[RavSam]

Phone: Galaxy M21 - Rs.15,000
Car: Ignis Zeta AMT - Rs.7,65,000
Ratio: 1.9%

I know some of my friends whose phone cost is approx. 200% of their used car value.

[androdev]

Like others have mentioned, people have different preferences when it comes to spending money.

Buying a phone involves just an initial purchase cost unlike a car which has substantial recurring upkeep costs. Phone is a better way to get quick social currency because you are always carrying it on you and you can get favourably judged by the phone you carry. Car has no such "constant" association - mostly you are anonymous and hidden behind the windshield and you can't keep it on the table in a restaurant. Car offers little value while parked at home because your house will override you car.

I am a bit of an anti-phone guy and try not to use them much. I use hand-me-down phones from my family members who themselves are not into flagship phone models. I prefer to use my computer for all the "smart" stuff and I have given strict instructions to my family members not to ever gift me a smartphone (it's a very popular choice for a gift). I am a pro-car guy and I go to great lengths when it comes to cars - time, effort and money.

One of my old posts here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxur...q5-tfsi-3.html (BMW X3 vs Skoda Kodiaq EDIT: Booked Audi Q5 TFSI!)

[jithin23]

I'm not very particular about how new my phone should be and I prefer budget to midrange phone as a phone's usable life is 3-4 years at max and they go for a pittance in exchange and a phone is meant for communication basically. To each their own though

When it comes to cars, I'd go for the ones that fulfill my purpose.

My car cost was 11.7L and I had a redmi phone worth 10k in 2018. After I got my first job in 2019, I went for OnePlus 7T as it had the best specs and would last longer and I'd be careful about my phone and keep it well.

Oh yes, I don't think EMI's on phone are worth it and I prefer paying full cash for almost all of my stuff so that there's no thought of debt hanging over my head

[turbo]

Originally Posted by androdev

I am a bit of an anti-phone guy and try not to use them much. I use hand-me-down phones from my family members

And all this while I was thinking your name is an acronym for Android Developer

[androdev]

Originally Posted by turbo

And all this while I was thinking your name is an acronym for Android Developer

Ha ha. I joined team-bhp in 2007. There was no android back then. Andromeda galaxy was on my mind when I registered, not sure how I picked this particular user name though.

[TurboOnTarmac]

Voted for 1-4%
Actual cost my phone is less than 1% of car.

After paying over 1000SGD for Samsung S3, while i was in Singapore, long time ago, with so much planning and excitement, within a few months lost the same. Learned the lesson hardway. Since then, never invested on expensive phones. My latest one, bought in this Jan 2021 samsung A20S @14k INR. before that was using A50, which was dead on its own after 1.5 years of service. Before that it was Moto@13kINR, which is still serving me as my backup phone...you get it.

My car is purchased an year ago with all inclusive tag ~16L. so not even 1%.

[pavanmadhini]

Recently my wife switched back to the iPhone ecosystem after a couple of years with Android, and that's when I realized that you're not just buying an iPhone. Most iPhone owners I know also have an Airpods Pro and a watch. And additional Apple Care for all the 3 devices. The total spend could be anywhere between 1.5-2 lakhs depending on the variants purchased!

My wife now has a Polo costing about 10L and a Phone/Watch/Pods combo worth about 2 L. That's 20%! I have a 50k phone and a 20L Jetta, which puts me at about 2.5%. Too much imbalance; I'll have to convince my wife to buy a 330i to make her phone spend reasonable now.

[cpabhijit]

For me, phone is a necessity. It's not something I look forward to using. It's not something which gives me joy. It is needed to get work done. Left to myself, I wouldn't touch my phone all day. Most weekends, my wife checks my phone and tells me that I have 100s of work messages which need attention.

I prefer to do most of my work and reading on a laptop and when I'm forced to do some work on the phone, the experience leaves my grumpy and irritated.

Now car!!! Come on! I'm always searching for reasons to take out my car. Anyone tells me "let's go for a dri...." and I'm already at the wheel. And needless to say, I come back with a silly grin. I sulk when I have to take a cab anywhere. Last year I visited my parents and we had to rent a car with a chauffeur (zoom/revv horror stories) for a 3 day outstation trip and I cosied up to the guy and did my best to get him to let me drive. He didn't budge. Who would? The roads were fabulous, afterall.

Given this, how and why to compare what we pay for a phone and a car?

Anyway, I've always used Galaxy S series (S2, S3, S7, S9). While I still use the S9 (amazing camera, nothing comes close), I was tired of android for all its choppiness and ads! A bit off topic, but open the official weather app on S9 and it serves you ads, open the Samsung Health app and it serves you ads.



How is that acceptable? Have I not paid enough money to buy a flagship phone? What gives Samsung the right to further serve me ads? Third party apps serving me ads is fine, I would have installed it for free and I know they have to earn too. But Samsung? On its apps? No way. So last year I decided to switch to iPhone and given my limited use cases, bought the SE 2020 model for 32k after discounts. I bought a Karoq too last year, for 30L. So that's 1%.

I dote on the Karoq. I don't know where I left my phone...

[arindambasu13]

Never been a believer in splurging on super high end phones. Mid range phones cater to my daily use requirements more than well, and till now I have restricted by budget to sub-30K when it comes to smartphones. For the last five years, have been using OnePlus 3 and then 6T.

The mid rangers of today offer more than enough firepower and screen quality to do everything excellently. Flashing an iPhone or the latest Samsung has never really appealed to me or seemed important enough for me to spend that kind of money on them. Asking prices today are bordering on (or have already crossed) ridiculous levels.

Hence, voted for 1-4%

[speedfreak01]

Picked up my vento in 2015 for 10.5 L and been using it 6 years. Have changed 2-3 phones in this timeline and the max I’ve spent on a phone is 60k and I’ve set that as my upper limit for all my future phone purchases. Also might upgrade my car this and budget is set at 14 L. So current ratio for me is 6% and will go down in future as and when car upgrade time comes.

[irdevanand]

Car : Honda City VX CVT 2016 - Rs. 11.7 lakhs
(exshowroom price. company lease so this is what i paid)
Phone : Redmi Note 5 -Rs.11,000
Percentage : 0.94 %
On a side note - very very happy with both the choices.
----

[srini1785]

So is it safe to conclude:

Born before 1990 = Car is more top end than Phone
Born After 1990 = Phone is more top end than car

[clevermax]

I have just entered Generation-X. I use a Realme phone worth 28K and that itself was well exceeding the budget I had set for a smartphone. So my phone costs about 1.9% of my car's price.

In my opinion, spending in the range of 60K for a phone isn't really worth it. Especially during these times, where you won't even get a chance to flaunt that half-eaten Apple picture at the back panel of your phone!

Proposing another poll idea - the BHP&Torque per Lakh (of INR) spent for your car(s).

[bj96]

Interesting thread.

Over two decades, I have owned (purchased) several different vehicles and phones. Given below is a snapshot of some of the notable ones.



I splurged 11% value of my first vehicle on a phone 22 years ago. I was young, care-free and technology was expensive. Now, I spend less than 1% on phone because I am older, (perhaps) wiser and technology is cheaper .

Voted for 1-4%.

-BJ

PS: values are approximate from top of my head

[clementj]

Voted for 1-4%.

Its a rather weird comparison as I've never really connected the two before this thread but thinking about it, the ratio almost always tends to fall broadly into this threshold.

We prefer Android phones only. I use a Huawei P30 pro that cost me around 54k and its a tad over a year old. I drive a Jeep Compass that was about 26L on road, phone~car is about 2%. My wife uses a Galaxy S20+ @45k vs a Grand i10 Auto @7.5L at 5%.