# Recommended budget phone for up to €300 ($360)?



## blabla21 (Sep 3, 2021)

Hi, everyone!

My phone of 3 years (Samsung Galaxy J4+) recently bricked after I accidentally dropped it into a pool, and now I have to look for a replacement.

I'm not that well informed about the smartphone tech, and I don't follow any news regarding the advancements in this industry so I would appreciate it if somebody would be willing to give me some suggestions on my next purchase. Here are my requirements:

BUDGET: *€300* (I'm willing to increase this by around €50 as long as the improvements are worth it)

Things that I'm looking for in a new phone are:

*Battery capacity* - The longer it lasts before it needs to be recharged, the better
*Longevity *- I'm hoping that the new phone will last me for at least a couple of years (3 or 4) before needing to be replaced
*Storage space* (32GB or higher)
*Resolution* (720p or higher)
*Size* (less than 7")
RAM, CPU, GPU, etc. is not so much important to me as long as the phone has a decent chip and is not slow, so anything along the J4+ specs or better would be good enough for me.

Things that I don't care much about are:

*Camera quality* - Not a big camera user, and on the rare occasion where I do take a picture or record a video, I would just like that the picture/video quality does not look like garbage, otherwise I don't mind making sacrifices here
*Fingerprint sensors*
*NFC, Infrared, Radio, etc.*
*Waterproofing, Dustproofing, etc.* - While nice to have, it's not really something that I would be willing to pay a premium for
*5G* - There's no infrastructure for it in my country right now (Serbia), and besides, I don't care about that sort of thing. The only use that I need from it is when I need to enable data for the internet because I cannot find a WiFi to connect to, which I believe 4G is good enough for this
My usage on the phone is pretty casual. Aside from the couple of calls I make and the texts I send, I mostly spend my time web browsing or watching YouTube videos. I don't play video games, aside from something small like Minesweeper to pass the time while I'm in a waiting room. I don't listen to music frequently, and when I do, it's mostly via speakers, so a headphone jack is optional.

One thing that I would also appreciate would be if the phone does not have privacy issues like screening your data without your consent or being filled with bloatware.

Searching the net, these are the phones that I found:

*Poco F3* - €305
*Poco X3 Pro* - €185
*Samsung Galaxy A51* - €193
*Samsung Galaxy A52* - €350
*Samsung Galaxy A72* - €331
*OnePlus Nord* - €193
*Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G* - €222
*Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro* - €176
*Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G* - €125
*Xiaomi Mi 9T *- €83
*Huawei P40 Lite* - €115
Out of all of these, which one do you think is best? I feel like all these phones on the list fit the criteria of what I'm looking for, so I don't know if I should just go with the one that's cheapest and save money since my use case is so minimal, or go with the more expensive variants if the hardware improvement is worth the extra money (especially for futureproofing)?

Nonetheless, if you have a better suggestion from what I've found, please feel free to share it.

Thanks in forward!


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Sep 3, 2021)

I'm loving my pixel 4A , I wouldn't say it's battery life is epic though, I get a day usually but sometimes not.


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## Frick (Sep 3, 2021)

Yeah, the Pixel 4A probably, if avaliable where you live.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 3, 2021)

This might help.





						Phone Finder - search for a phone by feature - GSMArena.com
					






					www.gsmarena.com
				




You can filter things based on the features you want, kind of like this.





						Phone Finder results - GSMArena.com
					






					www.gsmarena.com
				




They also review most phones, so you can get an idea how they compare.

Don't expect more than two major OS updates from any company.
Have you considered Nokia? They do at least do another year of security updates after that.
This should meet and exceed all your requirements and it has quite a large battery and goes for about €320.





						Nokia X20 - Full phone specifications
					






					www.gsmarena.com


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## elghinnarisa (Sep 3, 2021)

One of the Moto models would fit quite nicely, like Moto G 5g/moto G50

gsmarena has a pretty sizeable list of reviews done and battery tests, as well as specs and tools to compare, if nothing else just browsing the list of battery life results should give you a good idea of a few candidates.





						Battery life tests - GSMArena.com
					






					www.gsmarena.com
				



Please do read exactly how they perform their tests and what the numbers mean though.

Not sure why the Pixel 4a would be considered, its battery life is mediocre at best. Mi 10 lite offers a vastly better battery life, it's also cheaper. All in all, the 4a is a pretty terrible phone in that price segment being beaten by cheaper alternatives. Only positive is the software and possibly it's small size, for those that really want a smaller phone.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 3, 2021)

There's also the Nokia X10, which apparently has splash protection and should be cheaper than the X20, but has less built in storage and not as good cameras. It might go for around €230 for the 6GB/64GB model.





						Nokia X10 - Full phone specifications
					






					www.gsmarena.com


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## Ferd (Sep 3, 2021)

In that budget I would go for :
iPhone XR or iPhone se 2020 
Mi 9t / mi 9t pro.  
galaxy a51/52 
Poco f3 probably would be my personal pick because it packs a powerful soc and suited for gaming which is something I enjoy.
Good luck


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Sep 3, 2021)

The galaxy A52 is the best mid range phone for the money in my opinion. 

You get samsung flagship expereance with 4 years of software updates


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## silentbogo (Sep 3, 2021)

1) Avoid Nokia at all cost. Had many issues with my old "flagship" Nokia 8, and given their current direction it looks like Nokia ran out of enthusiasm towards their phone business and instead decided to focus on better things (all new stuff is mostly a checkmark for Asian and African markets).
2) Poco F3 is a beast, but as with other recent Poco and Redmi phones - comes with a lengthy list of issues. Most prominent - infamous ultrasonic proximity sensor. If you aren't hanging on specs and just looking for smooth experience - look elsewhere. I've made a mistake of getting one. Now I'm stuck in a dilemma where bugs in firmware, bad HDR, and glitchy prox pisses me off every day, but I love the performance and thermals so I can't decide whether I should wait for the next MIUI update, or trade it for something less powerful but more reliable.
3) Mid-range Samsung is also a two-sided coin. On one hand you have decent OOB experience, but on the other hand they are the least durable and least reliable phones on the market. Issues can vary from screens cracking at the lightest stress or impact, or worse - motherboard interconnect disintegrating on impact along with other stuff (makes it unfixable even if you are ready to shell out $100 for a new display).

So, with that budget you can either get a lightly used Pixel 4a, maybe even an iPhone XR.


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## Athlonite (Sep 3, 2021)

The Oppo A72 has a 5000mAh battery good screen size and outdoor use visibility it also still has an earphone socket the only downside to it is if you want fast charging you need to use the wall wart because if you use a USB Type C port on a pc it just charges at USB2.0 5V/500mA because it has a USBType C 2.0 port ie: a type C connector backed by an USB2.0 controller other than that it has a god CPU and GPU 6GB of ram and 128GB of storage aswell as SD card slot and dual sim


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 3, 2021)

Xiaomi handsets all the way. extremely bang for buck.

There are a few niggles though. (1) being its made in China by a Chinese company. (2) MiUi is a bit arse ended and lacks the same finesse and refinement as Samsung, Sony, Motorola, Google (etc etc etc) devices but its slowly improving with every update.

If youre not a power user by any means then the Xiaomi is plenty enough.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 3, 2021)

silentbogo said:


> 1) Avoid Nokia at all cost. Had many issues with my old "flagship" Nokia 8, and given their current direction it looks like Nokia ran out of enthusiasm towards their phone business and instead decided to focus on better things (all new stuff is mostly a checkmark for Asian and African markets).
> 2) Poco F3 is a beast, but as with other recent Poco and Redmi phones - comes with a lengthy list of issues. Most prominent - infamous ultrasonic proximity sensor. If you aren't hanging on specs and just looking for smooth experience - look elsewhere. I've made a mistake of getting one. Now I'm stuck in a dilemma where bugs in firmware, bad HDR, and glitchy prox pisses me off every day, but I love the performance and thermals so I can't decide whether I should wait for the next MIUI update, or trade it for something less powerful but more reliable.
> 3) Mid-range Samsung is also a two-sided coin. On one hand you have decent OOB experience, but on the other hand they are the least durable and least reliable phones on the market. Issues can vary from screens cracking at the lightest stress or impact, or worse - motherboard interconnect disintegrating on impact along with other stuff (makes it unfixable even if you are ready to shell out $100 for a new display).
> 
> So, with that budget you can either get a lightly used Pixel 4a, maybe even an iPhone XR.


I had zero issues with my Nokia 8, so I would say exactly the opposite. Yes, they don't do any more high-end phones, but the OP wants something basic so that's hardly an issue.


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## silentbogo (Sep 4, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> I had zero issues with my Nokia 8, so I would say exactly the opposite.


And display never started ghosting? Most of the original ones had this issue along with couple other IPS models. I think only Sirocco had no issues.
I went through 2 displays (original parts), 2 rear camera modules(AF broke on both), and spend helluva time dealing with disappearing QC. Given the circumstances for most people w/ display glow and ghosting, I suspect it's not even an LCD problem, but some issues with firmware which in nearly all cases appeared after the last update (hence my new genuine replacement LCD started to have same symptoms much faster).

A little update on Poco: got a 12.5.3 update yesterday, checked the proximity sensor through diagnostics menu, and it seems that they've mostly fixed the calibration. Now the sensor is off only if your phone is in horizontal position, which means you still can't "shoulder-hold" it during conversation, but at least now you can use it while laying on the couch or moving around. They've also increased the trigger distance, which I'm not sure is a good thing, but we'll see how it behaves.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 4, 2021)

silentbogo said:


> And display never started ghosting? Most of the original ones had this issue along with couple other IPS models. I think only Sirocco had no issues.
> I went through 2 displays (original parts), 2 rear camera modules(AF broke on both), and spend helluva time dealing with disappearing QC. Given the circumstances for most people w/ display glow and ghosting, I suspect it's not even an LCD problem, but some issues with firmware which in nearly all cases appeared after the last update (hence my new genuine replacement LCD started to have same symptoms much faster).
> 
> A little update on Poco: got a 12.5.3 update yesterday, checked the proximity sensor through diagnostics menu, and it seems that they've mostly fixed the calibration. Now the sensor is off only if your phone is in horizontal position, which means you still can't "shoulder-hold" it during conversation, but at least now you can use it while laying on the couch or moving around. They've also increased the trigger distance, which I'm not sure is a good thing, but we'll see how it behaves.


No? It's still working just fine, powered it just to have a look.
My SO had one (well two actually) as well (she managed to smash the screen on the first one) and no issues there either.
The reason I changed was simply because they stopped supporting it and the camera was a bit meh.
So I think your experience isn't really indicative of Nokia devices on a whole, as I have a friend that got a Nokia 7 and his wife got one too and no issues there either, apart from a buggy software update from Nokia at one occasion. That is hardly unique to HMD/Nokia though.

On the other hand, the backlight died on my older HTC phone when I was on a business trip in India. That was quite annoying to say the least.

Personally I avoid all the brands from the PRC, even though I know HMD/Nokia makes their stuff there too, they do at least control the software side of things.
All the various forks of Android just seem to add more issues from what I've seen.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 4, 2021)

I paid £100 for my oneplus 6. 128 storage 8gb ram, SD 845, 1080p 6.3" screen, android 11, 3.5mm jack, great phone


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## CounterZeus (Sep 4, 2021)

I'd personally pick the Poco F3. It has a Snapdragon 870. Sometimes there is a sale on the 256GB version for just 329 euro (and 128GB for 299).


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## silentbogo (Sep 4, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> No? It's still working just fine, powered it just to have a look.


I guess you are lucky. There were quite a few threads on official forums(still unanswered after 3 years), discussions on XDA and other places, and quite a few reviews on Amazon that note the exact same issues as I have (burn-in, camera AF, random reboots). One of my co-workers had the same issue on Nokia 6 (same LCD, same issue). Another common issue - half of the screen stops working. 
Apparently both issues have migrated all the way into 6.2 and 7.2 models.



			nokia 8 display issue - Google Search
		







						Search - Nokia phones community
					






					community.phones.nokia.com


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## blabla21 (Sep 4, 2021)

TheoneandonlyMrK said:


> I'm loving my pixel 4A , I wouldn't say it's battery life is epic though, I get a day usually but sometimes not.





Frick said:


> Yeah, the Pixel 4A probably, if avaliable where you live.


Unfortunately, I can't find Pixel 4A for anything less than €380, but I'll keep an eye out for it, if it ever goes on sale.



TheLostSwede said:


> This might help.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you for that, I didn't even know GSM offered a phone finder on their website. Hilariously, the results from my filters give me 80+ phones, with the ones that I mentioned in the OP being on top, so it doesn't help much 



silentbogo said:


> 2) Poco F3 is a beast, but as with other recent Poco and Redmi phones - comes with a lengthy list of issues. Most prominent - infamous ultrasonic proximity sensor. If you aren't hanging on specs and just looking for smooth experience - look elsewhere. I've made a mistake of getting one. Now I'm stuck in a dilemma where bugs in firmware, bad HDR, and glitchy prox pisses me off every day, but I love the performance and thermals so I can't decide whether I should wait for the next MIUI update, or trade it for something less powerful but more reliable.


Poco F3 was my first choice, but reading a bit more about MIUI and Xiaomi's business model, it made me a bit wary. I'm not sure that I like the idea of having ads in an operating system and a phone that sends data to the company whenever your online. Here's an interesting article about this: https://www.androidauthority.com/xiaomi-privacy-cheap-phone-1118444/

Some users suggest installing a custom ROM like LineageOS or GraphiteOS to counteract this, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that just yet, plus I believe it voids warranty.

Just curious, but how's your experience with this @silentbogo ? Is it advisable to avoid phones like this, or am I just being a bit paranoid?

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I'll do a bit more research and hopefully find something that doesn't have many problems.


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## silentbogo (Sep 4, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> I'm not sure that I like the idea of having ads in an operating system and a phone that sends data to the company whenever your online.


That's probably the least worrying thing in Poco. Most of the stuff can be turned off, and the only place where I see a singular ad banner, is MIUI package updater. I think the only place that actually has ads, is their personalization utility, where if you want new wallpaper or ringtone - you have to watch ads. Most of the system apps are clean, not even much in terms of bloatware(all of which can be removed btw). 
Custom ROM might do the trick, but I'm not sure how it'll affect apps like Google Pay, or some of our municipal apps that don't like unlocked bootloaders.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 4, 2021)

silentbogo said:


> I guess you are lucky. There were quite a few threads on official forums(still unanswered after 3 years), discussions on XDA and other places, and quite a few reviews on Amazon that note the exact same issues as I have (burn-in, camera AF, random reboots). One of my co-workers had the same issue on Nokia 6 (same LCD, same issue). Another common issue - half of the screen stops working.
> Apparently both issues have migrated all the way into 6.2 and 7.2 models.
> 
> 
> ...


Or maybe you were just unlucky? Never had any of those issues.
I mean, every single manufacturer has issues when it comes to phones so...
Between the two of us, we've had issues with Sharp, Sony, Samsung and HTC.
I would never get a Sharp again, because they don't seem to do software updates. The other brands I just chalk up to bad luck, as we've had other devices from all three companies that have been fine for years.
I used my Nokia 8 for two plus years without a single problem.
The two main reasons to go with Nokia is no bloatware and decent update schedules, even though they've apparently been slipping a bit when it comes to older models.


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## ShiBDiB (Sep 4, 2021)

TheoneandonlyMrK said:


> I'm loving my pixel 4A



It's what I have and does everything you could want. If you wait until the pixel 6's are out it will probably drop in price a bit more (the 5a might also fall down into your budget)


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## Mescalamba (Sep 4, 2021)

Bought myself ASUS, but its double your price.. :/ Pretty happy with it tho.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Sep 4, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> Or maybe you were just unlucky? Never had any of those issues.
> I mean, every single manufacturer has issues when it comes to phones so...
> Between the two of us, we've had issues with Sharp, Sony, Samsung and HTC.
> I would never get a Sharp again, because they don't seem to do software updates. The other brands I just chalk up to bad luck, as we've had other devices from all three companies that have been fine for years.
> ...


Only thing putting me off Nokia is glass backed phones, my last 7+ got quite finger slicey, I mean I broke it so I don't blame them but I now absolutely hate glass back phones, but Nokia Google one type phones Are solidly good phones.


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## tabascosauz (Sep 4, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> Unfortunately, I can't find Pixel 4A for anything less than €380, but I'll keep an eye out for it, if it ever goes on sale.
> 
> 
> Thank you for that, I didn't even know GSM offered a phone finder on their website. Hilariously, the results from my filters give me 80+ phones, with the ones that I mentioned in the OP being on top, so it doesn't help much
> ...



It's not that big a deal. I set up my Poco F3 yesterday, it's just a few apps with ads. You just open up the apps and go to their respective settings, and disable "recommendations" or ads.

Standard practice if you aren't going to flash a ROM (not advisable within first 6 months to 1 year anyways, to preserve warranty) is to run the ADB/fastboot debloat tool. It's really easy to use. No root needed, only Java 11 or 16 and the usual developer options settings enabled.

GitHub - Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools: A simple tool for managing Xiaomi devices on desktop using ADB and Fastboot
Pocophone F3 - Debloat it & Best settings for battery time : PocoPhones (reddit.com)

Standard practice in that reddit guide is to disable all the privacy opt-ins, it's not hard and it's all on one settings page. You also go through it all during the setup process, it's not convoluted as long as you skip Google and MI account creation.

Whether Xiaomi "should" do this is another question altogether and one I won't get into, but until other vendors make a phone that can stack up to the F3 for a competitive price (which hasn't happened, because the closest is the Nord 2 that isn't available in many regions and noticeably more expensive for arguably less GPU performance), one is always welcome to opt for a lesser phone in the name of privacy. Personally, I don't give a shit, because I don't do anything sensitive on my phone, and all the opt-outs are there. Doesn't mean I like the data collection, but it's a flagship phone minus flagship camera and wireless charging for $550cad.

As to custom ROMs, I didn't like what I saw from the available collection (too many nightlies, not enough stable builds), so debloated stock is a good way to go. Also from a quick look it seems battery issues are common on the AOSP ROMs. You could also try the xiaomi.eu ROM, basically debloated stock ROMs from elsewhere, but it still needs a bootloader unlock and some say performance is worse.

But if privacy is still a deal-breaker for you, I'd look to an A52 or one of the newer Nords. Pixel 4A price is just lmao, esp since you don't care about camera


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## Nordic (Sep 4, 2021)

Best entry-level smartphones 2022 - buyer’s guide
					

Last updated: July 15, 2022 (Changelog)    Here, we will discuss the super-cheap, yet very good, entry-level offerings. The industry has advanced so far...




					www.gsmarena.com
				




GSMarena does decent round ups. I am a stickler for small phones, of which no one really does anymore. I really don't want something over 6 inches and they had a round up for that. It looks like I will be getting a Pixel 4a or Galaxy A41 soon.


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## silentbogo (Sep 4, 2021)

Nordic said:


> I am a stickler for small phones, of which no one really does anymore.


Only Apple, and even that's gonna go away soon. That's actually the reason my previous phone was Nokia 8 - it was the only decently-specced phone with 5" display. iPhone 8 was also an option at the time, but I can't stand iOS. Just before the last upgrade I've decided to fix up a broken iPhone that's been sitting in a desk drawer for a few months, and after a successful repair I've attempted to use it for a week or so, to see if I need a new phone after all. End result - 3 days later I was ready to throw it off my balcony (dumpster is ju-u-u-st within throwing distance). Yappie things meant for socializing and media consumption are easy and intuitive, but everyday things that working people use (like setting the alarm) take twice or 3 times as many manipulations/clicks/swipes. Doing some work on it was completely out of question.


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## Nordic (Sep 4, 2021)

silentbogo said:


> Only Apple, and even that's gonna go away soon. That's actually the reason my previous phone was Nokia 8 - it was the only decently-specced phone with 5" display. iPhone 8 was also an option at the time, but I can't stand iOS. Just before the last upgrade I've decided to fix up a broken iPhone that's been sitting in a desk drawer for a few months, and after a successful repair I've attempted to use it for a week or so, to see if I need a new phone after all. End result - 3 days later I was ready to throw it off my balcony (dumpster is ju-u-u-st within throwing distance). Yappie things meant for socializing and media consumption are easy and intuitive, but everyday things that working people use (like setting the alarm) take twice or 3 times as many manipulations/clicks/swipes. Doing some work on it was completely out of question.


Yes, apple does make actually small phones. I held onto my 2014 droid mini until 2019. I am looking to upgrade again and my options are slim.


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## Splinterdog (Sep 4, 2021)

If I were buying a phone now, I'd definitely got for one with 5G, min 8GB RAM, 128GB storage and an SD card slot.
The Poco seems to fit that bill.





						Xiaomi Poco F3 - Full phone specifications
					






					www.gsmarena.com


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## blabla21 (Sep 5, 2021)

silentbogo said:


> That's probably the least worrying thing in Poco. Most of the stuff can be turned off, and the only place where I see a singular ad banner, is MIUI package updater. I think the only place that actually has ads, is their personalization utility, where if you want new wallpaper or ringtone - you have to watch ads. Most of the system apps are clean, not even much in terms of bloatware(all of which can be removed btw).
> Custom ROM might do the trick, but I'm not sure how it'll affect apps like Google Pay, or some of our municipal apps that don't like unlocked bootloaders.


That's good to know. I think I might go with F3 and like @tabascosauz does, avoid doing anything sensitive on it while disabling everything ad related that system apps use.


tabascosauz said:


> It's not that big a deal. I set up my Poco F3 yesterday, it's just a few apps with ads. You just open up the apps and go to their respective settings, and disable "recommendations" or ads.
> 
> Standard practice if you aren't going to flash a ROM (not advisable within first 6 months to 1 year anyways, to preserve warranty) is to run the ADB/fastboot debloat tool. It's really easy to use. No root needed, only Java 11 or 16 and the usual developer options settings enabled.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the debloating guide, that will definitely come useful. You did say that the process isn't convoluted as long as I don't use Google or MIUI accounts during the setup, does that mean when I get the phone I shouldn't login into my Google account until I'm done with the debating, or that logging into the account will cause it to "rebloat"?

Also, regarding the .eu ROM, since I'm located in Europe, does that mean I'll get that ROM automatically as stock, or is this just an optional thing you can download after unlocking the bootloader?

All in all, thanks for the assistance everyone. I've narrowed down my list to a few phones which I'm going to check the prices again, and finally make a decision.

By the way, one thing that I noticed is that most phones come in size variants like 6/128GB and 8/256GB. Is the increased size in RAM worth the extra money? The cost difference isn't huge and the 128GB of storage capacity is more than enough for me, however, does the extra RAM make any difference, especially for a casual user like me?


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## tabascosauz (Sep 5, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> That's good to know. I think I might go with F3 and like @tabascosauz does, avoid doing anything sensitive on it while disabling everything ad related that system apps use.
> 
> Thank you for the debloating guide, that will definitely come useful. You did say that the process isn't convoluted as long as I don't use Google or MIUI accounts during the setup, does that mean when I get the phone I shouldn't login into my Google account until I'm done with the debating, or that logging into the account will cause it to "rebloat"?
> 
> ...



I just meant that the privacy options also come up in the setup process, so you'll get a chance to turn them off right away. I made the mistake of transferring everything from the OP6T, which messed up my apps somewhat, so I started over with a factory reset and did setup without signing into anything. Since I had to run the debloat tool anyways before installing my apps.

Always go with the extra storage, usually only a little price increase. Especially since it doesn't have an SD card slot. iirc with the Poco F2 Pro, the 6/128 option also came with slower LPDDR4X and not LPDDR5, so I'd assume they might be doing the same here.

Do you have the option to return phones within 2 weeks/30 days in case you don't like them? Or are you saddled with what you get. Regardless of which phone I think that would be the most important part, these aren't flagship phones so the QC is not always 100%.

It's a good phone but it can be a bit rough around the edges. The dark mode is a little quirky and sometimes needs tweaking for individual apps. I spent 2 hours trying to get LTE because somehow the default APN wasn't correct and kept kicking me down to the HSPA+ network. Also when you get all the way down to very low screen brightness, grey uniformity is a bit of a wash, but ymmv. Also it only comes with the Euro charger I think, but won't be a problem for you.

The xiaomi.eu ROM is not a stock ROM (stupid name I know). It's a modified stock ROM but you need unlocked bootloader for it, basically same as any other custom AOSP option out there. IMO it's not worth it, since you can easily debloat your stock ROM without voiding warranty.

And MOST IMPORTANTLY always make sure the phone you choose supports the right bands for your carrier. I had to cancel my initial X3 Pro order upon finding that 2 of my most frequently used LTE bands were not on that phone. There's an app called Cellular Pro I think, that you can use to check what bands you use, but there's databases out there with that info as well.


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## r9 (Sep 5, 2021)

I've had my pixel 4a for a year now or so and been very happy with it.
Only gaming on it has been cloud gaming so I can't vouch on that aspect but for everything else like surfing, mail, youtube and bunch of works related apps everything has been working great.
Battery lasts a full day for me easily.
The screen color and brightness are great.
Sound is good as well.
The camera is great.
Personally if I would go to buy a phone right now I would be looking for something with bigger screen at least 6.5", oled with 90Hz refresh. Probable something like oneplus' or mi's last year models that would cost around the same price as the Pixel 4a.


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## Khonjel (Sep 5, 2021)

The POCO lineup of Xiaomi portfolio hands down. But as others have stated MIUI the skin of Xiaomi devices is kinda unstable as of recently. You'll face various issues.

Personally I'll vouch for Realme if it's available. It's kinda same as POCO but for BBK (Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus group). The UI is more stable according to forum discussions.

I'd avoid any other Chinese brand. Horrible update track record. And since Xiaomi and Realme are darling childs in India, all other chinese branda don't get that much third party dev support. With enough dev support you can extend life of your phone even if official support is long gone.

In that sense, Redmi Note series would be best bet imo. It's also a brand of Xiaomi. Basically Xiaomi rebrands one phone to another in its portfolio. Almost all chinese brands do (even BBK group phones).


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## Sithaer (Sep 5, 2021)

I'm in a similar boat so good timing for this topic to show up. 

I'm leaning towards the Poco X3 Pro since it just about fits in my maximum budget of ~230 Euro but I'm a bit concerned about MIUI.
Some ppl say they have no problems or only minor ones and some say its a mess and they regret buying the phone.
Theres only 1 Xiaomi phone in my family but its an old Redmi model so probably not a good base for my opinion.

Right now I can get a 6/128 X3 Pro with 2 years warranty/Global EU and since I'm from EU thats fine and also no issues with the LTE support in my case.
Thats for ~225 Euro delivered right to my house in a few days.

For reference my current phone since 2018 is a Meizu M6 Note which served me really well over the years and survived some dumb drunk accidents too and a really dirty workplace. 
Other than minor things I had no issues with it, just kinda running old nowadays and I'm starting to have issues with the 32GB internal space. _'128 would be more than enough for me'_

That previously mentioned Pixel 4a is like 380 Euro here so thats way out of my range.


----------



## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Sep 6, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I'll do a bit more research and hopefully find something that doesn't have many problems.


Just get the Samsung A52, it is a well revived phone and its predecessor the A51 was one of the best selling mid range android phone of its time. 

Samsung is the king in the android handheld space, if you want a hassle free android without much hassle for thought, you get a Samsung, simple as that.

The google pixle 4a as many said is a good phone but it has an average battery life, its upgrade the pixle 5a is more expensive than your budget, but since you cant get a pixel, and you are skeptic about Xaimi and poco, while other tell you Nokia has a so-so experience, then just get a Samsung, Samsung owns the largest share in the android handled because its a simple, reliable recommendation



blabla21 said:


> By the way, one thing that I noticed is that most phones come in size variants like 6/128GB and 8/256GB. Is the increased size in RAM worth the extra money? The cost difference isn't huge and the 128GB of storage capacity is more than enough for me, however, does the extra RAM make any difference, especially for a casual user like me?


6gb is all you need for android unless you are an extreme power with mental disorder who likes to have all his apps open in the background then complain the phone is bad because it dosnt have enough ram, 6Gb 128gb storage is the perfect sweet pot in my opinion


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## blabla21 (Sep 6, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> I spent 2 hours trying to get LTE because somehow the default APN wasn't correct and kept kicking me down to the HSPA+ network.
> ...
> And MOST IMPORTANTLY always make sure the phone you choose supports the right bands for your carrier. I had to cancel my initial X3 Pro order upon finding that 2 of my most frequently used LTE bands were not on that phone. There's an app called Cellular Pro I think, that you can use to check what bands you use, but there's databases out there with that info as well.


How can I see which bands my carrier uses, and know that a new phone that I get will support it?

I've tried using Cellular Pro, but I have no idea what I'm looking at here.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 6, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> How can I see which bands my carrier uses, and know that a new phone that I get will support it?
> 
> I've tried using Cellular Pro, but I have no idea what I'm looking at here.


Most modern phones support all the bands in the regions they're sold on, so it shouldn't be an issue.
You might be able to find some details here.





						List of LTE networks in Europe - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## ThaiTaffy (Sep 6, 2021)

As someone who has dropped, ran over, soaked ever phone I've every had I can't recommend my current phone enough. It's called a doogee s88. Not that I'm trying to argue with anyone here but for everything on your wishlist it smashes all other competitors on the market. Battery lasts between 1day constant gaming, 3-4 days regular use. I wash it in the sink almost every morning. Have dropped it almost once a week since I bought it a year ago.
Only thing I'm unsure of is the compatibility with your service provider but you can check the link below








						Will Doogee S88 Pro work in USA?
					

In this page we are going to show you the compatibility of Doogee S88 Pro with the mobile networks of USA and with the telephony operators that provide service in USA.




					www.kimovil.com
				




Oh and it's a brick some reviews quoted it can be used as a weapon


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## Khonjel (Sep 6, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> How can I see which bands my carrier uses, and know that a new phone that I get will support it?
> 
> I've tried using Cellular Pro, but I have no idea what I'm looking at here.


According to this website most telecom in serbia use 800 Mhz and 1800 Mhz. So most probably B3 and B20. But you should directly ask your telecom or check their website.


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## ThaiTaffy (Sep 6, 2021)

Will Doogee S88 Pro work in Serbia?
					

In this page we are going to show you the compatibility of Doogee S88 Pro with the mobile networks of Serbia and with the telephony operators that provide service in Serbia.




					www.kimovil.com


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## blabla21 (Sep 6, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> Most modern phones support all the bands in the regions they're sold on, so it shouldn't be an issue.
> You might be able to find some details here.
> 
> 
> ...





Khonjel said:


> According to this website most telecom in serbia use 800 Mhz and 1800 Mhz. So most probably B3 and B20. But you should directly ask your telecom or check their website.





ThaiTaffy said:


> Will Doogee S88 Pro work in Serbia?
> 
> 
> In this page we are going to show you the compatibility of Doogee S88 Pro with the mobile networks of Serbia and with the telephony operators that provide service in Serbia.
> ...


Thanks guys, I checked it out and it seems all phones will be fine here


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## AusWolf (Sep 6, 2021)

I don't know much about phones, but Samsung's A-series never disappointed me. I'm currently using an A20e, and I love it. The only bitterness I have is the fact that the A21 with a much bigger battery got released only a few months after I bought this. But it also has a bigger screen which I'm not a fan of, so...


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## blabla21 (Sep 7, 2021)

Ok, after re-checking the prices and reading up more reviews, comparisons, user experience, etc. I think I'll go with the Poco F3. Even tho it's a bit of an overkill for my casual use, the prices for other phones have gone up, and weirdly enough only the F3 remained the same.

Now I just need one final confirmation before finalizing my choice, and that is, once again, to go with the 6/128GB or 8/256GB version?

I hate to bring this up again, but since the price difference is about €30 ($40-45), is the additional 2GB of RAM worth it, especially for futureproofing? The 128GB capacity is plenty enough for me, so an additional 128GB is just a bonus, which is (sort of) useful because the phone does not have a microSD slot. Nonetheless, would it be worth it for someone like me to spend an additional $45-50 for the extra RAM, or should I just stick with the 6GB variant?

BTW, is closing apps after your done using them bad for your battery compared to when you leave them in the background? I found this article which states that you shouldn't close apps, and instead leave them running since Android has it's own memory management system to take care of it: https://www.wired.com/2016/03/closing-apps-save-battery-makes-things-worse/


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## P4-630 (Sep 7, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> BTW, is closing apps after your done using them bad for your battery compared to when you leave them in the background? I found this article which states that you shouldn't close apps, and instead leave them running since Android has it's own memory management system to take care of it: https://www.wired.com/2016/03/closing-apps-save-battery-makes-things-worse/



I have learned to close apps if you don't use them all the time through the day.
Also android will close them automatically if not used for some time, at least mine does.


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## blabla21 (Sep 7, 2021)

P4-630 said:


> I have learned to close apps if you don't use them all the time through the day.
> Also android will close them automatically if not used for some time, at least mine does.


Yeah, I've been doing the same thing ever since I got my first smartphone, which is also the reason I'm wondering if the 2GB of extra RAM is worth it if I don't multitask or do anything that will cause memory hogs. It was only recently that someone linked me this article, which made me curious if you should do such a thing or leave it as is.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 7, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> Yeah, I've been doing the same thing ever since I got my first smartphone, which is also the reason I'm wondering if the 2GB of extra RAM is worth it if I don't multitask or do anything that will cause memory hogs. It was only recently that someone linked me this article, which made me curious if you should do such a thing or leave it as is.



You'd be surprised how much RAM is just used for the OS, in this case, Android 11.
4GB is simply not cutting it these days, as I have "nothing" running here.
6GB is the new 4GB on Android.


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## blabla21 (Sep 7, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> You'd be surprised how much RAM is just used for the OS, in this case, Android 11.
> 4GB is simply not cutting it these days, as I have "nothing" running here.
> 6GB is the new 4GB on Android.


I've read that only happens because Android OS is designed to consume RAM dynamically. So the more RAM you have, the more Android is going to use.
Thus you can see a higher RAM consumption on a 6GB phone compared to the 4GB model. I think every modern OS does this actually.

Interesting thing, it seems that x64-bit Chrome is installed only on devices that have 8+ GB of RAM








						Advanced memory management and more performance improvements in M89
					

Boosting performance while adding features, functionality, and improving security, requires deep and continuous investment. Today’s post is ...




					blog.chromium.org
				





> For those of you who picked up the latest Android devices (Android Q+ and 8GB+ of RAM), we’ve rebuilt Chrome as a 64-bit binary, giving you a more stable Chrome that is up to 8.5% faster to load pages and 28% smoother when it comes to scrolling and input latency.



Also, here's a better article explaining the process lifecycle that I mentioned above









						Processes and Application Lifecycle  |  Android Developers
					

In most cases, every Android application runs in its own Linux process. This process is created for the application when some of its code needs to be run, and will remain running until it is no longer needed and the system needs to reclaim its memory …




					developer.android.com


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## AusWolf (Sep 7, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> You'd be surprised how much RAM is just used for the OS, in this case, Android 11.
> 4GB is simply not cutting it these days, as I have "nothing" running here.
> 6GB is the new 4GB on Android.
> 
> View attachment 215917


I disagree. My phone with 3 GB RAM does everything just fine. Funny enough, I also have 1.4-1.5 GB free when nothing's running. Android uses whatever it has available.

Storage is a different story. I used to think 32 GB with an SD card would be enough for the rest of my life. It isn't.



blabla21 said:


> I've read that only happens because Android OS is designed to consume RAM dynamically. So the more RAM you have, the more Android is going to use.
> Thus you can see a higher RAM consumption on a 6GB phone compared to the 4GB model. I think every modern OS does this actually.


Exactly.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 7, 2021)

AusWolf said:


> I disagree. My phone with 3 GB RAM does everything just fine. Funny enough, I also have 1.4-1.5 GB free when nothing's running. Android uses whatever it has available.
> 
> Storage is a different story. I used to think 32 GB with an SD card would be enough for the rest of my life. It isn't.


You're free to disagree as much as you want, but I wouldn't buy a new device with less than 6GB of RAM today.
Also keep in mind that we will have different amounts of RAM allocated to the GPU, as I presume Qualcomm allocates more RAM to the GPU if it's a higher-end SoC.
I seem to have about 500MB allocated to the GPU based on what's missing from the 6GB of RAM.

I've always gone for affordable high-end phones, my previous was a Nokia 8 and before that I had something from HTC that I don't really remember, as my SO used to work for them.
I just powered the Nokia up and it has been reset to factory default and is using 50% of it RAM and it's a 4GB device, but it's also on Android 9.

Android seems to use more and more RAM for each release as well and I would rather have a little bit more RAM than not enough, as I tend to use my phones for the 2+ years they get software updates. As such, I think it's a bit foolish to save that little bit of money that it often is.
However, I'll agree that 8GB isn't really needed as yet and anything above that, is a waste of money. The only possible reason for 8GB would be if you play a lot of 3D games on your phone.


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## AusWolf (Sep 7, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> You're free to disagree as much as you want, but I wouldn't buy a new device with less than 6GB of RAM today.
> Also keep in mind that we will have different amounts of RAM allocated to the GPU, as I presume Qualcomm allocates more RAM to the GPU if it's a higher-end SoC.
> I seem to have about 500MB allocated to the GPU based on what's missing from the 6GB of RAM.


Really?  One more reason for me to stay on budget phones.



TheLostSwede said:


> I've always gone for affordable high-end phones, my previous was a Nokia 8 and before that I had something from HTC that I don't really remember, as my SO used to work for them.
> I just powered the Nokia up and it has been reset to factory default and is using 50% of it RAM and it's a 4GB device, but it's also on Android 9.


I used to think the same way until a few years ago. Now, as phones evolve more rapidly than ever, I tend to use budget ones. They have similar hardware specs as high-end phones only a couple years back, only with smaller resolution screens that use less power. A win-win for me. And frankly, my Galaxy S6 became obsolete just as quickly as my A20e will. Why spend the extra money, then? 



TheLostSwede said:


> Android seems to use more and more RAM for each release as well and I would rather have a little bit more RAM than not enough, as I tend to use my phones for the 2+ years they get software updates. As such, I think it's a bit foolish to save that little bit of money that it often is.
> However, I'll agree that 8GB isn't really needed as yet and anything above that, is a waste of money. The only possible reason for 8GB would be if you play a lot of 3D games on your phone.


Personally, I would think twice before spending extra money on more RAM, but I wouldn't save a few pennies on storage. If I get more RAM with my bigger storage, that's fine.


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## Lei (Sep 7, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> This might help.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This phone finder wasn't working for years. But I checked now and it found me a 155 gram phone upgradable to android 11


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## Sithaer (Sep 7, 2021)

AusWolf said:


> I disagree. My phone with 3 GB RAM does everything just fine. Funny enough, I also have 1.4-1.5 GB free when nothing's running. Android uses whatever it has available.
> 
> Storage is a different story. I used to think 32 GB with an SD card would be enough for the rest of my life. It isn't.



Same here with my  ~150$ 3/32 budget phone, I'm using it since 2018 June so a good 3+ years old and it still does the everyday tasks I use it for _'YT/media and net browsing/messenger'_ + some light gaming on the side.
I also have the habit of closing everything I don't need/use and don't run a bunch of apps at once.

32 GB space is an issue tho, almost running out and I don't have much stuff installed tbh.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 7, 2021)

AusWolf said:


> Really?  One more reason for me to stay on budget phones.
> 
> 
> I used to think the same way until a few years ago. Now, as phones evolve more rapidly than ever, I tend to use budget ones. They have similar hardware specs as high-end phones only a couple years back, only with smaller resolution screens that use less power. A win-win for me. And frankly, my Galaxy S6 became obsolete just as quickly as my A20e will. Why spend the extra money, then?
> ...


Not planning on going budget, as I actually use my phone quite a bit, or at least have used it quite a bit for work, since I need to take pictures and send to my clients of their projects, view 3D drawings on it and I also send tons of emails using it when I'm out and about, as well as the occasional phone conference...

That said, high-end models have just gotten stupidly expensive, I'm not paying over ~US$700 for a phone and even that is pushing it.
We'll see what's out there next time, but I'll most likely get something comparatively lower end than my ZenFone 6 was when I bought it.

And yes, most of the time you have to go for more RAM to get more storage.



Lei said:


> This phone finder wasn't working for years. But I checked now and it found me a 155 gram phone upgradable to android 11


Eh? It's been working for the past few years for sure, as I've used it several times. Maybe something buggy with some adblocker or something you use?


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## tabascosauz (Sep 7, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> Ok, after re-checking the prices and reading up more reviews, comparisons, user experience, etc. I think I'll go with the Poco F3. Even tho it's a bit of an overkill for my casual use, the prices for other phones have gone up, and weirdly enough only the F3 remained the same.
> 
> Now I just need one final confirmation before finalizing my choice, and that is, once again, to go with the 6/128GB or 8/256GB version?
> 
> ...



Like I said, go for the 8/256 if it's not a financial problem, I'm still not sure if the 6/128 is even using the same hardware (LPDDR5) since Xiaomi has done this shit once before. And how certain are you right now that you will never need the increased storage 3 years down the line?

The issue isn't Android, the issue is that MIUI is a RAM hog out of the box. Even slimmed down, I think I'm still floating 2.7GB used with everything closed. I don't foresee any running out of RAM symptoms, but I also don't game on my phone. RAM usage should be better on AOSP roms, but again, ride out the warranty first.

Although technically, it allegedly isn't the unlocked bootloader that voids your warranty, it's the ROM that you've flashed. So you could always go custom and hope fastboot/TWRP works well enough to flash back to Global ROM before you send it off for warranty.

From using Android 9, 10 and 11 on my OnePlus I've never had any memory issues. That phone is a 8/128 model. Android has come a long way since Lollipop (I'd say the last time for me where running out of RAM actually slowed everything to a standstill).

As for battery, MIUI will inform you of abnormally high battery drain. But if you want your screen to be readable outdoors, the screen will always be the biggest battery hog in comparison to everything else combined, so it's not a big deal what you choose to do with most apps.

For most apps, you can either not optimize, optimize minimally (MIUI Battery Saver), close apps after 10 minutes inactivity, or close them immediately.


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## Jetster (Sep 7, 2021)

Love Moto Gs  I've had three of them. Tried other brands for budget but I end up back
Latest is the Moto g stylus


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Sep 8, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> BTW, is closing apps after your done using them bad for your battery compared to when you leave them in the background? I found this article which states that you shouldn't close apps, and instead leave them running since Android has it's own memory management system to take care of it: https://www.wired.com/2016/03/closing-apps-save-battery-makes-things-worse/


lamo, no, having app open in the background eats unnecessary resources from ram and cpu all the time, reducing battery life, closing app after you done using them clears the app data from the cache, reducing load, and increase battery life


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## AusWolf (Sep 8, 2021)

Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> lamo, no, having app open in the background eats unnecessary resources from ram and cpu all the time, reducing battery life, closing app after you done using them clears the app data from the cache, reducing load, and increase battery life


With that analogy, you should never close your games on your PC because loading them up eats resources. Letting them run all the time eases stress on your HDD/SSD. What a load of...


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## blabla21 (Sep 9, 2021)

Jesus, I hate to keep this thread alive for any longer since I already got all the information I needed, but recently the Galaxy A52*s* 5G has released in my country, and now I have the option to take it for the price of ~€20 cheaper than the F3.

I've been looking over the comparisons between it and the regular A52 5G model, and from what I've seen,  they're quite close with A52s being only slightly better with it's improved CPU (Snapdragon 778G vs. Snapdragon 750G), and GPU. Other than that, they're mostly the same.

Now I'm wondering, how does it compare to the Poco F3? Is the F3 still a better value compared to the A52s?

From the looks of it, F3 still has slightly better specs than the A52s, but the A52 has better software stability and more updates which does make them go hand-in-hand in terms of longevity / future-proofing.

The only other difference between the two that remains is the price, and the memory which it come with a lower amount (6/128GB compared to F3 8/256GB).

Anyway, I apologize for making this thread so long, I have the option of cancelling my order for the F3 should the A52s prove to be a better choice, but at this point I really need to make a decision, since I've been overthinking these things for way longer than I expected. So I promise this will be my last post


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 9, 2021)

778G isn't just slightly better than the 750G, it's on a different level even if the model name doesn't imply it.

The 750G has two Cortex-A77 like cores and six Cortex-A55 like cores.
The 778G on the other hand has one "faster" Cortex-A78 core and three fast Cortex-A78 cores, plus the four Cortex-A55 cores.

Outside of that, you get a lot more capable GPU, better camera ISP and other improvements all around.

As such, it's a lot better.





__





						List of Qualcomm Snapdragon processors - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## tabascosauz (Sep 9, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> Jesus, I hate to keep this thread alive for any longer since I already got all the information I needed, but recently the Galaxy A52*s* 5G has released in my country, and now I have the option to take it for the price of ~€20 cheaper than the F3.
> 
> I've been looking over the comparisons between it and the regular A52 5G model, and from what I've seen,  they're quite close with A52s being only slightly better with it's improved CPU (Snapdragon 778G vs. Snapdragon 750G), and GPU. Other than that, they're mostly the same.
> 
> ...



If you don't have a grace period in which you can return a device you don't like, sure? If you can return it within x period, why cancel on your existing order? 

778G is a big step up from any other 600/700 Snapdragon but it's not even in the same ballpark as 870. It's not intended to be. One's a kneejerk response to inadequate 780G supply (which itself was a kneejerk response to 700 being too shitty), and the other is Qualcomm's actually practical flagship SoC (888/888+ is an inferno).

The upgrade in CPU config is nice, but Apple has demonstrated for the past 10 years that as long as you have a good-enough CPU, it's the GPU and NAND performance that will carry the day for the life of the device. Especially if you're trying to push 120Hz, which both devices are. Adreno 642L is just not on 650's level. 

I've heard good things about One UI, but that's got to be of utmost importance to you to trump the much weaker GPU and less storage/RAM for just 30eur less. The A52S offers pretty crappy value by comparison, but if One UI just floats your boat and you just hate MIUI, then it's pointless to compare "value" because the A52S would be the right phone for you.


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## The red spirit (Sep 9, 2021)

Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> Just get the Samsung A52, it is a well reviewed phone and its predecessor the A51 was one of the best selling mid range android phone of its time.


A51 was poor value phone and was overpriced by 100 Euros. Totally not recommended. Previous A50 was awesome, but mostly due to offering nearly the same hardware as in A51 for less than 300 Euros. A52 did very little to make value better and it still stinks in value. And let's be honest, people buy Samsungs, due to how relatively safe purchase they are and due to relatively decent support and dependable brand, but they are very rarely value kings, unless we are talking about much lower end devices. Right now I would say that only A22 and S20 FE makes sense. A32 is somewhat okay too, but anything between these and S20 FE are just not worth it. If you want something better than A22 (A32), then save up for S20 FE. Don't like those phones, then just look at something that is not Samsung.


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Sep 9, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> Jesus, I hate to keep this thread alive for any longer since I already got all the information I needed, but recently the Galaxy A52*s* 5G has released in my country, and now I have the option to take it for the price of ~€20 cheaper than the F3.
> 
> I've been looking over the comparisons between it and the regular A52 5G model, and from what I've seen,  they're quite close with A52s being only slightly better with it's improved CPU (Snapdragon 778G vs. Snapdragon 750G), and GPU. Other than that, they're mostly the same.
> 
> ...


Get the A52, Samsung provides software updates up to 4 years, the longest next to Google and Apple 5 years period


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## Jetster (Sep 9, 2021)

Samsung does not make good cheap phones. I tried them. Motorola


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## Khonjel (Sep 10, 2021)

My money's on A52s. Ultimately Samsung just makes better software than almost all of the Chinese brands.


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## blabla21 (Sep 10, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> If you don't have a grace period in which you can return a device you don't like, sure? If you can return it within x period, why cancel on your existing order?
> 
> 778G is a big step up from any other 600/700 Snapdragon but it's not even in the same ballpark as 870. It's not intended to be. One's a kneejerk response to inadequate 780G supply (which itself was a kneejerk response to 700 being too shitty), and the other is Qualcomm's actually practical flagship SoC (888/888+ is an inferno).
> 
> ...


There is no period where I can return the phone, but the good thing is that the order can be cancelled until Monday, so I still have time should I reconsider.

The only question that remains now is, which of these two phones provide better longevity / future-proofing potential?

F3 has superior CPU, GPU and two more gigabytes of RAM, but with a buggier OS, whereas A52s has more software updates, better IP rating, and a bit more stable OS.

Seeing how the specs for both are overkill for my use cases, I'm still not sure which of these would suit me better, but I know for sure that whichever one I pick, it'll serve me well.


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## tabascosauz (Sep 10, 2021)

blabla21 said:


> There is no period where I can return the phone, but the good thing is that the order can be cancelled until Monday, so I still have time should I reconsider.
> 
> The only question that remains now is, which of these two phones provide better longevity / future-proofing potential?
> 
> ...



If you're willing to do some work, you can always eliminate the software problem with any custom ROM of your choice. The F3 is pretty popular with devs, ArrowOS, Pixel experience, Xiaomi.eu, new LineageOS nightlies etc. These aren't X3 Pro-priced phones, there's no way I would personally sacrifice hardware for OEM software - a better ROM is a flash away, but you can't fix hardware. Warranty is always gone after a year anyway.

And then there's the ADB/fastboot toolbox that should always be your first task after getting the phone, literally a few clicks to remove MIUI's bullshit.

If you're not willing to get down and dirty (it's not that hard really), then Samsung offers better support.

As to the IP rating, the GSMArena review is pretty convinced that Xiaomi simply forgot about the IP52 on the F3 and that it's as IP52 as any other phone. In any case, neither phone is rated to survive an accidental dunk.

While Xiaomi has the stupid 7-day security waiting period for bootloader unlock, they are pretty lax when it comes to flashing, and I think you're also able to relock bootloader if you go back to a stock ROM (ie selling the phone). If past experience with Samsung is any case, Samsung isn't nearly so lenient, wouldn't be surprised if they still have a permanent bootloader flash counter.


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