There was a time when you had to spend more than INR 50k to get a flagship smartphone. But in recent times it has changed, and in 2016 it got even better. Here are the Top 5 smartphones under INR 30,000 but offer experience similar or even better to flagships smartphones twice their cost.
Moto Z Play
Motorola’s X series was replaced by Moto Z this year which had a different kind of approach with Moto Mods launching alongside. The Moto Z Play comes with a modular design and have attachments that are called as Moto Mods. These Modules can be attached and detached via a 16 magical pin at the rear of the device. The battery life on the Z Play is excellent and offers more than 6Hrs of Screen On Time and can easily last more than 2 days on a single charge.
Moto Z Play specifications
- 5.5″ Full HD Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection and 403ppi
- 2.0GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 processor and Adreno 510 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB / 64GB internal memory plus expandable up to 2TB with microSD
- Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
- Single Nano-SIM
- 16MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, Laser Autofocus, PDFA and 1.3um pixel
- 5MP front-facing camera with LED flash and Wide-Angle lens
- 3510mAh battery with Turbo charging
- Fingerprint sensor on the front
- 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (Dual band:2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), BT4.0 LE, NFC, USB Type-C port
- Front loudspeaker, 3-mic support
- Thickness: 6.99mm; Weight: 165g
- Moto Mods connector support, Water repellent nano-coating
Honor 8
The smartphone comes with a dual rear camera setup, similar to company’s own Honor V8 and Honor 6 plus. Honor 8’s 12MP dual-lens camera comprises of an RGB and a monochrome lens that captures more light to deliver excellent picture quality, vivid color, and more detail. The device is also one of the best-looking smartphones of this year.
- 5.2 inch Full HD 2.5D curved glass display
- Kirin 950 SoC (Octa-Core) clocked at 2.3Ghz and coupled with Mali T880-MP4 GPU
- 4GB RAM + 64G ROM
- EMUI 4.1 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 3000mAh battery (No Quick charge support)
- Dual 12 megapixel shooter with dual-tone LED flash and aperture of f/2.2
- 8-megapixel camera on the front
- Fingerprint sensor is located on the rear
- 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C.
- Thickness: 7.45mm
Asus Zenfone 3
Zenfone series from Asus was know for it’s budget-friendly price tag. But this year they took a different direction in terms of pricing. The Zenfone 3 smartphone comes with a really good camera and a nice design. The Asus Zenfone 3, 5.2-inch version with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage is priced at Rs. 21,999 and the 5.5-inch version with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage is priced at Rs. 27,999.
- 5.2/5.5″ Full HD IPS Display with gorilla glass 3 protection
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor
- 3/4GB RAM
- 32/64GB internal storage with sd card support upto 128GB
- 16MP rear camera with sony IMX 298 sensor and 8MP front camera with 85 degree wide angle
- 3000mAh battery
- Android Marshmallow with Zen UI skin
- USB 2.0 Type C connector
- Available in Gold, Black, Blue and White color.
- Wifi 802.11 ac, BT 4.2, 4G LTE, Hybrid slot, Rear fingerprint sensor
Apple iPhone SE
This was quite a surprise launch from Apple in the middle of this year when they announced a 4″ display smartphone dubbed iPhone SE. iPhone SE the most powerful 4″ iPhone ever, packed with most internals from the iPhone 6S and dimensions of the iPhone 5s. It comes with the A9 processor and 12-megapixel rear camera and 1.2 megapixel front facing camera. The iPhone SE comes with 2GB of RAM and 16 or 64GB of storage options. Its runs on the latest iOS 10 and is powered by a 1642 mAh battery. Like all iPhones after the 5s it also features Touch ID fingerprint reader integrated with the Home button. But it’s the first generation of TouchID that’s available in iPhone 5s and iPhone 6.
OnePlus 3/3T
Last but not the least on our list is the arguably the best smartphone of the year alongside big players like Pixel, iPhone 7 and S7/Edge. This year Oneplus did all things right, the 3 and 3T had all the features and specs that a Flagship smartphone should have. The charging technology on the smartphone is the fastest we have seen on any smartphone. It is the only smartphone in this list that comes with 6GB of RAM.
Last month they also announced a successor to OnePlus 3, the 3T for the price tag of INR 29,999, here is the full list of specs.
- 5.5″ Full HD Optic AMOLED Display with 401 ppi and Gorilla Glass 4 Protection
- Snapdragon 820/821 Processor and Adreno 530 GPU
- 6GB DDR4 RAM
- 64/128 GB internal storage with no support for Micro-sd card
- Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 On top of Oxygen OS
- 16MP Sony IMX 298 sensor rear camera with OIS, PDFA, f/2.0 aperture, 1.12micron pixel and support for 4K recording, Slow motion video at 120fps in 720p
- 8/16MP Front facing camera Sony IMX179 sensor
- 3000/3400mAh battery with Dash Charge feature
- NFC, 4G LTE, Fingerprint sensor, GPS,Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB type C
These were our Top 5 smartphones under INR 30,000 in 2016. Let us know which one was your favourite in the comments section below. For more such news and updates follow us on twitter.
