Budget 15-20K Help me choose a phone for my mom

Bhasam pakoda

Bhasam pakoda

Novice
Is the s20 fe worth 23k after bank offers plus exchange for my mom?

She's a school principal, and the upper management isn't very supportive as a result she often have to record calls secretly that's why I couldn't consider brands which use Google's announcement dialer.

My original budget was around 15k but I couldn't find a good phone in that price range, phones either have heating/lagging issues or focus on one aspect and completely skip on others. There is just no balance!
All that my mom needs is a phone with:

• Good connectivity
• A good display (ips lcd or better)
• A battery that lasts the entire day and doesn't take 3 - 4 hours to charge
• And most importantly call recording without the announcement.

Is this really too much to ask for? I miss the days when Phones were actually made to last a while and not just the 1 year warranty period.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate you guys is input as I am confused about what to get. the s20 fe is already way over budget but I can't find anything better.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Bhasam pakoda said:
Is the s20 fe worth 23k after bank offers plus exchange for my mom?

She's a school principal, and the upper management isn't very supportive as a result she often have to record calls secretly that's why I couldn't consider brands which use Google's announcement dialer.

My original budget was around 15k but I couldn't find a good phone in that price range, phones either have heating/lagging issues or focus on one aspect and completely skip on others. There is just no balance!
All that my mom needs is a phone with:

• Good connectivity
• A good display (ips lcd or better)
• A battery that lasts the entire day and doesn't take 3 - 4 hours to charge
• And most importantly call recording without the announcement.

Is this really too much to ask for? I miss the days when Phones were actually made to last a while and not just the 1 year warranty period.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate you guys is input as I am confused about what to get. the s20 fe is already way over budget but I can't find anything better.
Click to expand...
I would recommend Samsung M33. But it's a big phone. And battery is also good.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bhasam pakoda said:
Is the s20 fe worth 23k after bank offers plus exchange for my mom?

She's a school principal, and the upper management isn't very supportive as a result she often have to record calls secretly that's why I couldn't consider brands which use Google's announcement dialer.

My original budget was around 15k but I couldn't find a good phone in that price range, phones either have heating/lagging issues or focus on one aspect and completely skip on others. There is just no balance!
All that my mom needs is a phone with:

• Good connectivity
• A good display (ips lcd or better)
• A battery that lasts the entire day and doesn't take 3 - 4 hours to charge
• And most importantly call recording without the announcement.

Is this really too much to ask for? I miss the days when Phones were actually made to last a while and not just the 1 year warranty period.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate you guys is input as I am confused about what to get. the s20 fe is already way over budget but I can't find anything better.
Click to expand...
Yes it is really good phone with great display and camera. Using it for 9 months. However charging is relatively slow. For me I get an sot of 7 to 8 hours but if she installs any suboptimal apps, battery drain is possible and with slow charge that might be challenging
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
indy1811 said:
What about the M series line from Samsung? You can get the M53 for around 18k after card discounts.
Click to expand...
I guess I should consider this as well now. Before, I thought if I'm spending this much I should go for the premium and ruled it out for the s20 fe
Mukeshmeena said:
I would recommend Samsung M33. But it's a big phone. And battery is also good.
Click to expand...
M33 checks almost all the boxes but you see, sadly it lack in one of the most important aspect the display.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
animishticomb said:
Yes it is really good phone with great display and camera. Using it for 9 months. However charging is relatively slow. For me I get an sot of 7 to 8 hours but if she installs any suboptimal apps, battery drain is possible and with slow charge that might be challenging
Click to expand...
Slow charging speeds is the only thing holding me back from ordering it. And yes she does use a few poorly optimized apps, but I'm hoping to change them with the new phone.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bhasam pakoda said:
• Good connectivity
Click to expand...
How good is the signal where she will be using it ? that you mention this point makes me think its not so good.
Bhasam pakoda said:
She's a school principal, and the upper management isn't very supportive as a result she often have to record calls secretly that's why I couldn't consider brands which use Google's announcement dialer.
Click to expand...
Legally there is no requirement in India that such an announcement be made. But google seems to think they can impose their limitations on us.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
blr_p said:
How good is the signal where she will be using it ? that you mention this point makes me think its not so good.
Click to expand...
The school is located in a near village from the city where we live, It's about 40km from the city. although, the network is poor during the 40km commute it's pretty decent at the school. Mom says she usually gets 3 network bars with 4G VOLET support.


blr_p said:
Legally there is no requirement in India that such an announcement be made. But google seems to think they can impose their limitations on us.
Click to expand...
That's Google for you!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bhasam pakoda said:
The school is located in a near village from the city where we live, It's about 40km from the city. although, the network is poor during the 40km commute it's pretty decent at the school. Mom says she usually gets 3 network bars with 4G VOLET support.
Click to expand...
That's not a great signal even at the school. You're going to have to get a bigger phone with a bigger battery. Forget the display, the phone should be working first.
Mukeshmeena said:
I would recommend Samsung M33. But it's a big phone. And battery is also good.
Click to expand...
I think this will be good too.


A 6,000mah battery should be enough. Go with 8GB since you have the budget.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
blr_p said:
That's not a great signal even at the school. You're going to have to get a bigger phone with a bigger battery. Forget the display, the phone should be working first.

I think this will be good too.


A 6,000mah battery should be enough. Go with 8GB since you have the budget.
Click to expand...
It's not like there's no place the charge the phone at the school they even have generators for power back up! 4500 mah will do just fine given the way she uses her current phone worse case scenario I get her a power bank.

What do you think of the m53? It's got a super amoled display and a 5000 mah battery.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bhasam pakoda said:
It's not like there's no place the charge the phone at the school they even have generators for power back up! 4500 mah will do just fine given the way she uses her current phone worse case scenario I get her a power bank.
Click to expand...
Any idea what her avg SOT for the day is? when you say all-day battery. On standby with less use you can get there. But if you need to use the phone then its another matter.
Bhasam pakoda said:
What do you think of the m53? It's got a super amoled display and a 5000 mah battery.
Click to expand...
The M53 battery is decent. No headphone jack

Compare Samsung Galaxy M33 vs. Samsung Galaxy M53 - GSMArena.com

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com

Mediatek vs exynos. Who can decide that one ?

The m33 has a dedicated slot for the micros sd. The M53 microsd shares it.

Does she need dual sim? and need microsd
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Oppo K10 8GB/128 GB variant will cost you around 16k with 1year warranty on phone and 6 month warranty in accessories and charger.
It's a 5G phone but don't know much about beta testing of the SIM.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
blr_p said:
Any idea what her avg SOT for the day is? when you say all-day battery. On standby with less use you can get there. But if you need to use the phone then its another matter.
Click to expand...
SOT is around 4 - 5 hours usage is mostly calls and sms/messages over WhatsApp when she's at work. When she's home it's your every home story full volume max brightness WhatsApp video, YouTube etc.
blr_p said:
The M53 battery is decent. No headphone jack

Compare Samsung Galaxy M33 vs. Samsung Galaxy M53 - GSMArena.com

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com

Mediatek vs exynos. Who can decide that one ?

The m33 has a dedicated slot for the micros sd. The M53 microsd shares it.

Does she need dual sim? and need microsd
Click to expand...
Dual sim is a must! Dedicated micro sd card sounds good but not a necessity
Man I hate the current market! Looks like I'll have to settle with the M33 for now.
I don't use banks that are giving out discounts/cashback currently. Do you think Amazon will switch bank offers again or end the sale tomorrow?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
animishticomb said:
Heard lots of good things about moto g72 recently.. I think it is around 18k
Click to expand...

rybka said:
Oppo K10 8GB/128 GB variant will cost you around 16k with 1year warranty on phone and 6 month warranty in accessories and charger.
It's a 5G phone but don't know much about beta testing of the SIM.
Click to expand...

I appreciate suggestions but both of these phones use Google dialer it makes an announcement every time you try to record a call and that's something I just don't want.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Back
Top