Good general purpose phone around 15K?

[Æsoteric Positron]

1. Budget: Around 14K would be preferable, but can stretch till 19.
2. Display type and size? I prefer AMOLED display. Any size is ok.
3. Dual sim? Not required
4. Preferred choice of brand? None.
5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)? I don't require 3-4 camera options at the back. One that brings out nice pics is more preferable than a additional macro camera for instance.
6. Preferred operating system? Android. Either manufacturer should provide frequent updates(samsung comes to mind) or allow the user to install custom ROMs.
7. Preferred connectivity options 5G is a must. I have an redmi note 11 already and the only reason I am getting forced into buying a new one is 5G. Currently 5G has unlimited bandwidth and really fast speed, but I suppose it should at least be >10Mbps and at 5GB limit later down the line.
8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)? Daily day to day tasks and light usage. Stuff like calling, texting, todos and watching youtube when lappy isn't around. Would use it as a tether to my laptop
9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration? None. None of the options I searched for matched all the specs I listed. Ones that did were closer to 20K instead of 15.
10. Any other info that you want to share: - I like fastcharging and lock-button fingerprint scanner, but these are more of a requirements than a luxury.

 

[nac]

Poco X5 fits the bill. It's powered by Snapdragon, custom ROMs prefer Snapdragon if I am right. I don't know if GSI would make it irrelevant.
Xiaomi's OS update tend to be slower than competition, not many 5G bands, old SoC are things to look before buying. SD 4 Gen1 is newer but weaker.
M34 should be on par with SD695 or bit better but hits roof of your budget and Exynos powered . Good software support, 4 OS update and 5yrs security update is sweet and best among the competition.
Mediatek powered IQOO Z7 is one other phone, again it hits higher end of your budget.

 

[omega44-xt]

Samsung M34 & iQoo Z7 are good choices as mentioned earlier.

Other than that, Moto G73 is good if you want clean stock android with no bloatware or nagware. It is closer to 15k with offers.

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

Poco X5 fits the bill. It's powered by Snapdragon, custom ROMs prefer Snapdragon if I am right. I don't know if GSI would make it irrelevant.
Xiaomi's OS update tend to be slower than competition, not many 5G bands, old SoC are things to look before buying. SD 4 Gen1 is newer but weaker.

Yeah, you are right, Snapdragon is better for custom ROMs and xiomi devices (esp. the note series) have a really good record with custom ROMs but this specific model isn't officially or otherwise supported by PE and the telegram grp seems to be dead(I could find a xda one(the pro model on the other hand is). I have heard GSIs are buggy and with lower performance than specific custom ROMs so that can't be a option.
I honestly don't understand the part "not many 5G bands". With 4G this wasn't an issue... How can I make sure I buy a device that supports the 5G bands I'll need?

M34 should be on par with SD695 or bit better but hits roof of your budget and Exynos powered . Good software support, 4 OS update and 5yrs security update is sweet and best among the competition.

The fact that its a Exynos one isn't a downside. Custom ROMs are just to bandaid poor quality or outdated software for me and for M34 this doesn't seem to be the case. The only issue is it hits the roof of my budget, and that's a bummer. Only willing to stretch it beyond 15K if its something especially low. How do you think M14 compares to it? Yes it doesn't have a amoled display(which is really hard to live without once you get used to it) but is also 5K cheaper. Will put M34 in cart meanwhile to get updates for offers.

Mediatek powered IQOO Z7 is one other phone, again it hits higher end of your budget.

What's the catch with this one? Honestly never bought a Vivo device so doesn't know the quirks of that particular brand.

Moto G73

No AMOLED though. I have a moto phone in my family and know their UI, and I don't think I crave their stock more than Samsung's UI. Nice price range though.

 

[nac]

How can I make sure I buy a device that supports the 5G bands I'll need?

How do you think M14 compares to it? Yes it doesn't have a amoled display(which is really hard to live without once you get used to it) but is also 5K cheaper.

What's the catch with this one? Honestly never bought a Vivo device so doesn't know the quirks of that particular brand.

Spec sheet does have list of 5G band the device supports. You just gotta make sure it have all the bands your carrier supports.

Samsung usually is not power packed, feature rich when comparing with competition esp in the budget range. M14 lacks AMOLED, weaker GPU, 2 OS updates.

There is no catch, just another chinese phone.

 

[omega44-xt]

M34 is worth the upgrade over M14 because of AMOLED & 4 OS updates, OIS in rear cam & ultrawide cam are also nice to have.

M34 is 17k with card offer, so not hitting the 19k ceiling.

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

Spec sheet does have list of 5G band the device supports. You just gotta make sure it have all the bands your carrier supports.

Oh, alright.

Samsung usually is not power packed, feature rich when comparing with competition esp in the budget range. M14 lacks AMOLED, weaker GPU, 2 OS updates.

Oh, alright I understand it's a bad deal. Anything else you'd recommend in this price range? The competition you mentioned?

M34 is worth the upgrade over M14 because of AMOLED & 4 OS updates, OIS in rear cam & ultrawide cam are also nice to have.

M34 is 17k with card offer, so not hitting the 19k ceiling.

Alright, thanks, I didn't noticed the points you mentioned for m34 before. I'll use the offer, right, but since there are these offer for almost every type of phone, I put up a inflated number without the offers as a budget here.

See if you guys can get something worthwhile around the 15K range(12-13.5 with card offers); if not I'll get m34 instead... I can get behind losing some features to hit that range, especially GPU horsepower since I don't use my phone all that much.

 

[omega44-xt]

Budget means how much you are willing to spend. So with 19k budget, if there was a good 21k phone with 2k off card discount, we would have suggested that.

Anyways, there are older Redmi Note 11/12 series which has OLED + decent SoC, but is old with slow OS updates & bloated OS. 4 Gen 1, S695 & Dimensity 800 level of performance is old for this price range. M34's SoC is similar as well, but sadly that is the issue. Other SoCs (G95, G99, unisoc) will be just too weak after 2-3 years. Even basic apps increase their performance requirements slowly with time. Like Whatsapp was lighter 5 years ago vs today.

 

[nac]

Oh, alright I understand it's a bad deal. Anything else you'd recommend in this price range? The competition you mentioned?

See if you guys can get something worthwhile around the 15K range(12-13.5 with card offers); if not I'll get m34 instead... I can get behind losing some features to hit that range, especially GPU horsepower since I don't use my phone all that much.

In your budget with 5G and AMOLED filter on, you have little over a dozen choices. The most powerful SoC you can get in those is D920. SD695 would be bit slower (Exynos 1280 would be on par with SD695) and on the lower end you got D700, D810 (and their rebranded D6000 series) and SD 4 Gen 1. Cheapest phone with those criteria is Infinix Note 12 5G, which was launched last year and D810 powered.

D920 - IQOO Z7
SD695 - Poco X5 - This would be the cheapest, you can find another half dozen phones are so with the same chip.
Exynos 1280 - M34

Anything below SD695, you can leave.

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

Budget means how much you are willing to spend. So with 19k budget, if there was a good 21k phone with 2k off card discount, we would have suggested that.

I should have worded the budget better, my bad. I meant my budget was 15K give or take 1K, but 19K is the absolute maximum I am willing to spend if nothing good is available in this range, without the card discounts. Would keep in mind this the next time.

Anyways, there are older Redmi Note 11/12 series which has OLED + decent SoC, but is old with slow OS updates & bloated OS. 4 Gen 1, S695 & Dimensity 800 level of performance is old for this price range. M34's SoC is similar as well, but sadly that is the issue. Other SoCs (G95, G99, unisoc) will be just too weak after 2-3 years. Even basic apps increase their performance requirements slowly with time. Like Whatsapp was lighter 5 years ago vs today

Sorry I can't infer what you mean in here. I understand Redmi Note 12 uses SD685, and SD695 is level of performace is low for this price range. M34 has a processor comparable to that and lies in this price range so isn't good enough either. So which one is good enough then? Sorry if there's a misunderstanding on my part I have trouble with mobile processor names(how do you guys do it!? At least on desktop its just amd, intel and nvidia's naming scheme I need to understand)

In your budget with 5G and AMOLED filter on, you have little over a dozen choices. The most powerful SoC you can get in those is D920. SD695 would be bit slower (Exynos 1280 would be on par with SD695) and on the lower end you got D700, D810 (and their rebranded D6000 series) and SD 4 Gen 1. Cheapest phone with those criteria is Infinix Note 12 5G, which was launched last year and D810 powered.

D920 - IQOO Z7
SD695 - Poco X5 - This would be the cheapest, you can find another half dozen phones are so with the same chip.
Exynos 1280 - M34

Anything below SD695, you can leave.

Thanks for the breakdown, mate. The last thing I want to ask is, if I turn AMOLED filter off does the situation becomes better? If it is not, I'll order M34 tomorrow.

Spoiler: Why I chose M34 over X5 or Z7

1. From what I can see Poco X5 is just plain better than M34. But the custom ROM scene is dead *forum.xda-developers.com/t/poco-x5-5g.4564179/page-2 and MIUI gets infrequent updates. If only it were I could have easily saved 3K, but I know enough about unupdated and crappy software(MIUI doesn't even allow gesture input with 3rd party launchers) to make that jump...
2. I can't find iQOO z7 on amazon, only iQOO z7s.

 

[omega44-xt]

I should have worded the budget better, my bad. I meant my budget was 15K give or take 1K, but 19K is the absolute maximum I am willing to spend if nothing good is available in this range, without the card discounts. Would keep in mind this the next time.

Sorry I can't infer what you mean in here. I understand Redmi Note 12 uses SD685, and SD695 is level of performace is low for this price range. M34 has a processor comparable to that and lies in this price range so isn't good enough either. So which one is good enough then? Sorry if there's a misunderstanding on my part I have trouble with mobile processor names(how do you guys do it!? At least on desktop its just amd, intel and nvidia's naming scheme I need to understand)

Thanks for the breakdown, mate. The last thing I want to ask is, if I turn AMOLED filter off does the situation becomes better? If it is not, I'll order M34 tomorrow.

Spoiler: Why I chose M34 over X5 or Z7

1. From what I can see Poco X5 is just plain better than M34. But the custom ROM scene is dead *forum.xda-developers.com/t/poco-x5-5g.4564179/page-2 and MIUI gets infrequent updates. If only it were I could have easily saved 3K, but I know enough about unupdated and crappy software(MIUI doesn't even allow gesture input with 3rd party launchers) to make that jump...
2. I can't find iQOO z7 on amazon, only iQOO z7s.

Basically don't go below the SoCs mentioned earlier, that's bare minimum. That's all, so that narrows your options a lot. Qualcomm & Mediatek are shitting on naming mobile SoCs.

Fun fact: D900 ~ D920 ~ D930 = D1080 = D7050

M34 will get 4 OS updates, so will get till android 17, if that makes sense. Old Xiaomi ones have android 12, will go till android 14 at max.

Moto G73 is cheaper than M34 usually. Might get more options w/o OLED.

 

[nac]

The last thing I want to ask is, if I turn AMOLED filter off does the situation becomes better? If it is not, I'll order M34 tomorrow.

Spoiler: Why I chose M34 over X5 or Z7

2. I can't find iQOO z7 on amazon, only iQOO z7s.

Yeah, you can go ahead with M34. With AMOLED filter off, you will get few more similar performing chip like MTK930, MTK1080 with more memory on board. On the lower end, you have bunch of cheaper 5G phones like Poco M4.

Looks like Z7 is out of stock in flipkart. Have to get it from their official site with no card offers Yeah, M34 is the one for now. You can use your Redmi Note 11 charger, no need to get new one for Samsung.

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

That's all, so that narrows your options a lot. Qualcomm & Mediatek are shitting on naming mobile SoCs.

Fun fact: D900 ~ D920 ~ D930 = D1080 = D7050

That uh... Defies all logic.

M34 will get 4 OS updates, so will get till android 17, if that makes sense. Old Xiaomi ones have android 12, will go till android 14 at max.

Yeah, that's sweet. The only secret sauce Xiaomi phones has is custom ROMs, though honestly their A1 lineup beats all, bummer android one programme went under.

Might get more options w/o OLED

I am open for them now understanding how the market is... Any good options that come to mind?

Yeah, you can go ahead with M34. With AMOLED filter off, you will get few more similar performing chip like MTK930, MTK1080 with more memory on board. On the lower end, you have bunch of cheaper 5G phones like Poco M4.

Poco M4 looks sweet and I am considering the tradeoff between that and M34. Any other options without amoled I should consider that have same heft or clean software as M34?

Looks like Z7 is out of stock in flipkart. Have to get it from their official site with no card offers Yeah, M34 is the one for now. You can use your Redmi Note 11 charger, no need to get new one for Samsung.

Yeah, am in love with M34 at this point, only the price hurts a little bit

Edit:

Moto G73 is cheaper than M34 usually.

I mean... Its 17K and M34 is 19K, but moto doesn't have a cc offer I can avail(blame flipkart), so both come at 17K with Moto not having amoled.

 

[nac]

Poco M4 looks sweet and I am considering the tradeoff between that and M34. Any other options without amoled I should consider that have same heft or clean software as M34?

I can't think of anything else other than the ones we already discussed. M4 solely for it's price, it was under 10k including all offers/discounts last dushera.

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

Been trying all the day to avail the card offer, but amazon keeps displaying this with "This payment method is currently experiencing a low success rate. Please use an alternate payment method." I just tried to put these same credentials on another object that doesn't have this offer and the card works without issues. Allow me to put to tinfoil hat on for a moment folks, I think I smell foul play here

 

[omega44-xt]

Fishy indeed

 

[nac]

Been trying all the day to avail the card offer, but amazon keeps displaying this with "This payment method is currently experiencing a low success rate. Please use an alternate payment method." I just tried to put these same credentials on another object that doesn't have this offer and the card works without issues. Allow me to put to tinfoil hat on for a moment folks, I think I smell foul play here

Did you contact Amazon/your bank regarding this?

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

Did you contact Amazon/your bank regarding this?

Amazon? Yup. Please wait till we resolve your issue in 3-4 hours. Bank? No, it isn't a HDFC issue as amazon is more than happy to provide this cc on products cheaper or more expensive than this one(and this isn't my card's, its a friend's)

 

[nac]

Amazon? Yup. Please wait till we resolve your issue in 3-4 hours.

Hope they resolve before the offer ends.

 

[Æsoteric Positron]

At this point, I don't think this issue will be resolved before either this offer or the world ends, and I don't have a friend with an axis bank card.

Is M34 still a good bet @19K?

Is G73 @17K worth it considering IDC about their UI? Is OnePlus Nord CE 3 a good deal @20K(considering snapdragon 695 is available next door)? Is IQOO Z7s(with snapdragon 695 and not the superior Z7) good @18K? Is redmi note 12 worth it @19K(4GB RAM version @17)? Should I buy give up and buy Poco X4 and hope against hope custom ROMs would be available someday? M4 @12?

Sorry for bothering you guys again, screw Amazon/HDFC