I was planning to upgrade to a new smartphone during this year’s festive sale in India. I was particularly interested in buying a flagship phone.

When the Galaxy S23 Plus went official, I had set my eyes on it. Having used the Galaxy A52 since its release, I was too accustomed to the Galaxy ecosystem as it works well with my Chrome OS tablet (Phone Hub) and Windows laptop (Phone Link). I even invested in Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Watch 4 over the past two years.

Xiaomi 13 Pro
Xiaomi 13 Pro

But out of nowhere, I got attracted to the Xiaomi 13 Pro due to its camera prowess, which I require for my reviews’ product shots. The Galaxy S23 Plus’ camera paled in comparison.

Also, neither Samsung nor retailers offered discounts on the bigger S23 which retails at ₹94,999. This made the Xiaomi 13 Pro a much better deal with its discounted price tag of ₹74,999.

I visited my local Xiaomi Studio store multiple times to try Xiaomi’s most premium smartphone in India. I loved every bit of it, except the front camera, which is its Achilles’ heel.

However, I decided not to buy the Xiaomi 13 Pro after doing some research. And to my surprise, I jumped over the fence to join the dark side by purchasing an iPhone 15.

Yes, you heard it right. I wanted an Android premium phone but I went with an iPhone instead.

I knew from the beginning that the Xiaomi 13 Pro is one of the best smartphones on the market, thanks to our review team from China. When the phone hit global markets, it became more apparent to me after going through media and user reviews from multiple regions.

Especially, in India, Xiaomi 13 Pro offers a lot more value for ₹79,999. Don’t listen to people who say otherwise. It is not overpriced at all as you don’t get hardware like this on any similarly priced products.

But then why I decided not to buy it? It has to do nothing with the phone but with the history of Xiaomi’s premium smartphones in India.

Apple iPhone 15
Apple iPhone 15

Xiaomi stopped launching its Mi series flagships in India after the Mi 5 in 2016. Anyways, the Mi Mix 2 did receive a limited release in 2017.

Then, three years later in 2020, the company brought the Mi 10 to India during the worst time possible (COVID-19 global pandemic). It was later followed by Mi 11 Ultra, which also suffered from bad timing (India’s deadly COVID-19 second wave).

Not only sales of these products tanked but they were plagued with hardware issues following software updates. Both of them were discontinued quickly.

Then, in 2021, Xiaomi didn’t give up and debuted the Xiaomi 12 Pro in the country. This device is still being sold at a cheaper price more than a year after its release.

It was a breath of fresh air but with a quirk. It houses the infamous Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, which results in poor thermal and battery performance.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro, on the other hand, does not have any issues like its predecessors so far. But I still couldn’t trust the company’s after-sales support for premium handsets as they have been terrible so far. 

The firm was unable to fix the WiFi issue on the Mi 11 Ultra. It only recently issued a free upgrade to Xiaomi 12 Pro two years later.

Also, you never know which MIUI update will break your device’s hardware. Xiaomi really needs to work on it instead of stopping system updates altogether, like on the Redmi Note 10 Pro.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is perfectly fine right now. However, I am skeptical about its future, given Xiaomi’s history so far.

I don’t believe in upgrading smartphones every year. And when I am investing a premium amount, I not only expect longevity but also good after-sales service, be it official or third-party. Thus far, these things do not resonate with Xiaomi’s premium handsets in India.

Apple iPhone 15
Apple iPhone 15

So then again why I went with the iPhone 15 instead of the Galaxy S23 Plus? As I mentioned earlier, lack of discount is the first reason.

Secondly, Apple hit it out of the park with the iPhone 15, which starts at ₹79,900. The new base iPhone arguably has better cameras than the S23. Yes, the lack of a zoom camera is painful for my usage but the level of detail you get from the new 24MP shots is really good.

I am yet to settle down with the whole iOS thing. But so far, I am enjoying the device. Interestingly, the 60Hz display doesn’t bother me though I use the iPhone 15 alongside the OnePlus Nord CE 3 (review) sporting a 120Hz screen. 

I wouldn’t call the iPhone 15 a perfect smartphone for its asking price. But I find it better than the options I had in mind.

I could have waited for the Galaxy S24 series, which is expected to release in January. But the non-Ultra models are rumored to feature the new Exynos chip in India. We all know how terrible Samsung’s own chipsets have been lately in terms of thermals and battery life.

So this was the story of how I joined the dark side. Not by choice but by force.

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