[RYP]

Originally Posted by ka51resident

Hi!

I'm looking at a price range of <10k. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the phone should be free of bloatware. Read some reviews about Nokia 8110 on some prominent e-commerce websites; turns out that it has it's own share of problems with respect to heating, no support for VoLTE, heating and poor packaging (presumably because of no official mention on Nokia India's official website). I was very tempted to buy Nokia 2720 Flip but the same story as above.

If you happen to know of any phones with 0 bloatware and VoLTE, please let me know.

I'm confused. You have this budget of <10k, but whatever you are eying is at a lower band of 5k and are a complete dud in terms of operating system. So i assume this wont be your primary phone. Android is years ahead of KaiOS at all fronts, be it security or updates.

My suggestion would be the Redmi Go. It runs on Android Go edition, which is a very lite weight fork of Android developed by Google to run smoothly on lower end devices. It doesn't contain any junk apps, comes only with utterly necessary Google apps. It's as clean and stock as it can get.

It Comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 425, 3000mAh battery, 5 inch 720p display, 1GB RAM, 8/16 GB ROM, 4G with VoLTE Support, Hotspot, an FM radio, dual sim support and even a dedicated memory card slot for heaven's sake, all for 4.3K. It's a steal for what you are paying and ticks all of your boxes

[sharktale]

Originally Posted by ka51resident

Hi!

I'm looking at a price range of <10k. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the phone should be free of bloatware.

If you can go for an Unboxed/refurbished : Try the Oneplus 3T from 2gud.com

You can also go for Mi A1/Mi A2 (Link) from the same website. They are a subsidiary website of Flipkart specifically dealing in refurbished goods.

In new phones, the Nokia 3.2 seems like the only suggestion.

[vvijay]

Originally Posted by RYP

Have you ever considered the Mi A3?

I was in the market looking for a decent mid-ranger for my wife and went with the Mi A3 as I was equally impressed with the specs you listed above. The deal in Amazon back then (before GST hike and lockdown) was sealed at INR 11999 and phone got delivered in time. However, believe me, the phone was buggy inside out for a stock android to the tune that:

1. The Wi Fi would intermittently disconnect,
2. The in-screen fingerprint scanner was not consistent and
3. The auto brightness wouldn't adjust to the ambient lighting conditions.

This really got my wife's nerve and I demanded Amazon over a refund which luckily got through. Got the 6+128 Note 9 Pro on the 2nd sale in Amazon for INR 15399 incl no-cost EMI discount. The A3 doesn't hold a candle to the Note 9 Pro in the following aspects:

1. 6.67" 395 ppi IPS LCD (Although the A3 is a 720p AMOLED, the resolution is poor and it shows)
2. Fast and consistent side-mounted fingerprint scanner, very practical too.
3. Latest Snapdragon 720G
4. Built in Vo-WiFi available out of the box.

Yes this is not stock android, but hey my wife comes from a Mi 4 so she is just fine and the MIUI 11's latest update does not push in much of ad content and so I'm happy too.

Cheers,
Vijay

[RYP]

Originally Posted by vvijay

1. The Wi Fi would intermittently disconnect,
2. The in-screen fingerprint scanner was not consistent and
3. The auto brightness wouldn't adjust to the ambient lighting conditions.

Sorry to hear this. You got a lemon pal, no two ways.

Originally Posted by vvijay

MIUI 11's latest update does not push in much of ad content and so I'm happy too

This is exactly why Xiaomi is so arrogant with their ad's, because no one really knows how much is too much. Note 9 Pro is a brilliant phone and a benchmark in its segment, but MIUI is pure garbage. We all would prefer not to have dealer decals all over our newly bought car, same goes for phones or any gadget for that matter. Charge me a 1000 buck more but give me a ad free experience anyday.

[rst89]

Hello all,

I am using OnePlus 3T since 3 years 6 months. Unfortunately, I slept on it one week back and it resulted on pink smudge on a screen which was small on Day 1 but has now spread across entire screen.

Urgently looking for replacement. I was unable to get OnePlus 8 Pro in sale today. Only bummer of OnePlus 8 Pro is they have disable the 5 MP colour filter camera in the shipment. Also OnePlus 8 Pro India version doesn't support all bands in North America.

I am looking for a near stock Android experience.

The new iPhone SE also looks good but apart from A13 chip which is miles ahead of Snapdragon high end chips, it doesn't look a good buy.

So I may settle on a phone for 15k to 25k now. No Samsung Exynos chip based phones for me though. That leaves only Chinese OEM phones in my hand.

[bansal.sushant]

Originally Posted by rst89

I am looking for a near stock Android experience.

So I may settle on a phone for 15k to 25k now. No Samsung Exynos chip based phones for me though. That leaves only Chinese OEM phones in my hand.

My suggestion to you, if you are not an apple user for a while, skip the iPhone SE (I have been using iPhones for the past 7 years).

Why have you not considered OnePlus 8? It has all the upgrades you want and all your qualms about 8 Pro also get solved here.

If you can wait, can also consider the upcoming OnePlus Z/8 lite/Nord. Launch date isn't known yet, but should be within a month.

[roamer012]

Originally Posted by rst89

No Samsung Exynos chip based phones for me though. That leaves only Chinese OEM phones in my hand.

Originally Posted by bansal.sushant

If you can wait, can also consider the upcoming OnePlus Z/8 lite/Nord.

Considering OP is not interested in Exynos, i doubt he would be satisfied with Mediatek chipset which is rumoured for the Z/8 lite and nord. My suggestion would be to look for Android One line up like Mi A2 or Nokia devices.

[DaptChatterjee]

Originally Posted by rst89

No Samsung Exynos chip based phones for me though. That leaves only Chinese OEM phones in my hand.

Samsung A31 has Mediatek chip and is in your budget (21k). However, for some reason, a31 is costlier than m31 in India whereas it's the other way around elsewhere.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by rst89

Hello all,

So I may settle on a phone for 15k to 25k now. No Samsung Exynos chip based phones for me though. That leaves only Chinese OEM phones in my hand.

Samsung A80 was selling for 22k on Flipkart yesterday. Do check if it's available today. A great buy at that price. It has a snapdragon chipset if I remember correctly.

[rst89]

Originally Posted by bansal.sushant

My suggestion to you, if you are not an apple user for a while, skip the iPhone SE (I have been using iPhones for the past 7 years).

If you can wait, can also consider the upcoming OnePlus Z/8 lite/Nord. Launch date isn't known yet, but should be within a month.

I use MacOS for my personal work but I have a general inclination for Android. Reason: Android community is very strong in case of hacks. On my Oneplus 3T, I was running GCam which Google releases only for Pixel phones. In night mode, nothing beats GCam running on a 3 year old phone with a single cam.

OnePlus Z/Nord has no timeline and may contain Mediatek Dimensity SoC which is unproven. Also require a good cam and OnePlus 8 Pro satisfies it. Even Anand Tech in this article has good comparison of all phones. Iphone 11 Pro is still the king in terms of photography but way out of budget.

Originally Posted by roamer012

Considering OP is not interested in Exynos, i doubt he would be satisfied with Mediatek chipset which is rumoured for the Z/8 lite and nord. My suggestion would be to look for Android One line up like Mi A2 or Nokia devices.

Looking now at Mi A3. Not a global phone in terms of LTE band support but looking now, iphone 6S/nexus 5 released so many years ago had an extensive band support.

Originally Posted by DaptChatterjee

Samsung A31 has Mediatek chip and is in your budget (21k). However, for some reason, a31 is costlier than m31 in India whereas it's the other way around elsewhere.

Originally Posted by harry10

Samsung A80 was selling for 22k on Flipkart yesterday. Do check if it's available today. A great buy at that price. It has a snapdragon chipset if I remember correctly.

Samsung has some bloat ware and I feel I may invest in SnapDragon SoC then buy a phone based on MediaTek.

[RM Motorsports]

Originally Posted by rst89

Hello all,


I am looking for a near stock Android experience.

So I may settle on a phone for 15k to 25k now. No Samsung Exynos chip based phones for me though. That leaves only Chinese OEM phones in my hand.

Why don't you give a look at new Motorola Fusion. It comes with 5000 mAh battery and Snapdragon 730G processor.

And then there is high-end Motorola Edge + with similar battery and powered by Snapdragon 865 chipset.

And Motorola phones are almost stock Android with just Moto Actions which quite a boon.

And mostly 'Made in India'.

[rst89]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Why don't you give a look at new Motorola Fusion. It comes with 5000 mAh battery and Snapdragon 730G processor.

And then there is high-end Motorola Edge + with similar battery and powered by Snapdragon 865 chipset.

And Motorola phones are almost stock Android with just Moto Actions which quite a boon.

And mostly 'Made in India'.

The camera capability of Edge+ is untested. Also costs at least 20k INR more than OnePlus 8 Pro which is now benchmark for me. Also even though Moto will support official update only for two years, the promise looks dicey.

I may buy Mi A3 (13k INR) for time being and give it in my family and buy OnePlus 8T Pro or whatever releases in Dec 2020. Still looking for a good alternative for Mi A3.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by rst89

Still looking for a good alternative for Mi A3.

Nokia 7.2 might serve as alternative (Similar specs, Android One, Good with updates).

[JonSnow]

Originally Posted by roamer012

Considering OP is not interested in Exynos, i doubt he would be satisfied with Mediatek chipset which is rumoured for the Z/8 lite and nord. My suggestion would be to look for Android One line up like Mi A2 or Nokia devices.

That was the original rumor but recent rumors say it will come with Snapdragon 765G. So it looks like a good option in that price range.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by rst89

Looking now at Mi A3. Not a global phone in terms of LTE band support but looking now, iphone 6S/nexus 5 released so many years ago had an extensive band support.

I am a big fan of ‘stock android phones’ and I have been using Mi A3 since Feb of this year. I have used Mi A1 and Mi A2 before and I still have Mi A2 which is being used by my daughter. Having used all the 3 phones in this series, I am a big fan of Mi AX phones.
In fact, Mi A3 did address the lack of audio jack that existed in Mi A2. So, you can definitely think about Mi A3.