[JonSnow]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I am looking for an Android phone. This will be for my mother and the budget is around 20-25k. I have shortlisted Oneplus Nord CE2 as one of the options. Anyone using this phone and can help with candid reviews? Also is there any other phone I should consider? Thank you.

You can also look at Moto G82 which will launch around 7 Jun

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by joslicx

For this kind of budget, the Samsung A52/53 are also to be considered. Generally Samsung gives a very solid, dependable experience. Phone can last years.

I would vouch for Samsung as well. My mother has been using M30s for last 3 years and it has endured everything thrown at the phone. The performance is still as good as new. The only reason to retire the current phone is multiple screen replacements it has gone through. After market screens develop one or the other issue within a few weeks and it becomes a bad experience for prolonged usage.

Samsung a52 seems to be a great recommendation but I am unable to source it from Croma or a trustworthy seller on Amazon. A53 is out of budget. Thank you for the input.

Since we have multiple OnePlus devices in the family already and I have experienced their good after sales service a few times, seems it is the second best option under 25k after Samsung.

Originally Posted by JonSnow

You can also look at Moto G82 which will launch around 7 Jun

Thank you for the recommendation. I had to buy a phone this weekend itself so ended up buying OP Nord CE2. Also typically I wait for at least few months after a phone’s launch for thousand odd Amazon reviews before taking the plunge.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by JonSnow

You can also look at Moto G82 which will launch around 7 Jun

One thing to be aware of while buying phones powered by Snapdragon 695:

Another major drawback of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 is the fact that the chip does not support 4K video encoding. Hence, any smartphone powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC will not be able to record 4K videos, and the video resolution will be limited to just 1080p, which is a bummer, especially for those phones which cost over Rs. 20,000. Link

I purchased the Poco X4 Pro 5G powered by the same chipset for my Dad and these issues exist while it may not matter depending on the end user. So when playing videos on YouTube or any of the other OTT Apps, the highest resolution available is 1080P.

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

My Note 10 lite is now showing mood swings when it comes to charging. Today morning it took multiple cables and postures to make it start charging. I think the USB C port is now gone, and I may need to take it to the service center as soon as possible. Does anyone know if Samsung replaces the port alone or the complete motherboard?

I was very happy with this phone for the last 2.5 years, and even now gets almost the same battery life that I got on the first day. Confused about repairing and keeping this or buying a new phone now. The only SPen-equipped phone that is available now costs 1.1L.

Samsung Service Centre replaced the charging port. It was cheaper than I thought at 1600 Rs. So that extends my Note 10 Lite's life for at least one more year. I bought it with Android 10, and it is already running Android 12. According to Samsung's promise of 3 OS updates, this thing is supposed to get Android 13. If they adhere to the promise, I might keep it for two years. Other than wireless charging, I don't miss anything yet compared to the new phones.

While my phone was in the service center, I bought a Redmi 10 as a backup. I did not enjoy it even though it was better to hold and the battery was lasting more than 2 days. I think I will keep buying Samsungs just for One UI.

[JonSnow]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

One thing to be aware of while buying phones powered by Snapdragon 695:

Good to know. So far I have never recorded in 4k. Won't that take up huge amount of storage. Most higher end phones don't even have a microSD slot. So how do you manage your storage space if you record in 4k by default?

[sajands]

Originally Posted by xotiq

Got the Vivo X80 Pro delivered couple of days back.

Is it worth 79999/ or in this case 72999/? Well, this is almost 95% of the Samsung S22 Ultra at 35% less. And yes, love the handy IR emitter feature on this X80 pro. Since this is my first Vivo, need to see how this phone holds up.

Thank you for your review, I have a Nord 2 and stuck between X80 Pro or wait for the OnePlus 10T which is coming. Camera is most important to me, Nord 2 camera is decent but not happy with the night mode and normal selfie pictures in the night.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by JonSnow

Good to know. So far I have never recorded in 4k. Won't that take up huge amount of storage. Most higher end phones don't even have a microSD slot. So how do you manage your storage space if you record in 4k by default?

I do use my phone for recording lot of videos as well as for taking pictures. Typically download recorded content (photos and videos) onto an External HDD via my Windows Laptop once in 2-3 months to free up space.
In this case the bigger negative which impacts most people would be the content playback being restricted to 1080P as well. Lot of content these days is available on 4K. May not make a huge difference on the form factor that a phone offers but still it feels like a cost cutting to not be able to stream at 4K.

[atnyia]

In some dilemma these days.

I have Redmi K20 Pro which works just fine but battery health is appx 85.

I could change the battery but software support for the phone is ending. Besides, not sure how long a replacement battery will last. The warranty offered is usually only a few months.

I could also upgrade to Mi 11T X or something with SD888. I need only a good display and fast performance. Already have an iPhone for camera etc.

Any suggestions?

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by atnyia

In some dilemma these days.

I have Redmi K20 Pro which works just fine but battery health is appx 85.

I could change the battery but software support for the phone is ending. Besides, not sure how long a replacement battery will last. The warranty offered is usually only a few months.

I could also upgrade to Mi 11T X or something with SD888. I need only a good display and fast performance. Already have an iPhone for camera etc.

Any suggestions?

If budget permits then go for Samsung S20 FE or S21 FE with SD888. A bit expensive but better than Mi and you'll probably get more 5g bands than Mi.

[akhil_007]

Using Redmi Note 8 since 2 years. Was satisfied overall. Recently charging pin conked off. Got it replaced. Post that, phone screen hangs, lots of ghost touches, screen becomes unresponsive.

Any solutions/ideas as to why this happens and what's the fix? Should I get it repaired or buy a new phone?

Thanks

[xotiq]

Originally Posted by sajands

Thank you for your review, I have a Nord 2 and stuck between X80 Pro or wait for the OnePlus 10T which is coming. Camera is most important to me, Nord 2 camera is decent but not happy with the night mode and normal selfie pictures in the night.

Been a week using X80 pro, and yes the camera is terrific. Especially low light shots and the natural feel of shots taken with Zeiss Optics/Coating. Video stabilization is impressive. Battery lasts around 30-36 hours with my usage pattern. Have used Samsung and Mi flagships, this is my first Vivo phone. No idea about OnePlus though, never used. Researched a little about their Hasselblad tie up, but was not convinced.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by sajands

Thank you for your review, I have a Nord 2 and stuck between X80 Pro or wait for the OnePlus 10T which is coming. Camera is most important to me, Nord 2 camera is decent but not happy with the night mode and normal selfie pictures in the night.

Mobile photography is all about AI and inbuilt porstprocessing. Hardware still has long way to go to match the level of any decent camera. If photography is your priority then look no further than Google Pixel.

Pixel 6a is just about to launch officially in India and imported Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are readily available on Amazon India at reasonable price.

6a will be having same camera hardware from pixel 4 and 5 but will have better AI along with more camera features.

Pixel 6 has better sensor which is more capable in low light, 6 pro has additional telephoto over it.

Have seen lot of photographs from all the flagships and hyped camera phones, but atleast I am not convinced. They all produce heavily post processed which look like some ugly water painting with dark black outlines around edge. They also lose lot of details in all these over processed images.

Google and Apple have done better job in this department. I rate Google a little better, especially the photos clicked using HDR+ mode are unmatched.

[GreasyCarb55]

Does anyone know when the Xiaomi Mi 12 Ultra is being launched?

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by atnyia

I have Redmi K20 Pro which works just fine but battery health is appx 85.

I could change the battery but software support for the phone is ending. Besides, not sure how long a replacement battery will last. The warranty offered is usually only a few months.

I have the same phone and looking to upgrade during Dasara/Diwali timeframe.

I guess you can wait for Xiaomi to bring in some of its K50 Pro Series to India. They should have launched these in India by now - not sure what's taking them so long.

Other alternative would be One Plus Nord 3 expected to launch in August in India.

[whencut86]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Pixel 6 has better sensor which is more capable in low light, 6 pro has additional telephoto over it.

Been using a Pixel 6 which I got from Amazon. Got a Japanese unit for less than 45K and exchanged my Pixel 3 for 8K. Only reason to go for the Pixel 6 over the 6 Pro was the flat screen against the curved screen in the Pixel 6 Pro. Spigen tempered glass on a flat screen offers good protection with a toddler at home. The issues are all sorted with the recent updates and fixes and the phone is a joy to use with all its features. The camera is another level compared to the Pixel 3. Pixel 6 images with HDR+ are one of the best when compared with many other flagships. Only place where the Pixel 6 falls short is in Portraits but I guess this can be fixed by an update over time.