Three Buying Lessons from my life. It involves two people who needed a new phone, a year from today and another from about 8 years ago.
+Buying Lesson #1: *Don't spend more than you need to.+
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One, Rajiv Ranjan really wanted the Galaxy Series worth Rs.30000 (on credit) but after seeing what his general uses were, we decided on the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max[1] for about 17-18k and that too on EMI after the Credit Card Discount.
Back then, I was really worried about the proximity issue with this phone and therefore we took the risk and ordered the phone anyways. I finally was contented after I myself saw there were no issues with the phone.
A year Later: I called him recently and he was very very satisfied with the phone, maybe too satisfied because all he does is spend his day on the phone. I scolded and asked him to start his Excel Coaching Institute and for that he needs a cheap system.
To Rajiv Ranjan : abe start karo be youtube channel, padhate ho hi bachcha log ko, pata nahi kis soobh moohrat ka intezaar kar rahe ho @#$%^U&I
+Buying Lesson #2: *If increasing the budget just a bit increases the long-term use of the device, go for it.+
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Second, Germination A key to get success needed a new phone and having recently given the Redmi Note 10 Pro to one, I immediately gravitated towards it, but then the prices had increased quite a bit and they started to cost about Rs.20k.
I had to make the toughest decision yet to either recommend the Realme GT Master Edition or this one. The only hiccup was the small battery in Realme GT Master Edition and I ultimately went for the better processor the Realme GT Master Edition to ensure a long term use of the phone. Until then he was still using Redmi Note 5 Pro even though it was very very laggy.
Once he got the phone and the battery drained immediately on the first day which involved a lot of updates, we both were worried, however, from the next day the phone started to give a full day's worth of battery even in High Refresh Rate. He refused to turn high refresh rate off for reasons even though he knew that it hogs battery.
A Year Later: We talked recently and he is very satisfied with the phone, considering he makes YouTube Videos on them, he has his own educational Hindi Bihar Youtube Channel Germination A key to get success .
To Germination A key to get success : jaisa discussion kiye the, follow your passion not what you're supposed to do or what you are working in. Life is too short.
+Buying Lesson #3: *Don't buy a new tech if you don't need to.+
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The first question I ask anyone when they ask for a new tech is if you really need one or can you make do with what you already have? A college-mate had a very old Samsung Phone and if you remember android phones 10 years ago, before Xiaomi entered India, everyone was selling cheap crap that you can't use at all in the budget category. This Samsung had barely any RAM or Storage and yet it was filled with a lot of Samsung Crap which hogged the memory, so I plugged in the PC [2] and removed every Samsung Bloatware including many necessary ones and even replaced the Launcher with a light-weight one[3] and that made the phone usable for about a year.
Anyways, here's the buyer's guide I made back a year ago. Remember, it's really really difficult to make a Phone's Buyer's Guide. It's a lot more difficult than Laptops, however, if I get a job soon, I will make one again.
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+Phone Buyer’s Guide17-Dec-2021+
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Redmi Note 5 Pro: Lags in even basic tasks like dialing search.
Buyer’s Choice:
1) Moto G60
Pros: Lag free. Processor good. UI Good. Smooth.
Cons: Heavy. IPS Screen. Camera bad.
2) Realme 8: 15500 (Now)
Cons:
3) Redmi Note 10 Pro:
My Choices:
Redmi: 9 series, very old.
Redmi note 10s: 16.5k for 128GB model
Moto: camera bad, amoled 20k
Moto edge 20 Fusion: Bluetooth range bad, not bright, camera bad.
Redmi Note 10: 15.5k for 128GB model. Cons: Slow processor.
Redmi Note 10 Pro: 18k
Final Verdict: Redmi Note 10 Pro is a winner but the fact that I am forced to buy a 19k phone and Realme GT Master Edition for just 20k, I would rather go with the GT Master Edition.
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P.S: The first two persons are one of many who are looking to get a cheap system, as cheap as they can get.
[1] Back then due to heavy discounts, both the phones ultimately were the same cost for us.
[2] Similar Method to https://www.ni6hant.com/mtf/making-xiaomi-mi-phones-ad-free/
[3] I think it was Smart Launcher, back then it was very very light-weight: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ginlemon.flowerfree&hl=en_IN&gl=US&pli=1