You no longer need to spend a huge amount of money to get a smartphone with top-of-the-line specs and features.
Over the past few years, the sub-Rs 30K smartphone segment in India has very strongly emerged, bringing flagship design and features at half the cost of high-end devices. But there always remains the question of choice – which smartphone to buy when there are a number of options available on the market. So, to make things easier for, here’s a list for the best smartphones under Rs 30,000.
ASUS ZenFone 5Z
Price: Rs 29,999 (6GB / 64GB)
Harnessing power from the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, the ASUS ZenFone 5Z offers almost everything that modern users want. Its camera uses machine learning to automatically detect scenes for an improved photography experience.
There is a dual-lens (12MP+8MP) AI camera with 120-degree wide-angle view that features a Sony IMX363 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. The camera software supports OIS, EIS, PDAF and can also shoot in RAW. The ZenFone 5Z performs like a beast for daily usage, without any app opening delays. It clearly is one of the fastest phones available on the market at this price.
Honor Play
Price Rs 25,999 (6GB variant)
The Honor Play features a 6.3-inch full-HD+ IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1080x2340 pixels and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It offers great viewing angles and good colours while watching movies or playing games. The Honor Play is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor.
The phone excels in gaming too, thanks to the GPU Turbo technology that improves performance by 60 per cent and decreases power consumption by 30 per cent. At the back, the Honor Play packs a 16MP primary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture, coupled with an LED flash. There is also a Neural Processing Unit, which allows the camera to identify 22 different categories and 500 scenarios.
Price: Rs 19,999
The Nokia 7.1 looks a lot like new iPhones – tall screen, dual camera and a notch on the top of the screen. In terms of performance, it doesn’t give you much to complain about. It’s also the first phone from Nokia’s stable to come with ‘PureDisplay’ screen technology, which supports HDR 10. This means that you can enjoy wider colour gamut while viewing HDR-supported content on apps like Netflix and YouTube.
There is a 12MP / 5MP dual rear camera setup powered by ZEISS optics, which also captures Nokia’s bothie photos. The Nokia 7.1’s camera captures great images but in ideal conditions. When conditions are less than ideal, its images tend to be flat and grainy.
Read our full review.
Price Rs 25,999
The Nokia 7 Plus is a well-designed device with good build quality. However, in the world of unibody devices, the 7 Plus does seem a bit odd. The body is plastic with a matte finish and prone to oily smudges. While the Nokia 7 Plus’s 6-inch, 1080p LCD screen does not pack fancy features such as HDR, it’s crisp and vibrant with great viewing angles and outdoor visibility. The full-HD resolution also offers detailed reproduction of images and videos, making it a great device for multimedia consumption.
The Nokia 7 Plus is armed with the Snapdragon 660 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. The back of the phone features a dual-sensor array, which comprises a main 12MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture and a 13MP sensor with an f/2.6 aperture.
Read our full review.
Nokia 8.1
Price:Rs 26,999 (6GB variant)
The Nokia 8.1 sports a 6.18-inch, full-HD+ (1080x2244 pixels) display with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio, 81.5 per cent screen-to-body ratio and 500 Nits of peak brightness. It’s also capable of producing 96 per cent colour gamut. The picture quality delivered by the phone is good enough for most tasks.
The smartphone features a dual rear camera setup with Zeiss optics. The primary 12MP camera features a 1/2.55-inch sensor, 1.4-micron pixels, OIS, EIS, 2PD (dual photodiode) tech and a dual-LED flash. The secondary 13MP fixed-focus lens is designed for producing bokeh effect.
Poco F1
Price: Rs 19,999 (6GB variant)
The F1 is the first device from Poco, a sub-brand of Xiaomi that was introduced last year. The F1 is the only smartphone at this price that comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. If performance and battery life matter to you the most, then Poco F1 is one of the best choices for you.
For photography, the Poco F1 packs a 12MP (f/1.9) primary camera and a 5MP (f/2.0) secondary camera on the rear, along with a 20MP front camera. Xiaomi has designed a cooling system called ‘LiquidCool’, especially for this phone to prevent it from becoming unbearably hot during extended gaming sessions.
Galaxy A7
Price: Rs 23,990
The Galaxy A7, the latest addition to the Galaxy A series family, comes with triple rear camera setup, which consists of an 8MP 120-degree ultra-wide lens, a primary 24MP lens and a 5MP depth lens to create the bokeh effect. The smartphone also features Samsung’s intelligent Scene Optimiser, that categorises the subject and adjusts the colour, contrast and brightness to instantly optimise the image quality.
The smartphone comes with 6.0-inch Super AMOLED Infinity display, supports Dolby Atmos 2 sound technology and has a fingerprint sensor on the side. Overall, it offers a balanced all-round performance.
Price: Rs 23,990
By incorporating the fingerprint sensor in the display, the Vivo V11 pro has successfully maximised screen-to-body ratio, which has become its USP. With a 6.41-inch screen, V11 Pro is slightly bigger than your usual phone, which means it’s not very comfortable for single-hand usage – essentially a compromise for a bigger, more immersive canvas.
With the Snapdragon 660 processor, coupled with 6GB RAM, playing games such as PUBG and Asphalt 8: Airborne is a smooth experience. The V11 Pro sports a 25MP f/2.0 selfie camera and a 12MP f/1.8 rear camera with a 5MP secondary sensor for portrait mode photos. It captures wonderful daylight shots, which means that the presence of editing apps on your phone is more or less redundant.
Read our full review.
Price Rs 26,990 (Flipkart)
The Vivo X21 has a notched display with a big aspect ratio and a sleek bezel at the bottom. Considering its 6.28-inch screen and tall 19:9 aspect ratio, the X21 is surprisingly easy to use. The OLED panel of the X21 also integrates P3 display colour management technology, which supports a wide colour gamut to ensure accurate, natural and saturated colours all the time.
The X21 comes with a 12 MP+ 5MP dual-lens rear camera setup based on ‘Dual Pixel’ sensor technology. The 5MP secondary camera of the X21 is more than capable of creating a nice bokeh effect. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 mobile platform and 6GB of RAM.
Read our full review.
