The Top 6 Best Smartphones Below Rs. 15,000 (November 2018)

What are the best smartphones to choose in the price range of under Rs. 15,000? It may be a very tough decision to make as there are more interesting phones launching in the price range. Many phone makers are trying to bring premium design elements and specs to a mid-range phone segment earlier 2018. They are focusing and competing to fight for more consumers on the price range of under Rs. 15,000 which has a huge amount of demand.

With Realme and Nokia launching new phones, the phone options in the Indian market are just too many. All the phones in this list have been carefully tested. So, the best smartphone with the price of below Rs. 15,000 are as follows:

1. Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1

Having launched in India since 3 May 2018, the ZenFone Max Pro M1 still stays at the top choices in the price bracket, and the best budget phone of Asus until now.

According to many reviewers, the phone has a very good display, storage expandable via microSD slot, sleek design and also a clean stock operating software. Unfortunately, the battery life of this phone is somewhat underwhelming even though it comes with a 5,000 mAh battery.

The cheapest 3GB RAM/32GB storage variant of this phone costs Rs. 10,999. The 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage variant costs Rs. 12,999 and the top variant (6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage) costs Rs. 14,999. I would say the 4GB RAM variant is the best option for performance/price, but the top variant with 6GB of RAM is also a good choice given the fact that it comes with 2 extra GB of RAM and refreshed selfie camera for just an extra of Rs. 2,000.

2. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

The Redmi Note 5 Pro, launched on 22 February 2018, is another great choice in the price range of below Rs. 15,000. The phone brought a lot of revolutions in this price range by offering superior specs at a very affordable price. With a great dual rear camera setup, a all-metal design and a 5.99-inch screen make the Redmi Note 5 Pro a solid choice when you only want to pay under Rs. 15,000 for a phone.

I love the vibrant display of this phone, great battery life and also powerful processor as well. All of those make it a top choice even though it was released 9 months ago. But obviously, it can’t offer everything for just the price of Rs. 13,299. The phone doesn’t have a fast charger, a distinctive design and also a USB Type-C as well. The base variant (4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage) costs Rs. 14,999 which offers great specs for a reasonable price. The 6GB variant costs slight higher, at Rs. 16,999 is also a good choice if you can afford to pay a bit more than your budget.

3. Realme 2 Pro

The Realme 2 Pro, released on 28 September 2018, offers great value-for-money in terms of specs. It is actually the cheapest phone in the Indian market that has a Snapdragon 660 processor.

Besides that, it also comes with a vivid and sharp display with a waterdrop notch, fast face recognition system, solid build, and also great gaming and apps performance. However, the video performance and overall presentation of the UI may need a bit of improvement.

More: Realme 2 pro review

The 4GB of Ram and 64GB of storage variant costs RS. 13,990 and you can pay an extra of Rs. 2,000 to upgrade to 6GB of RAM. The top variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at Rs. 17,990. Even though Realme states that the company will not increase the price of its phones, you still should grab one soon as two of Realme phones just increased their prices.

4. Honor 8X

The Honor 8X, launched on 16 October 2018, is one of the attempts of Huawei to get into the mid-range phone segment with its latest Huawei-made HiSilicon Kirin 710. It comes with a unique dual-tone design, solid build with a glass back and also impressive performance.

However, as other phones in the price range, the phone still lacks some features that users would love to have. For example, it doesn’t have dated Micro-USB port, a rear camera and also gaming performance.

More: Review Honor 8X

If you don’t want to stretch your budget, then you only have one option with the Honor 8X as its base 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant already costs Rs. 14,999. Obviously, it offers a 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage variant at the price of Rs. 16,999. And the top option with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage costs Rs. 18,999.

5. Nokia 5.1 Plus

The Nokia 5.1 Plus, launched on 1 October 2018, is one of 2 highly value-for-money phones from HMD Global this year.

It features an attractive glass design and runs Android One - a stock version of Android for lower-tier Android phones. It also has great battery life along with an HD+ display Even though its camera performance in low light is not great and a hybrid SIM slot can be a bit troublesome, it is still a great choice for the price.

More: Review Nokia 5.1 Plus

There is only one variant of the Nokia 5.1 Plus. The phone with 3GB RAM/32GB storage is set at the price of Rs. 10,999.

6. Realme 1

Oppo spinoff, but it is an independent smartphone brand now. Realme joined the Indian market by launching the Realme 1.

The phone offers a pretty exciting proposition in the budgeted smartphone segment with an Helio P60 SoC, a glossy diamond-cut effect on the back, great battery life and performance along with a pretty good display. And still, for a budget smartphone, it lacks several essentials like a fingerprint scanner, only comes with a face recognition system.

More: Review Realme 1

The variant with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage costs Rs. 10,990, which is pretty good for its reasonable price. You can pay an extra of Rs. 3,000 to upgrade the RAM memory to 6GB and internal storage to 128GB. There was also a cheaper variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of

7. Other notable options

The Motorola One Power and Nokia 6.1 Plus also deserve to be mentioned in the list, although they cost a bit more than Rs. 15,000.

The Motorola One Power is power by Snapdragon 636 SoC along with 5,000 mAh battery. Besides those, it also has software with promised updates, decent processor and also a premium design. But many people may find the lack of dual 4G VoLTE unacceptable. The phone is priced at Rs. 15,999 for the 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus has an amazing glass design and it is powered by Snapdragon 636 SoC. It also has powerful performance, clean software and also a vibrant and punchy display. These interesting features may be enough to make up for its average battery life and cameras.

The phone only has one variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage at the price of Rs. 15,999