In the past few years, smartphones have become much more affordable than they were. The value for money segment in smartphone originally started with the launch of the Moto G and it just keeps getting better. Now we have a wide option of devices that we can get for non-flagship prices and if you are in the market looking for new phones then the options available would actually confuse you in the decision.
In this list, we will include the best smartphones in the price segment of up to 20,000 that we’ve personally used and liked. We will not only talk about the specifications of the device but also get into the details on what we like about the device giving you a better reason to choose one device over the other given your priorities.
Gizmo Times 2017 Awards: Best Smartphones priced under Rs. 20000
Honor 7X – The Winner!
Honor 7X clearly deserves the first place on our list, given the fact that it ticks almost every box for a perfect smartphone. The device comes with their own in-house chipset called the Kirin 659 which is a 16nm octa-core chipset. The device is also aided by 4GB of RAM and has two variants of either 64 or 32 GB internal storage while then can still be expanded using a microSD card for an additional 256GB storage. What we personally like about the device is the vivid and immersive 18:9 aspect ratio screen which is a FullHD 2160×1080 display. Also, the device has an excellent camera setup comprising of a 16MP and a 2MP rear camera combo which helps the device recreate excellent portrait images.
The camera results are vivid and well saturated making it one of the best overall camera setups in the price segment. Some of the unique software features implemented in this phone are the enhanced split view feature which lets you easily multitask with two apps without having to continuously switch between the two. The Honor 7X also supports a feature called the Wi-Fi bridge which lets you create a personalized hotspot and share internet access while you are still connected to another Wi-Fi router making the device work similar to a Wi-Fi repeater. Given the highly capable Kirin 659 chipset, the device is a great performer and the UI is extremely smooth.
Xiaomi Mi A1
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is the first device from the company to have a Stock Android experience, it is also the first device launched by the company in India to have a dual camera setup. The device runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset which is an octa-core chipset clocked at 2Ghz and is aided by 4GB of RAM. The internal memory of this device is 64Gb which can be further expanded to up to 128GB via microSD card.
What we really like about the device is the performance that it offers at the price point, also this is the first device from the company to offer a stock Android experience in partnership with the Android One project. As the device is a part of the Android One project, the device is entitled to a guaranteed update to both Android Oreo as well as the next version of Android, the Android P. The dual camera setup in this device lets the device capture excellent images. The device performs pretty well in the portrait mode and the Bokeh effect in the images is pretty significant.
Moto G5s Plus
The Moto G5s Plus is the upgrade to the Moto G5 Plus and has most of the same internals except the Primary camera which has been updated with a dual camera design. The device comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 635 Chipset which is a quad-core chipset and is aided by 4GB of RAM, the device comes with 64GB internal memory and the same can be further expended to up to 128GB via a microSD card. The device also has a decent battery backup but the main aspect about the device that we really like is the performance of it as the device runs a very capable processor and the software on this device is the bloat-free Stock Android.
Honor 8
The Honor 8 is quite an old phone and has been available for a long time. The device runs their own in-house chipset called the Kirin 950 which is an octa-core processor. This device also has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage which can be further expanded to an additional 128GB of storage via microSD card. This device has an excellent camera setup similar to the Honor 7X. However, this device has a dual 12MP sensor setup compared to the 16+2MP setup as found in the Honor 7X.
The device makes use of the monochrome lens in the Honor 8 to capture better details of the images and then clubs them with the data captured by the color sensor to come up with one of the best image results. What we really like about the device is the excellent performance that It offers and the premium design that it comes with. The device has a glass-metal design which might be a little slippery to hold but certainly feels very premium in hand.
Lenovo K8 Note
The Lenovo K8 note is a part of the K8 series of devices that come with a Stock Android experience. This device runs on a 2.3GHz Helio X23 10-core processor and is aided by either 3 or 4GB of RAM. The device comes with 64GB of internal storage and can be expended to up to 128GB via a microSD card. This is also one of the first devices from the company to come with a dual camera setup which includes a 13MP sensor clubbed with a 5MP sensor.
The most important reason for us to choose this device to be a part of our list is the battery life, the device comes with a 4000mAh battery and provides exceptional battery life. The device also has a very capable front camera and takes excellent selfies. Given the fact that the device runs on stock Android the performance of the device is really good and you can easily zip through the UI without facing any kind of lags.
Xiaomi Mi Max 2
The Mi Max 2 is the Megaphone from Xiaomi and runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset and has 4GB of RAM. The device comes in two variants of internal storage and you can either get a 32GB variant or the 64GB variant. Both the models can be expanded via microSD card slot to up to 128GB of storage. The camera on this device is pretty good as it comes with a 12MP sensor from Sony and has a huge size of i.12µm.
What we really like about the device is the battery life that it offers, the device has a massive 5300mAh battery and will easily last you a day and beyond even on heavy usage. The device also performs very well because of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset that it comes with. If you like the phablet style design for a regular usage, then this might be one of the best options in the market for the price range.
Infinix Zero 5
The Infinix Zero 5 is one of the recently launched smartphones from the company and runs on MediaTek Helio P25 MT6757 Octa Core 2.6 GHz Processor and is aided by 6GB of RAM which should be very much sufficient even for intensive multi-tasking. The device also comes with 64GB of internal storage which can be further expanded to up to 128GB of storage via a microSD card. The device has a rather big 5.98” display at a FullHD resolution and comes with a huge 4350mAh battery.
We really like the design of the device as it has very good build quality, if you are looking for a phablet then this is a strong competitor to the Mi Max 2. The device has a really good camera setup consisting of a Wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens with 2X optical zoom. Both the camera sensors work in harmony to give excellent portrait mode images while also letting you take Wide angle shots or zoomed in shots without any distortion or loss in image quality.
Oppo F5
The Oppo F5 is the only device from the company to offer a 2:1 or 18:9 aspect ratio display. The device is powered by a 2.5GHz MT6763T octa-core processor. The device also has 4GB RAM and comes with 32GB internal storage which you can expand for an additional 256Gb external storage via microSD card. The device comes with a 16MP primary camera and a 20MP front-facing camera for selfies. The device takes excellent selfies and performs well. We really like the performance of the device and the special features like face unlock which works flawlessly on the device. The selfies that are taken turn out really good with accurate sharpness and white balance. The device also has a solid rear camera unlike most of the selfie oriented phones where the rear camera gets neglected.
ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie Dual Cam
The ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie is one of the budget offerings from the company and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 Chipset and has 4GB RAM. The internal storage of the device is 64GB and the same can be expanded to up to 2TB Via a microSD card. The device has a decent 16MP camera, but the magic happens in the front camera which is a 20MP + 8MP dual sensor setup. We really like the Selfie camera of this device as it produces excellent portraits. The device also has a very good design language and the build quality is more than impressive. The device feels good to hold in the hand and has a 3000mAh battery which should be enough for a day’s usage.
Vivo V7
The Vivo V7 is the first device from the company to come with an 18:9 aspect ratio display and the device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset and has 4GB of RAM. The internal memory of this device is 32GB which can be expanded to an additional 256GB via a microSD card. The 5.7-inch HD display is very vivid and pleasing to see. We really like the selfie camera of the device which is a 24MP sensor, the primary camera on this device is also pretty good and it is a 16MP sensor. The performance of the device is also surprisingly good and the device has a smooth user experience.
10.or G
10.or G is one of the first phones from the company and honestly, they hit it off pretty well in their first attempt. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 chipset and has 4GB of RAM, The device has 64 GB of internal memory which can further be expanded to up to 128GB via a microSD card slot. We were pleasantly surprised by the performance of the device at the price that it comes at, the design of the device is very premium and feels good to hold in the hand.
Also, if you have a Prime membership then the warranty of the device gets extended by a year. The best part of the device is the standby battery life, given the 4000mAh battery, it is not a thing to be surprised about but is certainly a plus point while buying the phone.
Conclusion and Side Notes
The list we have made here is purely based on the devices that we have used and reviewed. There might be some good phones not in the list, and some deserving ones as well, but we cannot include a phone that we haven’t used, only based on what it offers on paper.
