Instamart ‘trends’, Xiaomi Redmi 15C assessment, and an eye on 2026 business News

Opening thoughts. A few days ago, some interesting data was shared by Swiggy on how ‘Swiggy’ India will be in 2025, and Instamart gadget shopping trends (they call it Instamarted). I will focus on the technical purchasing aspect, as it is still morning when I write, and discussing biryani orders will only serve to satiate the appetite and slow down the train of thought.

The ‘How India Instamarted 2025’ annual trends report indicates a mix of interesting and eccentric purchasing trends on the instant commerce platform. There was a user in Hyderabad who had the highest single priced tech cart in the year ₹4.3 lakh for three Apple iPhone 17 Pro. It must have been in September, when the craze was at its peak. Not surprisingly, the iPhone marked more trends, such as the fastest iPhone 17 delivery recorded in Pune – a time of 3 minutes (think about the rider partner delivering it too).

But these were not all iPhones. There was a spender who totaled the cart value during the whole year With a spend of Rs 22 lakh, as Instamart describes it, “adding everything from smartphones and 24K gold coins to air fryers, SSDs, headphones as well as everyday items like Tic Tacs, milk, eggs, ice creams and fresh fruits, it was a clear indication that premium gadgets and daily life essentials now share the same convenience-driven shopping universe”.

Apart from gadgets, there is one Mumbai resident who spent money The purchase of gold alone would cost Rs 15.16 lakh (assuming it would be a lot of gold coins). Instamart also noted that users also searched for “airbus”. Suppose someone wants to buy an A380 or A350? Don’t think that GST restructuring includes commercial aircraft purchases.

It has a large battery capacity, typically 6000 mAh, and also comes with a charger in the box. The 6.9-inch display also has a 120Hz refresh rate. Of course, 5G support too. This encapsulates the evolution of affordable phones almost entirely into better all-round experiences, when perhaps phones met the needs of the moment compared to just a few years ago, but performance collectively has seen significant recent increases. Afforded by better hardware at base.

It’s definitely a nice phone to hold, especially in Moonlight Blue (other options are Midnight Black and Dusk Purple), and the fact that Xiaomi is experimenting with colors is good to see.

The flat slab design works well here, especially with the grip, although you might complain about the slightly thick bezels around the large (and nicely vivid) 6.9-inch screen. There are absolutely no complaints about the performance, and hence the everyday usage is a defining experience.

I spent a lot of time with the Redmi 15C, which is a significantly used second phone, especially for social media, web browsing, and an email inbox (lots of them; let me stand face-to-face with the doom-scroll for you) that lights up like a Christmas tree every day.

If you stay aware of the capabilities of the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 processor, you will never find yourself exceeding the limits of smooth performance while multitasking. It can handle quite a bit and, along with that, gives a battery run time of one and a half day which will include about 7.5 hours of on-screen time.

Three configuration variants are available – 4GB memory with 128GB storage, 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB. My recommendation is obvious, as far as the budget allows, spend on the highest memory amount possible. This will keep you in good condition for a long time.

As far as details go, the 50-MP primary camera is surprisingly versatile when it comes to handling image processing in slightly tighter situations. Although contrast is often lacking and images with shadows or dark colors can appear unnaturally bright in a frame – I see what the image processing pipeline is going for here, which is to use the maximum amount of light possible.

It is surprising that some phone sub- 15,000 when the phone maker pays attention to the fine details. Xiaomi Redmi 15C is a vivid example of this. They are not only very capable (with a certain dose of longevity) as primary phones, but also viable second phones that won’t give the illusion of experiential lag when switching from your potentially more expensive primary phone. That is a victory in itself.

For Xiaomi, it will be important to prove that it is a sustained effort, and for that the release of HyperOS 3 soon is important. For now, small details like the Redmi 15C’s Google Gemini integration, Wet Touch technology that makes the display usable even in difficult weather, and more powerful on-device speakers underscore an overall effort.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra: It will be here soon, and I think it will set the Android superphone photography benchmark.

With the Xiaomi 17 Ultra – and I say this with unwavering confidence given the trajectory that the 14 Ultra and 15 Ultra have demonstrated quite clearly – Xiaomi and Leica have not left any cards on the table for any ifs and buts. That’s my main takeaway from the phone announcement.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 sports a 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a 200-MP telescope + 50-MP wide + 50-MP ultrawide camera troika, and a 6,800 mAh battery. It’s thinner than the very impressive 15 Ultra and a flat-slab design language gives it a very attractive personality upgrade. Did I mention the mechanical camera ring? Honestly, if I had any budget to buy the Xiaomi 17 Ultra next year (and assuming Xiaomi gets all the color options in India), I would have a hard time choosing between white, black, purple and green – it has a great shiny metallic finish.

I can’t wait for this phone, and saying that has become rare in recent years.

Apple’s foldable iPhone chapter: 2026 is expected to be the year Apple Inc. finally joins the foldable phone conversation, and it will bring substantial changes to the table with a level of certainty that matches day and night.

Apple will not use it. This will probably provide the best mix between iOS and hardware. Developers will have no choice but to optimize every app to take full advantage of the foldable form factor. There’s very little to share with you at this time in terms of the actual design or specifications or really any details of the minimal variety, but my guess is that the iPhone Air gives us some hints on slimness and camera module integration.

Believe the rumors being spread on social media at your own risk (there will be a lot of these during the September countdown), but there’s one certainty at this point – it’s going to cost a premium, so start saving now.

Credit card rewards for getting balance: And this leads me to funding your next rewards points with a big tech purchase in 2026. Things will not be as simple as it was thought in the past few years. Indications are that banks will tighten the purse strings in terms of the returns you get on your spends (this will likely vary by category, also known as MCC or merchant category code).

There is also a cost to the bank for each point, mile or cashback spent. They’ll find enough balance to keep premium users happy, get billed every month by existing users, and attract new sign-ups. Because self-respecting customers will easily turn to banks if they intend to downgrade the credit card if they do not meet the minimum spend.

This battery technology offers relatively unprecedented features, including a claimed 600-mile range, a nine-minute full charge rating, 500 Wh/kg energy density (double that of current lithium-ion), and a 20-year lifespan – all of which is expected to collectively make it more reliable, versatile, as well as safer and non-flammable due to the solid electrolytes replacing liquid.

With BMW’s first EV expected to come with this ASSB technology in 2026, we may start to see a new chapter being written for electric mobility. But expect these to be among the premium cars for a few years as real “democratization” may still take some time.