My views regarding smart phone purchase

Many of us are routinely looking at buying yet another smart phone and there are so many options out there, so many features, combinations and different hardwares, it becomes challenging. Looking at the available choices it can be frustrating at times - especially for people looking to buy an Android phone.

There are some people who want an iPhone. New buy is simple for them. If you have the budget go for the latest and greatest from Apple. Otherwise settle for one or two gen older iPhone. You know what you are getting. You want it so you take it with all the shortcomings or the lack of features there-of. They spend considerable amount on phone and get something that can be very fulfilling for them.

Next are people who are looking for just calling and light games-entertainment. They usually have budgets from INR 5000 to 10000. And from options front they have Androids only. The entry level androids are quite limiting in hardware/features and overall performance. But they can be good value for money if people are looking for limited functionality.

When you cross INR 10000, you start getting some very good androids with mid range hardware with good enough specs and features like Snapdragon 600 series processors/ 2GB RAM/ 16-32GB ROM etc. There are many good options in 10000-15000 range and most people buy phones from this range itself.

Beyond 15000 till 25000 there are capable devices with latest chipsets and high-end features. People who have budgets and are looking for even better features covet these. There are usually one or two defining features like flagship grade cameras, thin and light construction, great design etc. They are coveted for these differentiating features.

Beyond 25000 there are true flagships. These are handful devices with high end specs costing similarly. People who don't want iPhone but want flagship devices in Android go for these devices.

In Indian smartphone market, people are usually looking for phones to use for 3-4Years. The phones come unlocked and carrier subsidies are not available. So people pay upfront and that's one of the reasons that Indian smartphone market is very price sensitive and is very competitive. Also this is the major reason that even unknown chinese brands sell well, if they are giving good value for money and quality.

So that's about the market. Lets look at a case of buying a phone in the most popular price bracket. Lets say I'm buying a phone from Amazon. So I open Amazon and enter the price bracket. There is so much choice. 197 Androids, 3 WP's and 1 Blackberry even!!! Lets drop the WP and blackberry. Lets say I'm looking at only 32-64GB ROM devices. There are 44 left now. I'm looking for a 5" device. So that narrows down to 13. There are same models with different colors. These are Nubia Z11 mini, Lenovo Vibe X2-AP, Asus Zenphone 3Max, Gionee Elife E6, HTC Desire 628, Gionee Marathon M5. All these are capable and we can choose further. In case we are looking for particular brand we can differentiate accordingly. E.g. Moto G4 is available in similar brackets but has only 16GB ROM, still many people prefer a Moto and go for it.

That's it!