Looking to buy phone under 30K

[xzap042]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a phone under 30K, basically keeping the budget as low as possible. I'm inclined to buy used flagship phone so I can get better specs.

I'm thinking S7 edge / note 5 / LG G6 From what I know.

My main requirements are good display, camera and smooth experience.

Suggestions are required. I am planning to basically keep the phone for as long as possible (read forever) so I want a set that would be useful even after let's say 3 years.

So are above choices good enough or are there better options out there.

 

[usmanfcs]

Xiaomi Mi A2

 

[murtaza12]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a phone under 30K, basically keeping the budget as low as possible. I'm inclined to buy used flagship phone so I can get better specs.

I'm thinking S7 edge / note 5 / LG G6 From what I know.

My main requirements are good display, camera and smooth experience.

Suggestions are required. I am planning to basically keep the phone for as long as possible (read forever) so I want a set that would be useful even after let's say 3 years.

So are above choices good enough or are there better options out there.

None of the phones you mentioned will last you 3 years. Especially not the Note 5. Besides, buying an old flagship is a bad idea. Mid range phones are pretty good nowadays.

I'd have to agree with Usman, Xiaomi is the way to go. Their phones will easily last 3 years, with custom ROM support and all, you could probably even get more.
You can get the Mi A2 if you prefer the stock Android feel, or the Note 5 Pro if you want to try out MIUI and have the option to switch to stock Android with custom ROMs.

 

[smaaz]

Nokia 8 or slightly used nokia 7 plus ?

I love MI phones, as fast as miui is its still irritating at times

 

[xzap042]

None of the phones you mentioned will last you 3 years. Especially not the Note 5.

Do you mean as in updates etc or the phone surviving 3 years of use?

I don't care for updates etc. And if I want I can always go the custom ROM route. In the past this has served my well. My Galaxy s2 died last year after more than 6 years of use and I installed every ROM out there for s2 even used to mess with it's partitions and stuff before it's hardware gave out at that time I was using MM on it. Similarly my LG G4 is still my main phone I use everyday and play games. I get pretty hot daily but never had any issues.

That said what are other options that are as good as these flagships. As per my experience these Chinese vendor phones usually last 1-2 years only before the develop some hardware issue.

 

[murtaza12]

Do you mean as in updates etc or the phone surviving 3 years of use?

Both. Note 5 stopped at Android 7.0, it won't get any more updates and it doesn't have any worthwhile custom ROMs that will allow it to last 3 years from now. The non user replaceable 3000 mAh battery will wear out to the point where you'll have to charge it 3 times a day.
Not at all worth spending 30k on a 3 year old Note 5.

That said what are other options that are as good as these flagships.

As smaaz suggested, there's the Nokia 8, or Nokia 7 Plus, you'd have to get either of them used since they're hard to find brand new, but due to the locked bootloaders, there's no custom ROM support. The 7 Plus will probably last longer than the N8 despite the mid range processor because it was released after the Nokia 8.

As per my experience these Chinese vendor phones usually last 1-2 years only before the develop some hardware issue.

That's not really the case anymore. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 for example, released in Jan 2016, still working fine and it even has a working Android 9.0 ROM if I'm not wrong. They have great developer support on XDA due to being easily available and cheap for devs to work on.

They won't develop hardware issues because most of the hardware isn't even made by Xiaomi, the display panels are either from Samsung, or LG, or Sharp, the internals are mostly Qualcomm, even the camera hardware is from vendors like Sony, and Xiaomi has come a long way in terms of quality control. Their recent phones are very well made.

 

[Leon]

Mi Note 5 Pro if strictly under 30k

 

[abit64]

The Redmi Note 5 with Snapdragon 636 4/64 GB is such an excellent phone. Best phone in it's price range (Rs 28500). Good display, good camera, excellent battery life, fast, uncluttered interface, 3.5mm phone jack, SD card or SIM dual slot.

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

 

[golabucha]

Check Nokia 5.1 ,6.1 and Nokia 8 . Durable phones and within your budget

 

[hmir]

I would like to point out something that other users have complained about when talking about Xiaomi phones. The durability and build quality. There are many videos on youtube of the Redmi Note 5 Pro (indian variant) where the paint is peeling off after a few months, or the screen cracked from a minor 2 feet drop, and so on.

I've heard similar stories about the Chinese variant of the Redmi Note 5 Pro as well.

My own personal experience with Xiaomi is limited to Piston handsfree earphones. I have personally bought both basic and pro models, and based on just these two products, used them extremely carefully, and they only lasted me 3-5 months, so I do get the feeling that Xiaomi do not engineer products to last a long time.

There is no profit in it if you're only buying their product once every two years.

If you can wait, my advice would be to wait for the Honor 8x and the 8x max which was released in China last week, and will be released in Pakistan probably by October.

 

[syedfarazahmed]

i would suggest you to get G6. its available for 22k ~

 

[hmir]

i would suggest you to get G6. its available for 22k ~

To clarify, is this the Moto G6 or the LG G6, and is it new or used?

 

[syedfarazahmed]

To clarify, is this the Moto G6 or the LG G6, and is it new or used?

LG G6 KIT (phones that comes from usa carriers)

 

[waqar bukhari]

I am also searching for a mobile in this range. Which one will be the best value for money in this range.

- - - Updated - - -

LG G6 KIT (phones that comes from usa carriers)

Will they work with Pakistan 4g Networks? And from where to buy in Lahore?

 

[syedfarazahmed]

Will they work with Pakistan 4g Networks? And from where to buy in Lahore?

yes they do work on Pakistani 4g networks i have checked for u



and i don't know about where to buy good kit cellphones in Lahore as i am from Karachi... some PG'er from Lahore can give you better advice about that.

 

[waqar bukhari]

yes they do work on Pakistani 4g networks i have checked for u



and i don't know about where to buy good kit cellphones in Lahore as i am from Karachi... some PG'er from Lahore can give you better advice about that.

Thanks for that. And from where to buy in Lahore. Any Specific Shop in Hafeez Centre or Hall Road

 

[abit64]

I have to confess I've done it myself, but paying Rs 30k for a used phone without warranty is looking for trouble IMHO.

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

 

[smaaz]

Many options are available,

Nokia 8, Nokia 7 plus, Mi A2, Mi Note 5 pro, Mate 10 lite so why bother with used US kits ? and if camera is preference then A2/7 plus have killer dual cam setup, Nokia 8 on other hand has Qhd screen with SD835 and very good camera.

plus all above are with local warranties.

I love LG phones, have used every model to date minus G6 I love them but now above phones are better thn LG, G4,V10,G5,V20 that I had all had the dreaded image retention issue. So for me used LG kits are 2nd preference now, please remember they are mostly refurbished. Ill preffer and will get any of the above over LG now.

 

[waqar bukhari]

Many options are available,

Nokia 8, Nokia 7 plus, Mi A2, Mi Note 5 pro, Mate 10 lite so why bother with used US kits ? and if camera is preference then A2/7 plus have killer dual cam setup, Nokia 8 on other hand has Qhd screen with SD835 and very good camera.

plus all above are with local warranties.

I love LG phones, have used every model to date minus G6 I love them but now above phones are better thn LG, G4,V10,G5,V20 that I had all had the dreaded image retention issue. So for me used LG kits are 2nd preference now, please remember they are mostly refurbished. Ill preffer and will get any of the above over LG now.

Why did you put Mate 10 Lite among those phones? No I have Doubts that you have not used decent phones.

 

[waqar bukhari]

Apart from jokes.

Is mi A2 available in hafeez Center Lahore? Nokia 7.1 plus is a little expensive. For the same price honor play is also available. Rn5 looks very ugly.