The Complete Smartphone Buyer's Guide

[Vyom]

@Vyom : How about Realme 3 Pro or Realme 5S ?

Well if I consider RealMe, I can even consider Redmi Note 8 "more", because of 3 things: Infrared, 18 watt Fast charging as well as a Type C port (also HD+ screen for that matter). Only thing not so great in Redmi Note 8 is battery, which is 4000 mAH compared to 5000 of RealMe 5S.
I seem to have little choice now.

 

[omega44-xt]

^^ 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.

VFM Samsung option is M30S, get it for 14k. M20 ain't worth it.

Not sure how much more Xiaomi will push ads but if it gets too bad, they will lose market share & you can go the rooting way. M20 ain't worth it IMO.

 

[omega44-xt]

Well if I consider RealMe, I can even consider Redmi Note 8 "more", because of 3 things: Infrared, 18 watt Fast charging as well as a Type C port (also HD+ screen for that matter). Only thing not so great in Redmi Note 8 is battery, which is 4000 mAH compared to 5000 of RealMe 5S.
I seem to have little choice now.

Compare Samsung Galaxy M20 vs. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs. Realme 5s - GSMArena.com

4000mAh provides good battery life, surely 5000mAh + 720p display provides a great battery life, but better to have 1080p resolution. 1080p is the resolution to have, even 1440p is useless IMO & an Android Authority guy agrees strongly with me. Scientifically, you can't see pixels above 300ppi.

 

[Vyom]

Scientifically, you can't see pixels above 300ppi.

And that's why RealMe is the bad option. Doesn't even have 300 ppi.

Comparing the two shortlisted devices, Samsung M30s and Redmi Note 8, I think following are worth nothing:
> Redmi Note 8 have Gorilla Glass, which Samsung probably don't have
> But Samsung have AMOLED display
> Redmi have Infrared, which still have some uses
> Redmi have 18 watt charger, and since battery is 4000 mAH, it will of course charge way faster
> Camera sample on gsmarena compares better in Samsung M30s, which probably due to the difference in f/stop number (since mega pixel is the same)

Anyone of them would probably be worthy upgrade from Samsung J2
Compare Samsung Galaxy M30s vs. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs. Samsung Galaxy J2 - GSMArena.com

 

[omega44-xt]

And that's why RealMe is the bad option. Doesn't even have 300 ppi.

Comparing the two shortlisted devices, Samsung M30s and Redmi Note 8, I think following are worth nothing:
> Redmi Note 8 have Gorilla Glass, which Samsung probably don't have
> But Samsung have AMOLED display
> Redmi have Infrared, which still have some uses
> Redmi have 18 watt charger, and since battery is 4000 mAH, it will of course charge way faster
> Camera sample on gsmarena compares better in Samsung M30s, which probably due to the difference in f/stop number (since mega pixel is the same)

Anyone of them would probably be worthy upgrade from Samsung J2
Compare Samsung Galaxy M30s vs. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs. Samsung Galaxy J2 - GSMArena.com

M30S doesn't have any scratch-resistant glass. I was planning to buy that for my mother, but it wasn't available locally (needed a phone ASAP as earlier one died). Ended up finding RN 8 Pro for 1k premium, bought that.

AMOLED & the big battery are some big advantages for M30S along with brand rep. RN8 is a better value at a cheaper price for sure.

 

[Vyom]

Yup. BTW, I compared Redmi Note 8 (RN8) base variant with the last generation Redmi Note 7 Pro (RN7P)... and I think Remi Note 7 Pro might be better than Note 8 at less price!
Compare Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro vs. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 - GSMArena.com

RN7P have newer generation processor than RN8.
Screen size, resolution and screen protection are the same.
Both have same battery of 4000 mAh and 18 watt charger.
RN7P don't have a logo in the front (which is a plus for me)
Only con with RN7P right now is not a dedicated slot for micro SD card. But I don't really need it since I have the same with my LG G6. Never need to use a Micro SD card with 64 GB internal memory and support for pen drives.

So, with the price increase of RN8 to 10.5k I think RN7P just might win!?!

Edit: Looks like RN8 have those extra two cameras, one for macro and one for ultra wide. So that's what the premium is for.

 

[TigerKing]

Sorry but You ask too many questions. Read this
Need suggestion for best camera mobile below 12-13K
You want better camera go for note 8 with stock camera
With gcam note 7 Pro is better
For performance note 7 Pro is better

Note 8 price increased because of budget 2020.. and still it's being manufactured. May be note 7 Pro is not being manufactured or they haven't decided yet about its price.

 

[Vyom]

After a lot of thought and questions, I decided to went ahead and get Redmi Note 8, 64 GB, Neptune Blue.


I think it would be worth it.
Thanks everyone who helped!

 

[Zangetsu]

After a lot of thought and questions, I decided to went ahead and get Redmi Note 8, 64 GB, Neptune Blue.


I think it would be worth it.
Thanks everyone who helped!

Cool. Do post your feedback once you get hands on experience on it

 

[Vyom]

Cool. Do post your feedback once you get hands on experience on it

Sure. Here is it.
The ads man. Xiaomi has up it's ante this time to shove as much ads in our faces it can, with Redmi Note 8. Maybe they were trying to make a world record of some kind.

I had to follow a video tutorial on youtube, to open all the Mi bloatware individually and disable "recommended content" from the settings.
Open Download app, turn off ads.
Open Browser app, turn off ads.
Open Security app, turn off ads.
Opem Music app, turn off ads.
....

Imagine doing this for couple of hours and still gets the ads. I finally had to mute the notification from "Music" app since there was no way to disable ads even after turning off from all those settings.

Spoiler

Phone trying to push these apps, and there no way to cancel it. I had to cancel the app installation, while it started to install, to cancel it.


The confirmation from phone when I stopped the app installation. Good way to fool it into thinking that it 'succeeded' I think.



Even after disabling all "recommended suggestions", I get suggestions if I even watch a local video!


Why does a "gallery" app needs permission to make phone calls!! WTF

I then also used Blokada app to see what domains the phone is pinging and install a blacklist for the time being.

This phone is just what I imagined: A treasure trove for Chinese government to spy on us. I think I did a mistake buying this for me wifey. But I will fight this fight to my last breath and install a completely new custom ROM if I have to, to remove any trace of chinese spy tools they may have embedded in there.

 

[omega44-xt]

Sure. Here is it.
The ads man. Xiaomi has up it's ante this time to shove as much ads in our faces it can, with Redmi Note 8. Maybe they were trying to make a world record of some kind.

I had to follow a video tutorial on youtube, to open all the Mi bloatware individually and disable "recommended content" from the settings.
Open Download app, turn off ads.
Open Browser app, turn off ads.
Open Security app, turn off ads.
Opem Music app, turn off ads.
....

Imagine doing this for couple of hours and still gets the ads. I finally had to mute the notification from "Music" app since there was no way to disable ads even after turning off from all those settings.

Spoiler

Phone trying to push these apps, and there no way to cancel it. I had to cancel the app installation, while it started to install, to cancel it.
View attachment 18843

The confirmation from phone when I stopped the app installation. Good way to fool it into thinking that it 'succeeded' I think.
View attachment 18844


Even after disabling all "recommended suggestions", I get suggestions if I even watch a local video!
View attachment 18845

Why does a "gallery" app needs permission to make phone calls!! WTF
View attachment 18846

I then also used Blokada app to see what domains the phone is pinging and install a blacklist for the time being.

This phone is just what I imagined: A treasure trove for Chinese government to spy on us. I think I did a mistake buying this for me wifey. But I will fight this fight to my last breath and install a completely new custom ROM if I have to, to remove any trace of chinese spy tools they may have embedded in there.

See, with Xiaomi you are getting a good device for cheap, so there is some "catch". Even cheap Samsung phones have these "recommendations", no system ads for sure. The recommendations are lower compared to Xiaomi apparently, but it exists in M & A series, sadly the budget mobile segment is moving this way. Obviously Oppo & vivo will have more of those in future.

Since you are tech-savvy enough to turn off a lot of stuff, so it's worth it to spend a few hours on that. I have to clean my mother's new RN8P of such ads when I go home next time.

I would say that the best solution is to let users pay to remove ads permanently. Like in US, Amazon Fire tabs worth $60+ ask for $15 to remove ads permanently. Say 10% of phone's cost for a sub 15k phone to remove ads is a decent price, let's see who implements something like this first.

 

[Vyom]

I understand that if something is for free, then you are the product. But we are not getting the phones for free.
It still cost me a decent amount of money. I even paid Rs 500 extra which they raised in last few months (whatever maybe the reason).

In past, when I purchased a phone, I didn't use to get ads. But now, since Redmi have services (bloatware), they are trying to generate revenue by showing ads, to cover the costs of those "services". For example, Mi provide a cloud storage service called, "Mi Cloud". Now no one really asked for this service. BUT, since they ARE providing this service, they are also showing ads to recover it's cost.
This article on ndtv.com shows you this thought process of Xiaomi: Does MIUI Have Too Many Ads? Here's What Xiaomi's Manu Jain Has to Say

The issue goes deeper. These "recommendations" are Opt-in. Since a lot of users are not educated enough of this, they will rarely turn off those "recommendations" by going into the settings of 13 or so different apps. Which probably means there are tens of thousands of people that are exposed to the "content" which these Chinese manufactures think they should get. And these people will never turn it off.

Xiaomi have the option to provide premium based device (like Kindle), but in the words of the Xiaomi representative himself (from the article):

It is not a bad idea, what you are proposing. I don't think we have evaluated it so I won't be able to comment on it right now.

You think a company as big as Xiaomi haven't think about it ever? They have. They just don't want to do that . Since there are more gains to be make showing ads instead. It's a business decision. One that benefits only the company in the long run.

 

[Zangetsu]

looking at your condition on Note 8. Realme device would have been much better in that aspect.
No Ads! and the bloatwares can be removed by firing the simple adb commands

 

[Engineer.AI]

Making people aware of this issue at hand is not enough, apparently. These are plain and simple - underhanded tactics by cellphone companies to sell their devices for adspace. I had a Xiaomi phone not long back, I kid you not, they used to LITERALLY show me an ad about the stuff i was 'Talking' about. Things got so bad, I didnt even sell my phone, i just downgraded back to my old nokia instead.
Blocking ads is merely ignorance in bliss. The phone is an ACTIVE LISTENING DEVICE.
~Engineer.ai

 

[Vyom]

The phone is an ACTIVE LISTENING DEVICE.

Oh that I agree. Even with the new features that are coming in Android 11 (that would allow us to grant temporary permissions), I can't be sure whether Xiaomi have chosen to completely bypass the Android's security and listening without even granting them permission.

 

[Engineer.AI]

I can't be sure whether Xiaomi have chosen to completely bypass the Android's security and listening without even granting them permission

There is this caveat, where if you give your OS permission just once, it will never ask you again for it. Most people think this to be harmless, but in actuality, many lawsuits have ensued because of this.
Very famously, when wikileaks exposed NSA and their malpractices, cellphone companies were hit with claims of spying on citizens. This "permission" granting phenomenon came about after that hullabaloo. If not for the expose, these companies would be rampant with their "LISTENING" without any repercussions.
~Engineer.AI

 

[TigerKing]

Need a phone after lockdown.. below 20k
Upgrading over redmi note 5 pro. Suggestions please?

 

[whitestar_999]

Need a phone after lockdown.. below 20k
Upgrading over redmi note 5 pro. Suggestions please?

Create a new thread by filling the Questionnaire for Mobile phone purchase queries to get better suggestions.

 

[vidhubhushan]

Need a phone after lockdown.. below 20k
Upgrading over redmi note 5 pro. Suggestions please?

best overall experience phone under 20k is Poco X2 if you are not too paranoid about xiaomi

 

[omega44-xt]

Need a phone after lockdown.. below 20k
Upgrading over redmi note 5 pro. Suggestions please?

Poco X2. Not the best battery life for sure, but will last a day easily. It shouldn't have ads like Redmi. Sadly has hybrid slot, so avoid 64GB variant for sure. After hearing Geekyranjit's rant on ads on Redmi Note 9 Pro, I don't think I will recommend Redmis soon. If you don't want Xiaomi, try Realme 6 Pro (it has better battery life than Realme 6 due to more efficient SoC). For something non-Chinese, Samsung M31.