Budget Smartphones with Big Battery and Best Camera

Best Budget Smartphones In India

 If you are buying a smartphone in India, chances are you are buying something in the budget mobile range and there is huge catalogue to choose from. And budget smartphones have grown from strength to strength and can take on more expensive smartphones easily. Budget smartphones now offer high refresh rate displays, high resolution multi-camera setups, good designs and hassle-free software. So, we put together our list of the top budget smartphone in India for July 2020 across various brands. Our Top 5 list gives best options for buyers wanting a cheap smartphone available in a budget. These low price phones offer the best possible value in terms of specs, features and build quality.

 

01 The Realme 6 Pro

Even before there were 5G flagships, it’s Realme’s Pro series that really plastered its name in people’s minds. The Realme Pro smartphones were probably one of the few smartphones that could compete toe-to-toe with Xiaomi’s offerings at that time. Now in its fifth iteration, the Realme 6 Pro takes on the Poco X2 and a Redmi Note 9 Pro along with some of its own siblings like the Realme X2. Now this is also the first Realme number series with the Pro tag to go beyond Rs 15,000.

 The Realme 6 Pro continues the legacy of Realme's Pro series of incrementally introducing new features in the mid-range segment. This time it's a 90Hz refresh rate display and a Snapdragon 720G SoC along with a 64MP quad camera setup. And this is Samsung's second generation camera sensor tuned to improve the sharpness and details. On the front you have a dual punch-hole camera, and a 4300mAh battery with 30W fast charging. That's a good wholesome package on offer for the budget segment.

 The Realme 6 Pro comes across as a well-rounded device with the right mix of hardware that adheres to the latest market trends. A high refresh rate display, a gaming-oriented processor, multi-camera setups and more makes the Realme 6 Pro an enticing buy. The Realme 6 Pro offers a consistent camera performance, long battery life and decent gaming.

powered by the new Snapdragon 720G. It’s a mid-range chipset based on an 8nm manufacturing process and features Kryo 465 Gold and Silver cores clocked at up to 2.3GHz. The SoC comes with an Adreno 618 GPU which is also present in the Snapdragon 730G. The G in the name entails Qualcomm’s Elite Gaming suite of features. Additionally, there’s up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage. We received the top-most variant for review and straight off, it feels far too smooth for a mid-range smartphone. 

 02 Redmi Note 9 Pro

 The Redmi Note 9 Pro is now the starting variant of the Note series with the Note 9 Pro Max getting most of the attention. The iPhone-esque decision to diversify the portfolio meant the Pro 'Max' variant got that extra horsepower to tide you through difficult times. The Note 9 Pro Max gets a larger 64MP camera sensor at the back, a larger 32MP selfie camera and faster 33W charging out of the box. The rest of the hardware is the same as the regular Note 9 Pro. The Note 9 Pro Max offers a large 6.7-inch LCD display with a punch hole camera. It's powered by the Snapdragon 720G along with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage in the entry variant under Rs 15,000. The phone also offers a 64MP quad camera setup. There's also another 8MP ultrawide lens, a 5MP macro lens and another 2MP depth sensor. On the front, you get a 16MP front camera. The Note 9 Pro also comes with a large 5020mAh battery with 33W fast charging. And there's Gorilla Glass 5 covering the front, back as well as the camera glass.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro Max looks similar to the Redmi Note 9 Pro. The smartphone runs on the company’s proprietary MIUI 11 which is based on Android 10 OS. The phone has a 6.67-inch full-HD+ display with 1,080 x 2,400 pixels resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor paired with up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM.

The Redmi note 9 Pro Max has a quad rear camera setup which includes a 64 MP primary sensor, an 8 MP secondary sensor with an ultra-wide-angle, a 2 MP depth sensor and a 5 MP macro shooter. In the front the phone has a 32 MP camera which is housed in the central hole-punch.

The dual-SIM (Nano) Redmi Note 9 Pro Max runs on Google’s Android 10 OS based company’s proprietary MIUI 11 on top. It packs a 6.67-inch full-HD+ display with 1,080 x 2,400 pixels resolution. It has 20:9 aspect ratio and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor with Adreno 618 GPU, and up to 8 GB of RAM.

Redmi has increased the price of the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max in India by Rs. 500, and the phone is now priced starting at Rs. 16,999 for the 6 GB RAM / 64 GB internal storage variant, while the 6 GB RAM / 128 GB internal storage variant is now priced at Rs. 18,499. The top model with 8 GB RAM + 128 GB memory saw no change in price and continues to retail at Rs. 19,999. This is the second price hike for the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max which has now become Rs. 2,000 more expensive than its original launch price.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro Max smartphone has seen multiple price hikes since its launch. The phone is now up to Rs. 2,000 more expensive than its original launch price of Rs 14,999. The smartphone is currently priced in India starting at Rs. 16,999 for the base 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant, while the 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant is now priced at Rs. 18,499. The top of the line model with 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage is now priced at Rs. 19,999. The smartphone is available for purchase in India via Amazon India and Mi.com.

Despite a gaming-heavy processor, lots of camera sensors and a 90Hz display, the Realme 6 Pro manages to last well over a day. The 4,300mAh battery was a tough nut to crack with our video loop test with the device managing to run well over 27 hours before dying out. Games like CoD: Mobile drained 3 percent battery after 15 minutes of gaming while a 30-minunte binge of Tiger King on Netflix drained the battery by around 4 percent. Both these numbers are on the lesser side, and lesser is better when it comes to battery drop.

The 4300mAh battery also tops up under an hour thanks to the 30W VOOC charger. We managed to get 50 percent of the battery charged in less than 30 minutes which is pretty neat, especially when you have to be on the move most of the day.

 03 Motorola One Fusion +

 Arriving late, but beating the competition in terms of price, the Motorola One Fusion+ is one of the most powerful budget smartphone you can buy right now. Thanks to the Snapdragon 730G, the Moto One Fusion+ is able to deliver smooth frame rates while gaming and also bring in some Snapdragon Elite Gaming features found in flagship phones. It also rocks a 64MP quad camera setup, where the low-light photos come out quite well thanks to proprietary algorithms. While it doesn't have a high-refresh rate display, Moto compensates by a 6.5-inch HDR10 display that has no interruptions thanks to a pop-up selfie camera. With a stock Android 10 interface and the promise of at least two major Android updates, the One Fusion+ is one for those looking for a powerful smartphone with a clean, easy to use interface.

The Motorola One Fusion+ is a budget offering from the company. This smartphone is among the very few devices to sport a pop-up selfie camera. As a result, it has an all-screen front without any notch or hole-punch in its way. The 6.5-inch display on the Motorola One Fusion+ is an IPS panel and is HDR 10 certified. Motorola has also added a loud bottom-firing speaker which makes this smartphone a good package for viewing content.

Powering the Motorola One Fusion+ is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor which is capable of handling day to day tasks as well as gaming with ease. It could manage heavy games at high settings without any issues. The One Fusion+ also packs in a big 5,000mAh battery which delivered excellent battery life. Charging isn't the fastest using the supplied 18W charger but the phone took around 2 hours to charge completely.

Motorola ships the One Fusion+ with stock Android which isn't very common. It is very easy to get used to this device. There are no pre-installed apps or bloatware on this device. Motorola One Fusion+ has a quad-camera setup with a 64-megapixel primary camera. It manages good photos in daylight and enables HDR automatically in bright scenes. The macro camera also delivers a good output. In lowlight, the camera performance is average but it is improved drastically with night mode enabled. 

04. Redmi K20

The Redmi K20 is one of the best smartphones under 25k right now. It looks much more expensive than its price, and packs in the same camera setup and the display as the flagship K20 Pro. The only difference is the presence of a Snapdragon 730 instead of a flagship processor, and that's perfectly alright. The Snapdragon 730 uses the same cores as the Snapdragon 855 and offers most of the features that's there on the flagship SoC. On the back, the Redmi K20 houses a triple camera setup which includes a 48MP primary shooter, 13MP wide-angle and 8MP telephoto, offering a wide array of choices while shooting. The build quality of the phone is also quite solid. This is a clear winner in our hands in the budget segment. 

The Redmi K20's aesthetics are appealing and it stands out in a sea of other phones with a glass slab design and gaudy gradients. The 6.39-inch AMOLED display is of excellent quality, and the in-display fingerprint sensor is also quick.

The triple rear cameras deliver impressive results, and except for the underwhelming low-light performance and some other minor issues, the overall output is a cut above what the competition offers. The phone's battery life is also great, with the 4,000mAh unit easily making it past a day and more.

The Snapdragon 730 SoC powering this phone ensures a lag-free usage in even the most demanding situations and delivers a smooth gaming experience. A refined MIUI with fewer ads and features like a dark mode, app drawer, and ambient display are an added bonus on the software side. 

 The specifications of the Redmi K20 are quite impressive for a phone that starts at Rs. 21,999. This phone's hardware is nearly the same as that of the more expensive Redmi K20 Pro, with two major differences. The Redmi K20 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 855 and employs the 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor for its primary rear camera, while the Redmi K20 gets the Snapdragon 730 SoC and comes equipped with the slightly lower-end 48-megapixel Sony IMX582 sensor.

The only difference between the two sensors is that the Sony IMX586 can record 4K videos at 60fps, while the Sony IMX582 can only go up to 30fps. Xiaomi apparently went with the latter because the Snapdragon 730 does not support 4K video encoding at 60fps anyway.

The Redmi K20 features a 6.39-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2340 pixels) HDR AMOLED display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 91.9 percent, 403ppi pixel density, and 600 nits of peak brightness. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

The in-display fingerprint sensor on the phone is reasonably quick and accurate, and unlocked the Redmi K20 within a second during the course of our usage. While setting up the fingerprint sensor, we were warned that using an adhesive screen protector might interfere with the scanner, and only an authorised protective cover compatible with the phone should be used.

The Redmi K20 comes in two variants – a base model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage which is what we have for review, and a higher-end configuration with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Unfortunately, there is no microSD card slot for storage expansion.

There are three rear cameras – a 48-megapixel Sony IMX582 sensor with an f/1.75 aperture, an 8-megapixel secondary camera with a telephoto lens and an f/2.4 aperture, and a 13-megapixel camera with an ultra wide-angle lens and 124.8-degree field of view.

Selfies are handled by a pop-up 20-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The lens is protected by sapphire glass, while the module itself is automatically retracted when the phone detects that it is falling.

As for camera features, the Redmi K20 supports slow-mo video capture at up to 960fps and 4K video capture at 30fps. There is a dedicated night mode, a 48-megapixel mode, lighting effects, and a tonne of beautification filters to play with. The lights are kept on by a 4,000mAh battery, and this phone supports Quick Charge 3.0 so it can be topped up with the supplied 18W fast charger.

On the software side, the Redmi K20 runs MIUI 10.3.3 based on Android 9 Pie. Our review unit ran on the dated May 2019 Android security patch, but we hope Xiaomi will roll out an update with the latest security patch soon.

 05. Galaxy M31

 

The Samsung Galaxy M31 has a quad-camera setup. The 128GB Price In India Starts From Rs. 14999. The device will be available on Amazon India website, official Samsung online and offline stores. The phone will come in two colors as Ocean Blue and Space Black. Samsung Galaxy M31 comes with a 64 Megapixels + 8M Megapixels + 5 Megapixels + 5 Megapixels quad rear camera which can capture stunning and fascinating pictures. On front it has 32 Megapixel camera. The battery of this latest smartphone is powers with a Li-ion cell having a huge capacity of 6,000mAh. It is one of the best phone under 20000 in India in 2020. It has a 6.4-inch AMOLED Full HD+ display.It also has a waterdrop style notch over the bezel-less screen. Under the hood, the phone is powered by an Exynos 9611 processor paired with up to 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The phone has a quad rear camera setup with the primary sensor being 64 MP. The second camera sensor is 8MP, the third camera sensor is 5 MP and the fourth one is a 5 MP sensor. Samsung says that the phone can easily last a day on a single charge

 

Moving on to the performance bit, and the Samsung Galaxy M31 is powered by an Exynos 9611 SoC. It also runs Android 10 out-of-the-box. The OS is wrapped under the company’s own OneUI. The smartphone’s 6GB RAM does the job it is supposed to and can retain the different apps and where they were left off. But with time it does tend to kill some of the heavier apps. Gaming on the device is the real test to assess how it performs. It held up well in my sessions of playing Call of Duty: Mobile, but only after the settings were turned down to ‘Mid’, because ‘High’ settings kept tripping up an FPS loss. It did heat up a bit during extended sessions of play as well.

 

The Galaxy M31 is backed by a large 6,000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging. And true to Samsung’s claims, the smartphone does hold up a long time after a full session of charging. The device easily lasts you two days with heavy usage that includes checking social media every waking hour and some extensive gaming sessions as well. It also includes some intermittent video viewing on YouTube as well.

But what is somewhat disappointing here is that the charging speed of the smartphone is not what its competitors are offering. The phone takes a while to say the least to fully juice up. If the battery levels fall under 10 percent, then it takes about two hours to get charged back up to 100 percent. And this while using the 15W Fast Charger provided in the box.The device has support for a microSD card, which can be used to expand the internal memory. The fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy M31 is placed in the same area as it was on the Galaxy M30s.

Moving on to the camera department, and the Samsung Galaxy M31 now features a quad-camera setup. This includes a 64-megapixel primary camera with f/1.8 aperture. The three other sensors on the device include an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 5-megapixel depth camera, and another 5-megapixel macro lens. On the front end of things it features a 32-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture, which is an upgrade over the 16-megapixel one in the previous version.

The camera does well for this price segment in brightly lit conditions, but it struggles in low light settings. The colors are reproduced well but it seems to wash out in low light, hence your club selfies may not show the correct red of your dress. In bright light the detail in the photos are noticeable. But these seem to diminish somewhat in the wide-angle mode photos. The artificial depth created using the cameras are just about fine, and the edges are not perfectly reproduced. Samsung has kept a lot of the things same on the Galaxy M31 when compared to it predecessor the Galaxy M30s. In fact there are only a few differences in the two phones to begin with. The new smartphone has an upgraded camera with a new 4k video recording feature. The base variant now has 6GB RAM instead of the 4GB of the previous generation. Apart from this the battery backup of the device is just as reliable as before.