Budget 10-15K 12-16k Decent mid-range for everyday use

calvin1719

calvin1719

Mostly harmless.
Adept
Please help out with some suggestions and recommendations. I'm not too experienced at buying phones so if there's anything I should check or be aware of please let me know.

1. Budget?
A: Upto 12K, can maybe stretch to 15-16k if it's really worth it

2. Preferred display size, type and resolution?
A: Has to be 1080p at least, a smaller display is better. Ideally <6in but that's doubtful so I'll settle for between 6 and 6.5, lower is better. Don't really care about the tech, as long as it has decent readability in the sun.

3. Preferred operating system? (Android (with version), iOS, etc).
A: Android, recent version, doesn't need to be the latest. Has to be mostly stock OR have custom ROM support.

4. Preferred connectivity options? (4G, 3G, 2G etc).
A: 4G minimum, 5G a plus but not required.

5. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them.
A: Leaning towards Motorola due to near vanilla AOSP ROMs. Was considering Nokia, but most of their phones don't have FHD displays.

6. What is your intended use for this phone (internet, camera, multimedia, mails etc.)?
A: Browsing, productivity tasks, YT, discord, etc. No heavy gaming, but does need to have good battery life. Don't care about camera quality, anything will be good enough for the occasional functional photo etc.

7. Single SIM/ Dual SIM?
A: No preference

8. New or Used? Online or Offline?
A: New. Prefer buying online.

9. Any other requirements?
A:
- Good battery backup
- Ideally at least 6 GB RAM (dedicated hardware, not the swap space marketing BS that's being called "RAM" nowadays).
- 3.5mm jack
- microSD slot
- Dual speakers are a plus but might give it a miss if it's not possible within budget.
- Don't want to buy anything with a Unisoc SOC.
- Type C charging port

10. If you have already considered a phone, then please mention the model
A: Moto g32, g52
 
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Just get the Redmi 12 5G (6/128). It ticks all of your boxes and probably the best budget phone currently on the market. Great battery life, great performance, and stellar build. The only thing you have to compromise is the camera; but, as per your preferences, that shouldn't be an issue.

However, I should mention that avoid the Poco M6 Pro, as of now, even though both have the same chipset, as tests revealed that the Poco gets hotter during extensive tasks (gaming).

Having said that, if you want something from the Moto camp, then the G73 5G would be a worthy buy.
 
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AINDRASIS_GUPTA said:
Just get the Redmi 12 5G (6/128). It ticks all of your boxes and probably the best budget phone currently on the market. Great battery life, great performance, and stellar build. The only thing you have to compromise is the camera; but, as per your preferences, that shouldn't be an issue.

However, I should mention that avoid the Poco M6 Pro, as of now, even though both have the same chipset, as tests revealed that the Poco gets hotter during extensive tasks (gaming).

Having said that, if you want something from the Moto camp, then the G73 5G would be a worthy buy.
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Thanks. I thought the 12 5G and the M6 Pro were identical devices, apart from the shell?

One thing keeping me away from Xiaomi is that custom ROMs won't be out for at least 6m-1y.
 
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calvin1719 said:
Thanks. I thought the 12 5G and the M6 Pro were identical devices, apart from the shell?
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That was my primary impressions as well, until Gadget Byte dropped their review of the Poco M6 Pro.

retrophiliac said:
Source?
Click to expand...
Capture (1).png

Source: Gadget Byte
 
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OMEGA44-XT said:
IMO that's within margin of error. 35C vs 40C would have been noticeable.
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I usually notice temperature differences between phones (with similar class SoCs) within 2-3 degrees buffer. Have rarely seen a 5-degree difference, unless the model has terrible thermal efficiency (cannot remember one in recent times).

What's more surprising in this case is that the exact same SoC performs worse just under a different moniker, which clearly states that quality control has been compromised on the Poco M6 Pro.

And when the Redmi 12 5G and the Poco M6 Pro are just 500 INR apart from each other (for the 6/128 variants), it makes zero sense to go for the Poco.
 
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AINDRASIS_GUPTA said:
What's more surprising in this case is that the exact same SoC performs worse just under a different moniker, which clearly states that quality control has been compromised on the Poco M6 Pro.
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Not exactly the same. The video you're referring to isn't comparing the same RAM/ROM variant of both devices. Furthermore, the very second graph shows just 0.9°C difference. So, it's quite possible that they messed up a setting or two while testing that game on Poco.

shot2.png


Maybe check out the videos below; this guy has actually done a fair job testing the phones.


 
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retrophiliac said:
Not exactly the same. The video you're referring to isn't comparing the same RAM/ROM variant of both devices. Furthermore, the very second graph shows just 0.9°C difference. So, it's quite possible that they messed up a setting or two while testing that game on Poco.

Maybe check out the videos below; this guy has actually done a fair job testing the phones.


Click to expand...
Having played both games quite extensively, I can confirm that BGMI/PUBG Mobile is more taxing on your smartphone than COD Mobile. And the amount of RAM/ROM in a smartphone shouldn't affect the thermals. Having said that, they were using the 6/128 version of the Poco M6 Pro, so I'm hoping that they did the same with the Redmi 12 5G.

However, mistakes can happen, and it may be possible that their thermal stats isn't correct.
 
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I bought the Moto g42 earlier, which has Qualcomm SM6225 Snapdragon 680 4G and I felt that is a bit sluggish and not really good enough.

Are Snapdragon 695 5G, Mediatek Dimensity 930, Helio G85 better chipsets?

What's a good site to compare performance benchmarks for mobile SOCs?
 
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Don't look at the SoC alone. If you just want to compare, nano review has data, not sure how reliable.
I had a pixel 4a (sd732g)
Got a redmi note 11 sd 680. Felt it should not be a huge downgrade but it was
Upgraded to a poco x4 pro 5g (sd 695) thought it would be an upgrade but it wasn't
Then got a poco m3 for use as an office phone and installed pixel experience on it, thinking it would be a downgrade but it's surprisingly nice and fluid. The plan for the other phones is too switch to a better rom, but I'm still waiting for as nice stable build


I think miui is pretty bloated and pixels are very optimised. Not sure where motos fall, but don't go by the SoC alone. Mediatek and helio bench well but they've been caught cheating on tests and throttling in real life, and stuff is generally optimised more for snapdragon stuff
 
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calvin1719 said:
Thanks, that looks pretty promising. How is the Mediatek Dimensity 7020 as an SOC? Is it reasonably snappy?
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Neck to neck with snapdragon 695 in every aspect slightly weaker in graphics as Mali graphics are not that great as Adreno (this is negligible if you are not gamer, you will never feel that in any other department). For its value it's the great budget deal after long years in Indian smartphone market. You can definitely consider this.

Only one downside from my perspective it is having MediaTek processor so there will be no custom rom support. But to counter this moto never need custom rom it already comes with stock android without bloatware. Overall, highly recommended product.
 
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I think Facebook application can be uninstalled. I did see review videos which mentioned some apps like LinkedIn, fb etc and they showed that the apps can be uninstalled.
Overall a great buy if you ask me. I was thinking of getting G54 for my dad, except that the weight might be in the bulkier side(192 GM's). Hence might go for G84.
 
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Kaleen Bhaiya said:
I think Facebook application can be uninstalled. I did see review videos which mentioned some apps like LinkedIn, fb etc and they showed that the apps can be uninstalled.
Overall a great buy if you ask me. I was thinking of getting G54 for my dad, except that the weight might be in the bulkier side(192 GM's). Hence might go for G84.
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It can't be completely uninstalled. You can use adb and sort of "uninstall" it for the default user.
 
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