Five Best Smartphones You Can Find In India For Rs. 20,000 - April 2019

You are looking for the best smartphones to replace your old device with a budget of around Rs. 20,000? It would be much easier a few years back when the market hasn’t been filled with a ton of choices like it is these days. Not only the market now has been welcome a lot of phone makers, but each of them has launched quite a few offerings with very attractive features. Now, with a budget of around Rs. 20,000, you can already get a phone with flagship-tier specs to a device with triple cameras or an on-screen fingerprint scanner.

To make thing easier for you, we have picked the 5 best smartphones that you should buy in India for Rs. 20,000 or lower. Besides this list, we have also made quite a few lists for you to choose, ranging from best phones for Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 30,000 to phones with the best selfie or rear cameras. We will guide you through the best options from most of the price ranges and types of phone you are looking for.

Redmi Note 7 Pro

The newest addition to the Redmi Note series in India and it is probably one of the best smartphones launched from Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi for a few years. The handset not only features a premium and elegant design, but it also packs impressive specs as well, most notably the Snapdragon 675 chipset. Overall, the phone has been praised for being a great all-around phone that offers only powerful performance but also deliver high-quality photos with its 48MP camera on the rear. The software was the only thing that we were not happy with during the time with the phone due to the annoying ads.

The handset sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It is powered by a Snapdragon 675 SoC paired with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage. Its cameras include a 48MP f/1.8 primary camera and 5MP f/2.4 depth sensor on the rear and a 13MP selfie camera up front. It runs on Xiaomi’s MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie. Lastly, there is a 4,000mAh with 18W fast charging support for under the hood.

The company currently offers two options for the phone in the Indian market. The model with 4GB RAM/64GB storage is currently priced at Rs. 13,999 while you have to pay Rs. 16,999 to get the option with 6GB RAM/128GB storage.

Nokia 7.1

The Nokia 7.1, similar to other phones in the series, may not be well known for offering powerful performance. However, the phone is more of an all-around phone. During our time with the phone, we concluded that it had quite a vivid and crisp HDR display in a solid chassis. Despite not having a powerful performance, we found it to be decently smooth and enough for daily tasks. Its camera quality is also great along with decent low-light photography.

The phone sports a 5.84-inch FHD+ display with 2,280 x 1,080p resolution and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Powering the handset is a Snapdragon 636 SoC paired with 3/4GB of RAM and 32/64GB of storage. Its rear camera setup includes a 12MP primary camera with f/1.8 aperture and a 5MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Selfie duties are handled by an 8MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. Even though it comes with 18W fast charging solution, the phone only packs a 3,060mAh battery which is quite below the standard these days. Lastly, it runs the dated Android 8.1 Oreo at launch but users can now update the OS to Android 9 Pie.

It is currently offered in a single model with 4GB RAM/64GB storage for an Rs. 16,990 price tag.

Poco F1

Xiaomi isn’t a new name on the smartphone industry anymore. The Chinese company has been well-known for launching high value-for-money handsets. The Poco F1, which is the first phone from its sub-brand Poco, further shows that to the world by offering flagship-tier specs for a mid-range price. The Poco F1 packs the most powerful Snapdragon 845 SoC at the time under the hood with 6/8GB of RAM. When it comes to raw performance, even the phones in a higher price bracket can’t match against the Poco device. It was also proven to be true in our review where the handset delivered a smooth experience with no lag whatsoever. Not only that, but the Poco F1 also has a large battery that can easily last a day or two for average usage.

However, the Poco F1 seems to have a quite simple design and not so great camera quality. While it takes decent photos in daylight, the phone failed to impress us with its low-light photography.

The phone has a 6.18-inch FHD+ display with 2,246 x 1,080p resolution and Gorilla Glass protection (the version is unknown). As mentioned, it is powered by a Snapdragon 845 SoC, paired with 6/8GB RAM and 64/128/256GB of storage. In terms of camera, it has a 12MP f/1.9 primary camera and 5MP f/2.0 depth sensor on the rear and a 20MP f/2.0 selfie camera on the front. It ships with Android 8.1 Oreo but is now upgradable to Android 9.0 Pie. You don’t have to worry about the battery as it has a 4,000mAh cell with 18W fast charging support.

There are three standard options and two special editions of the Poco F1 that you can buy in India. They are 6GB RAM / 64GB storage, 6GB RAM / 128GB storage, 8GB RAM / 256GB storage, 6GB RAM / 128GB storage Armored Edition, 8GB RAM / 256GB storage Armored Edition. The two variants you can buy for an Rs. 20,000 budget are 6GB RAM / 64GB storage and 6GB RAM / 128GB storage as they are priced at around Rs. 19,900 and Rs. 20,900.

Oppo K1

The Oppo K1 is the only phone in this particular price range that has an on-screen fingerprint scanner. Not just that, it also has a vivid and crisp AMOLED panel with a gradient rear panel. In our time with the phone, we saw that it could deliver decent performance even for gaming. It also has a large battery along with decent cameras as well. However, it also struggles with low-light photography just like the Poco F1.

The phone packs a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It comes with a Snapdragon 660 SoC with 4/6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. You can take photos with a 16M f/1.8 main camera and 2MP depth sensor on the rear along with a 25MP f/2.0 selfie camera on the front. As mentioned, it has an on-screen fingerprint scanner and a decent 3,600mAh battery with 10W fast charging support. For software, it runs the dated Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorOS 5.2 on top.

For now, it is offered in a sole memory configuration in India with 4GB RAM / 64GB storage for Rs. 16,990.

Samsung Galaxy A50

The Galaxy A50 is among the latest additions to the revamped Galaxy A series by Samsung in India. The handset is a great offering in the mid-range segment with a good Super AMOLED panel in a nice chassis and also among the limited number of phones that has triple rear cameras. We found that the phone delivered a decent performance for daily usage. Its low-light photography is better than some of the phones in this list but is still need huge improvement.

The handset sports a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Unlike other phones in the list, it has a Samsung-made Exynos 9610 SoC and 4/6GB RAM and 64/128GB storage.
Samsung is selling two storage versions of the phone – 4GB of RAM + 64GB onboard storage and 6GB of RAM + 64GB onboard storage. Its triple rear cameras are a 25MP f/1.7 camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 aperture and 5MP depth sensor with f/2.2 aperture. It has a decent 25MP f/1.7 selfie camera as well. Under the hood, there is a 4,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging support. As it is launched recently, it ships with the latest Android 9.0 Pie.

There are two variants for you to choose which are 4GB RAM / 64GB storage and 6GB RAM /128GB storage. They are priced at Rs. 19,990 and Rs. 22,990, respectively.