Usually, you can find tons of recommendations on this or that group of products. For instance, you want to get your hands on a new smartphone and have no idea which one would match your requirements most. For this, you can search for corresponding articles and find topics such as “top smartphones,” “the list of the best smartphones,” etc. Of course, you can find what you are looking for on those lists. But the vast majority of similar articles do not show the shortcomings of those devices. So we decided to come in with another initiation, that is, the list of the smartphones you shouldn’t buy.

On the list of smartphones you shouldn’t buy, we chose only those that have been released recently. Also, we will not provide you with a long list of models. Instead, we will focus only on a few handsets that were buzzwords at their launch. Lastly, we will not only tell you about their serious shortcomings but also recommend a substitute.

List of smartphones you shouldn’t buy

Moto G72

The biggest highlight of the Moto G72 is its screen. This smartphone comes with a 6.55-inches pOLED display. The screen’s resolution is 1080 x 2460 pixels, while the pick brightness reaches 1300 nits. This means that the handset is ideal for outdoor use. It will display everything in detail, even under direct sunlight. Besides this, the screen of our protagonist on the list of smartphones you shouldn’t buy has a 576Hz touch sampling rate and a 120Hz screen refresh rate. The rest of the screen parameters include HDR10+, 10-bit color, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, etc.

Another selling point of this device is the 108MP triple camera. The main sensor is accompanied by two others – an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro sensor. The camera records videos at 1080p@30/60fps. Unfortunately, this camera is considered more a marketing gimmick rather than a true 100MP sensor. Daytime shots are satisfactory. But it’s better to hide this camera phone when night comes.

Finally, the Moto G72 sports a 5000mAh battery, which supports 33W fast charging.

Well, why we mentioned only a few selling points is that, umm, the Moto G72 doesn’t have any other. Look, this handset supports only 4G connectivity; it comes with an Helio G99 chip; the rear panel is made out of plastic, which is glossy and collects fingerprints; it supports only one year of system updates.

Currently, this handset is priced at 18,999 Indian rupees ($229).

Buy instead: POCO M5

So we recommend you look at the Poco M5, which has almost identical features but costs less. Moreover, POCO has faithfully listed the features: 50MP main sensor, LCD screen, etc. At the same time, this Helio G99-powered smartphone costs only 12,499 Indian rupees ($151).

Infinix Zero 8

The Infinix Zero 8 has appeared due to its 48MP selfie camera on the list of smartphones you shouldn’t buy. Thus, at first sight, this handset is ideal for selfies. Of course, its large sensor on the front allows the phone to take outstanding selfies. But it’s still a big mystery whether this is the best option to buy.

The phone looks quite attractive due to a 6.85-inch screen on the front. The latter supports an FHD+ resolution, a 90HZ refresh rate, and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. Inside, the phone hosts the low-end MediaTek Helio G90T chipset. Though the G-line chips of the Taiwanese manufacturer focus on gaming, this is not a gaming smartphone.

There is also a 64MP quad-rear camera setup. It is placed in a diamond-shaped module. The smartphone is capable of recording 4K videos as well as 960fps slow-motion videos.

As said above, the biggest selling point of the Infinix Zero 8 is the dual-front camera. It consists of a 48MP sensor as well as an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens. The 48MP sensor can record 4K videos.

Lastly, the handset has a 4500mAh battery, which supports 33W fast charging. The phone costs Rp. 3,799,000 ($260).

The phone is quite affordable. But if you want to have a genuine selfie-centric smartphone with many goodies, there is a better option.

Buy instead: Xiaomi CIVI 2

Putting aside that the Civi line handsets have considered the best-looking Xiaomi phones, this is also the best selfie handset. That’s why instead of the phone above, we recommend the CIVI 2.

First, let’s talk about its advantages. This handset comes with a 6.55-inch 3D flexible AMOLED screen. It also boasts a 120Hz high refresh rate, P3 color gamut, 10bit color depth, and Dolby Vision. Besides, it supports 1920Hz high-frequency PWM adjustment. The latter makes nighttime use more comfortable.

The Xiaomi CIVI 2 has the most powerful selfie camera in Xiaomi’s history. It comes with two 32-megapixel sensors. Both are primary cameras that can even achieve SLR-level portrait blur.

The wide-angle lens has a 1.6um large pixel size and an f/2.0 large aperture. Due to the latter, the light input is increased by 50%. What we liked more was the ALD coating and lens inking technology. If you are unaware, you can find this tech on the main cameras of flagship phones.

The rest of the features include a 50-megapixel main camera, the new Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip, and a large 4500mAh battery (the same we found on the Mi 12S) with 67W wired fast charging support. And for all these, you have to pay ($334). Thus, it doesn’t differ from Infinix’s price but brings much better specs.

Google Pixel 7

The Google Pixel 7 series was announced a few days ago. We guess many of you think of it as something outstanding. But the vanilla version is not as good as you might think. For instance, it comes with the Tensor G2 chip, which is the newest processor of Google. But various analyses claim that the improvement over its predecessor is only 10%.

To prove our words, let’s take a quick look at some specs of this chip. Instead of the newer ARMv9 architecture, it uses the ARMv8 and still uses outdated cores. That’s why the performance improvement doesn’t exceed 10%. The only real major change refers to the graphics. It’s in line with that of the Dimensity 9000 flagship chip.

In an article, we have already talked about the unchanged specs of the Google Pixel 7. For instance, the phone appeared on our list of smartphones you shouldn’t buy because it still comes with the same 50MP main sensor and the 12MP ultrawide lens. The Pro version has the third lens, but this is not the case with the vanilla model. The selfie shooter has a 10.8MP resolution. It supports fixed focus and a 93-degree field of view.

Lastly, the Google Pixel 7 sports a 6.3-inch 90Hz refresh rate FHD+ resolution screen and a 4355mAh battery supporting 21W wired + 20W wireless charging.

The lowest version costs $599.

Buy instead: any mid-ranger

The Google Pixel 7 has so many shortcomings that we do not know which model can become the best alternative. Frankly, tons of many mid-range smartphones will cost less but provide much better performance. For instance, we can recommend the Redmi K50 Ultra.