Edge 30 since last 2 years. I recently received an android update, and I have happily accepted it. After a week of OS update, there appeared a green line on the right side. I was shocked, as I never heard that Motorola has this issue of greenline. A short Google search had proved me wrong. There were a lot of Motorola users with similar issues. So lines kept on increasing as days passed by. Currently, there are around 6-7 thin lines on the screen. I did visit Motorola service centre to check whether they replace it free of charge as it is a display bug. But they were not showing any positive signs and were insisting on me submitting the phone there to seek approval from Motorola. Also, it would take a minimum of three weeks to get to know if it is repairable without any charge. I left the spot without submitting my phone.

Now I have started searching for an all rounder phone within the maximum budget of 35k. I did find Honor 200 and iQOO Z9s Pro suit my usage. Anyone have experience on these phones? Or any other suggestions?

The options mentioned above by @para_7k are all great considering your budget, I would like to add the following points:

Try to get a phone with UFS 4 storage, as it helps with better power efficiency and data transfer speeds compared to the lower UFS 3 or others. Try to get phones with higher-end SOCs within your budget, like the SD 7+ Gen 3, SD 8s Gen 3, SD 8 Gen 2, Dimensity 9200 Plus and above.

So Overall, all things considered, the OnePlus Nord 4 (at least the 256 GB and above variants would be my consideration as the 128 GB variant uses UFS 3.1), Another alternative would be the GT 6T (again with at least 256 GB storage) which is quite similar to the Nord except for a slight difference in cameras, a plastic frame and back, 120 W charging and of course dimensions and design

[TurboKat]

Originally Posted by para_7k

I would suggest you to tread carefully with the M30s. The exynos 9611 that is powering this phone is a flawed chip and can give up anytime. You can search for "Exynos 9611 issue" in the internet and see the results. As a precaution, please invest in a good cloud storage (if you have not already) and make sure you have a copy of all your important data. I had an M30s in 2020-21 and it gave up right in the middle of the 2nd wave of the pandemic. I couldn't buy a replacement due to the lockdown. I was using a spare 3G phone for a couple of months.

Yeah, I've been taking some precautions. Instead of a cloud storage, I am using a 256 GB Samsung Evo SD card. The SD card has been set as the default storage location. I transfer the Whatsapp received PDF/word files to my laptop. By the way, how is the Samsung S23 FE? One of my cousins who stays in Kuala Lumpur is getting the 256GB version at 30k (after conversion to INR) as opposed to 38k in India.

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by TurboKat

Yeah, I've been taking some precautions. Instead of a cloud storage, I am using a 256 GB Samsung Evo SD card. The SD card has been set as the default storage location. I transfer the Whatsapp received PDF/word files to my laptop. By the way, how is the Samsung S23 FE? One of my cousins who stays in Kuala Lumpur is getting the 256GB version at 30k (after conversion to INR) as opposed to 38k in India.

The S23 FE comes with Exynos 2200 in India and the Snapdragon 8 gen 1 in certain other regions. Both these chipsets are not known for their thermals and battery efficiency. If you're planning to use it as a secondary device, it should be ok.
I won't recommend it as a primary device due to the heating and battery life problem.
If you're in need of a Samsung midrange phone, have a look at the A55. Yes, it won't break any performance charts but it's a very well rounded device and a good "Samsung" phone

I hope this helps.

[TurboKat]

Originally Posted by para_7k

The S23 FE comes with Exynos 2200 in India and the Snapdragon 8 gen 1 in certain other regions. Both these chipsets are not known for their thermals and battery efficiency. If you're planning to use it as a secondary device, it should be ok.
I won't recommend it as a primary device due to the heating and battery life problem.
If you're in need of a Samsung midrange phone, have a look at the A55. Yes, it won't break any performance charts but it's a very well rounded device and a good "Samsung" phone

I hope this helps.

As I'm a student, I can't afford to have a secondary device. How does the Exynos 1480 fare when compared with Exynos 2200? I was thinking about S23 FE as it has a compact screen, that is 6.4 inches. If I could've spent more, I would've bought the S23 eyes closed. But budget constraints are making me think about the FE version. The maximum screen size I am looking for is 6.4 inches.

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by TurboKat

As I'm a student, I can't afford to have a secondary device. How does the Exynos 1480 fare when compared with Exynos 2200? I was thinking about S23 FE as it has a compact screen, that is 6.4 inches. If I could've spent more, I would've bought the S23 eyes closed. But budget constraints are making me think about the FE version. The maximum screen size I am looking for is 6.4 inches.

Apologies as I was not aware of your background. If you do a head-head comparison, Exynos 2200 would win in terms of raw performance while 1480 would win in terms of efficiency. The trade off that you make with compact devices is that they're not very good at heat dissipation and will have smaller batteries just due to limitations with packaging in that compact form factor.
That being said, there are not many compact devices in the sub 30k category.
Everyone is consuming content on phones these days and bigger screens are the way to go.
I am still not recommending the S23 FE due to the thermal issues. Even the battery life can be addressed by carrying a power bank. But in Indian summers, I have heard many reports that this device can heat up crazily.

If you are ok with a non-Samsung phone, Moto Edge 50 Neo is a reasonably good option. It has a better battery life and not as much thermal issues. Camera seems to be average though and the chipset is just midrange level.

Good luck in finding your ideal device. It's a tough spot. You either have to up your budget for a Xiaomi 14 or get a bigger phone at your budget.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by pankajn1702

After spending nearly 8 years on iOS, I made a plunge to break free from the walled garden and bought the Pixel 8a during the sale in 2024.

Thanks to my employer, I upgraded to the 8a from the 6a recently. Great phone indeed, I was missing wireless charging. Is that a chromebook I see in the background ? The pairing between the two is fantastic especially if you use a chrome browser on both.

[pankajn1702]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Thanks to my employer, I upgraded to the 8a from the 6a recently. Great phone indeed, I was missing wireless charging. Is that a chromebook I see in the background ? The pairing between the two is fantastic especially if you use a chrome browser on both.

Its an HP Windows laptop.

[roamer]

Originally Posted by pankajn1702

Pixel was simply a no brainer.

Have any heating issues been observed while charging? Also, how are the charging speeds? Its available in Croma for 34k here in Mumbai.

[pankajn1702]

Originally Posted by roamer

Have any heating issues been observed while charging? Also, how are the charging speeds? Its available in Croma for 34k here in Mumbai.

Heating not much, may be the device is still new that is why?
Charging speeds are similar to 5w charger of iPhone.
34k is a steal deal, if you considering go for it!

[bblost]

Samsung Galaxy M05 (Mint Green, 4GB RAM, 64 GB Storage)
50MP Dual Camera
Bigger 6.7" HD+ Display
5000mAh Battery

I needed a backup phone as my S22 Ultra has gone in for screen replacement under the Green line warranty replacement.

Since that would take over 3 weeks, I bought the cheapest dual sim phone that I liked.

It cost me about 6,500.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0DFY3XCB6/


For its price, this phone is brilliant.
I have the following apps installed: Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Gpay, Default Google Apps, MyGate, MyClassboard (my kids school) and a few more.

The only app that has an issue is Facebook where the videos can stutter a bit.
Videos on Insta and youtube do not have this issue.

The phone battery is solid.
I hardly plug it into the charger as the andriod auto during my drive to work (total time 70 odd mins) gives it enough juice.

If anyone is looking for a backup phone that is not going to be used for resource intensive work...they can take a look at it.

The camera is very basic:

[dearchichi]

Hello. I need advice on procuring a battery for my 5-year old OnePlus 7T HD1901 cellphone.

The phone still performs well for all the tasks I subject it to, so I see no reason to change it.

The OnePlus store locally says that there are no batteries manufactured for my model anymore. Are there any online resellers for the same, or any good offline shops in Bangalore I can reach out to?