[meerkat]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

A year is too long a period or atleast a sane time period for newer model launches given the software and hardware upgrades that techonlogy goes under.

I am well aware of this, -- and the fact that all manufactures have to bring out frequent upgrades to stay in the game. My problem is not with that, but with the fact that Motorola are prone to just withdraw previous models from the market when upgraded models are released (G84, G82 ...). This is consistent with the fact that they typically don't sell big numbers of a particular model, and don't expect to either. So they don't build up stocks of a model to clear. This is a problem for consumers like me who don't tend to replace their phones every year or to, -- because the likelihood of continuing availability of spare parts is consequently much less

Have been using Motos for 2 decades or more. Never had had to visit a service center. It seems that is not much important for their revenue model.

Having trouble-free experience with Moto phones over past decades? Is that even relevant now, with the brand changing owners so many times over the years (finally ending up with Lenovo, China)?!

But even supposing that the Motorola brand has somehow maintained its USPs even after changing hands so many times, I don't buy the idea that Moto phones run for years without ever failing, and so don't need easily accessible service centers. I do not believe that their phones really stand out that much in quality and reliability compared to their competitors (otherwise why do they have low single digit market shares worldwide?).

I don't see how Motorola would convince customers living away from big cities to buy their phones with their online-only marketing strategy in India. Be ready to travel 50 - 100 kms (or more) just to have a defective (or even DOA) new phone replaced at a service center? Or travel as far to have a phone serviced, -- with the very real likelihood that parts may not be available immediately (if at all), so be prepared to make multiple trips over weeks or even months?! ... Not for me, I'm afraid.

Samsung phones in this price range are too cumbersome and heavy like a brick to carry.
A moto is 170 gms approx. A samsung 225 gms.

Unfortunately this bigger-and-heavier trend is not limited to just the budget range of Samsung! Their pricier ranges (including the flagships, save some plain vanilla versions) are not much better in this respect either!
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[professortarzan]

Originally Posted by Skorp_Knight

The reason for switch to 5G has more to do with the data quantity than quality for me.
.
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There are minor issues with my current phone too but none too major to force a new purchase.
.
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This semester there has been some problems with the LAN and now I feel it's due that I do make the switch to take advantage of the technology when it's available.

Understandable, you take a call based on your personal experience and constraints. But also consider the ill effects of using the new phone as a hotspot continuously, the heat will invariably impact its lifespan, mainly the battery. Check out if a second SIM (Airtel 4G) with dongle can fulfil your data needs, or something like a JioFi device that supports 5G. As an insider in telecom industry, I can tell you the unlimited 5G data is because of much lower adoption of 5G than anticipated. It is just an incentive for now and the plans can change in future.

ALERT: Heavy nostalgia ahead...
Your thread brings back so many memories from college. At that time too it was a game of quantity, we had to shed hundreds of rupees just for 500MB data. One of my friends and I were among the early adopters of BSNL unlimited 3G dongle in 2010, our hostel room was a hotspot for downloads. There was also a time where we used to share EDGE network from Nokia N-series to a laptop over Bluetooth, imagine the speeds. Apparently my seniors had to hold their phone next to the window for signal. But life was so simple back then, I would probably give an arm and a leg to go back to those days. Enjoy your hostel life my young friend (responsibly of course), you'll not get that phase again.

[KrisTvpm]

Just my 2paisa worth, though not addressing the original premise/question of OP.

My mobilephone ownership record in last 2.5decades:
1) Siemens feature phone - 2001 - 2years
2) Motorola feature phone - 2003 - 2years
3) Nokia feature phone - 2005 - 1year, damaged due to a bus running over it !
4) Sony Ericsson feature phone - 2006 - 5years
5) Nokia XpressMusic feature phone - 2010 - 2years(still have it, in working condition!)
6) Samsung Galaxy S smartphone - 2012 - 2years (stolen)
7) Micromax Canvas Magnus smartphone - 2014 - 1year
8) Asus Zenphone smartphone - 2015 - 2years (damaged due to mishandling)
9) Samsung Galaxy A5 smartphone - 2017 - 2years (exchanged/upgraded)
10) Samsung Galaxy Note9 smartphone - 2019 - 6years, still in use...

In the meantime, my wife used a Motorola E series phone in 2018 for just 1 year, which was a nightmare to use due to lack of features/user-unfriendly UI
& she switched to a Samsung Galaxy M series phone in 2019 which served her well for 5+ years, and she moved on to iPhone 15+

Tried to repurpose the Moto phone as my secondary phone / kids' phone -- both me & kids rejected it due to its unusable/unfriendly nature. It's still lying around as e-waste.

So, overall, extremely biased to Samsung brand.
Durable/feature-rich UI/software update for 4years/decent enough camera/hassle-free ownership -- paisa wasool!

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by KrisTvpm

Just my 2paisa worth, though not addressing the original premise/question of OP. My mobilephone ownership record in last 2.5decades

I wish I too had kept a record of all my phone buys. And better still, kept them in storage for nostalgia.

Nokia feature phone - 2005 - 1year, damaged due to a bus running over it

What got damaged? The bus or the phone?

Samsung Galaxy Note9 smartphone - 2019 - 6years, still in use

Over time, I've started to realize that more expensive phones offer better value for money. They have better cooling system, internals are made of better materials and processor/RAM is powerful enough to run latest apps. Reset the phone every 2 years, change the battery if needed and the phone is good as new.

Currently, I think Rs. 30k to Rs. 40k phones offer the best bang for the buck. Camera quality too will be almost as good as the flagships.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

...
What got damaged? The bus or the phone?

Phone got scratched. Bus needed suspension overhaul.

Nokia things.

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I wish I too had kept a record of all my phone buys. And better still, kept them in storage for nostalgia.

What got damaged? The bus or the phone?

Hehe, unfortunately the phone only!
It fell down from pant pocket during office commute, some good citizen got it after the damage was done, he swapped the SIM to his phone anticipating a call from me, let me know that SIM is intact though phone is not repairable! When I gauged the damage, it wasn't exactly roadkill, had almost 50% survived!

IIRC it was this model

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by meerkat

My problem is not with that, but with the fact that Motorola are prone to just withdraw previous models from the market when upgraded models are released (G84, G82 ...). This is consistent with the fact that they typically don't sell big numbers of a particular model, and don't expect to either. So they don't build up stocks of a model to clear. This is a problem for consumers like me who don't tend to replace their phones every year or to, -- because the likelihood of continuing availability of spare parts is consequently much less

Motorola hands out exceptional phones of very high quality at cut throat prices. I'm not sure what spare parts you are talking about. Also the clean Android experience is way better than say the Chinese brands. Whether they build up stocks or not, sell a lot or not isn't my worry. I just know they make great phones, I buy every 2-3 years while retaining the previous phone for 5-7 years. Haven't had a single problem yet. Have been using Motos since
Moto C300.

An analogy:
When Suzuki trumps Indian market, people still ask a lot of questions on their quality of cars.
When Fiat isn't able to sell top quality cars or Ford or any other brand for that matter, the question reframes itself.

For some customers it is about the experience and quality rather the headache of 'spare parts' or service.

Originally Posted by meerkat

Having trouble-free experience with Moto phones over past decades? Is that even relevant now, with the brand changing owners so many times over the years (finally ending up with Lenovo, China)?!

Of course thats relevant. It's a pioneer and leader in telecommunication. It has legacy and continuously brings out newer tech before others catch up.

Originally Posted by meerkat

But even supposing that the Motorola brand has somehow maintained its USPs even after changing hands so many times, I don't buy the idea that Moto phones run for years without ever failing, and so don't need easily accessible service centers. I do not believe that their phones really stand out that much in quality and reliability compared to their competitors (otherwise why do they have low single digit market shares worldwide?).

Use a Moto for several years and see the quailty for yourself. The ease of use, the light weight, high build and fantastic android experience. There is a Moto for every use case and price band.

Originally Posted by meerkat

I don't see how Motorola would convince customers living away from big cities to buy their phones with their online-only marketing strategy in India. Be ready to travel 50 - 100 kms (or more) just to have a defective (or even DOA) new phone replaced at a service center? Or travel as far to have a phone serviced, -- with the very real likelihood that parts may not be available immediately (if at all), so be prepared to make multiple trips over weeks or even months?! ... Not for me, I'm afraid.

I'm a customer who has mostly lived away from cities. Forget about thinking of travelling 50-100 kms, it never even crosses my mind that something could go wrong with my phone even with rough use and harsh weather. When the weather is really extreme, the battery starts underperforming for sure.
[/quote]

Originally Posted by meerkat

Unfortunately this bigger-and-heavier trend is not limited to just the budget range of Samsung! Their pricier ranges (including the flagships, save some plain vanilla versions) are not much better in this respect either!
.

For some it could be a 'trend', for some the heavy weight is stupidity when better, lighter phones are available at lower prices.

[WiseFool]

I recently bought the Poco X6 and Nord CE4. If you want a performance oriented gaming phone go with Poco X6 pro. Everything is good except for battery life. If you want an all rounder go with the Nord. It is going for 21k with a pair of free buds also.

[sapien]

Originally Posted by Skorp_Knight

Budget is 15000-20000, preferably closer to the former number.

Won’t recommend a particular phone because there are too many options and people have different usecases, but here are some points to note,

• Like cars even with phones the more expensive ones tends to last longer and provide better experience, there’s a thread by GTO w.r.t cars on this.
• Realme, Oppo, Oneplus, Iqoo, Vivo all are under single chineese brand called bbk electronics, they tend to offer most value for money deals usually.
• Xiaomi and Redmi software experience degrades over time.
• Samsung is like Maruti Suzuki, nothing exceptional but everything just works!
• Motorola’s android skin is the cleanest with some useful features added.
• Nothing and CMF are from same group, making funky phones at attractive prices and deals are very good in sales.
• If you have used a particular phone which belongs to your friend and its likeable the go for it. Empirical evidence is better than online manipulated reviews.
• Apple had some good deals where they were selling iphone 12 mini for 20000 etc, its a very good deal if you are able to get it.
• Fast charging is super useful !

I would have gone for CMF / Nothing.

Here’s a good reference- https://m.gsmarena.com/best_midrange...eview-2032.php

[sri2012]

Now Samsung M55s is available in Amazon with 5 years of android update. I feel spec is better than cmf 1. Moto Edge 50 fusion finally gets a competitor with regards to the number of years of update.

[yedukrishnan199]

Originally Posted by sri2012

Now Samsung M55s is available in Amazon with 5 years of android update. I feel spec is better than cmf 1. Moto Edge 50 fusion finally gets a competitor with regards to the number of years of update.

The M55s is just an M55/F55 with a differently designed back panel and colour. It is notorious for overheating and has a surprisingly mediocre camera. The SD 7 Gen 1 is a flop chipset notorious for overheating which Samsung made, so they plopped it into their M55/F55 series, and guess what? It was a disaster.

[sri2012]

Originally Posted by yedukrishnan199

The M55s is just an M55/F55 with a differently designed back panel and colour. It is notorious for overheating and has a surprisingly mediocre camera. The SD 7 Gen 1 is a flop chipset notorious for overheating which Samsung made, so they plopped it into their M55/F55 series, and guess what? It was a disaster.

Thank you. You saved me, was about to book for my spouse

[Skorp_Knight]

Finally updating this thread, first of all thank you everyone for your suggestions. Eventually, the decision ended up being something I had not considered earlier. Quoting this gentleman,

Originally Posted by sapien

[*]Like cars even with phones the more expensive ones tends to last longer and provide better experience, there’s a thread by GTO w.r.t cars on this.

So I had finalized on CMF phone 1 in the end as M35 had gone out of stock by the time I got to order one. The phone would cost roughly 17.5k with charger, tamper glass and cover included. But in the end dad argued that if I'm buying a new phone, must as well go up a segment upto 25k. And who am I to argue with dad

Considered Poco F6 but the battery drain reviews kept me away. And I genuinely liked Moto Edge 50 fusion, but it also went out of stock before I could order. One plus Nord CE 4 was another solid phone but apparently it doesn't have complete animations and only offers 2 android updates. Other options were not as interesting to me given my #1 priority was a premium software experience.

Well, Nothing Phone 2a it was then, and I got my hands on it today.

[sapien]

Originally Posted by Skorp_Knight

my #1 priority was a premium software experience.

Well, Nothing Phone 2a it was then, and I got my hands on it today.
Attachment 2675633

Attachment 2675634

Congratulations ! Here’s a request to keep updating this thread with how the experience has been, over next few days, months and years. Specifically on -

• Call quality
• Browsing experience
• Camera
• Overall software

Also, any major drawbacks you realize over time.
I am likely to be market for a phone in a year’s time, your experience will help.

[Skorp_Knight]

Originally Posted by sapien

Congratulations ! Here’s a request to keep updating this thread with how the experience has been, over next few days, months and years. Specifically on -

• Call quality
• Browsing experience
• Camera
• Overall software

Also, any major drawbacks you realize over time.
I am likely to be market for a phone in a year’s time, your experience will help.

Let me share a one week review of the phone as I completed 7 days with it today.

*No issues whatsoever with the call quality and reception so far. No call drops, nothing.
*Browsing experience is excellent too. Unless you're used to fast flagship phones, you will be impressed.
*Camera is better than I expected based on the reviews. Solid 8/10. In fact, many of my friends, who were excited to see the phone for the first time, complimented the picture quality of the phone. Totally satisfactory for a general user.
*Simply put, software is the USP of this phone. It is unique and refreshing to use when compared to other companies, and I'm using the black and white nothing icon pack which looks super cool. Animations are beautiful, everything is smooth and snappy. Many simple and nifty widgets here and there, and it's only going to get better with the upcoming NothingOS 3.0 and the subsequent updates.

Things I liked:
*The screen feels like a whole different kind of premium coming from a 60Hz LCD screen phone. Many people complimented the thin bezels.
*Software and animations like I mentioned before, solid 10.
Although Samsung will offer you a better experience in terms of features and safety.
*Speakers are LOUD.
*The phone garners attention like crazy. Not necessarily a positive to me, but can't put it as a negative. Many friends bought new phones recently, like Moto Edge 50 pro, Realme GT 6T, Google Pixel 7a, Samsung S23 etc, and this phone was easily garnering the most attention of them all.
*Cameras are satisfactory.
*I bought the CMF 33W charger and sometimes it charges in a little over an hour, while other times it takes 1.5 hours too.
*Battery backup is decent, nothing exceptional. Will go a whole day of normal use case.
*Performance is satisfactory as well.
*Haptic motor is of good quality as well.

I haven't found anything to dislike as such within this time, I'm enjoying my purchase. However there's a couple of things I'd like to highlight:

*Phone isn't meant for heavy gaming. I play Pokemon Unite once in a while, which is a Moba game (multiplayer 5v5). Largely it runs smooth and consistent 60 fps, however during one incident the phone did start to lag and heat during an intense moment within the game. Not a deal breaker for me, but for others potentially considering this phone, there are better performance focused phones in this price range.
To put it into an analogy with cars, it's like a Honda 1.5 Ivtec engine, very solid and satisfactory for 80% of the users, but those who have experienced the faster turbos of the competition, will be left asking for more.

*I bought a new Airtel 5G sim to use with the new phone. The recharge plan has 2Gb data+unlimited 5G data on paper. But one day, I was using the hotspot to work on my laptop, and as I exhausted the daily limit, the speeds fell off even though it was showing 5G. I restarted the phone and it did start working again, but I'm not sure if it's a phone problem or sim problem. Haven't got the chance to check it again.

*After receiving the phone, I saw a post on reddit which had many users who bought the phone 5-7 months ago talking of the lock screen showing a green tint after continuously using the fingerprint unlock. Not sure if it's a serious issue, or has been rectified, but for anyone considering, I felt I had to highlight it.

Overall, very satisfied with the phone. Looks and feels premium inside out, and that's why it's a popular phone despite not doing anything exceptional. Will update the thread upon receiving the December Android 15/NothingOs 3.0 update.