[kippu]

Any reviews or opinions on vivo x70 pro plus . I am in the hunt for a good camera phone to gift my wife for anniversary , who weirdly doesnot like iphones .

So any advice is appreciated

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by kippu

Any reviews or opinions on vivo x70 pro plus . I am in the hunt for a good camera phone to gift my wife for anniversary , who weirdly doesnot like iphones .

So any advice is appreciated

It would be good idea to check out the upcoming Galaxy S21 FE. Size is perfect, cameras are good, gorilla glass victus, good battery and on Android 12 with 3 more updates. If decently priced then a compelling buy.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by kippu

Any reviews or opinions on vivo x70 pro plus . I am in the hunt for a good camera phone to gift my wife for anniversary , who weirdly doesnot like iphones .

So any advice is appreciated

I am also considering buying the X70 Pro Plus. I had used it for a few minutes, and was impressed by the camera, especially low-light photography. I don't think any of the Samsung midrange phones could compete with it. I currently use a Samsung phone, and I think I will wait for this year's Samsung flagship and compare it with what Vivo has to offer. In my case, if this year's Samsung flagship is close to the X70 (or X80 if it releases around the same time), I might pick Samsung because I own a Galaxy Watch. If the decision was only based on camera, Vivo would be my pick.

[Siddarth_Ramani]

Originally Posted by joslicx

It would be good idea to check out the upcoming Galaxy S21 FE. Size is perfect, cameras are good, gorilla glass victus, good battery and on Android 12 with 3 more updates. If decently priced then a compelling buy.

Yes the last generation FE was great. It was/is VFM. However this year we are getting exynos chipset here in India. My experience with exynos has been bad. Most of my friend's devices straight up went dead after a year (I'm talking about Exynos 9611). Besides the pricing is a bit on the higher side this year. Do checkout S20FE. It's still a good buy even in 22.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by Siddarth_Ramani

Yes the last generation FE was great. It was/is VFM. However this year we are getting exynos chipset here in India. My experience with exynos has been bad. Most of my friend's devices straight up went dead after a year (I'm talking about Exynos 9611). Besides the pricing is a bit on the higher side this year. Do checkout S20FE. It's still a good buy even in 22.

Agree, at the launch price, it is not an automatic choice.

The phone is quite good actually. And exynos 2100 is not bad either (and Snapdragon 888 has its own set of issues anyway). Not concerned about the chipset choice to be honest.

I'd pick it at around 40k but 55k is asking 15k too much. It's a shame Google can't give us the pixel 6 series. That would have helped bring down prices of quite a few of these phones. I'm hoping they would consider launching the 6a. I'm in the market to change my S9 as it has to be charged twice in the day now. I was considering S21 FE but maybe need to wait till prices go down.

[Siddarth_Ramani]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Agree, at the launch price, it is not an automatic choice.

The phone is quite good actually. And exynos 2100 is not bad either (and Snapdragon 888 has its own set of issues anyway). Not concerned about the chipset choice to be honest.

If you are not too concerned about brand, I'd say wait for realme GT2 series. They are just loaded. The base one (GT2 with SD888) will be below 35k and the GT2 pro (SD 8 gen 1) will be around 45k. You'll be getting a 2K display at that price.

You may already know this, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, OnePlus and IQoo are all owned by BBK electronics. They are strategically moving OnePlus to match iPhones, all the same time letting Realme GT series to cover OnePlus target audience (read flagship killers). They are also promising 3 year software updates. The only thing I wish in that package is custom rom support. If only wishes were horses.

[Bhupesh_2628]

I was thinking a few days back that why we are not getting Google Pixel phones for the past few months?

I think its because people here have:
1) Not heard of it.
2) Never tried them.
3) Hate pure stock Android (which of course is individual's choice) - but then One Plus phones are also sold in huge numbers (It's close to stock Android).
4) Not aware of its capabilities like guranteed software updates, camera etc.

I guess the last model launched was Pixel 4a/Pixel 3.

According to me, Pixels are one of the best phones -> an all-rounder.

Really a shame that its not available here. All I'm seeing is phones from Chinese brands. They are really dominating the market here which for some reason I don't like at all & would never consider them.

[white-power]

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

I was thinking a few days back that why we are not getting Google Pixel phones for the past few months?

I think its because people here have:
1) Not heard of it.
2) Never tried them.
3) Hate pure stock Android (which of course is individual's choice) - but then One Plus phones are also sold in huge numbers (It's close to stock Android).
4) Not aware of its capabilities like guranteed software updates, camera etc.

I guess the last model launched was Pixel 4a/Pixel 3.

According to me, Pixels are one of the best phones -> an all-rounder.

Really a shame that its not available here. All I'm seeing is phones from Chinese brands. They are really dominating the market here which for some reason I don't like at all & would never consider them.

I don't think many actually bought the Pixels here in India.

Some reasons:

1) It is expensive and it is not an iPhone. For that price you can either buy a one gen old iPhone or buy a Oneplus flagship and still have a lot of cash left. And for the price of a Pixel midranger, one can buy a realme flagship killer.

2) In spite of the allure of stock Android, it is pretty basic. Although the likes of MIUI and Realme UI are bloated, it comes with a bunch of apps OOTB, and with a lot of customizations.

Pixels gave class leading cameras, have fast and fluid OS and you get regular updates. But that is not good enough to rope in buyers. It either has to be premium or VFM. Pixel is neither.

Google is doing itself a favour by staying away.

[joslicx]

I'm also not much interested in Chinese phones but for OnePlus. Am getting tempted by the OnePlus 10pro. If they price it well then i could upgrade to it when it gets launched. The last OnePlus phone i bought was the 7tpro that I picked up for around 36k ( 256GB variant ) and it's a great phone for it's price. Absolutely love it. How I wish more phones had a notchless/holeless screen.

[adithya.kp]

Its strange that s21 ( upcoming s22 too) and iphone 13 are the only compact phones across all the categories. ( I know pixel 4a is also compact. But its a 2020 phone).
Does anybody have some info on s22 specs?. It looks good. I am particularly interested knowing the processor for India market and the build (plastic/glass) . I wonder why samsung started using plastic for the base S series. ( s21)

[sagarpadaki]

Issue is buyers want big phones. Bigger the better is the mantra since they feel they get more bang for the buck.

I am also a fan of compact phones(<6 inch diagonal size) with clean android . Hope and wish for some good compact phones in 2022 since I plan to replace my current phone this year sometime. Else will be forced to get the 2 year old Pixel 4a

[sukhoi]

Originally Posted by dragntailonfire

While browsing the different options at the store, I noticed the new Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G. The specs looked very good, and the fit and finish felt very nice. I really enjoyed the 120Hz display also.
The MRP was 36000, but the sales guy generated a code from My Galaxy app and that added a discount of 5000. With an additional 500 cash back from HDFC credit card, the final amount was 30500.
Finally ended up buying that model itself, and after using it for a couple of days, I think I made a good choice. The phone is snappy and as responsive as my S10e, and the faster refresh rate is indeed a very refreshing experience (pun intended).
Attachment 2221570

How has your experience been with the phone so far, been almost 3 months now I think. Did you by any chance get the Android 12 update, was reading that Samsung has started rolling out 12 update for A52S series also recently.

Originally Posted by ashis89

I replaced my pixel 3a with a S20FE 5g a month ago and can share my experience. Compared to pixel, this phone is fast and doesn't lag while using apps or the camera (Pixel camera had a long lag, whether using apps or the camera). Screen is better and so is the battery life. I never noticed any abnormal heating so far, with this Samsung. Even while charging, the pixel ran a lot hotter than this.

Now coming to the negatives, the cameras are inferior to the 3 year old pixel. The picture clarity from the front or the rear cameras aren't as good as the pixel. Focusing on images isn't easy, especially if you're using zoom. The in-screen finger print scanner also isn't as effective as the one on pixel (but once the finger print is registered, Samsung unlocks a lot quicker).

Overall i am satisfied with the phone but not very happy. I was looking for a good camera phone and this one falls short.

Thank you for the feedback ashis89. Camera was one of the main reasons why I was considering flagship-ish territory but now I am in two minds about it.

Originally Posted by dmplog

Thanks for your review on S20 FE. I am on the fence and looking at S20FE or A52s.
For cameras, did you try the Google Camera apks? It may make a marked differences in image quality as Google Camera software processing is clearly superior

dmplog, it is you and dragntailonfire whome I thank for bringing A52s on my radar. Had not looked at it, could say was blissfully unaware of its existence till recently. Have heard a lot of good things about this phone and am considering it as well.

Originally Posted by ani_meher

Thanks for sharing this. What other data on the phone do you need backed up? The address book is synced to your gmail. Pixel phones have unlimited storage for medium quality photos and videos automatically backed up to your google drive. If you use microsoft message app, it backs up all SMSs to your google account. Whatsapp too is backed up. Office documents are stored on Onedrive automatically. Do you have any other data in mind that would need backup?

I was not aware of the Microsoft app, that is a thing I have installed now. Thanks for the information. Last I had heard, Pixel had made some changes to the unlimited storage but yes that is still a viable option. Now that you mentioned it, between photos/videos, SMS and WhatsApp most of my usage is covered. But then I am a basic user I feel and not a power user so was considering what do folks do about other apps that they would be using. Also, this led to a follow up question, that how does one secure the data on phone should it get lost or stolen?

Originally Posted by ashis89

Thanks to your idea, I have started using the Google camera app as well. Only challenge is the default app is the Samsung in-built one which I end up using a lot due to ease of navigation (double press of power button).

Also, GCam app allows zoom upto 8x while the phone supports 30x zoom.

Sharing some pics I clicked during my recent trip. Most of these are basic point and shoot clicks. I still feel the quality/clarity of pics were better on my Pixel (I felt it at times the Pixel was slightly better than my wife's iPhone 11 as well). This one is not too far behind and does a decent job although this is a much faster phone.

Thanks for the feedback and sample shots.

Originally Posted by viXit

One year with the S20FE

No heating issues.
Cameras are the best and worst part.

I absolutely love the telephoto and ultrawide angles. But they lack quality when it gets dark.

The main camera is fantastic, people think I have Cheap phone and usually are surprised when they see the quality of pics.

But the camera app is terrible. Always lagging and stuttering. It's a complaint from other s20Fe users on reddit too.

Gcam not mature enough. So I'm just bearing with it.

Thank you for the feedback mate. So the overall verdict seems to be that for the flagship-ish price the camera does not live up to the expectations but other wise it is a well rounded device.

Originally Posted by joslicx

Agree, at the launch price, it is not an automatic choice.

The phone is quite good actually. And exynos 2100 is not bad either (and Snapdragon 888 has its own set of issues anyway). Not concerned about the chipset choice to be honest.

I'd pick it at around 40k but 55k is asking 15k too much. It's a shame Google can't give us the pixel 6 series. That would have helped bring down prices of quite a few of these phones. I'm hoping they would consider launching the 6a. I'm in the market to change my S9 as it has to be charged twice in the day now. I was considering S21 FE but maybe need to wait till prices go down.

6A is rumored to be arriving in India, per this article.

On the chipset, I agree that between Exynos 2100 (which is doing duty on S21 Ultra also and has performed well based on whatever I have heard so far) and SD 888 there may not be that much of a difference. Which is why while I was initially disappointed about S21 FE 5G launching with Exynos, now I think it is not that bad a deal but the pricing of 50K is too high for my liking too. Incidentally today only Geekyranjit has posted a video about flagship Android chipsets and how mid-range SoCs might be a better option for most of the users. He is one reviewer whom I generally find to be honest about tech. He mentioned that he gets 5 to 5.5 hours SOT on S21 FE 5G which runs Exynos 2100 whereas gets 8.5 to 10 hours SOT on M52 which runs 778G (same as found on A52s also). Unless a power user, most people would be okay with a a mid-range SoC is what he mentioned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YP1TQCyVFw

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

I was thinking a few days back that why we are not getting Google Pixel phones for the past few months?

I think its because people here have:
1) Not heard of it.
2) Never tried them.
3) Hate pure stock Android (which of course is individual's choice) - but then One Plus phones are also sold in huge numbers (It's close to stock Android).
4) Not aware of its capabilities like guranteed software updates, camera etc.

I guess the last model launched was Pixel 4a/Pixel 3.

According to me, Pixels are one of the best phones -> an all-rounder.

Really a shame that its not available here. All I'm seeing is phones from Chinese brands. They are really dominating the market here which for some reason I don't like at all & would never consider them.

To add to that, I feel Pixel phones are for a niche audience and since they were never marketed that aggressively, as you said, not many people have tried them or heard of them. We have Samsung / Redmi stores aplenty but not a Google store. These would be available only on places like Croma or Reliance Digital (which is where we bought it from in 2018, Pixel 2 XL) or Flipkart/Amazon. Pixel also did not get pricing right is what many people felt. But in recent times this has changed and we can see Pixel 4A selling very well on Flipkart. Only if they would have brought the Pixel 5A and 6/6Pro to India. More competition would have also been better since prices for Samsungs would have also corrected (hopefully).

Originally Posted by sukhoi

So Pixel 5A is probably not going to be launched in India. In fact there are videos on YouTube about how Pixel 6A might get launched in India some time next year, not sure about the reliability of the same.

S21 FE is said to be launching at CES 2022, before the S22 series is launched. Based on the supposed leaks so far, the S21 FE would not have a major advantage over S20 FE 5G. It would be loosing out on the micro SD card slot compared to S20 FE 5G.

BTW, in case anyone is interested in this phone, it has got a good deal on Amazon, is available for INR 36,990.

Regards,
S

So now with S21 FE launched, pricing known and feedback for S20 FE also in, I am thinking of going with neither and getting an A52S 5G instead. My requirements from the next phone are:
1) Good performance overall, good call quality. Am not a power user and do not play games
2) Good cameras. Again not a pro photographer but rather an amateur/enthusiast. Would like to get best possible camera in the price range though
3) IP rating for water protection
4) High refresh rate. While most have said that it does not matter much but I wanted to try it out since have heard so much about it
5) Headphone jack and expandable memory are good to have, not must haves though
6) 5G not a must but good to have since I tend to keep phones for long (3 years at least)

Was looking at S20 FE 5G and was hoping that post the release of S21 FE maybe it would get a further price cut but that has not happened. Instead it is available at INR 39,389/- on Amazon at the moment. Also, given that the camera does not seem to be the highlight of the phone, spending the 40K odd on it does not seem like a great idea to me. The latest on chipsets also makes me think that for my usage 778G on A52S 5G would be good enough. A52S 5G is available for INR 30,200/- on Amazon. The other benefits of A52s 5G over S20 FE 5G are:
1) Android 11 out of the box so gets 1 more Android update (S20 FE 5G comes with 10 out of the box)
2) Headphone jack
3) Decent camera for my kind of usage

Originally Posted by dmplog

I am on the fence and looking at S20FE or A52s.

Did you decide one way or another. if not, what are you leaning towards?

A52S was available for INR 26,XXX /- on Samsung's corporate site but is out of stock at the moment. With Amazon Republic Day sale around the corner as well (starting 17th Jan) maybe more discounts would be available on A52S on Amazon too and would be a good time to pick it up.

Regards,
S

[harry10]

@Sukhoi

On Amazon, A52s 5g is available at 37499 and not 30200. The 30k one listed there is a renewed product.

How about One plus 9RT launching on the 14th?

[sukhoi]

Originally Posted by harry10

@Sukhoi

On Amazon, A52s 5g is available at 37499 and not 30200. The 30k one listed there is a renewed product.

How about One plus 9RT launching on the 14th?

Am not very keen on OnePlus mobiles personally.

You are right about INR 37,499/- pricing but that is under a scheme called as With Offer. There is another scheme which is Without Offer which shows the price as INR 30,199 /- which is what I was referring to. This is for a new phone and not renewed. Attaching screenshot for reference.



Interestingly though, when I selected the Without Offer option, the price quoted was INR 30,800/- instead of INR 30,199/-. Not sure why.


Regards,
S

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by sukhoi

You are right about INR 37,499/- pricing but that is under a scheme called as With Offer. There is another scheme which is Without Offer which shows the price as INR 30,199 /- which is what I was referring to. This is for a new phone and not renewed. Attaching screenshot for reference.

I wonder what exactly is better in the Samsung compared to the Moto Edge 20 that the asked price is so high even after so called offers and discounts!

You can even get the Google Pixel 5a 5G in the MRP of the A52. Currently listed at around 40K on Amazon India.

I never liked the Samsung cameras which just throw detail-less snaps with heavy processing which make them look like water paintings instead of photographs. Some gentleman posted some photo examples few posts ago, same water-painting kind of effect there again and still people are praising those snaps.

I guess the average quality snaps look better on the small and over brightened AMOLEDs screen so people think the snap itself was actually good!

If anyone want to test the mobile camera hardware then download the Open-Camera app, turn off the noise removal and sharpening processing in the advanced settings and then click the photos in various conditions, that will reveal the true colors of the mediocre mobile camera hardware.

People also claim that Samsung UI has become less bloated, which also is not true. Just check the running apps, there are plenty of Samsung apps and services running in the background and occupying the resources unnecessarily.

I also don't like the idea of setting up two ids in phone. Samsung including many other mobile manufacturers have such system where they come with two app sores along with their own cloud based services. Man, Google services are enough, why more clutter?

Just imagine an one ton car running on 100 BHP engine and a 1.5 ton car running on the same!

Then software update, heavily customized OS usually receives very few OS upgrades in it's life cycle because it requires lot of work from the devs. On the other hand vanilla OS is easier to update for the manufacturer so they continue supporting it for 2-3 years.

If you keep replacing the phone in a year or two then get anyone, it doesn't matter. But if you prefer to use the phone for more than 3-4 years then all the above points do matter.