Good general purpose phone around 15K?

1. Budget: Around 14K would be preferable, but can stretch till 19.
2. Display type and size? I prefer AMOLED display. Any size is ok.
3. Dual sim? Not required
4. Preferred choice of brand? None.
5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)? I don't require 3-4 camera options at the back. One that brings out nice pics is more preferable than a additional macro camera for instance.
6. Preferred operating system? Android. Either manufacturer should provide frequent updates(samsung comes to mind) or allow the user to install custom ROMs.
7. Preferred connectivity options 5G is a must. I have an redmi note 11 already and the only reason I am getting forced into buying a new one is 5G. Currently 5G has unlimited bandwidth and really fast speed, but I suppose it should at least be >10Mbps and at 5GB limit later down the line.
8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)? Daily day to day tasks and light usage. Stuff like calling, texting, todos and watching youtube when lappy isn't around. Would use it as a tether to my laptop
9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration? None. None of the options I searched for matched all the specs I listed. Ones that did were closer to 20K instead of 15.
10. Any other info that you want to share: - I like fastcharging and lock-button fingerprint scanner, but these are more of a requirements than a luxury.

Poco X5 fits the bill. It's powered by Snapdragon, custom ROMs prefer Snapdragon if I am right. I don't know if GSI would make it irrelevant.
Xiaomi's OS update tend to be slower than competition, not many 5G bands, old SoC are things to look before buying. SD 4 Gen1 is newer but weaker.
M34 should be on par with SD695 or bit better but hits roof of your budget and Exynos powered

. Good software support, 4 OS update and 5yrs security update is sweet and best among the competition.
Mediatek powered IQOO Z7 is one other phone, again it hits higher end of your budget.

Samsung M34 & iQoo Z7 are good choices as mentioned earlier.

Other than that, Moto G73 is good if you want clean stock android with no bloatware or nagware. It is closer to 15k with offers.

nac said:
Poco X5 fits the bill. It's powered by Snapdragon, custom ROMs prefer Snapdragon if I am right. I don't know if GSI would make it irrelevant.
Xiaomi's OS update tend to be slower than competition, not many 5G bands, old SoC are things to look before buying. SD 4 Gen1 is newer but weaker.

Yeah, you are right, Snapdragon is better for custom ROMs and xiomi devices (esp. the note series) have a really good record with custom ROMs but this specific model isn't officially or otherwise supported by PE and the telegram grp seems to be dead(I could find a xda one(the pro model on the other hand is). I have heard GSIs are buggy and with lower performance than specific custom ROMs so that can't be a option.
I honestly don't understand the part "not many 5G bands". With 4G this wasn't an issue... How can I make sure I buy a device that supports the 5G bands I'll need?

nac said:
M34 should be on par with SD695 or bit better but hits roof of your budget and Exynos powered . Good software support, 4 OS update and 5yrs security update is sweet and best among the competition.

The fact that its a Exynos one isn't a downside. Custom ROMs are just to bandaid poor quality or outdated software for me and for M34 this doesn't seem to be the case. The only issue is it hits the roof of my budget, and that's a bummer. Only willing to stretch it beyond 15K if its something especially low. How do you think M14 compares to it? Yes it doesn't have a amoled display(which is really hard to live without once you get used to it) but is also 5K cheaper. Will put M34 in cart meanwhile to get updates for offers.

nac said:
Mediatek powered IQOO Z7 is one other phone, again it hits higher end of your budget.

What's the catch with this one?

Honestly never bought a Vivo device so doesn't know the quirks of that particular brand.

omega44-xt said:
Moto G73

No AMOLED though. I have a moto phone in my family and know their UI, and I don't think I crave their stock more than Samsung's UI. Nice price range though.

Æsoteric Positron said:
How can I make sure I buy a device that supports the 5G bands I'll need?

How do you think M14 compares to it? Yes it doesn't have a amoled display(which is really hard to live without once you get used to it) but is also 5K cheaper.

What's the catch with this one? Honestly never bought a Vivo device so doesn't know the quirks of that particular brand.

Spec sheet does have list of 5G band the device supports. You just gotta make sure it have all the bands your carrier supports.

Samsung usually is not power packed, feature rich when comparing with competition esp in the budget range. M14 lacks AMOLED, weaker GPU, 2 OS updates.

There is no catch, just another chinese phone.

M34 is worth the upgrade over M14 because of AMOLED & 4 OS updates, OIS in rear cam & ultrawide cam are also nice to have.

M34 is 17k with card offer, so not hitting the 19k ceiling.

nac said:
Spec sheet does have list of 5G band the device supports. You just gotta make sure it have all the bands your carrier supports.

Oh, alright.

nac said:
Samsung usually is not power packed, feature rich when comparing with competition esp in the budget range. M14 lacks AMOLED, weaker GPU, 2 OS updates.

Oh, alright I understand it's a bad deal. Anything else you'd recommend in this price range? The competition you mentioned?

omega44-xt said:
M34 is worth the upgrade over M14 because of AMOLED & 4 OS updates, OIS in rear cam & ultrawide cam are also nice to have.

M34 is 17k with card offer, so not hitting the 19k ceiling.

Alright, thanks, I didn't noticed the points you mentioned for m34 before. I'll use the offer, right, but since there are these offer for almost every type of phone, I put up a inflated number without the offers as a budget here.

See if you guys can get something worthwhile around the 15K range(12-13.5 with card offers); if not I'll get m34 instead... I can get behind losing some features to hit that range, especially GPU horsepower since I don't use my phone all that much.

Budget means how much you are willing to spend. So with 19k budget, if there was a good 21k phone with 2k off card discount, we would have suggested that.

Anyways, there are older Redmi Note 11/12 series which has OLED + decent SoC, but is old with slow OS updates & bloated OS. 4 Gen 1, S695 & Dimensity 800 level of performance is old for this price range. M34's SoC is similar as well, but sadly that is the issue. Other SoCs (G95, G99, unisoc) will be just too weak after 2-3 years. Even basic apps increase their performance requirements slowly with time. Like Whatsapp was lighter 5 years ago vs today.

Æsoteric Positron said:
Oh, alright I understand it's a bad deal. Anything else you'd recommend in this price range? The competition you mentioned?

See if you guys can get something worthwhile around the 15K range(12-13.5 with card offers); if not I'll get m34 instead... I can get behind losing some features to hit that range, especially GPU horsepower since I don't use my phone all that much.

In your budget with 5G and AMOLED filter on, you have little over a dozen choices. The most powerful SoC you can get in those is D920. SD695 would be bit slower (Exynos 1280 would be on par with SD695) and on the lower end you got D700, D810 (and their rebranded D6000 series) and SD 4 Gen 1. Cheapest phone with those criteria is Infinix Note 12 5G, which was launched last year and D810 powered.

D920 - IQOO Z7
SD695 - Poco X5 - This would be the cheapest, you can find another half dozen phones are so with the same chip.
Exynos 1280 - M34

Anything below SD695, you can leave.

omega44-xt said:
Budget means how much you are willing to spend. So with 19k budget, if there was a good 21k phone with 2k off card discount, we would have suggested that.

I should have worded the budget better, my bad. I meant my budget was 15K give or take 1K, but 19K is the absolute maximum I am willing to spend if nothing good is available in this range, without the card discounts. Would keep in mind this the next time.

omega44-xt said:
Anyways, there are older Redmi Note 11/12 series which has OLED + decent SoC, but is old with slow OS updates & bloated OS. 4 Gen 1, S695 & Dimensity 800 level of performance is old for this price range. M34's SoC is similar as well, but sadly that is the issue. Other SoCs (G95, G99, unisoc) will be just too weak after 2-3 years. Even basic apps increase their performance requirements slowly with time. Like Whatsapp was lighter 5 years ago vs today

Sorry I can't infer what you mean in here. I understand Redmi Note 12 uses SD685, and SD695 is level of performace is low for this price range. M34 has a processor comparable to that and lies in this price range so isn't good enough either. So which one is good enough then? Sorry if there's a misunderstanding on my part I have trouble with mobile processor names(how do you guys do it!? At least on desktop its just amd, intel and nvidia's naming scheme I need to understand)

nac said:
In your budget with 5G and AMOLED filter on, you have little over a dozen choices. The most powerful SoC you can get in those is D920. SD695 would be bit slower (Exynos 1280 would be on par with SD695) and on the lower end you got D700, D810 (and their rebranded D6000 series) and SD 4 Gen 1. Cheapest phone with those criteria is Infinix Note 12 5G, which was launched last year and D810 powered.

D920 - IQOO Z7
SD695 - Poco X5 - This would be the cheapest, you can find another half dozen phones are so with the same chip.
Exynos 1280 - M34

Anything below SD695, you can leave.

Thanks for the breakdown, mate. The last thing I want to ask is, if I turn AMOLED filter off does the situation becomes better? If it is not, I'll order M34 tomorrow.

1. From what I can see Poco X5 is just plain better than M34. But the custom ROM scene is dead *forum.xda-developers.com/t/poco-x5-5g.4564179/page-2 and MIUI gets infrequent updates. If only it were I could have easily saved 3K, but I know enough about unupdated and crappy software(MIUI doesn't even allow gesture input with 3rd party launchers) to make that jump...
2. I can't find iQOO z7 on amazon, only iQOO z7s.

Æsoteric Positron said:
I should have worded the budget better, my bad. I meant my budget was 15K give or take 1K, but 19K is the absolute maximum I am willing to spend if nothing good is available in this range, without the card discounts. Would keep in mind this the next time.

Sorry I can't infer what you mean in here. I understand Redmi Note 12 uses SD685, and SD695 is level of performace is low for this price range. M34 has a processor comparable to that and lies in this price range so isn't good enough either. So which one is good enough then? Sorry if there's a misunderstanding on my part I have trouble with mobile processor names(how do you guys do it!? At least on desktop its just amd, intel and nvidia's naming scheme I need to understand)

Thanks for the breakdown, mate. The last thing I want to ask is, if I turn AMOLED filter off does the situation becomes better? If it is not, I'll order M34 tomorrow.

1. From what I can see Poco X5 is just plain better than M34. But the custom ROM scene is dead *forum.xda-developers.com/t/poco-x5-5g.4564179/page-2 and MIUI gets infrequent updates. If only it were I could have easily saved 3K, but I know enough about unupdated and crappy software(MIUI doesn't even allow gesture input with 3rd party launchers) to make that jump...
2. I can't find iQOO z7 on amazon, only iQOO z7s.

Basically don't go below the SoCs mentioned earlier, that's bare minimum. That's all, so that narrows your options a lot. Qualcomm & Mediatek are shitting on naming mobile SoCs.

Fun fact: D900 ~ D920 ~ D930 = D1080 = D7050

M34 will get 4 OS updates, so will get till android 17, if that makes sense. Old Xiaomi ones have android 12, will go till android 14 at max.

Moto G73 is cheaper than M34 usually. Might get more options w/o OLED.

Æsoteric Positron said:
The last thing I want to ask is, if I turn AMOLED filter off does the situation becomes better? If it is not, I'll order M34 tomorrow.

2. I can't find iQOO z7 on amazon, only iQOO z7s.

Yeah, you can go ahead with M34. With AMOLED filter off, you will get few more similar performing chip like MTK930, MTK1080 with more memory on board. On the lower end, you have bunch of cheaper 5G phones like Poco M4.

Looks like Z7 is out of stock in flipkart. Have to get it from their official site with no card offers

Yeah, M34 is the one for now. You can use your Redmi Note 11 charger, no need to get new one for Samsung.

omega44-xt said:
That's all, so that narrows your options a lot. Qualcomm & Mediatek are shitting on naming mobile SoCs.

Fun fact: D900 ~ D920 ~ D930 = D1080 = D7050

That uh... Defies all logic.

omega44-xt said:
M34 will get 4 OS updates, so will get till android 17, if that makes sense. Old Xiaomi ones have android 12, will go till android 14 at max.

Yeah, that's sweet. The only secret sauce Xiaomi phones has is custom ROMs, though honestly their A1 lineup beats all, bummer android one programme went under.

omega44-xt said:
Might get more options w/o OLED

I am open for them now understanding how the market is... Any good options that come to mind?

nac said:
Yeah, you can go ahead with M34. With AMOLED filter off, you will get few more similar performing chip like MTK930, MTK1080 with more memory on board. On the lower end, you have bunch of cheaper 5G phones like Poco M4.

Poco M4 looks sweet and I am considering the tradeoff between that and M34. Any other options without amoled I should consider that have same heft or clean software as M34?

nac said:
Looks like Z7 is out of stock in flipkart. Have to get it from their official site with no card offers Yeah, M34 is the one for now. You can use your Redmi Note 11 charger, no need to get new one for Samsung.

Yeah, am in love with M34 at this point, only the price hurts a little bit

Edit:

Moto G73 is cheaper than M34 usually.

I mean... Its 17K and M34 is 19K, but moto doesn't have a cc offer I can avail(blame flipkart), so both come at 17K with Moto not having amoled.

Æsoteric Positron said:
Poco M4 looks sweet and I am considering the tradeoff between that and M34. Any other options without amoled I should consider that have same heft or clean software as M34?

I can't think of anything else other than the ones we already discussed. M4 solely for it's price, it was under 10k including all offers/discounts last dushera.

Been trying all the day to avail the card offer, but amazon keeps displaying this with "This payment method is currently experiencing a low success rate. Please use an alternate payment method." I just tried to put these same credentials on another object that doesn't have this offer and the card works without issues. Allow me to put to tinfoil hat on for a moment folks, I think I smell foul play here

Fishy indeed

Æsoteric Positron said:
Been trying all the day to avail the card offer, but amazon keeps displaying this with "This payment method is currently experiencing a low success rate. Please use an alternate payment method." I just tried to put these same credentials on another object that doesn't have this offer and the card works without issues. Allow me to put to tinfoil hat on for a moment folks, I think I smell foul play here

Did you contact Amazon/your bank regarding this?

nac said:
Did you contact Amazon/your bank regarding this?

Amazon? Yup. Please wait till we resolve your issue in 3-4 hours. Bank? No, it isn't a HDFC issue as amazon is more than happy to provide this cc on products cheaper or more expensive than this one(and this isn't my card's, its a friend's)

Æsoteric Positron said:
Amazon? Yup. Please wait till we resolve your issue in 3-4 hours.

Hope they resolve before the offer ends. :Fingerx:

At this point, I don't think this issue will be resolved before either this offer or the world ends, and I don't have a friend with an axis bank card.

Is M34 still a good bet @19K?

Is G73 @17K worth it considering IDC about their UI? Is OnePlus Nord CE 3 a good deal @20K(considering snapdragon 695 is available next door)? Is IQOO Z7s(with snapdragon 695 and not the superior Z7) good @18K? Is redmi note 12 worth it @19K(4GB RAM version @17)? Should I buy give up and buy Poco X4 and hope against hope custom ROMs would be available someday? M4 @12?

Sorry for bothering you guys again, screw Amazon/HDFC

Æsoteric Positron said:
Is M34 still a good bet @19K?

If you're not in a hurry, wait. Offers are just around the corner, one goes another comes. Independence day offers are gone or yet to come?

Æsoteric Positron said:
Is G73 @17K worth it considering IDC about their UI?

Yes, G73 is a good option.

Æsoteric Positron said:
Is OnePlus Nord CE 3 a good deal @20K(considering snapdragon 695 is available next door)? Is IQOO Z7s(with snapdragon 695 and not the superior Z7) good @18K?

You have Poco X5 with the same chip and better priced.

Æsoteric Positron said:
Is redmi note 12 worth it @19K(4GB RAM version @17)?

Feels bit pricey.

Æsoteric Positron said:
Should I buy give up and buy Poco X4 and hope against hope custom ROMs would be available someday?

Why X4 when you have X5 in the market?

Æsoteric Positron said:
M4 @12?

If you have custom ROM in mind, better stick with Snapdragon.

nac said:
If you're not in a hurry, wait. Offers are just around the corner, one goes another comes. Independence day offers are gone or yet to come?

I have to get one before 6th as I am going out of town after that(basically why I need 5G won't get wifi out of the house, and need a few days to set it up\. Which hurts especially since: *www.amazon.in/b?node=86194189031&ref_=MH1_Smartphones

nac said:
Yes, G73 is a good option.

Oh, alright, would consider that if I can't get M34 then.

nac said:
You have Poco X5 with the same chip and better priced.

Oh, yeah. It was just, atleast oneplus allows me to change their stock launcher(a feature I can't live without).

nac said:
Feels bit pricey.

Yeah, thought so too.

nac said:
Why X4 when you have X5 in the market?

My bad, I meant X5.

nac said:
If you have custom ROM in mind, better stick with Snapdragon.

I do, its just that M4 has custom ROMs available RN, which X5 doesn't.

Æsoteric Positron said:
At this point, I don't think this issue will be resolved before either this offer or the world ends, and I don't have a friend with an axis bank card.

Is M34 still a good bet @19K?

Is G73 @17K worth it considering IDC about their UI? Is OnePlus Nord CE 3 a good deal @20K(considering snapdragon 695 is available next door)? Is IQOO Z7s(with snapdragon 695 and not the superior Z7) good @18K? Is redmi note 12 worth it @19K(4GB RAM version @17)? Should I buy give up and buy Poco X4 and hope against hope custom ROMs would be available someday? M4 @12?

Sorry for bothering you guys again, screw Amazon/HDFC

For non-gaming usage, get M34 & be done with it. Not the most efficient chip but 6000mah battery should be fine. Check A53's review for review on chip's performance & battery life.

omega44-xt said:
For non-gaming usage, get M34 & be done with it. Not the most efficient chip but 6000mah battery should be fine.

Ofc I like that phone already for my needs, its just that I am not getting the 2K off on it(despite repeated calls to amazon customer care) and was confused if its still a good one @ that price or should I consider other options that were mentioned.

From what you said is its chip's a little worst than SD695 in terms of performance(which seems to be the best I can get at this price range)? As for battery life that seems to be the phone's strong point...

FINALLY got the offer :hyper:

nac said:
Did you contact your bank regarding this?

Have to buy you a drink, turns out it was my friend's card afterall. I asked a relative to buy one from their account and using their HDFC card and it just worked. There's also a slight possibility that my account is flagged for that 2K offer. ~~Need some better debug logs~~

BTW thanks a TON @nac & @omega44-xt; learnt a lot in this purchase

Æsoteric Positron said:
FINALLY got the offer

Good

Æsoteric Positron said:
There's also a slight possibility that my account is flagged for that 2K offer.

Why is that?

Æsoteric Positron said:
learnt a lot in this purchase

Post once you received and done setting up and your review too.

nac said:
Why is that?

All I can do is speculate; but it could be amazon algorithms flagging my account cz they knew (smartphones is all I searched up in amazon in the past month and no other activity for a whole year) I would make this purchase anyway(which I was very close to doing).

But again its just wild speculation based on past amazon behaviors(Had to make a new account to purchase a thing amazon had hiked up prices for just for me back in the day). More likely is the problem is on HDFC's side. I have no idea what kind of purchases and cacellations my friend has been making ha ha.

nac said:
Post once you received and done setting up and your review too.

Just received M34 :hyper:

Full review coming in a bit, but there's something I want to ask real quick; I inserted jio SIM in my phone and got very spotty 5G speeds(2-10Mbps) and the connection regularly switches to 4G(this is the first thing I checked). Now I am not gonna use 5G services in here but in a city where 5G coverage is really good, so my only concern is, it isn't something to do with the 5G bands M34 supports or is it?

I know jio supports n28, n78, and n258 bands from their website and M34 does these:

So, no n258 support in M34

Update the software, see if it helps. You sure 5G is great in your area? I have seen under 10Mbps speeds on 5G many times.

omega44-xt said:
Update the software, see if it helps.

Checked that first, fully updated from factory

omega44-xt said:
You sure 5G is great in your area? I have seen under 10Mbps speeds on 5G many times.

No, I am not sure how it's in the area I am currently at, but it sure is for other phines for where I bought this phone for(200Mbps+ on Jio) so I just wanted to make sure if the issue wasn't with the hardware(especially the multiple band support thing)

Æsoteric Positron said:
Checked that first, fully updated from factory

No, I am not sure how it's in the area I am currently at, but it sure is for where I bought this phone for(200Mbps+ on Jio) so I just wanted to make sure if the issue wasn't with the hardware(especially the multiple band support thing)

If you got 200Mbps+ in some areas, then don't worry about it. 5G works like 4G in many places.

Sorry for hijacking this thread.

After reading fully, scratching my head, I do not understand most of their terms.

Anyway, good to read, and I will update myself.

(now using the Redmi Note 3, the almost dying stage, more lagging, and a line appear on display.)

shreeux said:
Sorry for hijacking this thread.

After reading fully, scratching my head, I do not understand most of their terms.

Anyway, good to read, and I will update myself.

(now using the Redmi Note 3, the almost dying stage, more lagging, and a line appear on display.)

What terms?

omega44-xt said:
What terms?

SOC,CUSTOM ROM,IDC,GSI...
Chip and GPU versions...especially...which one is better

omega44-xt said:
If you got 200Mbps+ in some areas, then don't worry about it. 5G works like 4G in many places.

No, I think I need to be more clear. My connection is very spotty in this phone. I only got 2-10Mbps here. I know for a fact my device is missing one band that jio uses (n258) but has the other 2. Would it be the culprit for the slow and spotty connection or just my area not having good 5G coverage(I know no one who uses 5G in immediate vicinity). I have no idea how 5G bands work, so I am at a loss to what is the case here?

Since this is the only reason I bought m34 in the first place, I really want to know this. Though what's more baffling most brands, not even the latest OnePlus 11 supports the band I am talking about(but iPhone 14 and premium ones do)

shreeux said:
SOC,CUSTOM ROM,IDC,GSI...
Chip and GPU versions...especially...which one is better

SOC: System on ship. Basically CPU/Processor for your mobile.
Custom ROM: You needn't know it if you never felt the need; but basically its a way we can install different OS(Like one UI and Oxygen OS and MIUI) in your phone if you aren't happy with the one preinstalled. It comes with a risk to break your phone though.
GSI: Again a term you don't need to know but basically before someone had to make custom ROMs for your device specifically and installing custom ROMs was very risky. GSI solves both of these problems and if I am not wrong, is a solution by google.
IDC: Acronym for I don't care

Chip and GPU versions...especially...which one is better: Can't help you there, its confusing beyond anything. I just believed what @omega44-xt & @nac said was better.

Finally got speeds I was looking for. Went into the roof(chaath) of my house and got these when standing in a specific spot. Is 5G this finiky with a well insulated house? Anyone noticed the same behaviour?

Æsoteric Positron said:
View attachment 22479

Finally got speeds I was looking for. Went into the roof(chaath) of my house and got these when standing in a specific spot. Is 5G this finiky with a well insulated house? Anyone noticed the same behaviour?

Yes, 5G is easier to block than 4G, esp mm Wave.

Here's the M34 review I promised:
Gonna divide it into 2 parts since I chose to be really pedantic in the software department; and I encourage you to skip it if you want to.
M34 Review
Camera: Easily the best thing about this phone. I haven't had a camera this good(I have been rocking phones that are 7-13K till now). Only thing you would notice that samsung puts a yellowish tinge on skins and generally makes everything more brighter than it is(which could be intentional from samsung). It had a pro mode, with just 4 customisable settings.
Audio: Easily the worst thing about this phone. Audio is loud but sounds canned and just plain bad. Yes audio is subjective, but everyone I showed a youtube video in this phone pointed out the same. Redmi note 11 beats it dead in the water.
Display: The display is big and colors are awesome. Brightness is good too. AMOLED is AMOLED. (Just make sure to disable vivid mode in settings to get better colors)
FingerPrint: Fingerprint sensor is in its correct place(lockscreen button :))

)and is blazingly fast.
Network: WiFi is good at 2.4 GHz. Cannot comment on 5G, as I have no frame of reference and cannot say if this phone's antenna is to blame for extremly poor reception(if anyone can chime in, they'd be really appreciated). Lacks the higher frequency bands, but does everything the phones in this price range and above can do, this can too. 4G works as expected. It has NFC too, something none of my previous purchases did.
Performance: I am not certain weather its the software or the hardware but the phone feels really sluggish for switching apps. Gets hot easily(even on simple apps).
Battery: I have been spoilt with 33W charging. 22W feels slow. Gives me as much backup as redmi note 11 with 5000MaH battery. Good when compared to competition.
Form Factor: Surface is grippy but soft to touch. Phone is a little unweildy due to size, but its always a compromise. Has a no-nonsense look.
Software: It has oneUI with opt-out ads and without goodlock.
Overall, I like it
Edit: Redmi 11 have dual speakers. I encountered bad 5GHz connectivity

oneUI on M34 Review:
The initial experience was horrible, and at some point I thought there's no difference between this and MIUI.

It took me a day to figure out how to do it, and at one point I factory resetted my phone just to see if I messed up somewhere. :

Samsung, it turns out, favors their own inhouse app to sync apps and data from a older to a newer phone, and it syncs the wrong things. It clearly stated it will sync my app data but it, just didn't. Google on the other hand, does it for some apps that chose to opt in. Samsung also shared some folders, but only the pdfs and images in them(and not text and other files), all these folders I had to delete and share folders manually. My download folder was also synced, and I have no idea why.

Recommended apps: Samsung also has a half unskippable "Recommended app" wizard that I am sure is reserved for the F,A,M series. It was clear that samsung haven't worked on it much, as it tended to bug out and break a lot and was separate from the normal wizard.
One thing in the initial setup that was better from MIUI: There's also a prompt for apps that would be downloaded after the fact from Google, which had all the bloat manufacturers install. I unchecked everything and the experience was massively better. It only came up after I factory resetted my phone and went through the initial setup wizard again; so I am not sure if samsung intended that or it was just a "bug".
Then I had to clear up the preinstalled samsung apps(Which to be fair, I tried out one by one patiently. In the end none were worth it. At least Xiomi has MIUI remote, which is vastly better than anything on the market.

Meat N Potatoes:
I realise I arguably being too pedantic about the inital setup, since after those excruciating 3-4 hours I was ready to go, not to encounter those horrible things ever again. There are some things that are left to be desired in Samsung UI prime too:
1. Samsung imposes a weird 1 second delay(feels bigger than it sounds) when getting the recents app in 3rd party launchers. It cannot be disabled. WHY. Makes a pain to use 3rd party launchers. Just like in MIUI where they disable navigation altogether in 3rd party launchers.
2. There are some uninstallable apps that make no sense to so. Stuff like samsung VPN and Samsung store.
3. Samsung doesn't embrace Material UI. Since its a personal choice, I get it; but then there's the fact that Samsung's UI feels very incoherent, Half of the stuff is from their own design language, half from Google's and it results in a very disjointed experience.
4. There are 2 preinstalled apps to do the same thing(EG messages) which factors in the same incoherent department. Samsung if you have decided that Google's sms app is better and set it as default, don't make your sms app as uninstallable!
5. Animations are choppy, and oneUI is heavy. Switching apps doesn't feel smooth. I have a redmi note 11 and M34 felt even slower than that, which has Pixel Experience. Heck, it even felt slower than Redmi A3 a 12K device from 2019 with android one.
Customisation in the settings app is great, with my favorite being inbuilt equiliser, but it doesn't make up for the bad experience,
Unless....
Now don't tell Samsung I told you this, since they decided to lock this feature out of M34, but if you install a app called FineLock, and if you install GoodLock and its modules by samsung using that; you get customization I haven't seen in even some custom ROMs. All kinds of useful functions. No, it doesn't cancel out the points 1-5, but its really neat app for everything. It seems to be so good infact, samsung removed it even from a phone (M34) that says oneUI on the box(NOT oneUI core). So, I tested all the modules for this review and everything works as it was expected to. Seems to be just a artificial limitation samsung decided to put in.
In conclusion Samsung UI isn't for someone like me who just uses a few essential apps and just wants to have a coherent experience, but I could see people who like customizations and features like that being happy with it. Its basically KDE(OneUI) instead of Gnome(Pixel UI), if you are into Linux. The 4OS updates are a treat though. All in all not as bad as MIUI

Having used the phone today too, I can't help but appreciate how much difference just the good display and officially supported OS makes, especially if you just check you phone intermediately after working on laptop.for the day.