25-30k Good, versatile camera and not big or heavy

[sid41299]

General :​

Budget -​

What is your budget? Mention Locality/Currency & Price Range.​

INR ~25k.

New or Used? Online or in-store?​

New. Online.

​

Brand -​

Do you have any brand preference or dislikes? Please name them.​

Preferably Samsung. Don't want a Chinese phone

Usage -​

What is your intended use?​

Casual - Calls, texts & Browsing and Camera focused

What is your expected battery backup?
A full day of use with 5+ hours of screen-on time.

How long are you intending to use this phone?​

Should run fine for 3 years.

​

Connectivity -​

What is your preferred network?​

5G

What is the number of connections required?​

Single SIM

Platform :​

Operating System (OS) -​

Do you have any OS preference?​

Android

​

RAM & Storage -​

How much RAM and Storage do you want?​

6-8GB; 128-256GB

Do you want a memory card slot?​

A Hybrid slot is fine

Processing power -​

If you have an idea of how much processing power you'd need mention here, else feel free to ignore.​

As long as it stays snappy

​

Display :​

What is your preferred display size, type, resolution and refresh rate?​

Compact, AMOLED, FHD, 120Hz.

Mention any specific requirements here.​

Don't want a curved display; LTPO would be nice

Miscellaneous :​

Any other requirements?​

Lightweight-ish. Metal frame. Main+Wide+Zoom triple camera combo would be nice

If you have already considered a phone, then please mention.​

Another S20 FE

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

I doubt anything other than S23FE can outperform the camera of S20FE at that price. But S23FE is a bad phone because of heating issues & poor battery life. So realistically, S23 is the cheapest Samsung phone that is decent. I upgraded from S20FE to S23 & the biggest difference for me is the smaller size. Battery life felt better as well but my S20FE was 3 years old. Selfie cam was a major upgrade but rear cams were minor upgrades.

I have compared NP 2a & S20FE side by side, latter has better cameras (except selfie). S20 FE's software post-processing helps it a lot IMO even against many sub 40k Chinese phones.

Moto edge 50 pro is said to have great cameras under 30k, but I doubt it will outperform S20FE.

 

[sauravghosh]

Do check YouTube and other reviews with camera samples. Samsungs are quite terrible with their cameras. I'm looking for a phone in the same range and unless you take photos to post on social media there are no cameras which will satisfy you. My point is camera focused and samsung doesn't go together, unless you prefer cartoonish colours.

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

Do check YouTube and other reviews with camera samples. Samsungs are quite terrible with their cameras. I'm looking for a phone in the same range and unless you take photos to post on social media there are no cameras which will satisfy you. My point is camera focused and samsung doesn't go together, unless you prefer cartoonish colours.

Not sure what's your source, but you need to change them

 

[sid41299]

I doubt anything other than S23FE can outperform the camera of S20FE at that price. But S23FE is a bad phone because of heating issues & poor battery life. So realistically, S23 is the cheapest Samsung phone that is decent. I upgraded from S20FE to S23 & the biggest difference for me is the smaller size. Battery life felt better as well but my S20FE was 3 years old. Selfie cam was a major upgrade but rear cams were minor upgrades.

I have compared NP 2a & S20FE side by side, latter has better cameras (except selfie). S20 FE's software post-processing helps it a lot IMO even against many sub 40k Chinese phones.

Moto edge 50 pro is said to have great cameras under 30k, but I doubt it will outperform S20FE.

Not to mention that the S23 FE still carries the same ultrawide and zoom cameras as the S20 FE. Samsung really made an almost-perfect phone and then never did that again.

The S23 is my first choice as well, but I simply cannot afford it now, especially when I consider how much I paid for my S20 FE in Oct. '22 (26K new). The Edge 50 Pro is my second choice, but I'm hesitating because OneUI is quite convenient for me, and I've struggled to get properly used to Moto's UI even after three months with a temp G40 Fusion.

I don't use phones for heavy gaming, it just has to be snappy for a long time. Does the S23 FE heat up under daily use as well?