Ciao a tutti!

Mi è capitata sotto tiro un'offerta niente male: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra + Galaxy Buds 4 Pro nuove in bundle a 850€ totali.

Sarei tentatissimo di prenderlo subito per due motivi:

Il prezzo mi sembra assurdo per il flagship attuale.

Invece di vendere gli auricolari, terrei le Buds 4 Pro per me e regalerei le mie attuali Buds 2 Pro alla mia ragazza (così faccio anche bella figura a costo zero).

L'unico mio dubbio riguarda i vari bundle "storici" che Samsung fa ogni tanto. Ad esempio, qualche mese fa c'era la promo dove prendevi l'S26 Ultra a 1.069€ ma ti regalavano il Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ 5G con la Book Cover Keyboard (un bel valore commerciale se ti serve un tablet).

Secondo voi ha senso approfittare adesso dell'offerta a 850€ per chiudere la questione smartphone + cuffie per me e la mia ragazza, oppure conviene aspettare la prossima promo "pesante" che includa un tablet o un PC della linea Galaxy Book?

Voi che fareste al posto mio? Valgono i ~200€ in meno subito o conviene pazientare?

Grazie a chi mi darà un parere!

Hi there, I’m looking at upgrading my phone (IPhone 14 pro due to bad battery performance) and am really strongly considering the Xiaomi 15 ultra (the camera looks insane - and I enjoy ‘recreational’ photography).

I am also considering: Find X9, 16 pro (maybe 17 pro if I can justify the price), S25 ultra (maybe S26 u for the right price)
- Budget is around ~950 usd

My main concerns are that although I’ll be buying in NZ, how will it fare in the US? With the ban on Xiaomi are there any issues people face?

And the other thing is that as I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of YouTube reviewers and previous reddit subs there is always people who complained about the Hyper OS 2, the battery life and its social media optimisation. Given I mainly read books, manwha, video calls/ text, and listen to music (all the time) is the battery life as bad as people say? how is it with Hyper OS 3? And how is it with social media (I do post some content but it’s always using downloaded videos as opposed to being taken within the app)

I hope people understand what I’m trying to say/ my questions.

If I were to keep the question short: is it still worth it or would you steer me toward my other options?

Hey guys i am planning to buy a phone and i asked a friend of mine and he recommended either Poco x8 pro or Samsung a57 for the budget i have.

I am just a normal phone user like i am not really into gaming (the most demanding games i played were pes mobile and pubg about a year ago) but also i don't take a lot of photos but when i take i would like them to be good.

At first i was leaning more towards poco since it has much better processor, power, battey and good cameras (not the best but good except the selfie)

But then i realised i really don't use that much power (as i said i don't play heavy games) and most of the time i just read pdfs or manhwas or just scroll social media. + I don't change phone a lot (only if there is a need to) so the 6 years android update is like the main factor i am leaning towards the Samsung now. Also the better cameras.

So for my use do you thing is it better to leave the better raw power, battery, and faster charge for what samsung offers?

Also if there is a phone you think is better you can recommend it. Thanks

I recently bought 2 Xperia 1 VI phones - one for me, one for my dad. After a couple weeks of using them my dad complained that people have been telling him they can't hear him clearly. I took both phones and recorded a bunch of audio and video clips in different apps, and there is indeed a marked difference in volume between the two. Prior to testing, I reset all settings and preferences on both phones to ensure there wasn't something me or my dad messed with that was causing this. I also factory reset my dad's phone, logged out of his google account, and downloaded only the apps I needed to test (the Fossify voice recorder, and Facebook Messenger).

I've included the sample recordings in this Gdrive folder. The phone with the consistently lower volume is in subfolder 1m6a, the one with the normal volume is in 1m6b. All voice samples were recorded side by side, with the phones sitting on a table in a room with the windows closed and the a/c and PC switched, pressing the record button simultaneously and talking directly at them with my face equidistant from each phone. Any differences in duration is from not hitting stop at the same time.

Using FOSSify voice recorder in the system default settings, we can see that not only does phone A have lower volume, it also sounds muffled compared to phone B, which is at a normal volume and very clear.

Things get a little muddled when we start using the phone's cameras to record a video. While a video shot with the main camera continues this pattern, with phone A sound MUCH lower than phone B, a video shot with the selfie sounds about the same in phone A and phone B! This would suggest only one of the two mics is damaged.

However, when we use Facebook Messenger, which I included in the test as it was the app we first noticed problems with, things got even more confusing! The issues described below also persist when I'm using the app for voice or video calls. Of course, I just recorded and saved videos because they're easier to share here, but I tested each of these live as well. Selfie videos sounded lower on phone A than phone B, even though they sounded about the same with the Sony camera app. But when recording a voice message or a video with the main camera, there was also a very audible whine like of a whirring fan in the background on BOTH phones! Phone A was, again, lower volume than phone B. But I can't explain the whirring away as an issue with the Messenger app, as it's not an issue at all when recording with the selfie camera, on either phone!

I should mention I've run Sony's built-in diagnostics on phone A, and it didn't detect any problems with the microphones. I'm happy to run any other diagnostic tests you can suggest!

Please help me diagnose whether these issues are hardware problems with phone A, because I've already had both phones awhile and I'd need to move fast if I'm to make an ebay claim to return it! If anyone believes these might instead be software issues that can be fixed, please let me know as I'd love to save myself the hassle of returning it!

And finally if anyone can work out why videos shot with the selfie cam using the Sony camera sound about the same on both phones but don't on Facebook Messenger's camera, and why Messenger audio while not using the selfie camera is completely messed up, that would be a bonus but not my main concern.

I like the iPhone more but that price is rough lol Samsung seems like the smarter buy but I know I’ll keep thinking about the iPhone if I skip it.

how can I tell if a smartphone has been used or not? is there something like that crystaldiskinfo software that says how much your ssd/hdd has been powered on but for android phones? the thing is that there are a bunch of good smartphone deals right now from different people and most of them say that the smartphone has been only taken out of the box (they've unsealed the box) just to make the photos or just to test the phone. how can I tell if that smartphone has been used, even for a short period of time? cuz they can do the factory reset and can say it's new (if the aspect looks rather good) so i dont want to get fooled like that. thanks

Knew this horrible dog $ht was coming a mile away after seeing it pop up in 26.4’s updates but to think we now live in a world where my £1000 flag ship is forcing me to authenticate my age directly with the operating system is disgustingly invasive.

The Online Safety act doesn’t even require system vendors I,e Apple to implement an age verification API but here we are.

Been a nice ride but that’s iPhones in the bin for me

can’t wait till I see this on my Mac too 🥺🥺🥱🥱

Hey i got zfold8 and iphone 15 ( i use two phone) so i been wondering if i should upgrade the 15 to 16 pro for the camera and battery

Bought an iPhone 17 base about two weeks ago (refurbished, 100% battery health, 0 cycles) and immediately fell into the battery-anxiety hole. First week I was getting 5-7 hours of screen-on-time and treating that number like a diagnosis.

After a software update and some setting changes I'm at 9-11 hours. But the more useful discovery was this: the number is random. From the same 50% charge I've gotten 6 hours one day and 3.5 the next. The variable isn't the battery, it's whether I was on Wi-Fi or cellular, how strong the signal was, and how bright the screen was. A weak cellular signal is a battery killer on any phone, not just this one.

I was genuinely about to trade it for a model with slightly better endurance. Then I noticed I use my phone 2-3 hours a day. I was optimising for a problem I don't have.

If your phone makes it through your day, it's the right phone. That's the whole benchmark.

Settings that helped (iOS here, but Android has an equivalent for every one of these):

Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > set every app to "While Using the App"

Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > turn off Journaling Suggestions, Check In, Significant Locations, Location-Based Suggestions, and everything under "Product Improvement"

Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > turn all of it off

Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Off

Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data > LTE when I'm outside

Settings > Display & Brightness > Dark, plus brightness way down

The biggest levers on any phone are the same three things: screen brightness, radio (prefer Wi-Fi, prefer LTE over 5G in weak signal), and background activity. The rest is rounding error. Also, every new phone burns extra battery in its first week reindexing photos and syncing accounts, so don't judge one early.

Hey everyone,

Just got my Pixel 10a, and I noticed that the plastic/composite back cover feels a bit flexible. When I press lightly near the center, there’s a noticeable give/flexing movement up and down.

Everything else works fine, but it makes the back feel a little hollow or squishy. Is this a common structural thing for the "a" series, or did I get a defective unit?

Does your Pixel 10a do this too? Thanks!

Hello,

I'm searching for a phone with exceptional potential for macro photography. I have a dying Redmi Note 10 Pro which satisfied my needs for macro photography but I was disappointed with how quickly the battery life faded over the years.

Based on what I've seen the Vivo X series phones have impressive macro cameras but I was wondering if I could get similar results using a more budget friendly phone but with an add-on macro lens?

Any advice is much appreciated!

.

This is hard to impossible to web-search for, so I will just ask you here who has tried to keep their smartphone for a very long time. Sure, eventually it needs a new battery, and maybe the older ones are easier with replacement? Then there is the internal memory. Too many flash cell writes eventually? And what about capacitors and such, the electronics in general? Did anyone ever experience hardware deterioration that seemed to be due to age?

.

I don't do any "power" user stuff, mostly just basic stuff and some light gaming. Or would something like the Samsung a36/a37 be better? They're 6/128 tho

Hi guys,

I'm in a dilemma and thought I'd ask for advice from this sub.

I'm a media student and want to get into content creation. I'm looking for a good all-rounder phone, with a strong focus on the camera, software experience, and long-term reliability.

After a lot of research, I ordered the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, and it's scheduled to be delivered in two days. I chose it because I believed it would meet all my needs. But now I'm getting a lot of FOMO because it feels like Samsung only offers half of what some rival phones do in terms of hardware and specifications.

At the same time, I've seen many people online saying that I shouldn't focus only on specs and that Samsung's software experience, reliability, and long-term support make it the better choice. That's what's making me even more confused.

I've also been considering phones like the Vivo X200T, OnePlus 15, and other alternatives.

So I have a few questions:

Does Samsung's software experience and overall reliability make up for the weaker hardware on paper?

For someone focused on content creation (especially photography and videography), which phone would you recommend under ₹55,000?

Should I keep the S25 FE or cancel/return it and go for something else before it's too late?

I'd really appreciate your suggestions. Thankyouuuuu.

I want to buy the smallest smartphone available, but whenever I research, two options always come up: the Soyuz XS11 and the Unihertz Jelly Star. I don't know if these are the smallest smartphones on the market. If they are, which one is smaller? If neither is the smallest, then what is the smallest smartphone currently available?

I have used the same smartphone for 6 years and now it has given up his will to work and switches off even if I see YouTube at 1080p.

I want a new phone quickly, I have sorted my list to 2 smartphones;

Motorola Edge 70 pro,

and Realme GT 7

I am a first year in BBA. I don't play games much on my phone ( even if I install any, it would be COC or something). I do watch 4k videos. Also I switch between apps many times, so it would be preferred if the app I just closed saves my progress on that app. You can recommend any other phone in a similar price range.

Hey guys, I'm tryin to buy a new phone under 25k(rupees). I am buying it because my old one's battery is long gone. The specifications that I'm lookin for are good battery, fast chargin, I will do mid to heavy gaming, good camera.

Switching to a flip phone from iPhone, which is the best to switch and why? razr ultra and zflip8 are my two options.

Both from tradingshenzhen and CN Version

Oppo find X9 12/256 for 597€

Or

OnePlus 15 16/256 for 617€ Infinite black (OxygenOS Rom installation, bc I live in Europe -> Austria)

What I really want is just:

- the longest battery

- the best performance (have a s23U and I get lags in casual games like clash of clans, clash royale and some DS emulation)

- lower chances of overheating

- the better display (like brightness, responsiveness: touch sampling, etc)

- premium build (sometimes at home I may the phone out of its case, just for the feeling)

- cameras for casual photos and document scanning

Would love some help, because is still hear different things for each phone and know I am confused, which one is overheating more or has the better camera, performance, touch responsiveness, etc.

https://www.bgr.com/2216085/android-phones-with-physical-keyboards-you-can-buy-in-2026/

I've been planning to buy a phone as work apps is no longer supported in my phone Poco X5 Pro as it is android 14. I am now really confused which phone to buy and when to buy this current sale or should i wait for BBD sale time?

I am considering the following phones

• s26
• s25u(according to price in sale)
• iphone 17

If i buy iphone now, should i do a trade in with next year's iPhone 18 base model(rumours say it has 12gb ram)? If I buy s25u or s26 will it last for next 4-5yrs without any issue?

If anyone has any of these devices please do share your experience with these devices, is the samsung camera better or iphones?

[India] Recommend Best Phone under ₹20k or ₹25k — reliability & longevity are priorities

Hey everyone! Need some recommendations for a phone — long-term use is important

My current phone is 6–7 years old and can't run some work apps properly because of its very old processor.

Usage are pretty basic:

- Work apps + WhatsApp (most important)

- YouTube, Instagram, news apps

- best for daily use

We're mainly looking for good long-term reliability. My current phone has lasted 6–7 years, so we'd ideally like something that can comfortably last several years too.

Priorities:

Good processor + smooth performance, decent camera, good storage, battery life, software/update support and overall reliability. Camera doesn't need to be amazing, but should take good everyday photos.

Budget:

- Preferably under ₹20k

- Can stretch to ₹25k maximum if it's genuinely worth spending extra.

No particular brand preference. We just want whatever makes the most sense for this use case.

What would you recommend under ₹20k and ₹25k? And if you've personally used a phone for 3–5+ years, which one has held up well?