Team-BHP - Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods

My >3 year old Moto G3 needs urgent replacement. I am thinking of Redmi Note 8 or Samsung M30 S, both 4GB / 64 GB, available on Amazon for Rs 9999 and Rs 13999 respectively. I am inclined more towards the Redmi.

Suggestions are welcome. I use my phone only for calls, messaging, social media, and a few other activities like train ticket booking, phone bill/mobile recharge and PayTM. No gaming. But I watch music videos on Youtube. So any other inexpensive phone which has Dolby Atmos and external stereo speakers will also be welcome. I don't think the phones I mentioned have these features.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mortis (Post 4724971)

Should I unlock and root my phone or is there no benefit. I don't plan on custom ROMs or anything as such, at most GCam for better pics. Should I avoid it

Unless required, avoid it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binand (Post 4725019)

There are apps that detect rooting and refuse to function if running on a rooted device. Usually payment/banking apps, streaming video apps etc. Best to wait if you use apps in these categories.

I seem to recall that UPI/BHIM/Google Pay don't work on rooted phones.

I have 1+5T rooted (No Custom ROM, only custom kernel), all apps work (including GPay, HDFC banking, UMang, DigiLocker, HotStar, PrimeVideo). Its always Cat and Mouse game. Every time Google/Play service/Play Store gets updated, need to fix root hiding procedure. If one needs rooting, then has to take a pain of making app work! Sometime its exhausting.

Till now its worth! Compared to wifes 1+5, or MIL 1+6T, I get 2 days battery (compared to 1 day for them), no Ads, apps run faster (thanks to Kernel) and better Audio over Bluetooth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by promit (Post 4724826)

After sitting on the fence for ages, I finally went in for a OnePlus 7T 256 gb in the middle of December. Literally picked it up and left for a 3-week long vacation. I can't believe how ignorant I have been about the current Android phones. A few of my friends have switched from iPhone and have been thrilled and it took them quite a lot of convincing to help me change my mind. Enjoying the Warp Charge, the screen, the camera, and the speed. Absolutely loving it. Was thinking about the iPhone 11 128gb but couldn't close on it because of the screen and certain other things which seemed too much of a compromise, especially considering the asking price.

I too switched form an iphone 6 to the OP6T last year and i am super impressed. Any how was not able to transfer whatsapp chats. I ended up mailing them to myself for future reference and moved on. If you manage to move whatsapp from the 6s to Oneplus please put it up here, as i am looking to change my work phone too.
Thanks!

My recent switch to Jio means I need both the sim in my phone as VoLte standby. This means, I have to bid goodbye to my trusted LG G6.

What I need:

1. My comfortable price range is 30-40 K.
2. I need a dual SIM phone with both VoLte standby.
3. I don't play game, not even temple-run. But I have certain corporate app and some banking app. I generally use paid antivirus on my phone. Anyway, total App data is under 2GB.
4. Hate too much bloatware and manufacturer provided apps.
5. Prefer a nice auto camera feature, which do justice to most cases. Loved the AI camera of LG. And yes, OIS do wonder.
6. I throw my phones a lot, I even went to swimming pool with my phone once. Any day I would prefer a rugged phone with IPS65 screen over others.

What are my current options:

OP: My wife uses OP6, which I find a good phone with several sort comings. There are several software glitches, e.g. if I connect the BT speaker to my phone, next time her OP won't connect at all. She has to reset and re-add the BT speaker.

Again, OP seems brittle and I am not confident about the water proofing.
OP has a wider form and huge screen means impossible one palm operation.

LG: Current LG G8 feels a bit archaic. LG has no idea of what does a OTA software upgrade mean.

Samsung: S10 is still pricey. Did not have good experience with A series before (A7). Apart from S series, all Samsung phones are full of garbage (bloatware) and too brittle.

Any other suggestions? Should I move with OP with the compromises? Which one is better OP7T or OP7 pro?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PetrolRider (Post 4725817)

My recent switch to Jio means I need both the sim in my phone as VoLte standby. This means, I have to bid goodbye to my trusted LG G6.

What I need:

1. My comfortable price range is 30-40 K.
2. I need a dual SIM phone...

LG: Current LG G8 feels a bit archaic. LG has no idea of what does a OTA software upgrade mean.

Samsung: S10 is still pricey. Did not have good experience with A series before (A7). Apart from S series, all Samsung phones are full of garbage (bloatware) and too brittle.

Any other suggestions? Should I move with OP with the compromises? Which one is better OP7T or OP7 pro?

Try the S10e.

The LG G8s is your best choice, especially if you are not likely to root and install custom ROMs. Of course, I also avoided it because of low likelihood of updates.
Next in line would be the ASUS ROG 2. :)

I don't like the Oneplus 7 range because of the missing earphone jack and missing SD card slot. SD card slot is compensated for by the fast USB 3 OTG port.

I finally took the preloved S10 plus route. Wait until February March when the S11 shows up. You should be able to get good deals then on the S10 series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PetrolRider (Post 4725817)

Samsung: S10 is still pricey. Apart from S series, all Samsung phones are full of garbage (bloatware) and too brittle.

Any other suggestions?

Today I saw a teaser on Flipkart of something called the Samsung S10 Lite, so that's going to come soon. I suggest wait 2-3 weeks and go for that one. A Samsung with the SD 855 chipset and 8 GB of RAM at about 35-40k seems a mouth watering prospect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gansan (Post 4725647)

If Camera is not a priority, I would suggest Asus zenfone max pro m1 3/32gb at 7500 or 4/64gb for 8500. This has almost stock Android, decent Camera and for your needs, the best loudspeaker.

Dolby Atmos like Dirac audio enhancement is found in Realme phones. Realme 5s at 10k is also a good option, but speaker is better in Asus.

Asus also has a better 1080 screen and efficient battery usage.

Realme5 has excellent battery too.

Vivo u1/u20 start from 8500 on Amazon.

Realme5s and redmi note 8 have the best cameras at 10k Rupees.

I have all the phones in the family, and for you I'd suggest Asus for its best speaker and cheapest cost. The money saved can be used to pay mobile bills for 2 years or buy micro sd storage to save more video and entertainment content offline.

If you want to use dual apps and second space feature, then Redmi is the only option, their software implementation is better than other companies and other third party software.

Realme and Asus are light on resources and 3/32 gb model will work fine for the next 3 years.

Asus is also the cheapest phone with SD 636 chipset.

Vivo U20 has SD 675 along with faster ufs2.1 storage which will extend the usability of your phone in future.

I've recently upgraded all phones in the family and all these work fine for the intended user.

If you want a moto G3 type stock Android experience, Asus is your only option with 5000 mah battery, otherwise there are Nokia models with smaller battery sizes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gansan (Post 4726185)

^^ Thank you. My budget is 15k, plus or minus a couple of thousands. This evening I was shown the Oppo A9 2020 at the Croma store. Price was about 17.5k. Looked decent and the sound from the external stereo speakers was good. Any idea about that one? And any phone I buy should be able to last 3-4 years.

For that money, you can get the Honor 9X or the Realme X2. But for your usage, a Vivo U20 or an Asus Max Pro M1 would suffice as drsingh suggested above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvadg (Post 4725966)

I finally took the preloved S10 plus route. Wait until February March when the S11 shows up. You should be able to get good deals then on the S10 series.

I am anyway planning for February only, hopefully new S11 be announced by then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oxy (Post 4726130)

Today I saw a teaser on Flipkart of something called the Samsung S10 Lite, so that's going to come soon.

Though seems interesting especially with plastic back (not brittle), a big letdown is that mammoth screen and typical Samsung wide bodied form factor. I hate large phones, cause they are more prone to fell from my hand.

Anyway, I am not in a hurry. I will wait for the full specs and pricing details to be out.

Thanks for the advice guys I set up my 1+7t without root as it didn't seem like i would require it and don't want to deal with the hassles that come with it.

So far so good, I'm still getting used to the larger screen and customising the phone to my liking.

One minor issue i managed to resolve was the search and contacts bar not showing up in top bar of Dialer when dark theme was applied. Managed to fix it by changing the default theme to Dark Nuanced.

Is there any way to make the navigation buttons bar on the bottom larger ? It feels a bit dicey reaching for it right now.

I also managed to stab the Sim eject tool into the mic hole instead of the Sim tray next to it.

Has anyone else noticed a lot more ads on newer phones ? My OnePlus 3 with Android 8 had a lot fewer and shorter Ads than the 1+7t with Android 10. Like 3-4 5 second ads on each 10 minute video from the same creators as before where there was barely one 3 sec Ad. It's so annoying