Hey everyone, my phone died on the night of Diwali and I have been actively looking for a new phone. I will lay down some basic requirements so that it’s easier to recommend me something- I am a student with fairly moderate usage of phone, most of which includes clicking a lot of photos, reading PDFs, media consumption (OTTs and YouTube) with a bit of gaming with my friends every once in a while. One major thing I want to point out is that I will not switch my phone for at least four years or so. The battery should last me at least a single day (5-6 hours of SOT) with the usage I stated above. Not the biggest ask but I love to customize and play around with my phone to make it stand out as 'mine’. If possible, I would love to have customization options. I hope 40k can fetch me a decent phone, can’t really stretch the budget anymore.
Preference order: Camera > Performance >> Customisation/Ul ≈ Battery
Thave seen some phones so far: Samsung S24 (Snapdragon) at 40k, Oneplus 13R at 37.5k, IQOO Neo 10 at 32k and Realme GT 7.
Out of all the above mentioned, my personal bias is towards Samsung but I am happy to look at it from a different perspective. I really appreciate the input and please stop by to share some tips if you have some. Thanks for your time!
Samsung S24 is a decent phone for it’s price range. The issue with Samsung would be from OneUI8 samsung has started locking the OEM unlock feature, which would make you at the mercy of the samsung for updates. No custom roms ever, if longevity is your first preference.
Second option 13R. Avoid the other two.
iPhone 16e is the other end of the spectrum. Decent overall. You might need to stretch a bit for this.
Hey, thanks for the heads up about bootloader. I don’t see anyone talking about it in anywhere, maybe no one even cared but I feel that’s a very big let down. I might even change my decision because of this now, not sure yet. I was not going to install a custom rom for now but Samsung not even giving the option to do that is disappointing to say the least.
My problem with 13R might be camera, saw some reviews dissing the camera for its price. Any idea how does it compare to Samsung’s? I mostly take human shots, and sometimes of landscape/objects. No video recording as such.
I am afraid 16e might be stretching my budget a bit too much, not really sure if I can go that far. Really trying to stick to 40k at max.
Compared to samsung it is average to say the least. Edge detection is bad. Portrait photos are a hit or a miss. Colors are boosted. GCAM might work wonders. Pixel 9 was available in your budget during bbd. Might check that if Camera is your priority with average everything else. Pixel heats up too, so keep that in mind.
Personally besides the custom rom issue. You wouldn’t find any flaws in the price segment except for battery life.. Which will get you through the day easily for first 2 years and you might have to change the battery every couple of years.
No one is talking about bootloader issue in India as for all Indians UPI Apps are must , unlike foreigners who use credit cards . Rooted ROMs give so many problems with these apps its a super super PIA
Now people dont have the time to be on the bleeding edge of root , checking xda telegram to make these apps work as Google breaks them regularly
Anyone whose buying a 40k phone like S24 which is good stable performer generally doesnt think of rooting to achieve what - Felxibility to root in future , Better camera , Adblock etc etc …
Most of which these days is achieved by adb
So Indians buying 30k and above phones dont care…..
Any custom install with SElinux enforced will run UPI apps. Speaking of all the Indians is just too overboard I assume.
Restricting a feature which was present before and isn’t now doesn’t rubs good.
You can install custom roms without the need for root.
I am currently using an iPhone and an Android flagship devices and I need to have certain level of control over my devices, if I want to make changes, I can. I am using iphone, I know I cannot make certain changes to it. I am using Android, I know I have the freedom to tinker around things.
A person who is smart enough to use ADB would worry about blocking access to OEM unlock feature.
For cameras - S24. I get 4-5hr SOT on my S23 over 1 day on WiFi.
For battery life - OP 13R or Realme GT7 12/256GB. Their main rear camera would come close to S24’s main camera, but the other 2 rear cameras will easily be inferior to S24.
Regarding the bootloader issue, I stopped using custom ROMs or basic rooting almost a year ago, too much hassle to maintain. So not a concern for me, but ideally android was known for its freedom & this is a bad move indeed by Samsung.
Samsung & Apple have stagnated smartphone innovation for years now. S22 to S26, all of them use the same set of rear cameras. Chinese are pushing higher battery size & are getting close in camera post processing. I wish OnePlus phones get the camera algo from Oppo Find X series, that would make OP 15 (even 15s) pretty compelling, else for sometime now it’s always better to buy a 1 year old flagship or flagship killer around 40k as new ones barely improve anything major.
Sorry for replying a bit late, I got the phone a few days ago and the battery is doing well enough for me. Got around 7 hour of SOT with 5G connectivity. I am enjoying the UI a lot, feels class apart from my last phone.
