The Complete Smartphone Buyer's Guide
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
Maybe Redmi K30. It will be cheaper than K20 but will be 15/16k at least. MWC is next month, so better wait till March as a lot of new phones will be launched, some mid-rangers as well.
So, which phones are rage these days? Need to buy one for ma wifey. 
One major requirement: No holes in the display. No notch. No tear drop, or water drop, no nothing on the screen.
Rest are here:
1. Budget?: Around 10k (I think we get specs for that budget these days)
2. Display type and size? (Could be hold by small hands. Upto 6" is fine, considering with thin bezels, 6" is not that large)
3. Dual sim? Yes
4. Preferred choice of brand? No chinese brands, as much as it can be avoided. (Complete no to Opo, Vivo)
5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)? Nothing fancy.
6. Preferred operating system? (Android, iOS,Stock Android etc). Stock Android
7. Preferred connectivity options (Dual 4G,802.11AC/5Ghz(not 5g mobile network) wifi. 4G of course.
8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)? Maybe camera. Nothing fancy.
9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration? No. I am open minded this time, except no Opo, Vivo.
10. Any other info that you want to share. NO NOTCH! And oh yea, maybe it support wifi calling. I guess that's a new feature that only few phone support.
One major requirement: No holes in the display. No notch. No tear drop, or water drop, no nothing on the screen.
Rest are here:
1. Budget?: Around 10k (I think we get specs for that budget these days)
2. Display type and size? (Could be hold by small hands. Upto 6" is fine, considering with thin bezels, 6" is not that large)
3. Dual sim? Yes
4. Preferred choice of brand? No chinese brands, as much as it can be avoided. (Complete no to Opo, Vivo)
5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)? Nothing fancy.
6. Preferred operating system? (Android, iOS,Stock Android etc). Stock Android
7. Preferred connectivity options (Dual 4G,802.11AC/5Ghz(not 5g mobile network) wifi. 4G of course.
8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)? Maybe camera. Nothing fancy.
9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration? No. I am open minded this time, except no Opo, Vivo.
10. Any other info that you want to share. NO NOTCH! And oh yea, maybe it support wifi calling. I guess that's a new feature that only few phone support.
Your only 2 options(1 of which is outside your budget):
Realme X ( 128 GB Storage, 4 GB RAM ) Online at Best Price On Flipkart.com
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 ( 64 GB Storage, 4 GB RAM ) Online at Best Price On Flipkart.com
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
10-15k indeed gets you best bang for your buck, but sadly most are Chinese. Its a good call to completely avoid Oppo & Vivo, but Xiaomi has great phones & Realme has great hardware but lacks in software front in comparison. You can't avoid a notch as well. Stock android options are limited.So, which phones are rage these days? Need to buy one for ma wifey.
One major requirement: No holes in the display. No notch. No tear drop, or water drop, no nothing on the screen.
Rest are here:
1. Budget?: Around 10k (I think we get specs for that budget these days)
2. Display type and size? (Could be hold by small hands. Upto 6" is fine, considering with thin bezels, 6" is not that large)
3. Dual sim? Yes
4. Preferred choice of brand? No chinese brands, as much as it can be avoided. (Complete no to Opo, Vivo)
5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)? Nothing fancy.
6. Preferred operating system? (Android, iOS,Stock Android etc). Stock Android
7. Preferred connectivity options (Dual 4G,802.11AC/5Ghz(not 5g mobile network) wifi. 4G of course.
8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)? Maybe camera. Nothing fancy.
9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration? No. I am open minded this time, except no Opo, Vivo.
10. Any other info that you want to share. NO NOTCH! And oh yea, maybe it support wifi calling. I guess that's a new feature that only few phone support.
Your only choice seems to be Asus Max Pro M1 4GB/64GB at 8.5k. Android 10 should be its last OS update, it has ok rear cam, below average selfie cam. Battery life is good, so is general operation. Lack of features because of being stock android obviously exists but has pros of stock android as well, like no ads & better response. Good build IMO, proper metallic back.
Although my top choice for 10k would be Redmi Note 8, its just a better phone overall, even though Pro M1 has some advantages over it but RN8 has a lot more advantages over that. For 2k extra, you get far better cameras (front & rear), better performance, more features in the OS (ads can be restricted by following some online guides), type C port, fast battery charging (Asus takes upto 3 hrs for 0-100% charge), bigger display for similar footprint, to name a few.
Compare Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs. Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M1) ZB601KL/ZB602K - GSMArena.com
Well, I don't want to get ASUS zenfone. Got that for my dad last year.
So, what if I increase a budget a bit. I am open to 15k now. Can I get a good no notch phone now?
Or what if I open myself for 'tear drop' notch. That is the most vague I think. Should open to lot of options.
So, what if I increase a budget a bit. I am open to 15k now. Can I get a good no notch phone now?
Or what if I open myself for 'tear drop' notch. That is the most vague I think. Should open to lot of options.
SaiyanGoku
kamehameha!!
Poco X2 maybe?
Get Realme X which has no notch & a popup camera,use sbi yono 5% off or icici amazon pay 5% offer. For teardrop notch get note 8. Poco X2 has a weird type of camera setup so see it first before deciding,you may find it better or worse than a notch.
Dude ... it's Too out of budget. Nope.
I can probably think about Note 8. It's in budget, benefits of support due to being massively popular, and even discount is currently going on Amazon, and most importantly, "not out of stock".
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
Redmi Note 8 Pro for 15k, Note 8 is good for 10k as I said earlier. 4GB RAM is enough for a 10k phone.
Poco split from redmi is more like a technicality,there is no news of poco f2.
Zangetsu
I am the master of my Fate.
Xiaomi spins off POCO as an independent company – TechCrunch
What if coronavirus gets packed in the package of mobile in chinese factories, and shipped to India?
Zangetsu
I am the master of my Fate.
The Smartphone companies will use disinfectant to remove the pathogens from the surface.
New Study Indicates How Long Coronaviruses Can Survive on a Surface
There's no evidence the new coronavirus spreads through the air – but it's still possible
Viruses can survive for a short time only outside living organisms. Most viruses cannot survive for more than a few hours outside of a living organism & it will take at least weeks for any phone manufactured in China to reach the hands of an Indian customer.
^^ Well, I sure hope so.
Btw, Redmi Note 8 Pro is a bit out of budget. Redmi Note 8 seemed dope though... until, I saw the Geekyranji't review.
While he unboxed the unit and booted, Ranjit and I, saw how Xiomi is pushing ads with new MIUI OS. Even when he tried not to install them, few apps still pushed to the phone.
With this we now realize how Xiaomi is going to behave in future. This have made me more skeptical about them now.
So I looked at Samsung M series lineup. I never thought I could, but with even Motorola and Nokia owned by chinese now, I think my only option lies with Samsung now.
So how is Samsung M20? 4 GB RAM, 64 Gigs storage, and most importantly 5000 mAH battery! Wait even Jio wifi calling is supported on M20.
Samsung seems to hell bend on breaking the budget market lineup! Available for about Rs 10,500, I think I should go for "safer" options now.
Btw, Redmi Note 8 Pro is a bit out of budget. Redmi Note 8 seemed dope though... until, I saw the Geekyranji't review.
While he unboxed the unit and booted, Ranjit and I, saw how Xiomi is pushing ads with new MIUI OS. Even when he tried not to install them, few apps still pushed to the phone.
With this we now realize how Xiaomi is going to behave in future. This have made me more skeptical about them now.
So I looked at Samsung M series lineup. I never thought I could, but with even Motorola and Nokia owned by chinese now, I think my only option lies with Samsung now.
So how is Samsung M20? 4 GB RAM, 64 Gigs storage, and most importantly 5000 mAH battery! Wait even Jio wifi calling is supported on M20.
Samsung seems to hell bend on breaking the budget market lineup! Available for about Rs 10,500, I think I should go for "safer" options now.
I know someone using note 8 & I haven't heard anything negative from him till now,of course he followed the online guides that I told him for blocking ads on miui. Samsung M(non S) series is not worth buying nowadays,if you want to buy samsung then at least buy M30S.