Buying a smart phone: 5 Best mobile picks under Rs 12999

Hey friends, welcome to another blog post of mine. Festive season is coming. So, you may plan to buy a new mobile. Both Amazon and Flipkart are gearing up for the sale which will help you to save few bucks. In this blog post I am going to suggest my top picks of smartphone that you can buy under 12999 and above 8000 Rs. For below 8000, please read my other blog post. Link given below this post.   This list will be divided into 2 segments. The first segment will be purely on Price to value ratio and the second segment on the user experience or user's choice. If you google it, you can have different opinions. But, my list is purely on my personal experience. I will not include phone companies like Micromax/Yu/Intex which re-brand their mobiles after buying from china. Also, I will not include already troubled LeEco mobiles. Okay, lets start from the price point of view. 

Segment-1:

5. Lenovo K8 note, priced at  12,999, 3GB/32GB, Amazon

This mobile spec sheet states a beautiful phone with stock android experience, dedicated micro SD slot, new deca core processor, Dual camera etc etc. Seeing the spec sheet, you will be thrilled to buy it. Well, due to few short comings, though it has managed to get into the list, it still does not live up to expectations. The mobile is powered by mediatek X23 deca core processor and the GPU being Mali 880MP4. The mobile has Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of box. The AnTuTu score hovers around 90000. The mobile is run almost stock android with pixel like launcher. The camera was marketed like those are the best thing about this mobile. But, it is not. The camera struggles in low light condition. Very average photo in artificial lighting. The video recording is up to 1080p only because of mali GPU. At this price, many offer 4k recording. The display is good. Due to mediatek processor, it heats up quickly even if the camera is ON for 5 mins. Even on light gaming, you will notice warmed up back. Though, Lenovo promises about software updates, I doubt they will do it considering they have infected the bad attitude of not pushing software updates to Motorola and Zuk. Also, the 15W rapid charger is just a gimmick. The phone takes well over 2 hours to full charge and in 60 mins it charges up to 55%. That's not rapid charging. At 180gm, the mobile is heavy too.  Audio quality is great because of Dolby Atmos support.

Pros: 

1. Great Build quality & display.

2. Stock Android 7.1.1, Oreo update promised.

3. Excellent battery life.

4. Dolby Atmos Support

Cons:

1. Heating issue

2. Rapid charging is a gimmick.

3. Poor camera performance in artificial lighting.

4. Flash sale, so buying is difficult.

4. Honor 6X, Priced at 11,999, 3GB/32GB, Amazon

This mobile probably was the first one which was launched in india with a dual camera under 15k. This mobile has an excellent camera(12+2 MP). Just to reiterate probably best in class till 20k. The G5 Plus from Motorola is another one with equal camera quality but as it does not have dual camera, G5 plus lags in in-depth shooting. The video recording lags though because of no optical stabilization present. The mobile is powered by octa kore kirin 655 which is an in-house processor from Huawei. The display is great. The battery life is excellent as Kirin processors are known to be power efficient. However, due to mali GPU, the gaming experience is bad. I mean really bad. Some games in medium graphics also lag. The mobile heats up bad while gaming. Multi tasking might not be smooth while opening heavier apps. The UI is not so stock. Kidding, its way way far from stock. There is no app drawer. So, forget about early updates as its a skinned android and takes time to develop. The mobile has FM radio support. The mobile is very fragile. If you want to buy it, buy a screen protector and case too. But, if you compare it with Motorola G5 plus/G5S plus, I will suggest to buy G5 plus as its an all rounder mobile. but of course, you have to pay 3000 extra bucks for that mobile. 

Pros:

1. Great camera with pro mode.

2. Excellent battery

3. All sensors provided.

Cons:

1. Not for gaming or heavy tasks.

2. Fragile.

3. No optical stabilization in video recording.

3. Lenovo P2, Priced at INR 13,499, 3GB/32GB, Flipkart:

If Lenovo has created a mobile which is excellent in battery life and overall performance, Lenovo P2 is the mobile. Its priced at 13,499 and the mobile runs on Android Nougat after OTA update. The mobile is powered by Snapdragon 625 chipset which is an octa core processor and the GPU 506. This mobile has all but one con which I will talk later. The gaming performance is excellent. You can multi task and open heavy apps. Not a single lag you will notice. The mobile is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The front mounted finger print sensor is accurate. The display is great because its a super AMOLED full HD. Talking about battery, it has humongous battery of 5100 mAH. Yes, it will last you 2 days even on heavy usage. If battery is down, it has Qualcomm's rapid charging tech, which takes 2 to 2.5 hours to charge it fully. The weight is surprisingly only 178 gm which is super impressive. The absent of Dolby atmos wont be a deal breaker as the sound quality is great. The biggest con of the mobile is the camera. Its very average. It struggles through out. If you are a camera lover, do not buy it. If you are a normal user, buy it eye closed. It could have been number one mobile. But due to Lenovo's bad attitude towards pushing update and security patches, this mobile could not make it to number 1. 

Pros:

1. Excellent battery life with rapid charging

2. Super AmoLED screen

3. Excellent day to day and gaming performance.

4. First finger print sensor

Cons:

1. Below average camera

2. No DTS support

2. Lenovo Zuk Z2 plus, Priced at 11,999, 4GB/64GB, Amazon:

In your life time, you always want to hold a mobile which performs like Flagship. But, again you  might see your pocket and its not really heavy. Now, you need not to worry. One flagship killer is now below 15k. We are talking about Lenovo Zuk Z2 plus. The mobile was launched at 19k 1 year back is now available below 13k in many online sites. Whats special about it? Well, literally everything. This mobile is powered by Qualcomm's flagship processor 820 chip set (Fully unlocked, means can be over clocked) with flagship GPU Adreno 530. The mobile has DDR4 RAM with excellent memory management. The mobile has quick charging support with 3500 mAH battery. It lasts 1 day easily. Though lenovo has bundled a QC 1.0 or 2A/5V charger, it charges at a descent pace of around 2 hours. The single handed use is excellent as it has a FHD 5 inch screen. When we talk about multi tasking, playing heavier games, this mobile eats its competitors in lunch. The strongest competitor is mi5 but its not available in india. The one which is available is One plus 3 which is priced at 25k. Literally, the mobile takes whatever you throw at it. Talking about camera, its excellent in good light condition and an average performer in low light. You can not expect more at this price It has Auto focus and PDAF and slow motion video recording with 4k support. The video contains EIS for image stabilization. Well, all good, whats bad. Its the Lenovo again with poor software taste. The ZUI does not compliment the 820 chipset well and Zuk is not pushing update so much. The mobile is up-gradable to Android 7.0 but after update you will notice the device getting warm up with heavy gaming. This is because ZUI. I will suggest to do a factory reset after upgrading to 7.0. but, those are not deal breakers for normal user. The mobile is super snappy and has all Nougat features. If you want to unleash more, as its a global model, you can flash custom ROM like Paranoid Android, AEX or AICP to make it a full fledged Flagship. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it eye closed if you do not bother about cons mentioned.

Pros:

1. Excellent performance with flagship CPU.

2. Great battery life

3. Great glass body 

4. Finger print sensor is excellent.

5. Great for single handed usage

6. Body sensor with U touch and U health present.

Cons:

1. ZUI is not optimized, so UI lag will be present

2. Glass body prone to scratches (Use cover given in the box).

3. 5 inch screen with iphone 5S style design 

1. Redmi Note 4, priced at 10999, 3GB/32 GB, Flipkart : 

When I write this one Redmi is already launching a new dual camera mobile. You may look into it. But as of now, this one tops the list. It beats Z2 plus on overall basis because of robust software platform and developer support of MIUI. When you are considering to buy this mobile, I would suggest not to buy 2 GB RAM variant as the new apps which are coming more or less will require a 3GB in future. The MIUI is heavy too which needs 3GB for a lag free experience. The Note 4 is powered by 625 chipset of qualcomm which is quite efficient as MIUI compliments it in a very good manner. Xiaomi has already pushed the Nougat update and most likely it will get an Oreo update. In software support, we must give a thumbs up to Xiaomi which regularly pushes update even to mobiles 3 years old. Thats rare when the mobile costs below 12k. The mobile has everything alright except 2 cons. One is the fragile body and the second being the average camera performance in low light condition. Though, 625 chipset is capable of quick charging, xiaomi has not provided it. But apart from it, the user experience is great and the software optimization is super impressive. Be it normal or heavy user, this suits everyone. 

Pros: 

1. Excellent battery life

2. Excellent build quality

3. Great gaming performance

4. Fast finger print.

5. Future proof software support

Cons:

1. No glass protection.

2. No Quick charging.

3. Average camera and video recording.

Segment 2:

Well, lets talk about segment 2. Its user choice this time which is preferred. 

If you are a multi tasker and gamer:

Buy Lenovo Zuk Z2 plus

If you are a camera lover: 

Buy Honor 6x. This mobile is great in camera

If you are a camera lover but do not want to compromise on performance:

Buy Coolpad cool 1. It has dual camera and it is powered by SD 652 processor, the performance is outstanding. You can also consider Motorola G4 plus. but it has only one con. It heats up rapidly.

If you are a camera lover and a brand centrist person: 

Buy Motoroal G4 plus. It has great camera and also motorola is a better brand. 

You can also consider of buying Nokia 5. It has great build.

If battery matters to you and you want a better display:

Buy Lenovo P2. No 2nd thought

If durability and Build quality matter to you:

None can beat Nokia in this segment. So, buy Nokia 5. Nokia 5 is powered by SD 430 chipset and it has good battery life and has a descent camera. Nokia has given all sensors in built in nokia 5. But, the mobile is available in offline market.

If you want a good overall phone:

Buy Redmi Note 4 or Lenovo K8 note

That's it folks. Let me hear your comment and if you want to suggest any other phone and your experience in it, let me know. I will definitely look into it.

Below 8k list

http://singlesinweb.blogspot.in/2017/08/wanna-buy-budget-smart-phone-my-best.html

Be Safe. Keep smiling. Be kind.

With love,

Ashis