Finally Got to Use my Self-Learnt Knowledge...

you all know my enthusiasm for smartphones is very high. Almost half of posts I posted for last 4 months are about smartphones. But this information I gathered is kind of useless unless I buy smartphones or really review them. Buying a smartphone is kind of a rare thing for us. But now, it's time for an upgrade for both me and @dasuni.

If you remember, back in 2021, I bought a OnePlus 7T, which was my daily driver for quite a while until it was damaged on the batch trip to Manigala back in 2022. After that, its display didn't function well. So I had to switch to my old Poco F1. Recently, Dasuni's Samsung Galaxy S8 also malfunctioned. So, I have to give her my damaged OnePlus 7T. So, both were wanting to buy new smartphones and it's finally time.

OK. when considering Dasuni's preferences such as not having a back camera bump, being beautiful, having a purple color variant and being it a Samsung made it so easy to choose a smartphone to her. It is the Samsung Galaxy A54 that I chose for her. It's a convenient S23-looking smartphone and it's marginally acceptable for the price.

So we looked in ikman.lk, Facebook Marketplace, and various websites to look for stocks of this smartphone. And you know, Christmas was coming. And with the increment of VAT which is about to come in a week, smartphone vendors are hiding their stocks. Everyone we called said that they were out of stock. but against all odds, we decided to go to Liberty Plaza.

We went there having low expectations but we went there. And tell you what, there were units we were looking for. But the thing is, in the first few shops we entered, the purple variant wasn't available. We went to dozens of shops and there were only two shops that had the 256GB Purple variant. We chose Greenware Mobile to purchase the smartphone. they gave us a free tempered glass too.

Then we decided to have some food and go home. But we were unable to do that then because we met a friend, Thakshila. She was with her sister and mother to buy her sister a smartphone as she was selected to the University of Moratuwa. She wanted to buy a Pixel 7. Seems like she was influenced by one of her Pixel friends.

Again, we went for shops seeking Pixel 7 devices. Most of the shops didn't have the device. Some had but they were too expensive for the budget. The price of the device has increased by roughly 30K. So, she had to choose an alternative device. That's when my help came around.

They asked me for a recommendation. At first, I told them to buy last year's used flagship like the S23 FE. But she didn't like used phones. it's quite reasonable. They can be unreliable. The warranty system is also a bit sketchy. Then a device came to my mind, which is a device that I was hoping to buy, Honor 90.

It has a stellar design, great display, balanced camera system, and decent processor for a higher midrange price. Since she agreed to drop the idea of buying a Pixel, she also was OK to buy the device. But the thing is, now we have to find the device.

We went to shops again. and most shops had Honor 90 Lite but not Honor 90. But finally, I randomly asked a dude and they had a device. This device comes with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage which is ample for normal usage and downloads. After seeing the device, Thakshila's sis loved it. Even Dasuni liked it. Its design was better than 3D renders. The device is a stellar piece.

After purchasing smartphones, we took some photos and headed to the Food Court of Liberty Plaza to have lunch. It was smaller than the K-Zone food court and definitely had the vibes of it. We bought SeaFood Rice so Dasuni could pick them and give them to me because she's kind of a Vegetarian, it's hard to explain..

After having some dessert and fruit juice, we headed home having the pleasure of buying a smartphone and helping a friend to make a good decision. Actually, that's what I thought. What happened afterward? I'll tell you tomorrow.