Question Smartphone with an $800 budget

[palladino.al]

Happy Sunday everyone. I have a Huawei P20 Pro that I think will abandon me at any moment (when I charge it it heats up too much, so much so that it goes into protection mode). I was considering some devices that I will list below that are good products but I'm still undecided. My use mainly my use goes to use facebook, instagram, whattapp; every now and then I read university documents; Since I study at university I would need to debug with Android Studio. As far as photography is concerned, let's say that I take photos when it happens and in different circumstances (so I don't want to be unprepared for this). I play it every now and then but with "pastime" games like Pokemon Go and the fact that I'm never at home, I would need a smartphone with optimized battery consumption. Clearly I would like to buy a device that will last me over time both in terms of performance and everything (despite this the p20 still takes excellent photos). The budget is 800 but clearly if I find something less, it won't hurt. The models I identified are: - Xiaomi 13t and 13 pro: thanks to MediaWorld I have a discount of 200 on scrapping the old one; I like it as a cell phone but the thing that worries me is the fact that the case is entirely made of plastic; - Pixels: they intrigue me as cell phones but since they can't be found in physical stores, I would go with a blind eye. I also read that the devices have a higher battery consumption and the reception leaves something to be desired; One plus 10t, 10 pro and 11: too bad that the 11 is not IP certified and too bad that the previous series is native with Android 12, so I will have a few updates less than any recent mobile phone; -Honor Magic Pro 5: lots of stuff but the price is a bit last, so I'm seeing if I can find something less without giving up the latest performance: -Oppo find 5 pro, realme gt neo 5: I don't know about the battery side and updates like behaves.

 

[Technerd71]

From your post I would recommend a Pixel 8.

Alternatively I would recommend the s23/s23fe

Either phone will give great performance and battery life. I personally like Pixel 8 because of the 7 years of software updates. The Tensor G3 is much improved over last generation. Better thermals, better battery life, and better 5g reception.

Pixel 8 uses the same Samsung modem as the 7 but on a newer process at 4nm. This makes the modem more efficient and in my usage I get similar reception to s23.

I have used Xoaomi, OnePlus, Umidigi, Teclast, and many, many other mainland Chinese brands. The hardware/cost ratio is always great but the software experience always leaves a lot to be desired. I am not saying that MiUI or many of the various Android versions used by Chinese OEM are bad, they just don't have the same update commitment and depending where you live the cellular bands are not there.

So I would recommend to stay with a brand that has a decent commitment to updates. Otherwise you are going to be upgrading your device just to get updates.

If you can get the Pixel 8 Pro on sale for $899 or less it might be worth it to upgrade? Bigger screen and better camera system and 7 years of updates might make it a better deal for a device you keep for a long time.