In 2018, we saw some great mid-range phones like the OnePlus 6T, the Huawei P20 series, Mi Mix 2 and more,, but most of them were launched over Rs 30,000. The Rs 20-30k price range seems like an open ground for smartphone brands in India right now.
There are options that offer great value in the segment. If you are finding it difficult to find the best suited phone under Rs 25,000, this list will help.
- Don't need to worry about cost? Check out our best phone list
The Oppo F11 Pro is the freshest offering on this list, and with its 48MP rear camera, it goes head-to-head with the also-fresh Redmi Note 7 Pro. The real selling point of the F11 Pro, however, is the pop-up selfie camera, which allows the company to eliminated the display notch altogether.
It's a bit of a bummer that the F11 Pro only gets an LCD screen, when the cheaper Oppo K1 got an AMOLED panel. But that seems small potatoes when you line up the pros and cons, so it definitely looks like a it's worth a gander.
The Oppo F11 Pro is priced at Rs 24,990, and will go on sale on Amazon from March 15.
The Note 7 Pro is one of Redmi's first two launches as Xiaomi's official sub-brand in India (the other being the Note 7). It brings the 48MP camera to the budget smartphone market, and while the design isn't new, it's certainly a revamp for the brand.
Under the hood is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 octa-core chipset, and an Adreno 612 GPU. There are two storage variants- the 4GB/64GB variant is priced at Rs 13,999, while the 6GB/128GB version is priced at Rs 16,999. It will go on sale on March 13 at Mi Home stores, mi.com, Flipkart and Mi Partner stores.
The Honor 10 Lite is for those who want a good-looking phone with an attractive display, mid-range power and performance, and a well-stocked camera with tons of modes and editing options.
It is well built, has a fairly good display and average cameras. The performance is good for a phone in its price range, but multi-tasking could be an issue with this one. Battery life works out well, since the performance doesn't over-tax the Kirin 970 processor; it strikes a balance between power and performance for the mid-range class.
The camera is good- the night mode might be a tad too stylised, but it's better than having poor shots in low-light, a common feature of budget devices. The daylight camera is fairly good too, though the photos might lose nuance due to high contrast. You'll have to toggle a but to find the settings that suit you.
Overall the Honor 10 Lite is pretty great for a sub-25k device. It retails for Rs 18,900 on Amazon India.
You can read our Honor 10 Lite review here.
Comparison: Honor 10 Lite vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
The Moto X4 inherits features from the Moto X-series and the Moto Z-series, like a dual-lens camera, water resistance, a fingerprint scanner and a lot of the same design cues. Inside is where it sets itself apart, with its mid-range Snapdragon 630 chipset.
The mid-range phone may look like a minor upgrade from the Moto G5 Plus or Moto G5S Plus in terms of hardware, but it packs some unique features that are rare at this price. It looks good, and has solid one-day battery life. The out of the box Android Nougat may not be all that thrilling, but the X4 started receiving Pie updates last year, so you should be able to upgrade soon.
The Moto X4 is the most feature-packed and good looking option under Rs 25K.
Samsung has struck good balance between performance, software, battery life and camera with the Galaxy C7 Pro. The full metal shell looks premium with its smooth finish and sleek form factor, and stands out from other Samsung phones.
The battery life is really impressive, and so is the display and performance, but Samsung's software might upset stock Android lovers. While the front camera does a pretty good job, the rear camera struggles in low-light.
It is the best phone for multimedia consumption on this list. It's neither huge, nor too small for one-handed usage, and coupled with the display, makes for a good phone for the Netflix-on-the-go types.
For just Rs 16,999, the Mi Max 2 is a one of a kind phablet in this range. When compared to its predecessor, the new phone is an incremental upgrade in terms of design, camera and display.
It is the right fit for those who like big display phones that do not compromise on performance, build or battery life. It has a huge battery that can last for more than 24 hours, as well as a big display with a decent set of loudspeaker that is great for multimedia consumption. Moreover, it's a sleek phone at just 7.6mm with a sturdy metal design.
Feature-wise, it's similar to the Redmi Note 4, but bigger. But if you are not a big phone person, don't buy this – it's hard to fit it in pockets, has poor single-handed usability and is prone to drops.
Read our full review here: Xiaomi Mi Max 2 review
The iPhone SE makes this list because it's the only iOS phone in this price range that offers value. The only con of this phone is its size. But the 'small phone' argument aside, we can say it's a complete phone.
The software experience on iOS is fluid, and the performance is still up to date, even compared to Android phones in this segment. It has the best set of cameras on both front and back, which was also seen on the iPhone 6S.
We must warn that if you are moving from a more than 5-inch display phone, you may find the display crammed. It's not the best display to watch videos or play games, but it's certainly a great option if software experience, performance and camera are your priorities.
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