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

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akshay6988 (Post 5064092)

Hello guys, my sister needs a tablet to attend her school lectures. Budget is around 13-15 k ₹. Not looking any fancy features or such, decent battery backup, sim card support and acceptable screen resolution is good enough. Please let me know your recommendations.

You can check Lenovo M10. It falls in your budget.

Quote:

Originally Posted by girishv (Post 5068501)

You can check Lenovo M10. It falls in your budget.

Thank you. I got the same Lenovo M10 for her. It arrived two days back. I was wondering how it would performe with 2 GB of RAM, but it is working well enough for her. It is a good vfm tablet :)

I've got a Moto X4 which has problems charging. And the camera glass is cracked. It's 3 years old and probably time to get a new phone.
I'm looking at budget under 20000. Requirements are
1. Decent camera (not brilliant)
2. Stock android of possible
3. I'm not a gamer or heavy app user, but do like a phone that has decent performance with no lag.
4. Dual SIM plus expandable memory.
5. Screen size around 6 inch. Dont like 6.5 inch

Any personal recommendations. Don't mind a 2020 release phone as it may be cheaper to get. Not really crazy about a just-released phone model.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 5069730)

I too own a Moto X4 (Jan'18) and love it's near stock interface and no faced issues so far. I was looking for a mobile for wife and found Moto One Fusion Plus and Moto G60 which suits your requirement too.
My requirements are similar to yours and on online reviews (Geekyranjit) found them satisfactory. The only missing bit is compass sensor but it does not affect Gmaps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 5069730)

Hello Benji,
If you are willing to extend budget a little, try Asus Zenfone 6. Its phone from 2019. I have it. Except for two minor grouse - about camera coming from home position & Non availability of cases, find the phone to be amazing.
Solid build, stock Android (My phone came with Android 9, updated to 10 in Nov 2019, updated to 11 in Dec 2020), solid battery life, very decent audio quality, pretty good camera with amazing panorama & selfies, fast finger print sensor, dual sim + micro SD card, SD845 etc
You can try Zenfone 7 as well.
Barath

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 5070054)

Continuing my query, is it worthwhile getting a phone that is 5G enabled? I usually use my phone's for 3 years at least.

In case you go ahead with 5G phones, please ensure it supports quite a few bands of 5G.

For 3+ years, I would suggest to get the 5G one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheel (Post 5070066)

In case you go ahead with 5G phones, please ensure it supports quite a few bands of 5G.

For 3+ years, I would suggest to get the 5G one.

I am in the same dilemma.

Manufacturers seem to be churning out 5G ready phones one after the other when there is no clarity on which bands will be supported when the technology arrives here.

In such a case, does it not make better sense to buy a 4G phone as a stopgap alternative now, use it for a couple of years and then upgrade to a 5G model? Or should one invest in a 5G ready phone straightaway for long term usage?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oxy (Post 5070491)

In such a case, does it not make better sense to buy a 4G phone as a stopgap alternative now, use it for a couple of years and then upgrade to a 5G model? Or should one invest in a 5G ready phone straightaway for long term usage?

Indeed. I recently bought a 4G capable Samsung A52 and I don't see 5G becoming ubiquitous within 3 years. In this pandemic lots of things have taken backseat. And also, 4G is capable for most use cases and I wouldn't miss much NOT being on 5G bandwagon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMaruru (Post 5070578)

Agreed. Am thinking of getting either the A52 or the Pixel 4a myself, as 5G is not making sense at this point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragonfire (Post 5071097)

If we buy a 4G only phone today wouldn't it become obsolete in one or two years?

I wouldn't think so. Both will co-exist for quite a few years until next generation happens. For most of the current use cases 4G is more than sufficient.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragonfire (Post 5071097)

If we buy a 4G only phone today wouldn't it become obsolete in one or two years?

Short answer: No, it won't. Probably not for several years (the tech I mean, not the device itself:)).

Long answer/Context: 3G began decommissioning around the world just last year. We're still in the spectrum allocation for trials phase for 5G in India, field trials yet to begin. Even when it eventually goes commercial, the kind of 5G we'll get in the initial phases is probably going to be the sub-6 GHz frequency band that won't be a night & day difference over 4G/LTE, performance-wise.

The game changer, high-frequency mmWave, will need major infrastructure investments, we don't know if/when the government will allow that spectrum to be used, and whether the RoI will be lucrative enough for service providers to bother with widespread adoption beyond large, congested metros.

5G is still practically hype on paper and not much else, and far from becoming ubiquitous to the point it should be a factor in a purchase decision. Quite a few 5G-ready phones currently on sale are of the single-band variety, and there's no guarantee those bands will be supported in India, so they're iffy even from a 'future-proofing' perspective that a lot of people are buying them for.

Finally updated my OP 7T to Android 11 and it looks a bit different compared to OOS10. I dont know if I like it, but it sure is different, probably a matter of getting used to it.
I use my phone mostly for browsing & WhatsApp, so i cant help much with other parameters such as performance, battery etc.