Trakin Tech Top Smartphone Picks Of 2024️Trakin Tech Rewind ️
Smartphone awards. Why aren't we doing it? To be honest, I think it is good. But everyone does awards.
People are shocked. I'll name some brands. You just have to define them in one word. So it's very difficult to go and...
Now, the best brand of 2024. What? He's completely shifted. I mean, he's going to be very happy to see this. I've stopped keeping track. 7200, 7300, 8300 Ultra, 7300 Ultra, Prime Core, what? I don't know.
Friends, this is our year-end overview video. We'll talk about a lot of things. I have Sajid and Irshad with me. And we're not only going to talk about our channels, but we'll also talk about the trends, what new things we've seen in 2024, 2025, what we're going to expect.
How our channels have grown, what are our targets for next year. And we're also going to talk about the best phones. Yes, which phones are good in mid-range, which phones are good with cameras. It is kind of a spin-off. Instead of awards, we're going to talk about our favorite phones of this year. This is going to be an exciting video.
It's going to be a little long, friends. But after watching this video, you'll enjoy it. That's a guarantee. Let's start.
Sajid, where should we start? So I actually want to start with... I was talking to XSS as well. I think the internet is flooded with smartphone awards. So why aren't we doing it? I think that's a very, very good question. We have awards for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The last one was in 2023.
To be honest, I think it is good. But everyone awards. And the overall aura of the track and tech awards, I thought... Not track and tech, but the overall tech awards are getting diluted.
People are losing their faith. Because everyone is doing it wrong. Some are sponsored. So I said, no.
I think we need to get depth in the information we give. If we talk about smartphones, if we're talking about a specific smartphone, it has to come out with a certain amount of logic. Why? Why like this? When there are awards, we just take the name and give the award. We don't talk about the logic behind it. So that's why we said, we will do this long form kind of thing where we discuss. So even people understand our thought process behind it.
Finally, the idea is that the good things that we liked, and the bad things that we didn't like, should reach people. I think that was the reason we stopped. And then we started these kind of formats. And you know what? IBTR, friends, it is the culmination of our thought process that the viewers should know everything. There are a lot of people who only watch videos about smartphones, but they have a lot of questions.
We have asked those questions in IBTR, India's Biggest Tech Roundtable. If you don't know, it's already live. The biggest tech creators in India have invited everyone. Some could come, some couldn't.
And we did that. So if you have not seen, go and check it out. I think this year, our production team has done an amazing job. Post-production, editing, videography, even content-wise, it was fantastic.
The feedback you gave, I was overwhelmed. What do you say, Irshad? No, no, of course. I mean, a lot of effort has gone behind IBTR. In fact, what I would say is that, in fact, I was talking to 2-3 creators, all of them are our friends. So everyone was saying that by joining IBTR, if we can do like an awards, like if everyone can do it together, then that would be a nice idea.
Because instead of awarding everyone separately, there will be a consolidated Voice of the Community style award. Where not just creators, but if there are creators, journalists, everyone, then together, we can probably do that. So probably, we will do an offline event for 2025, where we will invite everyone.
We can probably do a very democratic sort of awards. So it's not like from us, but democratically, people will choose. And it will have more value.
Like for example, the one that happens in car awards called I-Coty. Yeah, exactly. We just won't call it I-Potty. I-Potty! No, no, no. So that's a category.
But look, according to last time, this time we made IBTR viral. Now on 6th, that live is going to go on. So wait for that.
And I'll tell you what, more than how exciting IBTR was, it was a lot more fun and exciting. These short form creators, they come up with a very different mindset. We will say that they are traditional people, you know, classical people, according to that, in tech creator community.
But these new ones, their thought process is also totally different. Two and a half hours of IBTR is also viral from them. After talking to them, I myself have learned so many things. And I'll tell you what, you will also learn. So wait for that. So I think we could call it IBTA.
We get tech awards. You heard it first. Then this year, we had a studio tour. Yes, yes, yes. If you haven't seen the studio tour, then see our videos. I mean, it took a lot of time.
We had to do it a long time ago. But finally it happened. And a lot of people liked it too. I mean, they did not imagine that there is such a big studio. But let me tell you one thing, friends, that's what we wanted to show, that the videos we create, you know what happens? Many times people watch the video, but they don't expect so much that so much of effort, time, space, people, all this is needed.
But you know, it is not an easy thing to pull this off. So we said, let's show it. So if you haven't seen our studio tour, then do watch it. What did you think of? Friends, it comes back to the same thing that people, they are shocked every single time.
And they also look up to it, that they have to make it too. Everyone has an aspiration that they have to do it too. All the creators who meet, we talk to everyone. Not just the bigger one, the smaller one, everyone.
They look at this and they take inspiration from this, which is great. Even we take inspiration from the kind of work that they do. So it's great. It's really great, actually. I mean, let's talk about our channels. Yeah, a lot to talk about our channels.
I'm so happy with the way Arshad has taken Track and Tech English and Tamil forward. By the way, let me tell you about Tamil, we don't have Tamil editors. And Anish and who else? Suyash is there. The work that these people have done, when they don't know the language, to do that edit on point is amazing. You watch some of the videos of Track and Tech Tamil.
I don't understand it, but I still watch it, because it's so difficult to do it. And still we managed to pull it off. Absolutely. I mean, those guys are doing a fantastic job. We have consolidated in Tamil.
There has been a lot of growth this year too. Very close to touching a million. Yes. Very soon. So subscribe if you haven't already.
I mean, if you know Tamil, definitely watch the video. But the identity of English has become amazing. In English, we have made a lot of conscious efforts to make changes, especially with branding and with content. In the sense that, now you said we are a classical type of people, who give a lot of value to long form content. And in long form, it's a little more vague.
So it became too long. So I realized that there are certain techniques to catch the attention of other creators. Which you get to learn a lot here. Plus, you get to learn from other creators.
So we also made certain changes, which has helped us a lot. I am a fan of your content, by the way. I watch Arshad's videos and I say, wow, I mean, seriously, a lot of effort goes into it. Yes, not just me. I mean, it's the team. We have a fantastic team, right? We have Arnav, we have Tanishq, all of these guys for content.
And of course, like you mentioned, production. So it's incredible stuff. And we have to mention the videography as well, because even there, a lot of effort goes into English. You keep saying, because we do three setups, do two setups, do it separately, go here, go there. It's a lot of effort that goes into it.
And we have tracking tech Marathi here. We will talk about Hindi, but Marathi, Marathi is a genre of tracking tech Marathi, where everyone knows Hindi in Marathi. Right.
So it's very difficult to go. And Shrikant there has done an absolutely great job. Where, you know, he has made new topics, such interesting topics, which everyone liked, especially the Marathi community. So that is grown.
That is gone beyond, I think, close to 1.1 million. And Hindi, thankfully, has been doing well. We have been trying to improve, because now we can only do incremental improvements. There is no drastic change from that.
But yes, two things, I think on tracking tech Hindi, we are trying to get is, do more long form reviews, comparisons, in-depth analysis. We do a lot of unboxing. There are a lot of videos. We have a lot of launches here. We don't get time for that. But this time in 2024 also, I had said it, that I am going to do it.
But this time, that is going to be the priority. Everything else will be done later. So, Sajid. Yes, definitely. And in between all this, we still try to revive Ask Arun.
Yes. Yes. Ask Arun. In fact, this is the setup. This is the setup of Ask Arun. But as I said, there is no question and answer. That also
happens. But let's talk about everything else. So we have tried to revive 2025. It's going to be two steps ahead. We are going to talk about smartphones.
These are our topics. But before that, let's talk about some good and some bad trends of 2024. There are a lot. Why don't you start, Sajid? So, I will start with some good trends, which are my favorite. For example, we saw longer OS update policies this year. Yes.
Which is very useful. And I think, not only us creators, but all the other creators of our tech community, continuously, brands just cannot ignore. They can't ignore. We are a sizable team of people or tech creators who speak and they just cannot ignore because if they ignore, they will face backlash. Absolutely. So, I think brands have listened to people and slowly, slowly, they used to not give an update for a year.
Now, even an update for a year is less. Even mid-range and budget, at least 2 years are required. In flagship, now 4, 5, 7 years are required. 7 years are required. Which is excellent. I think that's an excellent trend.
One trend which… But my question is that if 7 longer updates are being given, which means that people are holding on to their phones, they are buying expensive phones, 20-30 thousand phones, ASP has increased and because of that, I think longer support is also needed. If someone is using a phone for 2-3 years, and sometimes people buy 2 years old phones at discount. That's what I was about to say. It is just not about people spending more time. Because after 2 years, when someone buys a phone, he knows that he will also get updates for 2-3 years.
So, he is ready to pay. So, if you buy a second-hand mobile, its value also increases. So, I think that's an important point. Very good trend, definitely.
Definitely. And I also liked that this year, a lot of value-for-money phones were available compared to last year, for sure. I think that the price-to-performance ratio has definitely increased.
I think after COVID, because of whatever issues with the chips and everything, 22-23 was a little difficult. You were getting pricier phones, and you didn't have that much of a price-to-performance ratio. But I think 2024 changed that. We are back, and I think this trend will continue in 2025 as well. That is what I'm hoping. I really liked the micro-quad curved display. Earlier, we
used to talk about flat display and 3D curved display. But with this slight curve, the flagship... Do you like the micro-quad curve? Because, first of all, the unwanted touches, putting it in your pocket, when it was more curved, that's not there. At the same time, the phone feels a little premium.
Absolutely. So, I think... It definitely looks premium. I completely agree with the micro-quad curve that it looks premium. And one more thing, in the camera, this telephoto has started giving more importance.
Yes. In the budget, they are taking out the ultrawide. Slowly, the primary is left and then the 2MP. So, that trend I did not like.
But telephoto, telemacro, all these are coming. It really helps. So, you know, when you take out portraits at 50mm, 80mm or 85mm, the quality is different. So, I have loved that trend. I have always said that... Just me.
I like longer focal lengths as opposed to wider focal lengths. So, I use the ultrawide very less. But sometimes I use the ultrawide also. It's just that it's good to have so many focal lengths and ranges. Because if you are using the camera, then it looks nice.
It does take good pictures. And one more trend that we... Of course, it was a fantastic trend. The one that started at the end of the year is the silicon carbide batteries. Denser batteries, but more capacity. They take 5000mAh batteries.
In the size of Mayan, we get 6000mAh, 6500mAh. Which is fantastic. And one thing we must have noticed is that we are getting a bigger battery in flagships.
But the chipsets are also getting very powerful. Yes, very powerful. A little more powerful. More powerful than the limit.
Because... More powerful than the limit, but as much power as you want. Yeah, it is good. That is true. But because, look at it. Now, emulation, game emulation.
People are playing GTA V on the phones of Snapdragon 888 at 60fps. Which is crazy, right? Also, one thing we noticed in good trends is that durable smartphones are launching. Yes. Right now, there is a realme phone, IP69. It is available for Rs 15,000. IP6A, where we could have imagined? 14X.
14X. So, yeah. But at the same time, you know, I would... I like to point here. It is good and we are talking about it.
But that is the only highlight. Yeah. See, there are many... This is a negative trend. Correct.
That they push a lot about one thing. Because phone is just not about one thing. Everything should be good.
And according to that, that is also a trend. Interesting point. I didn't like that. That they focus on one thing. They will give a great performance chipset.
But then, camera, display, they will be ordinary. So, this shouldn't happen. One spec smartphone.
Yeah, one spec smartphone. It is happening a lot. Actually, this reminds me of the time when we used to have Nokia Express Music. Or specifically phone was made on music.
Or phone was made on camera. But it is fine. That too, you know, the one who is made to drop the phone again and again.
Who puts it in water. And everything else is important for them. For the niche audience.
But it is fine. We have seen a lot of gimmicks in 2024. Yes. Virtual RAM on big boxes.
That is ongoing since 2023. Ongoing, yeah. But no. I think, when that trend came last year. They were marketing a lot.
This year it has become a little less. But still, the budget series. Some brands still put it on the box. You know, 12 GB plus 12 GB RAM. Even in advertising.
So, in budget, it is not seen in flagship or premium phones. So, that should also be removed. But yeah, that trend is still there. The biggest gimmick would be the camera control button. We have talked a lot about this in IBTM.
I won't call the camera control button as a gimmick. As much as I will say that it is kind of useless. Useful. It is there. You can change it in that.
But no one is using it. So, we were expecting that the buttons won't come in the iPhone. Those buttons have increased. And even though the buttons have increased, it is not being used.
It is implemented badly. Implemented badly. I think that is what. Right. That is what I will say.
So, the next trend. The bad trend. Now, I would like to ask you both.
And I will also tell you about it. How is the 5G service experience? I am on Jio. It's going from bad to worse. Yeah, man. See, how is it? One thing. When it came last year.
I mean, when it came many years ago. Last year, 5G was available to everyone. The speeds were good. Now, they have become completely bad.
Especially uploads. They have become so bad. We need to upload. Downloads also. Earlier, we used to show 500, 800, 900 MB in our videos.
Now, not even 100 MB. We don't even get 50 MBPS. But the worst part is, I am having a lot of issues with calling.
There are so many call drops of Jio. Yeah. It's bad, man. Switch to Airtel. Legit, I got a good experience in Airtel compared to Jio.
And I am also using both. But I think it's also city-specific, area-specific. According to me. Because I get a good network of Jio in Delhi. And the network of Airtel is very bad. But all of this.
If I say one thing. Still, I am just happy that there is 5G here. Because we recently went to Sri Lanka. And there is only 4G there. Everywhere.
Oh. And after going abroad, we get to know how big our network is. How big. How big our services are.
So, that's why I am okay. Again, I remember Louis CK's saying. Technology is making so much progress. And we are having a problem with it.
This is so crazy. The kind of progress we are making. And what cost are we getting? Nothing.
You go abroad. How expensive. We always know. How much issue there is for mobile internet. Come here. There is no tension.
We don't even think about the internet. Imagine that. It is kind of default. It has been given. Nowadays, 5-star hotels used to have very low speeds.
Nowadays, that has also improved in India. Everywhere. They have to match with the speed of the 5G network. Absolutely.
And, Sajid, when we go abroad, our first thought is. We have to upload a video. How can we do it? Because the speed will be low. And literally, I am saying. We go to the US.
We go to different countries. Advanced. Developed countries. Even then, there is a problem. Next topic is. SoC rebranding.
Chipset rebranding. It's the most confusing thing. I have stopped keeping track. 7200.
7300. 8300. 7300 Ultra.
7300 Ultra. Prime Core. What? I don't know. I mean.
I am tired of rebranding. The way they. Not just MediaTek. I am talking even about Snapdragon. It is so difficult to keep track. It was also there.
Which was it? Snapdragon 7 plus Gen 3 is more powerful than the Snapdragon 7. No. No. No. No. 7 plus Gen 3.
No. No. No. 7 plus Gen 3 is more powerful than the 8. 8 plus Gen 1. The whole thing is so confusing.
Exactly why I can't remember this. I have a lot of problems with rebranding. Even this.
695. 6 Gen 1. 6 plus Gen 3. 6 Gen 1 is 695.
695 is 4 years old. And 6 Gen 1 has been rebranded. What are your thoughts on this? It is a good marketing tool. It is good for consumers. It is not good for consumers. This is purely them.
Qualcomm and MediaTek. They have that sort of duopoly you could say. In a sense. In the phone market. And their naming conventions are very close to. Basically they do it so that brands can buy.
And then you can sell it to brands. So that it is not consumer oriented. You spoke about duopoly.
Where do Exynos, Unisoc and all these come into. What a question. Unisoc is still doing well. Unisoc is still a big chunk of the Indian budget phone market. But Exynos. I think Samsung is giving up on it slowly.
Because even in S25 series. Apparently all the S25 phones across. Going to be launched globally will come with Snapdragon.
No Exynos at all. Which is like a huge trend right. I feel bad also for Samsung at a certain level. Because they can actually. They can actually do it.
They do have the capabilities of doing it. But unfortunately their situation. There was some news that in S26. They will fix this. Exynos 2500 and S26. That's why Google is also getting affected.
Because their. What about Tensor? So again. See we talk about MediaTek and Qualcomm. But.
They both are there. It's a duopoly. If you look at it. The rest of the players are not even like. Yeah. Pushing the needle.
Also in the naming convention. We went to the Qualcomm summit. Then we were talking that. Why not 8th Gen 4N. Why 8th Elite. Because.
Because the name makes a difference to the consumer. That Elite is written. Energy is written. Pro is written. That too.
Yeah. Absolutely. It gets confusing for us. I couldn't say which chipset was it. Yeah, I mean, it's sad. Now, I'll ask you something interesting.
We purchased a lot of tech this year. So, what was the most expensive tech purchase? Oh, there must be two for me. The first one was the tri-fold. I bought it for double or triple the price. Literally. The Huawei tri-fold.
And Vision Pro. Vision Pro too. Literally, I bought it from Dubai for double or triple the price.
Okay, Huawei was an engineering marvel. But still, I was scared. Yeah, I mean, Gaurav also told us that he was using it.
He was scared. He himself is scared but still uses it. If that happens, it will break. And Vision Pro, I used it twice and left it. It's pointless. Correct.
Sometimes, when we talk about tech, we talk about smartphones. I want your opinion about some categories. What's going on? What happened about them? Like in the category of tablets, what do you think? I thought it was interesting in the Android tablet space. Because this year, we got some really powerful tablets for a good price. OnePlus Pad 2 was very good.
It was a fantastic device. It's still fantastic. Even Xiaomi's tablets are good.
Last week, someone recommended it to me. He didn't want to buy an iPad. So, which one should I buy? But I think that tablets will make a comeback.
I'm making a big statement here. I'll tell you why I think so. Because there was a lot of hype for foldable phones. But I think that the consumers will gradually realize that these two should be separate devices. These can't be one device.
Correct. I'm getting a very strong feeling. But this is just me. Next category is smart TVs. What is happening there? Where are they? It's sad.
How many TVs of Xiaomi used to come? And how much hype was there at one time, Sajid? When our videos used to be trending, Xiaomi TVs were not launching. OnePlus TVs are not launching. OnePlus has exited, right? Yes, it has exited. That's what I'm saying.
Before coming to Trakin Tech, when I used to make videos in MySmartPrice, my TV videos used to be 4-5 TVs at a time at home. These days, we don't know anything about TVs. But there is a lot of progress happening on the technology front. Especially if you look at display tech. I agree. But for consumers, why did Xiaomi reduce, OnePlus stop? What was the reason for it? I think I know the answer for this.
The answer for this is when brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Motorola came to the market, they came with a very phone mindset, right? So they thought that they will launch big-budget launches with smartphones too. They will launch big-budget launches with TVs too. They will bring a phone strategy. They will make a hype out of it. But TVs are commodities.
Everyone has a TV at home. And I don't think people think like a phone to select it. But I still feel that that is a letdown.
Honestly, because I feel that even content-wise, we need to see if we can build TV content around it. Also, I think the shelf life of a TV is more compared to a smartphone. Which is also there. So the buying cycle is slow. Next. It's a hot topic right now.
Wearable smartwatches. Let's define smartwatch first. Smartwatch means you should be able to take calls, notifications, apps should have apps, GPS should have GPS. So that would classify as a smartwatch.
So according to me, smartwatches as a category are fantastic. I think even OnePlus did a pretty decent job with their smartwatch. Samsung Galaxy watch was pretty good. Apple watches are good. Smartwatches are pretty good.
Ultra low budget fitness bands masquerading as smartwatches. There is a problem there too. Do you feel that the name got spoiled because of them? Absolutely. 100%. There is absolutely no doubt about it, Sajid.
But that's my point. What about you? Same. I also feel the same about EVs.
Because of cheaper EVs, the overall name of EVs got spoiled. That's such a good point. Alright.
I did not think about it. That's a very interesting point, Sajid. What's the reason? So when we talk about EVs, when people buy cheaper EVs like Rs.50,000-60,000, they definitely have issues with QC.
And you get... You are talking about bikes. Yes. Scooters and everything. And the battery tech used in that is also very ancient. Oh.
So it can't withstand a lot of heat. Or water damage. It can't do such things. And because of that, it comes in the news that EV got spoiled. So overall, the name of EV gets spoiled. That's a good point.
I was actually thinking about cars when he said that. Even I was thinking about cars. Now I get the context. About the two-wheeler. Okay.
But India is a two-wheeler market. Definitely. What about audio products? Yes. So I was saying that there are not only smartwatches in wearables. There are TWS as well. Yes, of course.
Those are also wearables. No doubt about that. TWS market was slightly disappointing for me as an audiophile primarily because I was expecting an audiophile-grade Enco Air 4 Pro. That didn't come.
But you said something about JBL which you liked a lot. Fantastic. Very good sound. I was very surprised. The Wave Beam 2. Fantastic stuff.
But generally, TWS market is also consolidated well. There are a lot of good products. There is OnePlus Buds 3 Pro.
Yes. Which is pretty good. But this was the year of IEMs. Okay. This was the year of IEMs, Arun. The IEMs market blew up this year.
Do you have any numbers? I don't have any numbers specifically. But I have numbers from the kind of content that people are watching. Forget me. Forget Track and Take English. There are a lot of views on his IEM videos. Look at him.
No, no, no. Genuinely sales enough. Forget Track and Take English.
Forget Track and Take Tamil. Even Tamil creators who generally never made an IEM video. For example, Nanda made a video. That did A2D. And that did like 6 lakh views. So these kind of things that you look at it and there are creators now making IEM specific videos who never touched IEMs.
They are talking about ICR. All these things are happening. Nice. And it's a nice trend. Very good trend.
I think it's a very good trend. Very good trend. So now let's come to our Rapid Fire. After that we will do topics. So in Rapid Fire I will take some names of brands.
You just have to define them in one word. How will you define in one word? Okay fine. Okay Jaran Kohar. There is no package here.
Vivo. Camera. One word.
Grit. Motorola. Motorola.
Consistent improvement. Okay. One word. No space.
Ambitious. Samsung. Complacent. Status quo. OnePlus.
Trying. Good question. Yeah, trying. Wait, wait. Trying.
I think yes. Yes. Trying. Our favorite Apple. Status quo. I would pick that.
Yeah, it's the same status quo. Status quo. Underwhelming. Underwhelming is a good point.
Snapdragon 8 Elite or 9400? 8 Elite. I will take 9400 but still I am not saying my point is 9400 is a very excellent chip this year compared to 9300 or 9200. It's a fantastic chip.
8 Elite just goes a little ahead because of dev support which I am concerned about. For example, just now I did a video on English that the game called Grid Legends I was waiting for it because it's the best looking game on mobile right now compared to any other game. And it's not running on Dimensity 9400. If you leave gaming then? Good question. Because see, Even then.
Even then? ISP. Because Vivo had to use a separate chip for the X200 Pro's ISP to get sort of. But still I think no no. Honestly I would say if you leave gaming then it's a difference between 8 and 9200. I will say then matched.
Equally matched. ColorOS 15 or One UI 7? One UI 7. It's in beta so I don't want to commit.
In beta? Beta right? You should say One UI 7. For this I am stable. Say what you experienced. OxygenOS 15 because I am saying OxygenOS 15 specifically also because I love OxygenOS I like it a lot.
Because animations all that is fine. But more importantly again trying OnePlus trying because they have actually rolled out OxygenOS 15 to older phones as well. It makes a difference. One UI 7 has not come till now. S25 is the big same same. And one last 3x telephoto or 6500 mAh battery? 3x telephoto.
3x telephoto. Because battery I believe that if software tuning is done well then battery life will be good. No need for 6500 mAh battery. Better than 5000 mAh battery will be found.
In this we will start which brand did well? We are keeping 3 major brands in this. Apple, Samsung and Google. Any reason why these 3? There is a best brand also after that. Biggest one. Apple, Pixel means Apple, Google and Samsung. You know Google it's it's it's a toss up between Google and Samsung because Samsung has done good software tuning and Samsung has done good software tuning.
I'll go for Google. I just liked one thing from Google that they took that feedback and improved Pixel 9 series hardware and to a level to an extent where Pixel 9 series this year is looking impressive. We are looking impressive for your time.
We'll see you guys soon. See, bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. Bye. What matters to us is the product. Nothing else matters. For me also, it's Google. Because Google gave iPhone looking hardware in Android City. And in terms of
AI, Galaxy AI or better than that AI. That I will not agree. Galaxy AI is better. In fact, one of the reasons. Software is the reason why I have chosen Samsung.
Otherwise, there was... Especially One UI 7. We have seen beta but it's looking extremely good. Which is why I think they are holding on to it for dear life. We will show it with S25 series.
Exactly. Now, the best brand of 2024. Best brand of 2024 for what? Across the tech. Across everything.
Okay. Best brand of 2024. In my mind, Motorola is coming. Because they have launched good phones. Their camera has improved. They have improved. They have come up with really good products in every price range.
So, technically speaking, I will say Motorola. Good choice. Last year also you picked Motorola. So, imagine, best brand two years in a row.
That's quite a thing. Actually, I would side with you on that. Motorola is fantastic. Vivo has also done a great job. Vivo too. But how do I know? It's still Funtouch OS. You are right.
I use it. But still there is something. But my pick is not these two. My pick is something completely different, Arun. Because, again, if a brand is trying, I want to give them a little bit of a and the word I use trying is OnePlus. Because when the Greenline problem came, all of us, we all called it out.
Everybody called it out. There was a creator community. There was a Twitter community. There were people. Everybody was frustrated. Now they are saying, we have brought Project Starlight. In the next OnePlus 13 series, they are saying that lifetime warranty on Greenline. Whenever it happens, they will fix it.
Sure, but don't you think and I agree with every word that you have said. But the DNA of OnePlus, you know, at good pricing, great phones, you know, really nice. That has lost.
Now, you know, they are going down and they are improving. For that, you are giving them the best brand. So, you know, I Good point. No, no. Good point. Yeah, I mean. But they have been down for a while. Yeah, they have been down for a while.
Ever since Kalpe's exit, I would say. I think one year after that was good. Maybe one and a half years after that was good.
But after that, they have been on a bit of like, they have become colorless. Oxygen has become colorless. A lot of things have gone wrong. There has been a blast. Which is why I feel like, okay, fine.
If somebody is making the effort, I want to see if they can actually live up to that title next year. Hopefully, they will. Because OnePlus has got a soft corner and I want them to get back on that and be at the top. This is what I feel. Because that is where TrakinTech started. I have said this on multiple forums that our first video was about OnePlus which was seriously sold.
So, it was sold. Not sold. It was sold. So, I am saying that I really want them to. And I hope that in the next few years, I will take OnePlus's name as the best brand. I really hope. What about you? For me, I think there are two brands.
One, we have nothing. Oh! Interesting. Because I feel, especially in the Indian market, surviving a new smartphone brand and doing numbers also, it's quite difficult. Because if we look at 25 or even CMA phone or phone 2a, it holds like top 3 positions even today. In their segment. Yeah, nothing. I will actually agree with you completely.
Because it is very difficult. Sony is out. HTC is out. LG is out.
Big companies are out. And they came to the competitive market to create their own identity and then bringing nothing phone, then bringing CMF with a unique identity about themselves. That's a huge win. So, again, Kalpe has done absolutely phenomenal there. It's not easy what he has done. If we talk about underrated brands, then we can talk about underrated smartphones of 2024.
Oh, I have one. POCO X6 Pro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'll tell you why. I mean, I believe that POCO X6 Pro is like legit the spiritual successor of F1.
We were looking for it. I think we found it. Because the thing with the POCO X6 Pro is that it's available in 20s. And it was under 22-23, I think. Performance was fantastic. Display was fantastic. Battery life was great.
Now, the only thing with performance phones is that they become a one-trick pony. Performance is there, the rest is nonsense. But the POCO X6 Pro had decent cameras for its price. Decent. I would say a 7 on 10.
And for me, that is very, very good for that pricing. An overall very good phone. And there were a lot of talks of nothing phone to it. People were talking about OnePlus Nord CE 4. People were talking about Moto Edge 50 Fusion, Moto Edge 50 Neo. But this one went a little underrated.
For me, technically underrated means this is POCO X6 Pro. And if somebody asks me, POCO F6, what about it? Well, it's more expensive. And that value, same value you are getting in POCO X6 Pro. I don't know if I would call it underrated or not.
I'll say only underrated because I don't think it sold too many units. And that was Edge 50 Ultra, I think. That could be. I don't know whether to call it underrated or not. But that just that particular phone popped in my mind.
They made no compromises. It was a good phone. Unique with that back. Overall, I liked those phones. I think if anybody would, I haven't seen Edge 50 Ultras in the wild. In the wild, right? So, I would say it is underrated. It is an underrated phone.
Yes, Sajid? For me, it's Xiaomi 14. Oh, good choice. Yes, yes. Especially nowadays because you are getting under Rs.
Under Rs. 50,000 with those cameras? Under Rs. 50,000 with those specs. It's good. Yeah.
Now, the best smartphone but let's do the favorite phone first. Favorite phone. My favorite? Okay, my favorite phone I will tell.
Vivo X43 Pro. Before this, you were saying X200 Pro. You have changed it. Yeah, I have changed it. I am using it now.
They both, but I have this is there with me for only about 3 weeks time. And the more I thought about it I You miss it also, right? I miss that folding form factor and that great cameras. And these are unbeatable cameras. X43 Pro, these are incredible cameras. But it finishes at that. If Funtouch was better, then I would have probably.
So, for me, there are two phones actually. One is small and one is big. In the big phone, S24 Ultra.
And in the small phone, I have been using S24 Ultra for a long time. And I feel that phone is a magnet. Which... Even Sanjit said that.
Which pulls me back to it. And in the small phone, Pixel 9 Pro. With Pixel 9 Pro, I have actually spent a week or 10 days, but I miss that phone.
This is like you are talking about your ex-girlfriend. So, for me... Comment if you are watching this video. This is... Yeah, but taking from the Pixel 9 Pro, my favorite phone of this year is the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Legit, whoever is watching me now will say what? How? What? You have shifted a lot. Till now, you used to abuse. Now, suddenly... And even in between, you didn't talk much. You have started talking about this in last 1-1.5 months. Pixel 9 Pro XL. It's been 2-3 months since I used it.
So... No, it's just a thing. The product matters to me. If my experience with the phone is good, which wasn't with the Pixel 8 series or the 7 series, with the Pixel 9 Pro series, it was great.
So, why not? It's great. I am enjoying it. Surprisingly, no one said iPhone. No one said. No one said.
How can they say? See, iPhone 16 Pro Max is a fantastic phone. Great phone. But this year's iOS 18 is a little buggy. You also said.
I think Apple's best products this year are all PCs. Yeah, Mac. Mac Mini. What is that Mac Mini M4? The MacBook Pro M4 that we use, the entire ABTR is edited on it. We show the timeline of that. Wow! That's just crazy. By the way, Sajid is shining today. Isn't it? What is it? Which brand is it? This is 3rd Story.
Alright. Interesting. Anything else, Sajid? The last category. No, there will be one very important thing. Best phone of the year. You have to declare one. Trakin Tech.
We cannot get up and get out before declaring the best phone of the year of Trakin Tech. Let's discuss it quickly. What's your choice? Best phone of the year? S24 Ultra.
S24 Ultra. That's it. We declare the S24 Ultra as the best. I thought there will be a difference. Even though I love Vivo X4 3.0 or X200 Pro. Overall, if we see, in everything, I think S24 Ultra was on point.
And I think that should be the phone of the year. You spoke about balance, right? This is the balance. Yeah, exactly. Very nice. It's the most interesting, boring phone of 2024.
Yeah, compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, definitely. So, there you have it. How did you like it, friends? Do let us know. And I'm sorry that English comes in the middle in our Hindi.
I know a lot of people will say in the comments that you speak a lot of English. But it happens. Because we are so involved in the conversation. So, it happens. We are very sorry.
But we will try to speak Hindi as much as possible. I have spoken Hindi consciously. And you are doing it. I'm trying. That's a good thing. So, friends, that's it for this video. Keep tracking and stay safe.
Bye. you
2025-01-02 11:32
