Buying Advice | Mobile | Regular Usage | Budget : Max ₹15000

123hero

In the zone
Hello Digitians,

Looking for a mobile for mom, been out of touch with mobile market for a while now, hence request your recommendations.

Budget?
- INR 15000 or less

2. Display type and size?
- Full HD, 6 inch or above, Would prefer AMOLED

3. Dual sim?
- Not really a preference.

4. Preferred choice of brand?
- None -

5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)?
- Front (decent camera - no flash required)
- Back (multiple camera with flash and portrait mode)

6. Preferred operating system? (Android, iOS,Stock Android etc).
- Android / Stock Android

7. Preferred connectivity options (Dual 4G,802.11AC/5Ghz(not 5g mobile network) wifi).
- Whatever is latest possible in WiFi - must be able to connect USB OTG (Micro USB)

8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)?
- Recording Videos and Audios, WhatsApp, Facebook blah blah........

9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration?
- None

10. Any other info that you want to share
- Require Storage upto 128GB (can compromise if options dont exist)
- Camera, Display and Audio /Video Recording need to be the best in the budget
- Require 3.5 MM Jack for headphones. Preferable on the top bezel.
-Must be able to connect Micro USB OTG to phone.
 
Phones have Type C now, not micro USB, not sure if they support OTP but I guess they do these days & many budget devices have dedicated SD card slot, so storage shouldn't be a big issue on those.

Samsung M31/F41 - 15.5k - Best display, best battery life, good cam but weakest performer (enough for daily tasks for now) & long charging times.

Realme 7 - 15k - One of the best camera for the price, top performer, 90Hz panel (kind of useless), very fast charging but lacks secondary mic for noise cancellation, I think.

Moto One Fusion+ - 17k (16.5k on sale) - Only good stock android device, good camera, great performance but lacks magnetometer sensor, I think.

Check reviews of these devices. FK has a sale coming up again & amazon has one going on now.
Mobile Phones Big Diwali Sale Sneak Peek L9p55t6 Store Online - Buy Mobile Phones Big Diwali Sale Sneak Peek L9p55t6 Online at Best Price in India | Flipkart.com
 
OP
1

123hero

In the zone
Phones have Type C now, not micro USB, not sure if they support OTP but I guess they do these days & many budget devices have dedicated SD card slot, so storage shouldn't be a big issue on those.

Samsung M31/F41 - 15.5k - Best display, best battery life, good cam but weakest performer (enough for daily tasks for now) & long charging times.

Realme 7 - 15k - One of the best camera for the price, top performer, 90Hz panel (kind of useless), very fast charging but lacks secondary mic for noise cancellation, I think.

Moto One Fusion+ - 17k (16.5k on sale) - Only good stock android device, good camera, great performance but lacks magnetometer sensor, I think.

Check reviews of these devices. FK has a sale coming up again & amazon has one going on now.
Mobile Phones Big Diwali Sale Sneak Peek L9p55t6 Store Online - Buy Mobile Phones Big Diwali Sale Sneak Peek L9p55t6 Online at Best Price in India | Flipkart.com

*www.amazon.in/sp?_encoding=UTF8&as...tocol=current&seller=A23AODI1X2CEAE&sshmPath=

How is this model ? Seems to be great buy at 11K. How is this seller "Darshita Electronics", the phone is Amazon fulfilled though.
 

RumbaMon19

Feel Pain.
How is this seller "Darshita Electronics",

NO, Dont know whether it is a coincidence, or what, Today morning itself, My friend recieved his Nokia 7.3, From the same seller. He sent him one with a broken screen. The box was open as well, And missing charger. Luckily, It was a COD order, and he didnt accept it.
 
*www.amazon.in/sp?_encoding=UTF8&as...tocol=current&seller=A23AODI1X2CEAE&sshmPath=

How is this model ? Seems to be great buy at 11K. How is this seller "Darshita Electronics", the phone is Amazon fulfilled though.
Which model? Darshita is fine, they sell a lot of phones.
 

gmb2013

Right off the assembly line
I have similar requirement as OP. I have shortlisted poco m2 pro and realme 7. Which is better in terms of day to day usage (no gaming), camera performance, long term reliability ( should last atleast 2 years).
 

RumbaMon19

Feel Pain.
I have similar requirement as OP. I have shortlisted poco m2 pro and realme 7. Which is better in terms of day to day usage (no gaming), camera performance, long term reliability ( should last atleast 2 years).

As you want it for long term use, and you dont game, you must get Samsung Galaxy M21 or M31 depending on your budget. As these will last long and you will get much better camera performance. The F41 is also good for camera.
 

gmb2013

Right off the assembly line
As you want it for long term use, and you dont game, you must get Samsung Galaxy M21 or M31 depending on your budget. As these will last long and you will get much better camera performance. The F41 is also good for camera.
Thanks for quick revert. Was also thinking of galaxy f41/m31. Review on Camera , display seems to be good. But only 1 concern , will Exynos9611 be good enough for 2 years alteast.
 

RumbaMon19

Feel Pain.
Thanks for quick revert. Was also thinking of galaxy f41/m31. Review on Camera , display seems to be good. But only 1 concern , will Exynos9611 be good enough for 2 years alteast.

See, as you have got no gaming, It will be not a major downside. After 1.5 year, even if it lags, it can be factory resetted. I have used exynos 9611 tab, it worked perfect for normal usage. Samsung has better build than other OEMs and hence will last longer. Also the after sales support of samsung is better as compared to realme and poco. Also the UI is far better than others.
 

gmb2013

Right off the assembly line
Think will go with samsung f41 , last question is the extra macro lens of galaxy m31 any use?
 
I have similar requirement as OP. I have shortlisted poco m2 pro and realme 7. Which is better in terms of day to day usage (no gaming), camera performance, long term reliability ( should last atleast 2 years).
Realme 7 seems great for under 15k. I think it lacks a secondary noise cancellation mic for some reason, but is a good phone overall. Poco M2 Pro will have a bit better battery life due to a more efficient processor & 60Hz display.

F41 is decent as well with best in class display & battery life. 9611 is weak, similar to old S660 but for general usage might be sufficient. It has inferior camera sensor than Realme 7 but superior image postprocessing algorithm. Check Realme 7 vs Galaxy M31 camera comparisons (M21/M31/F41 have the same sensor).
 

vidhubhushan

Alakh Niranjan
don't know if op has purchased or not so posting:
imho in this price range, Samsung A50S is the best phone. for 3k more, A70S is there. both has better build than M series along with carrier aggregation which M series doesn't have.
 
don't know if op has purchased or not so posting:
imho in this price range, Samsung A50S is the best phone. for 3k more, A70S is there. both has better build than M series along with carrier aggregation which M series doesn't have.
A50/50S/51 are just bad phones for the money, the M series is a much better value for money series.

Compare A51 & M31:
Compare Samsung Galaxy M31 vs. Samsung Galaxy A51 vs. Samsung Galaxy M51 - GSMArena.com
For 7k or so over M31, you get a sleeker, lighter phone with better ultrawide camera but has inferior rear cam & battery life. If size isn't an issue, M51 for the same money is a much better phone. M51 & A71 are comparable with M51 being cheaper with better battery life at the cost of weight.

Samsung A series, Oppo & Vivo phones can be blindly ignored. They make phones for local retail stores which pushes up prices. Samsung M series, Realme, Xiaomi, etc sell online & cut a lot of costs by avoiding shares that go to middlemen.
 

vidhubhushan

Alakh Niranjan
A50/50S/51 are just bad phones for the money, the M series is a much better value for money series.

Compare A51 & M31:
Compare Samsung Galaxy M31 vs. Samsung Galaxy A51 vs. Samsung Galaxy M51 - GSMArena.com
For 7k or so over M31, you get a sleeker, lighter phone with better ultrawide camera but has inferior rear cam & battery life. If size isn't an issue, M51 for the same money is a much better phone. M51 & A71 are comparable with M51 being cheaper with better battery life at the cost of weight.

Samsung A series, Oppo & Vivo phones can be blindly ignored. They make phones for local retail stores which pushes up prices. Samsung M series, Realme, Xiaomi, etc sell online & cut a lot of costs by avoiding shares that go to middlemen.

Well some people prefer OneUI to OneUI Core, also prefer Knox and CA which is lacking in M series. also iirc, M series was created just to compete with likes of xiaomi realme etc. that make money by their AD services etc. as Samsung phones were always sold at much higher price.
xiaomi also sells phones at many retail stores where the price is much higher - i have checked in a nearby store which is their official partner / seller / mi home or whatever they like to call.

also as per my personal experience, much more users of M series are having hardware issues with their phones than A series users so i suggested that.

imho at the end, it is the satisfaction of a customer that matters.
thanks.
 
Well some people prefer OneUI to OneUI Core, also prefer Knox and CA which is lacking in M series. also iirc, M series was created just to compete with likes of xiaomi realme etc. that make money by their AD services etc. as Samsung phones were always sold at much higher price.
xiaomi also sells phones at many retail stores where the price is much higher - i have checked in a nearby store which is their official partner / seller / mi home or whatever they like to call.

also as per my personal experience, much more users of M series are having hardware issues with their phones than A series users so i suggested that.

imho at the end, it is the satisfaction of a customer that matters.
thanks.
A series has ads. Most people don't care/know of Knox. I don't, even though I'm a power user relatively. My S8 has ads shown in some Samsung apps, this was a flagship, so I don't use apps like Game Launcher actively. When you open Weather app, even that started showing ads recently. Its not as bad as Redmi for sure, but not ad-free like you would expect from a premium phone.

With some time spent, you can remove most ads from Redmi phones, I did those for my mother's Note 8 Pro.

Again, most people won't care of One UI vs One UI core but will surely appreciate the noticeably better battery life of M series. I don't know about official Xiaomi retail partners but I have seen their phones locally for 1k over regular online price, same with Samsung M series.

My point being, for most people A series is not a good VFM phone to buy because of the higher price which is a result of their target market, not that A series has features worth the extra money.
 

vidhubhushan

Alakh Niranjan
A series has ads. Most people don't care/know of Knox. I don't, even though I'm a power user relatively. My S8 has ads shown in some Samsung apps, this was a flagship, so I don't use apps like Game Launcher actively. When you open Weather app, even that started showing ads recently. Its not as bad as Redmi for sure, but not ad-free like you would expect from a premium phone.

With some time spent, you can remove most ads from Redmi phones, I did those for my mother's Note 8 Pro.

Again, most people won't care of One UI vs One UI core but will surely appreciate the noticeably better battery life of M series. I don't know about official Xiaomi retail partners but I have seen their phones locally for 1k over regular online price, same with Samsung M series.

My point being, for most people A series is not a good VFM phone to buy because of the higher price which is a result of their target market, not that A series has features worth the extra money.

well as i said earlier, it is an individual's choice and satisfaction. also just like you, i have spoken as per my personal experience and opinion of people known to me so my point of view is different i.e. A series is better than M series.
i think i have not mentioned previously that I prefer better Call Quality / Network Reception to better camera & more battery.

so sorry to say but this VFM concept introduced by chinese companies has put such an impression that i have noticed in most of the mobile phone forums that a lot of people are happy with specs even if it comes with security / privacy issues as "we don't have anything to hide". unfortunately i have a different opinion and that is why i like my G5S Plus a lot.

thanks.
 
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RumbaMon19

Feel Pain.
so sorry to say but this VFM concept introduced by chinese companies has put such an impression that i have noticed in most of the mobile phone forums that a lot of people are happy with specs even if it comes with security / privacy issues as "we don't have anything to hide". unfortunately i have a different opinion and that is why i like my G5S Plus a lot.

Exactly. These chinese OEMs may give much more for the price point, but actually they do NOT give the X-Factor. For Ex. the UI on most chinese phones aint great. Leave adverts. They lack that fluidity and features. After that, Chinese OEMs dont have good after-sales for there phones. They heavily slow down the phones which they do in the name of OTA updates. They give 48MP camera but the post-processing aint that good. Now they are moving towards Extremely large screen phones, which dont even fit hands. Most of them have launched so many phones, that features are almost identical.

I have seen people claiming this thing that "we have nothing to hide" But is that true? What about CC details? Xiaomi is even accused of recording the calls of people without any agreement/notice. Most of the BBK phones like the ones from Oppo/Vivo etc. have a appstore, which automatically installs app. some of them are even banned like TikTok etc.

And then you might have noticed, that every brand claims one thing that is "WE ARE NO. 1 QUALITY/YOUTH/SERVICE/PHONE/SALES etc. BRAND" But, they never give the source of such surveys etc.
 
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