One of the starring new trends in the personal technology space recently has been the focus on budget phones by major players in the mobile manufacturing space. A couple of years ago, you would really struggle to find a good or let’s just say a usable Android phone that costs below Rs 10,000. Motorola kind of lead the revolution of change with their first generation of Motorola Moto E and Moto G which prompted several big brands such as Microsoft, Lenovo, Samsung etc to take the category seriously and set up a fierce competition. Fast forward to today, and you would be hard pressed, when picking a mobile phone for below Rs 10,000 mark as the choices in the market are vast.
And since Diwali is a popular time to shop here in India, with spending money considered auspicious, if you are looking to pick up a smartphone that is below the Rs 10,000 budget mark, then the following must be what you should be eyeing:
Coolpad Note 3
The coolest technology in the smartphones today is the fingerprint scanner. Popularised by the iPhone 5s, fingerprint scanners have become a bit of a must have on your smartphones. In fact, once you start using the feature, you kind of feel awkward about using a pattern lock or a PIN code lock. But what if you have budget constraints and cannot pick up a high-end device with a fingerprint scanner? You pick up the Coolpad Note 3. The device is the lowest priced phone in the market with a fingerprint scanner. And it is not just the outsides that are impressive here as the internals of the phone too is pretty impressive. It comes with MTK 6753 chipset with 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB internal storage. Cool UI is also one of the better skins out there when compared to some of the other UI that the Android manufacturers plant on top of Android in this price range. The phone is priced extremely aggressively at Rs 8,999 and is an exclusive online product.
Spice Dream Uno
We are sure you feel that what is a phone that is almost a year old doing on a list being compiled at a time when there are several better options out there? Let us explain. The Spice Dream Uno was the very first device in the Indian market, post the Nexus devices which got the update to Android Marshmallow. Google has been very aggressive in pushing the Android One line in the emerging markets like India and has so far stood true to its promise and updated the phone with the latest and greatest. At the price point of about Rs 4,000, you get to use the latest Android version, what else you could ask for from a budget phone. In terms of hardware, the device sports a 4.5 inches screen with 854X480 resolution IPS panel. It is powered by a Mediatek MTK 6582 chipset and has 1 GB of RAM. The camera on board is a 5 MP shooter on the back and 2 MP on the front. While the internal storage is miserly 4 GB you do have a micro SD slot inbuilt which can double up as internal storage post the update to Android 6.0.
List of Top 5 Smartphones between 10-20K: http://goo.gl/btzL7a
Yu Yureka Plus
If you like stock or Vanilla Android and would like to stick to it but want a little bit more out of your smartphone, the CyanogenMod is is an interesting choice. CyanogenMod is the biggest set of independent ROM developers for Android phones and have recently started tying up with OEMs which would allow them to run CM right out of the box on the phones. One such tie-up happened in India with Yu Televentures, which is the sister company of Micromax. The Yu Yureka Plus is now available on an open sale for a price of Rs 8,999 and is one of the best options for you if you are looking to pick a phone with a 1080P Full HD display. The panel size is 5.5 inches and even has Gorilla Glass 3 on top to make sure your display is safe. The rear camera is a 13 MP while the front facing camera is 5 MP. It comes with Snapdragon 615 SoC and 2 GB RAM and supports LTE on both the SIM slots that are available. And if you do not like the sandstone back panel on the phone, you also have the white variant as an option. Let’s just say that the Yu Yureka Plus is the OnePlus One on a massive budget cut.
Here is a list of Top 5 Smartphone between 20K-40K: http://goo.gl/X5tZwG
Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual
If you are bored of seeing a lot of Android phones on our listicles and would like to invest in a Windows Phone device, then the Lumia 640 Dual is what we consider to be the best value for money. Windows Phone devices are known to do well when it comes to being star performers in the budget category. The Lumia 640 Dual as the name suggests brings Dual SIM support and will be getting the update to Windows 10, though out of the box it comes with Windows 8.1. The phone has a 5 inch display with 720 P resolution. It is powered by Snapdragon 400 and has 1 GB RAM. Although the phone has just 8 GB internal memory, you do have the option to expand it via the micro SD slot. You definitely should pick the phone if you want a really colorful product on your hands.
Top 5 Smartphones over 40K: http://goo.gl/XXw8Bh
Samsung On7
The Samsung On7 is the latest attempt from Samsung to capture the lower end market which it once had a strong presence in, thanks to the likes of Galaxy Ace and other phones. Off late, Samsung has focussed on slightly more expensive phones, which has allowed the sub 10,000 category to slip off. With the On5 and On7, Samsung is back in the game. At the first glance, you would be excused to think that the On7 resembles the Galaxy Note 4 a little. You have faux metal and leather construction with plastic being the dominant material. The display is a 5.5 inch unit with a 720P resolution. It is a slightly heavy phone at 172 grams, but with an evenly distributed weight, the device actually has a good in hand feel. The On7 comes with 3000 mAh battery, which should last you over a day and 1.5 GB of RAM. The SoC is a 1.2 GHz Quad Core which supports LTE connectivity on both the SIMs. The internal memory is 8 GB though you do have expansion via Micro SD card. The camera combination is 13 MP and 5 MP. If you are looking for a manufacturer who is trustworthy and has reputable after sale services then the On7 is pretty much the perfect sub Rs 10,000 device for you.
Lenovo K3 Note (Diwali Bonus)
The Lenovo K3 Note came as a surprise device from Lenovo and sparked the under 10 K device price war again. The device is certainly one of the best smartphones available for under 10K, with its good Full HD display, excellent performance, and a large battery to keep it going throughout the day. Lenovo K3 Note has a 5.5 inches diagonally and has a Full HD resolution of 1080×1920. MediaTek 6752 SoC, with eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores all running at 1.7GHz, and integrated Mali-T760 MP2 graphics. There’s also 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, with support for 32GB microSD cards.
But as most of these devices are only going to be available in limited numbers and only through online flash sales, so you could take whichever you get and not lose out either way. We hope you found our recommendations useful. Do let us know, which device you plan to pick up from the above list in the comments section below.
