Best budget smartphones 2019

Heavy marketing, faster portfolio refresh, great specifications devices, and a very affordable price has made the budget smartphone market more competitive than ever. Brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung, Realme and Honor have successfully established themselves in the sub-Rs 10k segment. Their marketing strategies and product portfolios are now more focused on the needs of local consumers and preferences, which is one of their key strengths. And while there are plenty of choices in this segment, here in this list we bring you the best budget smartphones in 2019.

Realme 3i

The Realme 3i costs Rs 7,999 for the 3GB/32GB variant and Rs 9,999 for the 4GB/64GB version. The smartphone comes in three different colors diamond blue, diamond black and diamond red. The smartphone uses 3D diamond colors in a 2D premium body that gives it an aesthetic and smudge-free look from the back. There is a dewdrop display offering an 88.3 percent screen-to-body ratio and also comes with Gorilla Glass 3 to increase the level of protection as compared to its previous models. The Realme 3i sports a 6.22 inches IPS LCD display with a resolution of 720×1520.

The smartphone is by the Helio P60 processor that makes sure that the power consumption drops by 15 percent, thus resulting in better performance and user experience and battery life. There is also a CorePilot 4.0 in the Realme 3i that ensures smooth task scheduling through effective hardware resource management. The Realme 3i sports a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup with an AI self-learning feature.

Samsung Galaxy M10

The Galaxy M10 is priced at Rs 8,990 for the 3GB+32GB variant and Rs 7,990 for the 2GB+16GB. The Galaxy M10 has a 6.2-inch HD+ Infinity-V display. Both the Galaxy M20 and M10 come with Widevine L1 certification for seamless streaming of HD content through popular apps. The smartphone is powered by the Exynos 7870 octa-core processor and comes only with face recognition unlock feature. The Galaxy M10 comes with a 13MP primary rear camera that has an f1.9 aperture. The secondary rear camera has a 5MP ultra-wide feature that is best suited for landscapes, cityscapes, group photos, etc. when users want to fit a lot into one single frame.

Samsung Galaxy M20

The Galaxy M20 is priced at Rs 12,990 for the 4GB+64GB variant, the 3GB+32GB variant cost Rs 10,990. The smartphone features a true full-HD+ 6.3-inch Infinity-V display and also comes with Widevine L1 certification similar to Galaxy M10.

The Galaxy M20 is powered by the Exynos 7904 octa-core and comes with a fingerprint as well as face unlock features. For photography, it has a 13MP primary rear camera and a 5MP ultra-wide camera. The smartphone is fuelled by a 5,000mAh battery with power management features boasting of a multi-layered technology system that ensures low power consumption.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7S

The Redmi Note 7S is priced at Rs 10,999 for the 3GB+32GB variant and Rs 12,999 for the 4GB+64GB variant. The Redmi Note 7S comes sports a 6.3-inch full HD+ (2340 × 1080p) dot notch display. The screen is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front and back. The smartphone features a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 48MP and 5MP dual cameras with PDAF, EIS and AI portrait mode. There is a 13MP front camera. The Note 7S is powered by the octa-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor. The smartphone comes in 3GB and 4GB RAM variants. Both the smartphones are powered by the 4,000mAh battery.

ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2

A successor to the Max Pro M1, the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 sports a 6.26-inch full-HD+ screen offering a 19:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is armed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor and runs on Android 8.1 Oreo OS and houses a massive 5,000mAh battery. It sports a dual rear-camera setup – a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a 5MP depth sensor – and a 13MP front camera with a LED flash.

Realme 2 Pro

The dual-SIM (Nano) Realme 2 Pro runs ColorOS5.2 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo OS. The smartphone has a 6.3-inch (1080×2340 pixels) full-HD+ display with a 90.8 percent screen-to-body ratio and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 660 AIE SoC clubbed with Adreno 512 GPU. For photography, the smartphone sports a dual rear camera setup with a 16MP sensor sporting an f/1.7 lens and a 2MP secondary depth sensor. At the front, there is a 16MP sensor with an f/2.0 lens. Further, the phone has 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, and USB OTG.

Realme U1

Priced at Rs 8,999, the Realme U1 comes in a plastic body with a laminated back and features a tiny 'dewdrop' notch and thin bezels on the sides. The smartphone is powered by the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC and runs on ColorOS 5.2. There is a 25MP front camera and the rear camera is also of 25MP.

Nokia 5.1 Plus

Priced at Rs 8,999, the Nokia 5.1 Plus sport a glossy finish and comes with a 5.86-inch display with a 19:9 aspect ratio offering vivid and decent colors, black levels are good, and so are the brightness levels. The Nokia 5.1 Plus is powered by the MediaTek Helio P60 octa-core SoC. The smartphone comes with a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 13MP primary sensor and a 5MP depth sensor. There is a 16MP front camera at the front. And given enough light, both the cameras can take good quality photos capturing a decent amount of details.

Honor 10 Lite

The Honor 10 Lite comes with a big 6.21-inch display offering a 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 710SoC and has 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage. It has a dual-camera setup consisting of a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. At the front, there is a 24MP selfie shooter. It is fuelled by the 3400mAh battery and supports 10W charging.

Xiaomi Redmi 7A

The Redmi 7A 2GB RAM with 16GB storage variant is priced at Rs 5,999, and the 2GB/32GB storage variant is priced at Rs 6,199. The smartphone features a standard 5.45-inch HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio. The Redmi 7A offers dual SIM, dual VoLTE capabilities. The smartphone also comes with reinforced corners and a splash-proof design that ensures protection against accidental falls and spills. The device is fuelled by the octa-core 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor.

The Redmi 7A sports a 12MP Sony IMX486 sensor making it the only phone in its segment to sport the sensor. On the front, it features a 5MP front camera with AI Portrait mode for great portrait selfies.