Budget 30-40k A phone with good audio through 3.5mm jack

red dragon

Justiceforall
Skilled
My Note 10 lite is driving me crazy. It's not an old phone ( max 6 months, and used extensively) but the battery barely lasts a working day (9am- 4pm) with around 3.5-4 hr of SOT and the phone is getting sluggish everyday ( only emails, browsing, YouTube, Tidal streaming...that's basically what I do on a phone)
Can buy the Note 10 for the stylus, but it does not have the 3.5 out.
And even with a passive dongle it sounds like garbage.
The Xiaomi phone I use as a second phone has completely spoiled me with the awesome clean audio out!!
But don't want to buy another Xiaomi as there's no service center here.
I know my options are really limited ( LG V60 / 8X)
Shall I go with LG or buy a cheap samsung with Snapdragon and a DAP ( lost the M3 Pro) like M11 or iBasso DX160?
PLEASE DON'T suggest a dongle DAC, first the battery drain and the tendency of loosing things ( lost a very cheap but good dongle...Sonata something...) I'm not careless and break things nowadays, but started loosing smaller gadgets..the Sonata was such a good cheap portable amp/ DAC..but the battery draw was considerable.
Budget: Max 600 EUR for a phone only
If end up buying a DAP and phone, would like to buy the cheapest usable phone ( and use the rest of the phone budget plus 200 EUR for a decent DAP) with a decent SOC and big battery ( camera/ gaming etc. is not a priority) for phone calls mostly.
The Xiaomi phone is fast enough for emails, browsing, YouTube etc. But I need another phone to make calls ( both normal and video..)
What's the cheapest Samsung with Snapdragon?
 
Buy the LG phones. My G8X has the same SD 855 as the K20 Pro and same 4000mAh battery and easily gives 10hrs+ SoT on WiFi. On network it should easily gives 7-8hrs SoT.
Added benefit of having a memory card slot if using only 1 SIM.
I use mine as my music rig with a 256GB microsd card and the E1DA dac needed when using the HD650.
 
My Note 10 lite is driving me crazy. It's not an old phone ( max 6 months, and used extensively) but the battery barely lasts a working day (9am- 4pm) with around 3.5-4 hr of SOT and the phone is getting sluggish everyday ( only emails, browsing, YouTube, Tidal streaming...that's basically what I do on a phone)
Can buy the Note 10 for the stylus, but it does not have the 3.5 out.
And even with a passive dongle it sounds like garbage.
The Xiaomi phone I use as a second phone has completely spoiled me with the awesome clean audio out!!
But don't want to buy another Xiaomi as there's no service center here.
I know my options are really limited ( LG V60 / 8X)
Shall I go with LG or buy a cheap samsung with Snapdragon and a DAP ( lost the M3 Pro) like M11 or iBasso DX160?
PLEASE DON'T suggest a dongle DAC, first the battery drain and the tendency of loosing things ( lost a very cheap but good dongle...Sonata something...) I'm not careless and break things nowadays, but started loosing smaller gadgets..the Sonata was such a good cheap portable amp/ DAC..but the battery draw was considerable.
Budget: Max 600 EUR for a phone only
If end up buying a DAP and phone, would like to buy the cheapest usable phone ( and use the rest of the phone budget plus 200 EUR for a decent DAP) with a decent SOC and big battery ( camera/ gaming etc. is not a priority) for phone calls mostly.
The Xiaomi phone is fast enough for emails, browsing, YouTube etc. But I need another phone to make calls ( both normal and video..)
What's the cheapest Samsung with Snapdragon?
Shamesung decade old issues.. even if they offer car battery on their phones, it will last barely 20hrs!
 
LG V60 is a better choice than G8X, with 5000Mah battery and more SOT as it's single screen display.
if you're OK with carrying two devices then either M11 or iBasso DX160 is a better choice than any mobile phone.
With dedicated DAP you'll get better amp, balance audio out, Hi-res decoding and much more features which I need not explain to an audiophile listener like you.
with rest of the budget you can easily find a phone as per your requirements, so it's just about your preference. :)
 
Thanks everyone, thinking of getting the Fiio M11 and some cheap Samsung/ Motorola with Snapdragon.
I need a second phone but want a DAP.
M3 Pro was such a nice DAP!! But it's out off stock pretty much everywhere.
Heard so many great things about E1DA, some even compared it with chord mojo!! Can get it from linsoul for only 99 EUR. Seriously considering it, given the price point.
 
Last edited:
Samsung Galaxy M51 is a good choice for suggested budget, probably only Snapdragon samsung phone out of all samsung A and M series models launched in last 2 yrs.
Motorola One Fusion+ or Moto G 5G is also a good option but It lacks Amoled display.
 
Last edited:
If you can get hold of even an old LG V or G series (the ones with the quad dac), nothing like it. I went from G6 to G7 to G8X. They are all powerful enough to drive stuff without any amp and if you need more power, just enable the high impedance mode. The later models even support Tidal MQA decoding if you are into it.
 
LG V60 is a better choice than G8X, with 5000Mah battery and more SOT as it's single screen display.
if you're OK with carrying two devices then either M11 or iBasso DX160 is a better choice than any mobile phone.
With dedicated DAP you'll get better amp, balance audio out, Hi-res decoding and much more features which I need not explain to an audiophile listener like you.
with rest of the budget you can easily find a phone as per your requirements, so it's just about your preference. :)

Any idea if / when we see lg v60 in india ?
 
With that we will be left only really boring iphones and Samsung ( Sony's renewed Xperia line up is CRAZY expensive)
So for poor like me, it's only Xiaomi. Recent OnePlus...I really hate.
I will just buy the cheaper Pixel and seperate audio from phones completely. LG was my last hope.. nobody cares about audio quality anymore..
 
Last edited:
Well get a phone and cheap lg phone as DAP ? I use v20 as Dap IR sensor, second screen , removable battery , quad dac, sd slot . But really just pick any Dap depending on size feature etc. Imo its better to segregate devices anyway , now I enjoy my music much more uninterrupted
 
Back
Top