Smartphones are in a continuous process of evolution.If I am not wrong even 3-4 years ago if you had fixed a budget and a company you were ready to buy a new phone.Nowadays you have to literally research before even thinking of buying a new phone.
The budget for a phone has also changed.Price tags of flagship devices have reached such a height that it is beyond an average person’s capability.This automatically has raised the mid range value.
Largest selling segment of top 5 android smartphones atleast in India comes from the mid range segment which can be further divided into two segments:the higher mid range(Rs.20,000-30,000) and the lower midrange(Rs.15,000-20,000) according to me.In this post I will talk about the lower segment.
Now that budget is fixed you have to consider specifications.Most people first look at the camera.But believe me that is not all and moreover more mega pixels in camera specifications does not always mean good camera.I mostly see besides camera the display,processor and the battery.Regarding cameras mid range phones give a tough competition to high end flagships.But for me if a phone however costly it may be if the battery doesn’t last a day with moderate use I do not recommend it.
Taking into consideration all the points mentioned above the following are my choice of the top 5 android phones under Rs.20,000 in India.One thing I have taken into common is that all the phones mentioned below have min 6GB RAM.
TOP 5 ANDROID SMARTPHONES UNDER Rs.20,000 IN INDIA
5) VIVO Z1X
KEY FEATURES
THICKNESS-8.1mm
WEIGHT-189.6g
DISPLAY-6.38″ SUPER AMOLED with 1080×2340 Resolution
PROCESSOR-Octa core with Snapdragon 712
RAM/INTERNAL STORAGE-6/64 GB,6/128 GB,8/128 GB with UFS2.1
CAMERA-48MP,8MP,2MP
FRONT CAMERA-32MP
FINGERPRINT SENSOR-Under display
BATTERY-4500mAH with 22.5W fast charging
The reasons that I have included this phone in my list are:
1)this is the lightest phone among the five
2)the display is Amoled which is always better
3)the under display fingerprint sensor gives a premium feeling
4)images from a Vivo camera are really amazing.
Why at No.5?
1)relatively older than the others
2)the chipset Snapdragon 712 is slower than the others’ relatively newer versions
3)triple camera module while all the others have quad camera module.
The 6/64 GB variant costs Rs.16,990.
4)SAMSUNG GALAXY M31
KEY FEATURES
THICKNESS-8.9mm
WEIGHT-191g
DISPLAY-6.4″SUPER AMOLED with resolution 1080×2340
PROTECTION-Corning Gorilla Glass 3
PROCESSOR-Octa core with Exynos 9611 chipset
GPU-Mali G 72 MP3
RAM/INTERNAL STORAGE-6/64 GB,6/128 GB with UFS2.1
CAMERA-64MP,8MP,5MP,5MP
FRONT CAMERA-32MP
FINGERPRINT SENSOR-Rear mounted
BATTERY-6000mAH with 15W fast charging
There are 4 reasons for including this phone in my list and they are:
1)Super Amoled display
2)64MP primary camera
3)6000 mAH battery
4)Samsung brand value
Why at No.4?
The chipset is Exynos 9611 which is good but will always be lesser than Snapdragon.
The 6/64 GB variant costs Rs.15.999.
3) REALME 6 PRO
KEY FEATURES
THICKNESS-8.9mm
WEIGHT-202g
DISPLAY-6.6″IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1080×2400 resolution
PROTECTION-Corning Gorilla Glass 5
SCREEN REFRESH RATE-90Hz
PROCESSOR-Octa core with Snapdragon 720G chipset
GPU-Adreno 618
RAM/INTERNAL STORAGE-6/64 GB,6/128 GB,8/128 GB
CAMERA-64MP,12MP,8MP,2MP
FRONT CAMERA-16MP and 8MP dual punch hole camera
FINGERPRINT SENSOR-Side mounted
BATTERY-4300mAH with 30W fast charging
I confess that selecting nos 1,2 and 3 was really tough for me.All of them are so close in terms of specs that I had to really dig deep to segregate them in the orders.
The 90 Hz screen refresh rate and the dual punch hole front camera makes Realme 6 Pro ( https://www.realme.com/in/realme-6-pro )( a tough contender for the no 2 spot but I have kept it in no.3 solely because the phone at no.2 has a bigger battery.
2) REDMI NOTE 9 PRO MAX
KEY FEATURES
THICKNESS-8.8MM
WEIGHT-209g
DISPLAY-6.67″IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1080×2400 resolution
PROTECTION-Corning Gorilla Glass 5
PROCESSOR-Octa core with Snapdragon 720G
GPU-Adreno 618
RAM/INTERNAL STORAGE-6/64 GB,6/128 GB/8/128 GB
CAMERA-64MP,8MP,5MP,2MP
FRONT CAMERA-32MP
FINGERPRINT SENSOR-Side mounted
BATTERY-5020mAH with 33W fast charging
I have kept the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max above Realme 6 Pro in spite of the latter’s better camera set up is solely because of the bigger battery.In this price segment with same processors a bigger battery is always useful.
1) XIAOMI POCO X2
KEY FEATURES
THICKNESS-8.8mm
WEIGHT-208g
DISPLAY-6.67″IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1080×2400 resolution
PROTECTION-Corning Gorilla Glass5
BODY-Aluminium frame
SCREEN REFRESH RATE-120Hz
PROCESSOR-Octa core with Snapdragon 730G
GPU-Adreno 618
RAM/INTERNAL STORAGE-6/64GB,6/128GB,8/256 GB
CAMERA-64MP,8MP,2MP,2MP
FRONT CAMERA-20MP,2MP dual punch hole module
FINGERPRINT SENSOR-Side mounted
BATTERY-4500mAH with 27W fast charging
The 120Hz refresh rate is at par with the highest end flagship devices like the Samsung S 20 and the OnePlus 8.The Snapdragon 730G is also slightly faster than the 720G.These two factors makes the Poco X2 no.1 in my list.
The 6/64 GB variant costs Rs.16,999.I should mention that the Poco X2 ‘s availability outside India is very rare.
CONCLUSION
I would like to mention that Realme X2 is a worthy phone for this list but I didn’t include it because its 4GB RAM variant costs similar to the Realme 6 Pro.
Anyways how did you like my list?Do you have any other phone in your mind? If so please comment and let me know.