Best Gaming Smartphones You Can Buy For Under Rs. 15,000: April 2019

With mobile games like Fortnite and PUBG being more popular, the demand for gaming phones that are capable of handling those games have been growing significantly. Unlike in the past where gaming smartphones were pretty expensive, they are now much more affordable to get. Here are the 5 best gaming smartphones that you can buy in India for below Rs. 15,000.

Honor Play

Honor launched the Honor Play as an attempt to get into the affordable gaming phone. This handset is powered by the previous Huawei’s flagship chipset Kirin 970 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM/64GB of storage.

The phone sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ LCD panel with a 2,340 x 1,080p resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. As mentioned, powering the phone is a Kirin 970 SoC which is also packed on the Huawei’s flagship, Huawei P20 Pro. The processor is paired with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is expandable via a microSD slot up to 256GB. To further enhance the phone’s performance and battery efficiency, Honor uses a GPU Turbo technology on the handset.

On the imaging front, it comes with a dual camera system, including a 16MP primary camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP secondary depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. Taking selfies and video calling is done by a 16MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. As for security, Honor goes for a fingerprint scanner mounted on the rear. Powering the phone is a 3,750mAh cell which should be enough to fuel the phone for a normal day. Unfortunately, the handset still runs the dated Android 8.1 with Huawei’s EMUI on top.

The option with 4GB RAM/64GB of storage is currently priced at Rs. 13,999 while the top-end with 6 GB RAM/64GB of storage will set you back by Rs. 15,999.

Redmi Note 7 Pro

The latest offering from Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi Note 7 Pro is a powerful phone for its price. The handset comes packed with a Snapdragon 675 SoC, and it can run most of the available games. The handset is paired with an Adreno 612 and 4GB/6GB RAM.

The phone sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ LTPS in-cell panel with a 2,340 x 1,080p resolution, thin 1.95mm bezels, and a water-drop notch on top. Under the hood, it is powered by a Snapdragon 675 chipset, coupled with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage which is expandable up to 256GB via a microSD slot.

In the imaging front, the phone still features a 48MP f/1.8 camera, but instead of the Samsung GM1 sensor as on the Redmi Note 7, it boasts a Sony IMX586 one. The main rear sensor is paired with a 5MP f/2.4 depth sensor. In addition, it also gets EIS, PDAF, HDR, 1080p video recording, AI scene detection, AI Portrait 2.0, and Super Night Scene mode. For security, it has a fingerprint sensor mounted on the rear for unlocking the phone.

On the front, there is a 13MP camera for taking selfies and video calling. Its connectivity options include GPS, Infrared sensor, Wi-Fi, a headphone jack, FM Radio, USB-C port, dual-SIM slots, and Bluetooth 5. For software, it ships with MIUI which is based on the latest Android 9 Pie at launch. There is a 4,000 mAh battery to keep the phone running along with support for Quick Charge 4.0.

The phone is currently priced at Rs. 13,999 for the option with 4GB of RAM/64GB of storage while the 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 16,999.

Realme 2 Pro

Realme has been getting a lot of attention in the Indian market with affordable offerings that pack decent specifications and features. One of its latest gaming offerings are the Realme 2 Pro with its Realme 3 Pro is set to launch at the end of this month.

The phone sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ LCD panel with a water-drop notch on top. It is powered by a Snapdragon 660 SoC with 4/6/8GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage (expandable up to 256GB). In terms of camera, it sports a dual rear 16MP f/1.7 primary sensor & 2MP depth sensor as well as a 16MP f/2.0 selfie camera. It is backed by a 3,500mAh cell and ships with a dated Android 8.1 Oreo.

It is offered in four colour variants and three memory configurations. However, if you only want to pay for around Rs. 15,000, the 4GB RAM model the only choice you have as it is priced at Rs. 13,990 while the other options with 6GB RAM and 8GB RAM are priced at Rs. 15,990 and Rs 17,990, respectively. It is worth noting that the Realme 3 Pro is expected to come in the next month. Therefore, if you want to grab a Realme 2 Pro, it would be better to wait for a while.

Samsung Galaxy M30

Samsung has shown its attempt to get back to the affordable and mid-range segment. Galaxy M30 is one of the top-end offerings in the new Galaxy M series.

The handset sports a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED panel with an FHD+ (2,340 x 1,080p) resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Powering the phone is a Samsung-made Exynos 7904 SoC paired with Mali-G71 MP2 GPU, 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage which is expandable via a microSD slot up to 512GB. Powering the phone is a massive 5,000mAh cell with 15W fast charging support. For security, Samsung goes for a fingerprint scanner mounted on the rear.

On the imaging department, it features a triple rear camera setup, including a 13MP primary f/1.9 camera, a 5MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and a third 5MP depth sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. This is one of the biggest advantages of the Galaxy M30 as not many phones in the same price range comes with triple rear cameras. The selfie camera on the front has 16MP resolution and an f/2.0 aperture.

Rs. 14,990 and Rs. 17,990 are the prices of the two variants with 4GB and 64GB of storage and 6GB of RAM/128GB of storage, respectively.

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2

Asus has been quite active in the mid-range segment with some great offerings like the ZenFone Max series. The latest addition to the series is the ZenFone Max Pro M2 which offers a lot of improvements over its predecessor.

It sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with a 2,280 x 1,080p resolution, a 19:9 aspect ratio, and Gorilla Glass 6 protection. Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 660 SoC paired with an Adreno 512 GPU, 3/4/6GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage which is expandable up to 512GB. As for the cameras, its dual rear camera setup comprises of a 12MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture and a 5MP secondary depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. Up front, there is a 13MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture.

Keeping the phone running is a massive 5,000mAh cell with 10W fast charging support. Even though the handset previously got some battery issues, they have already been fixed by Asus via some updates. In terms of software, it runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and is upgradable to Android 9 Pie. Users can unlock the phone with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The current prices of the handset are Rs. 9,999, Rs. 11,999 and Rs. 13,999 for the variants with 3GB RAM/32GB storage, 4GB RAM/64GB storage, and 6GB RAM/64GB storage, respectively.