The year 2018 was the busiest year till date in the smartphone world, there were phone launches almost every week and most of there were at least 2-4 new budget smartphones coming out to the market every month this year. In this post, we will look at the Top Budget smartphones of the year. All the smartphones in this list are priced between INR 10,000 – INR 20,000.
Redmi Note 5 Pro/6 Pro
One of the most selling smartphones of the year, the Redmi Note 5 Pro was announced in Q1, 2018 with Snapdragon 636 SoC, 5.99-inch Full HD+ display, and a big 4000mAH battery. Later in the year, the company also announced the successor to the Note 5 Pro, the Redmi Note 6 Pro with 6.26-inch Full HD+ display with a notch, Snapdragon 636 SoC, and same 4000mAH battery. Both the smartphones packed in a dual rear camera.
Redmi Note 5 Pro Specification
- 5.99-inch Full HD+(2160 x 1080 Pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
- 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 processor with Adreno 509 GPU
- 4/6GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage with microSD card support up to 128GB
- MIUI 9 on Android 7.1.2 Nougat, upgradable to Android Oreo
- 12MP + 5MPdual rear Camera, Primary Sensor – f/2.2, 1.25 microns Pixel Size, 5P Lens, Secondary Sensor – f/2.0, 1.12 microns Pixel Size, 4P Lens, PDAF
- 20MP front-facing camera f/2.2, 1.0 microns Pixel Size
- 4000mAh battery
- Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
- Rear fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IR Blaster
- Thickness: 8.05 mm and Weight:181g
Redmi Note 6 Pro Specification
- 6.26-inch Full HD+(2280 x 1080 Pixels) 19:9 2.5D curved glass display with a Notch up front, Corning Gorilla Glass
- 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 processor with Adreno 509 GPU
- 4/6GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage with microSD card support up to 128GB
- MIUI 10 based on Android 8.1 Oreo
- 12MP+5MP rear camera with Sony IMX486 and Samsung S5K5E8 sensors, f/1.9, 1.4 microns Pixel Size and f/2.2, real-time portrait preview, AI portrait selfie, AI beauty, AI beautification, and AI scene recognition that can identify 12 categories.
- 20MP+2MP front camera with 1.4 microns Pixel Size, AI Portrait mode, 1080P video recording, HDR mode, AI portrait mode, AI beauty
- 4000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support.
- Dual SIM, Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
- Rear fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IR Blaster
- Colors: Black, Rose Gold, Blue, and Red
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1/M2
Asus made a great come back to the Indian smartphone market with the Zenfone Max Pro M1 in April with aggressive pricing. The budget phone comes with Stock Android and the company has also promised regular updates. The phone also came with a massive 5000mAH battery and support for reverse charging. A few weeks ago, the company announced the successor, Zenfone Max Pro M2 with 6.26-inch Full HD+ display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6 and Snapdragon 660 SoC.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 Specification
- 5.99-inch (1080 x 2160 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass IPS display
- 1.8Ghz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 SoC with Adreno 509 GPU
- 6GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage with microSD support up to 2TB
- 13MP+5MP camera setup with LED flash, f/2.2 wide-aperture lens
- 16MP front-facing camera with soft LED flash, f/2.2 aperture
- 5000mAh battery with fast charging, 0% to 100% in 2 hours and 42 minutes.
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- Rear fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
- 5-magnet speaker, NXP Smart Amp
- Thickness: 8.46mm and Weight: 180g
- 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Specification
- 6.26-inch (2280 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 display with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection
- 2.2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 660 SoC with Adreno 610 GPU
- 3/4/6GB RAM
- 32/64GB internal storage with microSD support up to 2TB
- 12MP( f/1.8)+5MP dual rear cameras with LED flash, Sony IMX486 sensor, 1.25μm pixel size, PDAF, EIS, Pro Mode
- 13MP front-facing camera with soft LED flash, f/2.0 aperture
- 5000mAh battery with 10W charging
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- Rear fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
- 5-magnet speaker, NXP Smart Amp
- Thickness: 8.5mm and Weight: 175g
- 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5
- Colors: Blue and Titanium
Honor 8X, Honor 9N, and Honor Play
Honor announced the successor the Honor 7X with the new Kirin 710 SoC and a big 6.5-inch display. The company also announced Honor 9N with 5.84-inch Full HD+ display with a notch, Kirin 659 SoC and finally, a new gaming phone from the company, the Honor Play was launched with Kirin 970 SoC NPU, GPU Turbo power, and AI dual rear cameras. This year, Honor produced the best looking budget smartphones and also launched some of the unique color variants of their smartphones.
Honor 8X Specifications
- 6.5-inch (2340*1080 pixels)Full-HD+ display, 19.5:9 aspect ratio
- 2.2GHz Octa-Core Kirin 710 processor, ARM Mali-G51 MP4 GPU
- 4/6 GB RAM
- 64/128 GB internal storage, microSD card support up to 400GB
- 20MP+2MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/1.8 aperture, slow-mo @ 480fps
- 16MP front-facing camera with soft LED flash
- Android 8.1 Oreo, EMUI 8.2
- 3750mAh battery
- Rear fingerprint sensor
- Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5, GPS
- Thickness: 7.8mm and Weight: 175g
Honor 9N Specification
- 5.84-inch (2280x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass display with notch
- 2.4GHz Octa-Core Kirin 659 processor, Mali T830-MP2 GPU
- 3/4GB RAM
- 32/64/128GB internal storage, microSD card support up to 256GB
- 13MP+2MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash
- 16MP front-facing camera with soft LED flash
- Android 8.0Oreo, EMUI 8.0
- 3000mAH battery
- Rear fingerprint sensor, face unlock
- Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
- Thickness: 7.7mm and Weight: 152grams
Honor Play Specification
- 6.3-inch(2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 2.5D curved glass display with a notch
- 2.4GHz Octa-Core HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor, Mali-G72 MP12 GPU, i7 co-processor, NPU, GPU Turbo
- 6GB RAM
- 64GB storage
- Android 8.1 Nougat with EMUI 8.2 skin
- 3,400mAh battery
- 16MP+2MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, CAF, EIS, the secondary camera with f/2.4 aperture
- 16MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
- Rear fingerprint sensor
- 3.5mm audio jack, 7.1-channel Histen audio
- Hybrid Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
Realme 2 Pro
A new brand which emerged as Oppo’s sub-brand this year and went on be become an independent brand, the Realme tasted success on its debut itself. The company launched around 5 smartphones this year starting from INR 6,999. The best of the five is Realme 2 Pro which was announced a couple of months ago with 6.3-inch Full HD+ 2.5D IPS display, up to 8GB RAM, and dual rear cameras.
Realme 2 Pro Specifications
- 6.3-inch (1080 x 2340 pixels) 19.5:9 Full HD+ 2.5D IPS display, Gorilla Glass Protection
- 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 660 processor, Adreno 512 GPU
- 4/6/8GB RAM
- 64/128GB internal storage, expandable up to 128GB with microSD card
- Android 8.1 Oreo, ColorOS 5.2
- 16MP+2MP dual rear cameras with LED flash, f/1.7, and f/2.4 aperture respectively, Sony IMX398 sensor, EIS.
- 16MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture
- 3500mAh battery
- Thickness: 8.5mm and Weight: 174g
- Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS
- Colors: Ice Lake, Black Sea, Blue Ocean colors
Nokia 6.1 Plus (Android One)
Nokia launched a few budget smartphones this year and all of them come under Google’ Android One project which will offer faster Android updates. The Nokia 6.1 Plus comes with Snapdragon 636, USB Type-C port, 5.8-inch Full HD+ display with a notch and Gorilla Glass protection.
Nokia 6.1 Plus (Android One) Specifications
- 5.8-inch(2280 x 1080 pixels) 2.5D curved glass display with a notch, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 19:9 aspect ratio
- Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor with Adreno 509 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal memory, with microSD card support up to 400GB with microSD
- 16MP+5MP dual rear camera with
- 1.0um + 1.12um, f/2.0, AF, HDR and AI Assistance Beauty Shot, Selfie Bokeh, Live Bokeh, Panorama, HDR, Hybrid Zoom (Digital), Spot Color, Color and Mono, Slow-motion Video
- 16MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture
- Rear Fingerprint sensor
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- 3060mAh built-in battery, Quick charging
- 3.5mm audio jack, Dual speakers, Dolby Atmos
- Thickness: 7.99mm, Weight: 159gms
- Dual SIM, 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, USB Type-C
Poco F1
Xiaomi announced a new sub-brand, Poco and announced it was one of the hottest and trending smartphones of the year. The Poco F1 came with Snapdragon 845 Soc, dual rear cameras, 4000mAH battery with fast charging, 6GB RAM for under INR 20,000(originally it was INR 20,999). 
Poco F1 Specification
- 6.18-inch Full HD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass IPS display, Corning Gorilla Glass protection, notch
- 2.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 845 processor with Adreno 630 GPU
- 6/8GB RAM
- 64/128/256GB internal storage with microSD support up to 256GB
- 12MP+5MP rear camera with Camera with Primary 6P Lens and Secondary 4P Lens, f/1.9 Primary Aperture and f/2.0 Secondary Aperture, Dual Rear Camera with 6-element Primary Lens and 4-element Secondary Lens, AI Dual Camera
- 20MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 Aperture, IR Camera
- 4000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0
- Android 8.1 Oreo, MIUI 10
- Rear fingerprint sensor
- LiquidCool Technology
- Thickness: 8.8mm and Weight: 180g
- Hybrid Slot, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, USB Type-C
- Colors: Graphite Black, Steel Blue
So, these were our picks for the Top Budget smartphones of 2018. Let us know which is your favourite in the comment section or tweet to us @theunbiasedblog.
