Over the past few years, the budget segment of smartphones have really improved and we now have a lot of options that actually serve the purpose of a smartphone. Over the past few years, several brands have started offering good quality smartphones in the sub 10,000 range with decent specifications. Two of the brands that offer the best value for money in this segment are Xiaomi and Lenovo. However, in the recent past, even brands like Asus and Infinix have entered this segment and offer pretty good smartphones on a strict budget.
In this list we talk about some of the phones that we’ve personally tested and liked, instead of getting into the details on the specifications this post will focus on highlighting the specific reason for the smartphones to be worthy of a spot in the list.
Gizmo Times 2017 Awards: Best Smartphones priced under Rs. 10000
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
Redmi Note 4 is one of the best performing smartphones on the list and clearly outperforms most of its competition with a significant margin. The device has an excellent build quality given the unibody metal design that it comes with. The battery on this device is a massive one and can easily last you up to two days on regular usage. The device comes in multiple variants of RAM and Storage and you can choose the one that best suits your needs.
Lenovo K8 Plus
The Lenovo K8 plus is one of the company’s first experiments with stock Android and they seem to have done pretty well in their first attempt. The device surprised us with the performance. The device even comes with a dual camera setup and the camera on this device performs pretty well and gives good quality bokeh effect in the result pictures. Also, the device has a massive battery and we got excellent standby times on the device. One thing that we certainly appreciate is the move to stock Android which will help the company improve the update cycles and also reduce the software bugs at the same time.
Xiaomi Redmi 4
If you like the design of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 but find it too big to hold then the Redmi 4 might be a good choice for you. The device runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and performs pretty well for the price. You can choose between several RAM and Storage variants based on your requirement. The battery life on this device is the biggest bonus, with the massive battery and the small screen, you could easily pull off over two days of usage without having to charge in between.
Infocus Turbo 5 Plus
The Infocus Turbo 5 Plus is a budget phone from the company and comes with a massive battery. The device comes with a 4850mAh battery which translates to some of the best standby by and screen on times that we’ve seen. Although the device comes with 3GB RAM, the RAM usage has been optimized by the software pretty well for a smooth usage. We really like the design of the smartphone for the price that it comes for, the build quality is pretty sturdy and feels good in the hand.
Micromax Canvas Infinity
The Micromax Canvas Infinity was more like a comeback for the company and it was the first device from the company to have an 18:9 display. The device has an excellent display of the price. Also, because the device comes with a 5.7″ display at 18:9 aspect ratio, the device fits in the hand very easily. The device has a decent design and the most important fact about the device is that it comes with an unmodified software experience apart for the launcher itself, this helps the company easily update the device and has even promised an update to the Android Oreo. Also, the device has an excellent front camera which lets you take pretty good selfies at most lighting conditions.
10.or E
The 10.or E is the younger sibling of the 10.or G which is their mid-range phone. The 10.or does a lot for the price that it is offered at, we really like the build quality of the device and the performance of it. Also, the device comes with a rather good battery that returns very good screen on time for regular usage and also the software of the device has been optimized to give good standby times if you don’t use the phone much.
ASUS Zenfone 4 Selfie
The Zenfone 4 Selfie comes in two variants and has made its way to both our lists. The Single camera variant comes under the 10k price segment and performs a pretty good task at the price point. The device is an excellent performer and the UI can be navigated through very smoothly. And as evident as it might seem, the selfie camera on the device performs really good, the Camera app by itself has several options that you can make use of for a perfect picture.
Xiaomi Redmi Y1
The Redmi Y1 was the first ever smartphone from the company focused mainly towards the selfie users. The Redmi Y1 comes with an excellent front camera and does the job of taking selfies very well and has features like Beautify 3.0 that further enhance the images. The device also performs pretty good and has a decent battery life.
Smartron srt.phone
The Smartron Phone launched for about 12,000 and we found it as one of the best performers for the price back then, now the price of the phone has been further dropped and you can now get it for a little over 8,000 making it an, even more, sweeter deal. The device is a great performer and has a decent camera. The best thing about the device is that it comes with a free 1-year insurance included in the price.
Infinix Note 4
The Infinix Note 4 is a decent performer but can be a great buy if you are looking for a phablet experience. The device has a 5.7″ Full HD display which could come handy while watching videos and browsing the web. The battery life on the device is also excellent, thanks to the 4300mAh battery.
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.
