Best Phones Under Rs. 20,000 [October 2016]

Let’s start by stating the obvious. The Indian smartphone market is hyper competitive, and what that essentially means is that you get to see top of the line specs and features at surprisingly low prices. Things like 4GB RAM, ‘Metal’, Full HD displays, etc. have become industry stable even for phones under 15,000 INR.

However, all that bravado goes down the toilet seat when we need to zero down on a phone worth recommending. That’s because all Android phones come with crucial ifs and buts. The only way to buy the right one is to decide your priorities first and see which one comes close to full filling most of them.

So, if you are looking for a mobile phone ranging between 15,000 INR to 20,000 INR, here are the best available options that you can consider.

Lenovo Z2 Plus

Lenovo Z2 Plus (First Impression) is the one hogging all the limelight these days. And for good reason.

Apart from a beautiful, compact design, the Z2 Plus is loaded to the brim with high end hardware, the most notable of which is the Qualcomm’s current best – the Snapdragon 820 SoC.

The U touch home button is another ingredient which should make a world of difference to anyone who values multitasking. The camera hardware is also quite decent for the price

Lenovo Z2 Plus Specifications and Lowest Price

Pros

• Good quality display
• Powerful chipset
• Elegant design and build

Cons

• No OIS

Le Max2

The Le Max2 (Full Review) will be available for 17,999 INR next week, which makes it a sweet deal for the upcoming festival season.

The handset offers top of the line hardware, including 2.15 GHz Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, crisp QHD display, great still photography experience, and 1 year of Le Membership that includes content streaming from Eros Now, Yupp TV and Hungama Music (coming soon).

The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the handset was a big pain, but the same has been rectified and improved with subsequent updates.

Le Max2 Specifications and Lowest Price

Pros

• Sharp and vivid display
• Le Membership
• Decent camera performance

Cons

• No audio jack
• Fingerprint sensor still has room for improvement

Also Read: Tracing Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensors And How They Really Work

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime

The Galaxy J7 Prime (First Impression) is currently the best of Samsung’s J series. It offers a fingerprint sensor, premium metal design, 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4, decent camera hardware and software, a couple of new J series software enhancements and the assurance of tier-1 branding.

The speaker has been shifted to the side edge (Which is better than rear placed one any day). Although Samsung is using a TFT panel, the quality is pretty good and there is nothing to complain about in this regards.

If you are looking for a well-recognized branded option that you can also purchase offline, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is as good as it gets for under 20,000 INR. If brand is not a priority, there are other options available.

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime Specifications and Lowest Price

Pros

• Good camera quality
• Elegant design
• Great battery backup

Cons

• Capacitive keys are not backlit
• No ambient light sensor
• Not suited for high-end gaming

Nextbit Robin

The Nextbit Robin (Hands on review) doesn’t put together the best possible specs. The Snapdragon 808 SoC is already showing signs of aging, and if you are power user, the 2680mAh battery will struggle to last one whole day.

But, at the same time, it’s refreshing design and simple UI makes it a breath of fresh air. The day to day usage experience is much better than what the specs otherwise suggest and this is one of those rare phones that are unique. In a good way too.

If you are a basic or moderate user with basic smartphone usage needs like photography, social media, browsing, etc.  And are looking for something different, the cloud-first Nextbit Robin is a viable option.

Nextbit Robin Specifications and Lowest Price

Pros

• Fast and accurate fingerprint sensor
• Refreshing design
• Great display quality
• Decent camera for the price
• Powerful stereo speaker on the front

Cons

• Poor after sales support
• Cloud storage doesn’t make much sense in India
• Mediocre battery life

Vivo V3 Max

The Vivo V3 Max (Full Review) felt a bit overpriced when it was launched for around 24K, but now that the handset is selling for under 20K, it qualifies as a recommendable smartphone.

The Vivo V3 Max delivers solid performance, flaunts a slim, attractive, metal unibody design, and offers a very convincing battery backup. It is an all-rounder that gets the basics right. Also, you can try and buy it from offline stores as well.

Vivo V3 Max Specifications and Lowest Price

Pros

• Powerful performance
• Attractive design
• Solid Battery backup
• Great Audio quality

Cons

• Software experience feels a bit unrefined