Budget phone suggestion

[kkk05]

I was using Redmi 3s for 2+ years. When I look the phone market now it looks like tablets made a come back in the name of smart phones. There is absolutely no good, new phone which doesn't poke out of pocket (I use my shirt pocket).
Is there any good compact budget phone.

I want 3+ GB Ram and 32+ GB memory.
Anroid Pie right now in the near future.
Dual cameras will be nice to have.

A phone which is around 140mm tall is great. Around 145mm tall is tolerable. I searched a lot but could not find any phone which fits this criteria. If I compromise with android version I get a few old models (1.5+ years back model). And none of Indian sites have a search feature based on phone height like gsmarena.com.
Is there any good compact phone? or is the market for compact phones is so small that companies are not making them any more?

 

[omega44-xt]

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I understand your plight as I am myself a fan of compact phones but the market doesn't have many good phones for people like us. I own an S8 & I feel it to be a bit taller than I'm comfortable with. Pixel 3 seemed fine to me size wise.

I would say, look at width as well as I find 70mm to be comfortable. For ~15k budget, I think Nokia 6.1 Plus & Redmi 6 Pro are your only good options:
Compare Nokia 6.1 Plus (Nokia X6) vs. Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite (Redmi 6 Pro) vs. Xiaomi Redmi 3s - GSMArena.com
Among them, I would prefer Nokia 6.1 plus as it an Android One phone, so fast updates, it has got Pie already I think. Should get Android Q as well. Xiaomi isn't great in providing android updates.

Rest of the phones are much bigger.

 

[kkk05]

1. Budget? <10k ideal. 15K absolute max.
2. Display type and size? More than the resolution I am worried about physical size. (<145mm height is nice )
3. Dual sim? Not important. I use only one sim.
4. Preferred choice of brand? As long as customer support is there in Bangalore.
5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)? Dual camera would be nice to have.
6. Preferred operating system? (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc). Android
7. Preferred connectivity options (3G, 4G ready). Volte
8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)? Calling, maps for driving and whatsapp. I rarely do anything else on phone.
9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration? Thought of LGQ6 for its size but it is a old one and not vfm phone. redmi 6 pro is one option but at 148mm still taller to my liking.
10. Any other info that you want to share atleast 3GB Ram and 32 GB memory.

 

[omega44-xt]

My previous answer is still good. Get Nokia 6.1 Plus or Redmi 6 Pro. My preference would be Nokia.

145mm vs 147 (Nokia) or even 149(Redmi) isn't a big jump. You will get used to it.

 

[kkk05]

I have given up on compact phone. It seems iphone se is the only proper compact phone in market which is too old and a lot over priced.
I think I have to look for 145mm to 150mm height phones for a decent one.
On flipkart Honor 9n 64gb is available for 11k, nokia 5.1 plus for 10k and nokia 6.1 plus for 15k. I generally want to spend the least possible for my phones. Is the 4-5k premium for nokia 6.1 plus is justified considering honor 9n also has 4gb/64gb. How is nokia 5.1 plus? I don't play games at all so I think I will not have performance issues with the old processor of honor or mid range ones of nokia phones.
Not looking at redmi 6 pro as I want a change from miui.

 

[Minion]

I have given up on compact phone. It seems iphone se is the only proper compact phone in market which is too old and a lot over priced.
I think I have to look for 145mm to 150mm height phones for a decent one.
On flipkart Honor 9n 64gb is available for 11k, nokia 5.1 plus for 10k and nokia 6.1 plus for 15k. I generally want to spend the least possible for my phones. Is the 4-5k premium for nokia 6.1 plus is justified considering honor 9n also has 4gb/64gb. How is nokia 5.1 plus? I don't play games at all so I think I will not have performance issues with the old processor of honor or mid range ones of nokia phones.
Not looking at redmi 6 pro as I want a change from miui.

I would suggest moto x4
Moto X4 (Super Black, 64 GB) Online at Best Price Only On Flipkart.com

 

[omega44-xt]

I have given up on compact phone. It seems iphone se is the only proper compact phone in market which is too old and a lot over priced.
I think I have to look for 145mm to 150mm height phones for a decent one.
On flipkart Honor 9n 64gb is available for 11k, nokia 5.1 plus for 10k and nokia 6.1 plus for 15k. I generally want to spend the least possible for my phones. Is the 4-5k premium for nokia 6.1 plus is justified considering honor 9n also has 4gb/64gb. How is nokia 5.1 plus? I don't play games at all so I think I will not have performance issues with the old processor of honor or mid range ones of nokia phones.
Not looking at redmi 6 pro as I want a change from miui.

Compare Nokia 6.1 Plus (Nokia X6) vs. Nokia 5.1 Plus (Nokia X5) vs. Huawei Honor 9N (9i) - GSMArena.com
For the extra money, you get better cameras, build, Gorilla Glass up front & smallest footprint (LxW) with 6.1 over the other two. Nokia 5.1 is the best performer due to its P60 followed by S636 of 6.1 then Honor. Avoid Nokia 5.1 due to 720p display & 32GB storage unless you use just 1 SIM. If you really want to save those 4k, 9N is good enough for your usage.

Stock android & brand value are some other advantages of Nokia over Honor. Nokia 6.1 Plus has got the pie update & might even get Q. For 9N, if it gets Pie, that's it, no more updates.

Even I'm not sure if I will be comfortable with future phones as my current phone feels a bit bigger (taller) than I'm comfortable with.

 

[kkk05]

I more or less decided on 6.1plus. Till tomorrow flipkart has a 500 discount but if I wait for a week the republic day sale may have a 10% discount but no announcement yet. Need to decide on that.
About future I am more optimistic. I tend to use phones for 2,3 years by that time hopefully some foldable screens come to budget segment or some body realize that there is a market for phones too. (I consider the current ones tablets that can call not the other way)

 

[kkk05]

I would suggest moto x4
Moto X4 (Super Black, 64 GB) Online at Best Price Only On Flipkart.com

Moto X4 is good but too old. Probably will not get android Q unless I go custom ROMs route which I don't want to do. The nokia ones are guaranteed to get 2 major updates after oreo as they are android one phones.

 

[Minion]

Moto X4 is good but too old. Probably will not get android Q unless I go custom ROMs route which I don't want to do. The nokia ones are guaranteed to get 2 major updates after oreo as they are android one phones.

Moto X4 still has better camera,cheaper,does have custom ROM support and finally IP68 rating and one more thing all android OS comes with very minor changes Oreo and Pie are almost same