10-15K Suggest a cheap Samsung pls

[sauravghosh]

This is for my aunt, who bought a Samsung a14 phone in this past BBD for about 9k i think. Two days ago the phone was stolen. (The theif then didn't waste any time and drained about 80k from her bank accounts through numerous upi txns).

Anyway, now she's looking for another Samsung phone lol. Please suggest some cheap ones. Like 10k budget maybe. 128gb required. Shouldn't be unusably slow. Thanks.

PS: I see that there are no bank offers currently going on on Flipkart or Amazon. Any other place having any offers on Samsung atm?

 

[nick.knack91011]

Even vivos have auto call recording ao does other chi phones you just need to remove google dialer and install their native ones and frankly their are enumerous softwares on Android which can do that, just need to root some work without even so that shouldn't be the deciding criteria imo.

Well she used the same pin for login and txn on gpay. So they had to crack just one. But how did they do that is beyond me. Is there a reset pin option? Maybe they did that. She did not block the sim until at least 18 hrs later. So during that duration they used the phone as their own. 26 txns they made. Ffs. Even bought a mobile (I am assuming) from Flipkart.

Anyway. Yes she needs a samsung because they are the only company with automatic call recording. Otherwise would have gone for the moto g35.

 

[blr_p]

This is for my aunt, who bought a Samsung a14 phone in this past BBD for about 9k i think. Two days ago the phone was stolen. (The theif then didn't waste any time and drained about 80k from her bank accounts through numerous upi txns).

Another reason for me not to do UPI on my phone.

The primary is only one account can be tied to it which means 1 sim /account

Before this upi became a thing I'd get text messages about withdrawals from more than one account and all worked fine. Still does because I don't do UPI

There's a thread here about how to do fast upi transactions. And my retort was how fast to rob me.

Yeah...

she needs a samsung because they are the only company with automatic call recording.

Works flawlessly. BT or not. Crystal clear. As was the he case before Google decided to cock things up

 

[Heisen]

Trust me, samsung and low budget doesn't work for long term. They tend to be sluggish. Bought 4 m35 last year for my relatives who wanted samsung and when I checked recently, it's slow as hell. I bought those in 13-14k each.

It's kind of crazy, that even after so many years since I last used androids, the low/mid/high segments phones are still lagging, except the flag ships. I thought now the compute power has increased so much in phones since the last decade, the low/mid segment phone should be lag free by now, but no, the story is still the same, same as it was 10 years ago, the phones are still lagging.

The good ones still have occasional stutter and jitter, that just kills the user experience when you spot it.

In my conclusion lag free android low/mid segment do not exist. I suppose the best of the best is the pixel, despite having an inefficient processors, google has some magic for lag free smooth UI in their version of OS that all the other vendors do not have.

 

[blr_p]

Trust me, samsung and low budget doesn't work for long term. They tend to be sluggish. Bought 4 m35 last year for my relatives who wanted samsung and when I checked recently, it's slow as hell. I bought those in 13-14k each.

What about Samsung's midrange? Anything good there.

I thought the A series were good.

 

[sauravghosh]

@Emperor the infinix is not available checked many times. Vivo not deliverable to my PIN.
Ordered the m06 yesterday but can cancel.
This poco m7 pro seems available. Should i go for it?

 

[blr_p]

It's kind of crazy, that even after so many years since I last used androids, the low/mid/high segments phones are still lagging, except the flag ships. I thought now the compute power has increased so much in phones since the last decade, the low/mid segment phone should be lag free by now

Should be

, but no, the story is still the same, same as it was 10 years ago, the phones are still lagging.

In my conclusion lag free android low/mid segment do not exist.

Why do you think that is? It's not hardware anymore as even the low end are much better these days

Even vivos have auto call recording ao does other chi phones you just need to remove google dialer and install their native ones

This needs to be verified. Automated recording. Not having to press record every time.

I would not believe anything without some proof

and frankly their are enumerous softwares on Android which can do that, just need to root some work

Rooting isn't an option for most people

without even so that shouldn't be the deciding criteria imo.

There is no without. It doesn't work and requires speaker phone to be on to record so unless you also speak up you got nothing

 

[nick.knack91011]

Should be

Why do you think that is? It's not hardware anymore as even the low end are much better these days

This needs to be verified. Automated recording. Not having to press record every time.

I would not believe anything without some proof

Rooting isn't an option for most people

There is no without. It doesn't work and requires speaker phone to be on to record so unless you also speak up you got nothing

I am using vivo it has auto call recording you just need to use their dialer which is available on their store not google one..

Also you can use multiple upi account with same sim.. i have 4 all with different passwords and keys..

 

[t3chg33k]

@Emperor the infinix is not available checked many times. Vivo not deliverable to my PIN.
Ordered the m06 yesterday but can cancel.
This poco m7 pro seems available. Should i go for it?

You might get suggestions based on specs, but I would argue that for elderly people, you should focus on phones which have long term security updates.

Also, I think you can use Secure Folder based on Knox to password protect individual apps on Samsung. You should do that for all financial apps.

 

[blr_p]

I am using vivo it has auto call recording you just need to use their dialer which is available on their store not google one..

Up to op to verify it works as seamless as Samsung

Also you can use multiple upi account with same sim.. i have 4 all with different passwords and keys..

My bank said it doesn't work. Their software won't let you use upi if it detects the same phone number attached to more than one account.

 

[k660]

What about Samsung's midrange? Anything good there.

I thought the A series were good.

i think exynos ruins it in long term. have a a50 had to buy it in a hurry when it was launched, it is now sluggish as hell, it gets hot as hell, its back pops out bcuz of the sheer heat but on the other hand m51 which has snapdragon no issues so far except a shitty update from samsung which has ruined its screen's colours, have a f62 father didnt want two m51 cuz it would two same phones and all and my god f62 has exynos when you read reviews now you will understand, same issues as a50 i mentioned. but since its ram managment is better than a50 , it is smoother than a50.
a50 - bought in mid 2019 or in between july - august
m51 - bought in 2020 october
f62 - bought in 2021 april

 

[nick.knack91011]

Up to op to verify it works as seamless as Samsung

My bank said it doesn't work. Their software won't let you use upi if it detects the same phone number attached to more than one account.

No that's different, you can primarily attach one phone number as if someone just enters your number not id / scanner it will only go to that account but you can have multiple upi ids on one number if that makes sense with different upi ids and scanner for each account.

Also bank apps are shit even in 2025 in India, via phone pe / gpay you can add all banks and pick and choose which one you want to be primary on whichever day / time .

 

[Heisen]

Why do you think that is? It's not hardware anymore as even the low end are much better these days

It's probably because the Android operating system is designed to be compatible with a wide range of processors, phones, tablets, and laptops. Due to this, it lacks the key optimizations that could be achieved if the OS only had to run on a limited number of SoCs.

For example, the base Android OS that Samsung takes from Google isn't vastly different from what Oppo or Vivo gets. The vendor then builds its own layer of software on top of the base Android. However, the vendor can only optimize the parts they control which is their custom layer.

I'm sure the base Android OS must have parameters to tweak in order to best suit the processor it will run on, but it still falls short of the concept of software written with specific hardware in mind.

 

[blr_p]

It's probably because the Android operating system is designed to be compatible with a wide range of processors, phones, tablets, and laptops. Due to this, it lacks the key optimizations that could be achieved if the OS only had to run on a limited number of SoCs.

For example, the base Android OS that Samsung receives from Google isn't vastly different from what Oppo or Vivo gets. The vendor then builds its own layer of software on top of the base Android. However, the vendor can only optimize the parts they control which is their custom layer.

I'm sure the base Android OS must have parameters to tweak in order to best suit the processor it will run on, but it still falls short of the concept of software written with specific hardware in mind.

All the above should apply to Exynos isn't it?

So a lower end or midtier exnos should not slow down. If the same optimisations exist for the flagship level

 

[Heisen]

So a lower end or midtier exnos should not slow down. If the same optimisations exist for the flagship level

I think that even if optimizations were tuned to make the flagship's UI smooth, applying the same level of optimization to lower end Exynos devices would not achieve the same result due to the weaker hardware.

For weaker hardware to run smoothly, it would take significantly more effort to fine-tune the optimizations for each specific device. This process would be much harder and more time consuming compared to flagships, which already have top tier hardware.

Simply copying the optimizations down the line is not enough, there must be more to the story.

 

[Emperor]

@Emperor the infinix is not available checked many times. Vivo not deliverable to my PIN.
Ordered the m06 yesterday but can cancel.
This poco m7 pro seems available. Should i go for it?

Infinix 50x (5G+ with VoNR) will launch on Flipkart on 03 April 2025. [ Lots of AI Features & 13 5G Bands & (VoNR)]

m06 is 4GB only, imo, one should not opt for 4GB RAM handset in 2025 but minimum 6GB and if budget permits than 8GB must, by 8GB model, you may use that for coming 4-5 yrs, if not wish to upgrade after every 1 or 2 yrs.

Poco is good brand, but, I didn't search/watch for this model, you need to take call on any model, after in-depth search & watching few but Worth YouTube Video on same model.

 

[iPwnz]

Stay away from cheap Samsung phones. Trust me. The "cheapest" Samsung phone which I like is the A33/A34 and that's purely because of its long battery life.
If your budget is low then stick to Motorola for cleaner UI than most or Xiaomi/Poco phones. They will offer better performance and better value but with inferior software. Check the Poco M6/Pro models. Shouldn't cost over 11-12k.
I personally don't like Infinix/Narzo phones. They seem like good value but the user experience is not.

 

[sauravghosh]

Stay away from cheap Samsung phones. Trust me. The "cheapest" Samsung phone which I like is the A33/A34 and that's purely because of its long battery life.
If your budget is low then stick to Motorola for cleaner UI than most or Xiaomi/Poco phones. They will offer better performance and better value but with inferior software. Check the Poco M6/Pro models. Shouldn't cost over 11-12k.
I personally don't like Infinix/Narzo phones. They seem like good value but the user experience is not.

Main requirement is automatic call recording without announcement. So Motorola is out the door. I watched a review of poco m7 pro. But there were several comments saying stay away from this phone as it heats up a lot. So i haven't cancelled the m06 order

 

[ducktape]

Samsung Galaxy M06 5G seems fine for your purpose, if u want it to last 2 years tops. - https://amzn.in/d/65poGAI
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G seems good - https://amzn.in/d/4fDSlaC
But I'd rather take gREen's advice here and avoid any samsung if you can.

Word of warning - Samsung F and M series phones, AKA cheaper phones on Amazon and Flipkart, have had reported issues with dying after a few years of use for some time now due to storage issues, even happened with me.
I'd personally suggest LAVA as i've been getting that for family as well, plus it has the Delicious Anonymous Auto-Call Recording. Its got good clean software and extremely good customer support.
Some suggested Models - https://amzn.in/d/4m8Jp0x (Rs. 11K, 120HZ LCD Screen, 128GB Storage, 5G)
https://amzn.in/d/4NpvyZQ / https://amzn.in/d/2HL2ey3 (120Hz Curved AMOLED Screen, Rs. 15k for 128GB, Rs. 15.5K for 256GB, 5G)

Final Thoughts - Honestly getting a Samsung from a local shop seems like the smartest move as at least you'll have a person to physically go to when something goes wrong.

 

[nRiTeCh]

Main requirement is automatic call recording without announcement.

Go for oppo, redmi, mi, vivo as they got both options...just a beep during recording or the entire recording message, you can choose between these two options.
Samsung is bloatware for which I have hated them always. They have out of the world os and theme. In fact for some apps on the play store there is a separate warning or instructions for only samsung phones..it may or may not work or works with some jholjhal.