Need some smartphone recommendations in 30-40k range.

So I am finally planning to upgrade from my POCO F1. Targeting the upcoming Big Billion Sales.

1. Budget?
30-40k. Have some wiggle room if absolutely worth it.

2. Display type and size?
OLED 90Hz minimum.

3. Dual sim?
Not needed

4. Preferred choice of brand?
Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, Pixel , Nothing etc. Basically brands that offer mostly clean UI.

5. What camera option you want (flash, front facing camera)?
I am not a photography expert so whatever offers the best point and shoot experience with good results with or without gcam mod.

6. Preferred operating system? (Android, iOS,Stock Android etc).
Stock or lightly skinned Android.

7. Preferred connectivity options (Dual 4G,802.11AC/5Ghz(not 5g mobile network) wifi).
5G, Dual band WiFi.

8. Primary use of handset (multimedia, camera, internet, gaming etc)?
Heavy Browsing, Social Media , Videos, Multitasking , and maybe some light gaming.

9. Any specific mobile phones in consideration?
Here is what I have narrowed down : Samsung S21 FE Snapdragon Edition, OnePlus 11R, Pixel 7a , Nothing Phone 2, Moto Edge 40 family.

10. Any other info that you want to share
Good battery backup and reasonably fast charging expected. Also brands with generally good after sales service preferred. I am willing to wait a few months if something really good is coming.

Wait for sale.

Target OP11R & NP2, potentially even OP11 might fall to 45k.

NP2 has a lightly skinned UI over stock android, Oneplus no more has it.

Avoid S21FE SD because S888 is made at Samsung fab, so similar issues with energy & thermal efficiency as Exynos variant. Avoid S23 FE for the same reason, it will have 8 Gen 1 or Exynos. 8+ Gen 1 is made at TSMC, so that's efficient. Cameras & UI are top notch for sure though. Same issue with Pixel 7a/7/7 pro. Pixel 7 pro is rumoured to drop to 45k.

Check GSMArena to get some idea.

omega44-xt said:
Wait for sale.

Target OP11R & NP2, potentially even OP11 might fall to 45k.

NP2 has a lightly skinned UI over stock android, Oneplus no more has it.

Avoid S21FE SD because S888 is made at Samsung fab, so similar issues with energy & thermal efficiency as Exynos variant. Avoid S23 FE for the same reason, it will have 8 Gen 1 or Exynos. 8+ Gen 1 is made at TSMC, so that's efficient. Cameras & UI are top notch for sure though. Same issue with Pixel 7a/7/7 pro. Pixel 7 pro is rumoured to drop to 45k.

View attachment 22577
Check GSMArena to get some idea.

Is Oneplus UI as heavy as say MIUI? I like the 11R because it's the complete package and also comes with a charger.
I am not sure about Nothing as they are a new brand and I don't care for their gimmick.
Pixel is really attractive for obvious reasons but battery life and after sales are a concern.

Would you mind considering the Realme GT 5 (240W)?

setanjan123 said:
Is Oneplus UI as heavy as say MIUI? I like the 11R because it's the complete package and also comes with a charger.
I am not sure about Nothing as they are a new brand and I don't care for their gimmick.
Pixel is really attractive for obvious reasons but battery life and after sales are a concern.

Oneplus' UI is basically Color OS of oppo. There are many comparisons & such available online, check those & make your mind. It is heavy. I will rank One UI at the top among android UIs, then stock based UI like Nothing (didn't use personally, but looked fine on reviews) or Moto, then Chinese UI from Xiaomi & BBK. I personally don't like stock android of Pixel because of how barebones it is. Realistically I will try to avoid leaving Samsung (stuck with them for 6+ years now). Old Oxygen OS was top tier for me, but alas they shut it down.

Nothing's founder is the same as Oneplus, who left just before OP went downhill. I guess the gimmicky lights are just to make them stand out, that's all. NP1 had software bugs initially after launch but was solved by Dec 2022, post that the phone started getting recommendations. It has decent service presence, better than Pixel. Check for yourself in your area.

Mangesh34 said:
Would you mind considering the Realme GT 5 (240W)?

Price? Seller? I don't think it launched in India, yet.

Mangesh34 said:
Would you mind considering the Realme GT 5 (240W)?

Avoiding Realme/Oppo/Vivo due to not liking the UI. But I guess OnePlus is in the same boat now.

omega44-xt said:
Oneplus' UI is basically Color OS of oppo. There are many comparisons & such available online, check those & make your mind. It is heavy. I will rank One UI at the top among android UIs, then stock based UI like Nothing (didn't use personally, but looked fine on reviews) or Moto, then Chinese UI from Xiaomi & BBK. I personally don't like stock android of Pixel because of how barebones it is. Realistically I will try to avoid leaving Samsung (stuck with them for 6+ years now). Old Oxygen OS was top tier for me, but alas they shut it down.

Nothing's founder is the same as Oneplus, who left just before OP went downhill. I guess the gimmicky lights are just to make them stand out, that's all. NP1 had software bugs initially after launch but was solved by Dec 2022, post that the phone started getting recommendations. It has decent service presence, better than Pixel. Check for yourself in your area.

Yeah there does seem to be Nothing service center in my city. Let's see what the price drops too. I guess it won't be too much as its a new phone. Wish it came with charger in the box. I also completely forgot that the S22 family is also going to be on sale and comes with SD Gen 1. I am eyeing the S22+ . The base S22 battery life isn't too good.

setanjan123 said:
Yeah there does seem to be Nothing service center in my city. Let's see what the price drops too. I guess it won't be too much as its a new phone. Wish it came with charger in the box. I also completely forgot that the S22 family is also going to be on sale and comes with SD Gen 1. I am eyeing the S22+ . The base S22 battery life isn't too good.

Avoid S22 line up because of inefficient SoC.

omega44-xt said:
Avoid S22 line up because of inefficient SoC.

Doesn't it use SD Gen 1? If that is inefficient then that would rule out nearly every phone in this range lol.

setanjan123 said:
Doesn't it use SD Gen 1? If that is inefficient then that would rule out nearly every phone in this range lol.

Avoid S888/888+ & 8 Gen1. These 3 are made at Samsung fab. 8+ Gen 1 & 8 Gen 2 are made at TSMC, hence recommended OP 11R & NP2.

Ended up with the Nothing Phone 2. I guess only time will tell whether my decision of prioritising clean Android pays off or not because I would be lying if I said the OP 11R didn't provide a compelling alternative.
The phone is very very snappy. Just rips through everything. I think this easily rivals my iPad in smoothness minus the longer animations on iOS. I still do miss a feature or two from MIUI. One being able to lock apps in memory. Although with how fast apps open on this it's not a major concern. But I definitely think they should add the best features from all the different skins while keeping things light.
One thing I don't like is how the case and charger is an extra purchase. They are a young company and definitely not in premium tier yet. That takes years. They should really focus on being more vfm. They arguably need to do more than the original Oneplus did because the Android landscape has way more competition now.

setanjan123 said:
Ended up with the Nothing Phone 2. I guess only time will tell whether my decision of prioritising clean Android pays off or not because I would be lying if I said the OP 11R didn't provide a compelling alternative.
The phone is very very snappy. Just rips through everything. I think this easily rivals my iPad in smoothness minus the longer animations on iOS. I still do miss a feature or two from MIUI. One being able to lock apps in memory. Although with how fast apps open on this it's not a major concern. But I definitely think they should add the best features from all the different skins while keeping things light.
One thing I don't like is how the case and charger is an extra purchase. They are a young company and definitely not in premium tier yet. That takes years. They should really focus on being more vfm. They arguably need to do more than the original Oneplus did because the Android landscape has way more competition now.

Competition & VFM phones in android are getting scarce now vs 2-3 years back. If look closely, Samsung's phones are not worth buying because of core issue of SoC (except S23 line). BBK releases same lacklustre phones within all their brands (OP, Realme & iQoo, oppo & vivo were always a bad value). Xiaomi has no compelling phone beyond Poco F5 & their cheaper phones like Redmi Note are a worse value these days.

My S20FE's camera still holds well. Recently compared it against Poco F5 side by side, F5 was easily worse. My cousin didn't feel Samsung M34 was an upgrade in camera front over old M51. Cousin ended up buying OP Nord 3 but feels even that is not as good as my phone for main rear camera quality (no side by side comparison).

Nothing's approach seems to be about offering a relatively premium phone at not so premium price. Even I hope their software gets better with time.

Rank (Nano Review)	SD TSMC
4	8 Gen 2
7	8+ Gen 1
9	7+ Gen 2
23	870
32	865
38	782G
42	778G+
44	778G
67	695
74	4 Gen 1
Rank (Nano Review)	MTK TSMC (good ones)
12	Dimensity 9000
20	Dimensity 8100
29	Dimensity 8020
53	Dimensity 1080
56	Dimensity 7030
60	Dimensity 7020

I need a phone for my friend and he seems to have getting confused between these 3,

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 2023

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G.

He's requirements battery & camera as he is a heavy X and WA user and camera for work purposes.

Jokumar said:
I need a phone for my friend and he seems to have getting confused between these 3,

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 2023

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G.

He's requirements battery & camera as he is a heavy X and WA user and camera for work purposes.

Honestly none of them are good values. Former 2 are overpriced as well as have poor SoC, A73 is just grossly overpriced, should be under 30k (even considering the Samsung tax). It has been OOS for sometime.

Among those 3, A73 should have the best battery life because other 2 suffer from inefficient SoCs made at Samsung fab (S888 is made at Samsung fab). Samsung fab made SoCs overheat, esp on 5G & battery life drop moving from WiFi to 5G is much bigger vs phones with 8+ Gen 1, let's say.

If your friend is a die hard Samsung fan, get A54. S21FE has the best hardware among them, but the worst battery life as well.

Among other phones available, OP 11R & Nothing Phone 2 will be my recommendation around 40k.

Above S21FE is exynos one but I expect similarly low battery life on S888 version as well. S888, S888+ & 8 Gen 1 are not good SoCs from Qualcomm. Read stuff already mentioned on this thread.

Which is better, the S21 FE (Exynos) vs S21 FE 2023 (Snapdragon)? The Exynos variant costs a bit cheaper than the Snapdragon variant.

powerstarprince said:
Which is better, the S21 FE (Exynos) vs S21 FE 2023 (Snapdragon)? The Exynos variant costs a bit cheaper than the Snapdragon variant.

Neither. S21 FE isn't a 2023 phone. S23 FE is the latest one if you want to get it.

powerstarprince said:
Which is better, the S21 FE (Exynos) vs S21 FE 2023 (Snapdragon)? The Exynos variant costs a bit cheaper than the Snapdragon variant.

I will buy neither because of Samsung fabbed chips. What prices though?

Around 33k for 256GB S888 S21FE is a good deal if you really want Samsung's UI & are willing to live with lower battery life (say not much usage on 4G/5G as you mostly use it over WiFi & no gaming). Android 15 should be its last android OS. One UI is the best UI in android IMO. I will not leave One UI but right now I consider that no Samsung phone below S23 is worth buying for me as an upgrade to S20FE 5G. Con of S23 is obviously the price.

S23FE has an inefficient SoC as well, so I will rather recommend S21FE S888 for cheaper as you save 20k or so.

omega44-xt said:
I will buy neither because of Samsung fabbed chips. What prices though?

Around 33k for 256GB S888 S21FE is a good deal if you really want Samsung's UI & are willing to live with lower battery life (say not much usage on 4G/5G as you mostly use it over WiFi & no gaming). Android 15 should be its last android OS. One UI is the best UI in android IMO. I will not leave One UI but right now I consider that no Samsung phone below S23 is worth buying for me as an upgrade to S20FE 5G. Con of S23 is obviously the price.

S23FE has an inefficient SoC as well, so I will rather recommend S21FE S888 for cheaper as you save 20k or so.

S21fe 888 is available for 35k, with 4 years upgrade!

Jokumar said:
S21fe 888 is available for 35k, with 4 years upgrade!

Yes, my bad, S21 series also has 4 upgrades. So Android 16 will be the last.

omega44-xt said:
I will buy neither because of Samsung fabbed chips. What prices though?

Around 33k for 256GB S888 S21FE is a good deal if you really want Samsung's UI & are willing to live with lower battery life (say not much usage on 4G/5G as you mostly use it over WiFi & no gaming). Android 15 should be its last android OS. One UI is the best UI in android IMO. I will not leave One UI but right now I consider that no Samsung phone below S23 is worth buying for me as an upgrade to S20FE 5G. Con of S23 is obviously the price.

S23FE has an inefficient SoC as well, so I will rather recommend S21FE S888 for cheaper as you save 20k or so.

During the Flipkart BBD sale, the price of the Exynos variant was Rs. 28,499/- and the cost of the Snapdragon was Rs. 29,999/- for the 128GB version.

How bad is the Exynos in S21 FE compared to the Snapdragon chip? The price difference between them is not much now. Snapdragon variant also has the 256GB version.

What processor does the S23 FE sport? Is it the Exynos 2200 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1? It's not a bad phone, but I think the price is too much now.

powerstarprince said:
During the Flipkart BBD sale, the price of the Exynos variant was Rs. 28,499/- and the cost of the Snapdragon was Rs. 29,999/- for the 128GB version.

How bad is the Exynos in S21 FE compared to the Snapdragon chip? The price difference between them is not much now. Snapdragon variant also has the 256GB version.

What processor does the S23 FE sport? Is it the Exynos 2200 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1? It's not a bad phone, but I think the price is too much now.

Exynos vs S888 on S21FE, both are considered bad, exynos is worse among them. So get S888 if you are buying. Some reviewers said it is better than exynos for daily usage, but no concrete numbers.

As mentioned, S23FE still has a bad SoC, Exynos. I will rather live with a 35k phone (256GB S21FE S888) than 50k+ S23FE with exynos. Save 20k now & upgrade sooner to a different phone in future.

omega44-xt said:
Oneplus' UI is basically Color OS of oppo. There are many comparisons & such available online, check those & make your mind. It is heavy. I will rank One UI at the top among android UIs, then stock based UI like Nothing (didn't use personally, but looked fine on reviews) or Moto, then Chinese UI from Xiaomi & BBK. I personally don't like stock android of Pixel because of how barebones it is. Realistically I will try to avoid leaving Samsung (stuck with them for 6+ years now). Old Oxygen OS was top tier for me, but alas they shut it down.

Nothing's founder is the same as Oneplus, who left just before OP went downhill. I guess the gimmicky lights are just to make them stand out, that's all. NP1 had software bugs initially after launch but was solved by Dec 2022, post that the phone started getting recommendations. It has decent service presence, better than Pixel. Check for yourself in your area.

There has been a lot of bad press about Oxygen OS becoming Color OS. I have been a Oneplus user since OnePlus 3 and to be honest there hasn't been much of a reason to ditch Oxygen OS.... yet. The hue and cry over Oxygen OS being destroyed by OPPO seems a bit exaggerated, and possibly orchestrated.

Yes, they are using the same UI now. But i feel Color OS has changed itself to become more like the UI of Oxygen OS now.. the minimalistic look in a red theme is still there. UI is snappy (here Samsung phones fail, even the near flagship phones lag sometimes). Launcher is great.

The main and most significant difference between the two is, Color OS has a lot of bloatware, shows ads, and does not feature Google Playstore. Oxygen OS has none of that.

The Oneplus 11R is a superb phone for its price, the battery, fast charging, display are all top notch. The camera is a small compromise but still decent for the price. Other phones in this price range will not offer you similar specs.. the BBK Group has diluted the appeal of OnePlus by making too many phones.. and stories of hardware failure shows there has been some cost cutting for business purposes, but as on now its still in the game.

The Nothing Phone 2 is its closest competitor, and possibly better in some aspects on the software front. But the brand is still in its baby stages, im uncertain about its after sales support, hence not my top pick. Samsungs in your budget will have a lot of compromises.. battery, body. Avoid Pixels, the phone has too many issues. Same with Moto, not yet established in this price segment, may ignore.

EDIT: Just notice you have already purchased the Nothing Phone 2. Great purchase. The deal they gave in BBD Sale was unbeatable. I hope Nothing becomes what Oneplus once was, then even i might jumping ship.

mitraark said:
There has been a lot of bad press about Oxygen OS becoming Color OS. I have been a Oneplus user since OnePlus 3 and to be honest there hasn't been much of a reason to ditch Oxygen OS.... yet. The hue and cry over Oxygen OS being destroyed by OPPO seems a bit exaggerated, and possibly orchestrated.

Yes, they are using the same UI now. But i feel Color OS has changed itself to become more like the UI of Oxygen OS now.. the minimalistic look in a red theme is still there. UI is snappy (here Samsung phones fail, even the near flagship phones lag sometimes). Launcher is great.

The main and most significant difference between the two is, Color OS has a lot of bloatware, shows ads, and does not feature Google Playstore. Oxygen OS has none of that.

The Oneplus 11R is a superb phone for its price, the battery, fast charging, display are all top notch. The camera is a small compromise but still decent for the price. Other phones in this price range will not offer you similar specs.. the BBK Group has diluted the appeal of OnePlus by making too many phones.. and stories of hardware failure shows there has been some cost cutting for business purposes, but as on now its still in the game.

The Nothing Phone 2 is its closest competitor, and possibly better in some aspects on the software front. But the brand is still in its baby stages, im uncertain about its after sales support, hence not my top pick. Samsungs in your budget will have a lot of compromises.. battery, body. Avoid Pixels, the phone has too many issues. Same with Moto, not yet established in this price segment, may ignore.

EDIT: Just notice you have already purchased the Nothing Phone 2. Great purchase. The deal they gave in BBD Sale was unbeatable. I hope Nothing becomes what Oneplus once was, then even i might jumping ship.

Color OS has Play Store in international markets & no matter how much I criticise OP or love Samsung's One UI, I do recommend people phones are that are overall a good value. Color OS, vivo's UI * MIUI have indeed improved a lot with time, but still they are notch below One UI for me. Can be considered a subjective preference as there are people who like stock android & I don't.

Samsung fabbed SoCs are a bigger con for me than OP's oxygen OS in current form, so easy to recommend OP 11R over S21FE/S23FE for me.

A good friend of mine recently bought OP11R (got 27k for green line on his OP 8T) & its main rear cam is similar to my S20FE's, selfie cam is surely better on 11R, UW & telephoto are better on my S20FE 5G. But no Gorilla Glass & no IP rating are still minor stuff which it misses out on & is not expected at ~40k. Jump from 1080p to 1200p panel was useless, IP rating would have been better for peace of mind instead.

omega44-xt said:
Exynos vs S888 on S21FE, both are considered bad, exynos is worse among them. So get S888 if you are buying. Some reviewers said it is better than exynos for daily usage, but no concrete numbers.

As mentioned, S23FE still has a bad SoC, Exynos. I will rather live with a 35k phone (256GB S21FE S888) than 50k+ S23FE with exynos. Save 20k now & upgrade sooner to a different phone in future.

Exynos doesn't seem bad for daily use. I had already purchased it for Rs. 29,999/- with a device exchange rate of Rs. 3150/- for Redmi Note 7 Pro. The Final price for the phone was Rs. 27,048/- purchased in August. Samsung released the Snapdragon variant for around 45k in July. It made sense to buy the Exynos variant instead.

I didn't expect the price of the Snapdragon variant to be down to just 30k on BBD sales. The current price difference between both variants is around 2500 to 4000 rupees on Flipkart.

Battery life is less as it won't last more than a day on a 120Hz refresh rate, but 60Hz works fine to charge once every other day.

powerstarprince said:
Exynos doesn't seem bad for daily use. I had already purchased it for Rs. 29,999/- with a device exchange rate of Rs. 3150/- for Redmi Note 7 Pro. The Final price for the phone was Rs. 27,048/- purchased in August. Samsung released the Snapdragon variant for around 45k in July. It made sense to buy the Exynos variant instead.

I didn't expect the price of the Snapdragon variant to be down to just 30k on BBD sales. The current price difference between both variants is around 2500 to 4000 rupees on Flipkart.

Battery life is less as it won't last more than a day on a 120Hz refresh rate, but 60Hz works fine to charge once every other day.

Phone purchase is never recommended in Aug/Sep if it is not urgent. BBD/GIS always had great deals, even though discounts are getting lower with time.

Using 60Hz on a 120Hz phone is not good. My friend with exynos S21FE is not liking the battery life at all on 4G/5G, he uses his phone on 60Hz with power saving mode. He bought a used one under 20k but he now understands why the original buyer wanted to sell it.

omega44-xt said:
Phone purchase is never recommended in Aug/Sep if it is not urgent. BBD/GIS always had great deals, even though discounts are getting lower with time.

Using 60Hz on a 120Hz phone is not good. My friend with exynos S21FE is not liking the battery life at all on 4G/5G, he uses his phone on 60Hz with power saving mode. He bought a used one under 20k but he now understands why the original buyer wanted to sell it.

I never knew about the Big Billion Days or the Great Indian Sale ahead. When I wanted to buy a new phone, I saw some Amazon Prime Day sales. Flipkart also had some deals on their mobile phones. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G was projected as a Hero Offer on the King of Flagship deal. There were other phones in my mind, such as the S20 FE, Pixel 6a, Nothing Phone (1) and Redmi Note 12 Pro. I missed the discount on S21 FE once the sale ended. I was in a hurry to buy this phone because of its price. After two weeks, there came the Big Freedom Sale before Independence Day. The price was discounted once more, and I purchased it.

I had also purchased the Galaxy F34 when it was newly launched after two weeks. It's better to wait when not in a hurry.

S21 FE is a great phone. After I read on GSMArena that it had an endurance rating of 92, I didn't feel it would suffer from battery-related problems. The only method to stop its battery drain is to use 60Hz on power saver mode. However, on regular use, I don't think switching to 120Hz would be a problem when not using 4G/5G data more than Wi-Fi. The adaptive refresh rate would have been better on this phone.

powerstarprince said:
I never knew about the Big Billion Days or the Great Indian Sale ahead. When I wanted to buy a new phone, I saw some Amazon Prime Day sales. Flipkart also had some deals on their mobile phones. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G was projected as a Hero Offer on the King of Flagship deal. There were other phones in my mind, such as the S20 FE, Pixel 6a, Nothing Phone (1) and Redmi Note 12 Pro. I missed the discount on S21 FE once the sale ended. I was in a hurry to buy this phone because of its price. After two weeks, there came the Big Freedom Sale before Independence Day. The price was discounted once more, and I purchased it.

I had also purchased the Galaxy F34 when it was newly launched after two weeks. It's better to wait when not in a hurry.

S21 FE is a great phone. After I read on GSMArena that it had an endurance rating of 92, I didn't feel it would suffer from battery-related problems. The only method to stop its battery drain is to use 60Hz on power saver mode. However, on regular use, I don't think switching to 120Hz would be a problem when not using 4G/5G data more than Wi-Fi. The adaptive refresh rate would have been better on this phone.

Samsung needs a good competitor. They were feeling the heat from Oneplus in 2020, hence we got gems like S20FE 5G (35k in late 2021) & A52s 5G (25k+ in later 2021). Those 2 phones are IMO still better than Samsung's current offerings except for software support. Then we had 2 years of shit SoCs made for android flagships by Samsung fab.

I expect majority of people who own S888/S888+ or 8 Gen 1 android flagships like OP 9/10 pro, S21 or S22 series to move to iPhones & never come back to android because they will observe a better battery life & less heating. Most people don't know about cons like this & battery life is a core part of a phone. A friend of mine almost made the jump to iPhone this year from OP 9 pro (he was annoyed by battery life & heating on 4G/5G), I convinced him that new SoCs are good + cons of iOS & he ended up with S23U, which he likes a lot.

Samsung fab had enough time to improve themselves but it might bite Samsung in the back along with other android flagships. I want competition in silicon fab space, but sadly TSMC has the lead & Apple is a bigger evil for smartphones than a TSMC monopoly.

End of rant