Budget 15-20K Advice on Android Phone under 20k

[Rickyk]

Questions:-
1. Budget?
A: Up to 20k

2. Preferred display size, type and resolution?
A: 4.5"-5.5", IPS LCD/AMOLED, FHD and above

3. Preferred operating system? (Android (with version), iOS, Windows Phone etc).
A: Android

4. Preferred connectivity options? (4G, 3G, 2G etc).
A: No preference

5. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them.
A: I would like to avoid Chinese brands IF possible. Would this eliminate pretty much every phone? I dont know. I would consider a Chinese brand if there was no other option.

6. What is your intended use for this phone (internet, camera, multimedia, mails etc.)?
A: Camera, Voice calls, SMS. No Internet/Mail features reqd. as I don't don't use Internet services on my phone to begin with.

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

8. New or Used? Online or Offline?
A: New. Don’t mind buying online

9. Any other requirements?
-Need good battery backup, MicroSD card slot if internal storage < 32GB
-If a stock Android option is available with good hardware then this would be my ideal choice.

10. If you have already considered a phone, then please mention the model
No models considered so far.

Hi Guys.
My good old Nokia 808 Pureview died an hour ago.

A very sad day indeed.

Problem is the CHARGING Port on the phone has broken off. Can this be fixed anywhere? I really have no idea about whether such an old phone can be repaired.

I am in Gurgaon and and willing to go to Delhi for this if anyone can suggest a RELIABLE place where this might be fixed. Doesn't matter even if it costs a couple of thousand - I am fine with that.

Any advice on a new phone as well as possibly repairing the 808 would be greatly appreciated.

One last thing - I dont want to buy a 20k phone just because its a 20k phone.

I have zero issues with suggestions for a 5k, 10k or 15k phone. It doesnt have to be a 20k phone. Thats just the max I am willing to pay. Having said that I would like decent build quality and a good camera.

The only other Phone I have ever liked is a Nexus 5. I can see Nexus 5 unlocked phones for sale on Amazon US for a $100 which do ship to India but they have no warranty whatsoever and that puts me off them.

Is there a more modern reasonably priced Nexus 5 like phone with a nicer camera available these days?

If so please do let me know as that would be my first choice.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Nolasco]

If you're ok with second hand, theres someone on the forum selling an Lg G6 for around 16k. I have one and the rear cameras are fantastic (more so if you installGcam on it). Both day light as well as low light shots are close to Pixel 2 quality levels. Overall, the phone is excellent - waterproof (I've used it in a pool for underwater pics multiple times), very good build quality, superb screen and audio quality. The only negatives id say are the front camera which is significantly improved with Gcam and battery life is so-so (Will last you a day with light use). Bonus is the ultra wide angle cam!

 

[rdst_1]

Don't worry mate. My guy can get those parts in a moment. The guys you talked to are just being lazy and not interested in working for a small job. If you can get yourself over to Gaffar Market, you should be able to go back with a working phone for sure.
If not, one of my close friends works in Gurgaon and routinely comes to Chandigarh. He can carry the phone with him and return the repaired phone to you.

 

[vyral_143]

I am looking for namely 4.5-5.5".

With notch and long screens, these 6" screens are small actually and might as well be identical to 5-5.5" size physically.[DOUBLEPOST=1539926714][/DOUBLEPOST]

I am going by website reviews specifically www.androidauthority.com & techradar.com apart from some other sites as well.

Check GSMArena too.[DOUBLEPOST=1539926785][/DOUBLEPOST]

Thanks for that info indy1811. Will definitely check out the Sony XA1 which sounds very interesting both in terms of camera as well as size as well as being within my budget.

Did you notice huge bezels near 5" screen ?

 

[Rickyk]

Visited several mobile repair shops in a market called "Galleria" near my house.

Most of the guys there outright said they cant fix it.

One guy was very confident he could arrange the part & fix the phone.

Took a leap of faith and left it with him. He said it would be done by tomorrow. Charges - Rs.1200.

Thing is I don't have any other "stand by" phone so I need a quick turn around time on this.

One thing I do know is that this guy is either going to fix my phone or potentially ruin it.

Unfortunately I don't have a choice.

If he cant fix it then I will Courier it to you rdst_1 and PRAY he doesn't irreparably damage it.

If he does mess it up beyond repair then you can use my screen for your dead 808 and revive your own phone.

This way at least one of us will have a working 808.

Knowing that will make me feel a little better. This is the least I can do in return for your kind gesture of offering to help with getting my phone fixed.

My screen is in perfect condition and in fact still has the original Nokia Screen Guard on it that is only shipped from the factory and was never sold elsewhere.

However this also means I may have to buy a phone tomorrow itself.

Maybe I will just buy a cheapo "feature" phone until such time that I can find a phone I really like...

 

[nRiTeCh]

Visited several mobile repair shops in a market called "Galleria" near my house.

Most of the guys there outright said they cant fix it.

One guy was very confident he could arrange the part & fix the phone.

Took a leap of faith and left it with him. He said it would be done by tomorrow. Charges - Rs.1200.

Thing is I don't have any other "stand by" phone so I need a quick turn around time on this.

One thing I do know is that this guy is either going to fix my phone or potentially ruin it.

Unfortunately I don't have a choice.

If he cant fix it then I will Courier it to you rdst_1 and PRAY he doesn't irreparably damage it.

If he does mess it up beyond repair then you can use my screen for your dead 808 and revive your own phone.

This way at least one of us will have a working 808.

Knowing that will make me feel a little better. This is the least I can do in return for your kind gesture of offering to help with getting my phone fixed.

My screen is in perfect condition and in fact still has the original Nokia Screen Guard on it that is only shipped from the factory and was never sold elsewhere.

However this also means I may have to buy a phone tomorrow itself.

Maybe I will just buy a cheapo "feature" phone until such time that I can find a phone I really like...

Dont want to scare you but I was in exact same situation with my beloved Nokia N86. Phone worked super sexy except for the usb port which started misbehaving. It used to charge or might not and sometimes used to take 12hours and still charge the phone to just 10-15%. Battery too was new and genuine.

Gave it to a big showroom sized shop trusting those guys from word of mouth from nearby shops and also that was the only big shop around along with with small paan wallah type mobile repair shops all around.

They fcked my phone very badly!!

They installed some local usb port and blown the usb led which indicated charging or connection to my pc.

Gr8!! When I rant at them next day they installed some shit extremely dim pale blue led which was only visible if you actually place the phone zoomed to your cornea. Fine they fked everything original and now I was in middle of to accept the new shit or again reverse it all as it was.
Came home with phone. Bang!! The phone just showed fake charging and even after an hour the battery was cool and not even charged 1% from its existing charge whcih I think was in its 40s.

Next day went there with some friends created full scene in the shop with what not came to my mouth. They agreed to undo everything and no charges. I anyways didnt pay them a penny to my dissatisfaction. They quoted 350 bucks.
Went in the evening and came back with my phone thinking it was as is as I had given to those idiots.

Well they screwed them even more. What those morons did was just stuck usb port into the phones motherboard with fevikwik thereby fking up my further plans!! Well the glue was so much that it oozed out and stick to the phones body thereby I wasnt even able to dissemble the complete phone fearing mobo damage.

Now I was literally out of everything. Again went to their shop and this time it was kind of fight between us and we successfully managed to broke 2 phones there itself where one was just out of the box for a customer and other that idiot was using for recharging customers nos.

It was hell scene both inside and outside the shop. Only arrival of police was all remaining.

Only peace of mind for me was that we costed the shop couple of thousands of losses + their goodwill image in their surrounding vicinity.

So I advise please dont gamble with your phone into some lazy morons hands. Its better to ship it to somebody who can guarantee fix it for good rather than screw it further.
And yes dont count on the money. These phones are no more manufactured and their motherboards cost 70% of the phone + you will not find them anymore in India but have to import from another country.

Now I still use that N86 but by charging its battery into another good N86.

 

[Rickyk]

Holy Crap dude - you went through absolute hell!

I am more or less resigned to my fate and had no option but to hand over the phone to this guy.

The problem for me is the turn around time is way too long even if r_dist does his absolute best.

3-4 days is the bare minimum as the phone has to be shipped to him and then back to me.

I cant do without a phone for that long.

However after hearing your horror story I will tell you this - had you posted your experience BEFORE I had handed over the phone to this repair guy I would not have done so.

Too late now...

 

[Rickyk]

If you're ok with second hand, theres someone on the forum selling an Lg G6 for around 16k. I have one and the rear cameras are fantastic (more so if you installGcam on it). Both day light as well as low light shots are close to Pixel 2 quality levels. Overall, the phone is excellent - waterproof (I've used it in a pool for underwater pics multiple times), very good build quality, superb screen and audio quality. The only negatives id say are the front camera which is significantly improved with Gcam and battery life is so-so (Will last you a day with light use). Bonus is the ultra wide angle cam!

Thanks for bringing this to me notice Nolasco. I do appreciate it.

However if I do have to buy a phone I want to buy a new one. I have never bought a 2nd hand phone TBH and am very wary of doing so,

 

[Nolasco]

Thanks for bringing this to me notice Nolasco. I do appreciate it.

However if I do have to buy a phone I want to buy a new one. I have never bought a 2nd hand phone TBH and am very wary of doing so,

Unfortunately its still selling at close to 30k brand new which is over your budget. Another option you could explore the the Zenfone Max Pro M1. I bought that one for my brother just last week for 10k on flipkart (4gb,64gb), and infact just installed gcam on it 10 mins back, and theres quite a big difference in quality over the default camera. For 10k, I think it'll easily compare with phones costing more than double. Attached are a couple of images I clicked just now in very very low light (Just a 7w
led on the other side of the room with a cupboard in between).

The first pic is the default cam on the Zenfone Max Pro M1, the second is with Google Cam and the third with Google Cam on my LG G6.
First two were sent from brothers phone to mine on whatsapp so resolution is lower and the images are compressed a bit.
The Asus' screen size is 6" so it will take a little getting used to (18:9 ratio so comparable to regular 5.5" phones).

 

[vivek.krishnan]

GCam actually brings out more details vs default cam....

 

[Rickyk]

Thanks for taking the time & effort with your post Nolasco.

The good news is my 808 is FIXED!!

I was really skeptical about this guy but he actually fixed the phone. Charging is working properly and more importantly USB data connectivity is fully restored.

I couldn't be happier. Fingers crossed the repairs hold.

If anyone else in Gurgaon is having a problem with a Nokia device then you can consider this guy for repairs. If you need his contact details please let me know and I will PM them to you. Hes located in Galleria Market, Phase 4 Gurgaon.

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread with your advice and support.

Special shout outs to Vivek and R_dst1.

Sincerely appreciated...

 

[nRiTeCh]

That's simply great enjoy your phone. Hopefully the fix lasts forever.