Here’s a look at our top picks for best mobiles under Rs. 25,000.
The OnePlus Nord is a new budget offering from OnePlus, which manages to deliver a similar Android experience as the OnePlus 8, but at a more affordable price. OnePlus has kept all the staples such as the AMOLED display, Warp Charge fast charging, and a big battery in the Nord. However, it has made some cuts when it comes to the SoC and the build quality. The OnePlus Nord still has glass on the back, but instead of a metal frame, it's plastic.
The SoC used is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, and not an 800-series chip as we're used to seeing. However, the Nord does support 5G, which is a cool bonus. As an overall package, it's really hard to find fault with the OnePlus Nord. App and gaming performance is good, it captures good photos and videos in daylight, and the display supports HDR10+.
Low-light image quality suffers a bit, but that's pretty much this phone's only major weakness. Battery life is very good and the single speaker gets decently loud. One impressive feature of the OnePlus Nord is its ability to shoot selfie videos at 4K 60fps, which is something even the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro can't do.
| OnePlus Nord Specifications | |
| Display | 6.44-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB |
| Battery Capacity | 4115mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 8MP + 5MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 32MP + 8MP |
The Vivo V19 is the successor to the Vivo V17 and is yet another selfie-focused smartphone from the company. Vivo has focused on the design and the build quality of the device and the V19 feels like a premium device. The body is made out of Corning Gorilla Glass 6 and feels premium to the touch. Vivo also offers it in some interesting colours.
The 6.44-inch AMOLED display has full-HD+ resolution and sharp output. It has excellent viewing angles, and the panel gets bright enough when outdoors. Vivo also offers an in-display fingerprint scanner on the Vivo V19 which is quick to unlock the device. Powering the smartphone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 SoC which is weak. There is 8GB of RAM which helps the smartphone handle day-to-day tasks well.
It has a quad-camera setup at the back and a dual-camera setup for selfies. We found the camera performance to be good and the software easy to use. Daylight camera performance is good and the phone manages good edge detection in portrait shots. Low-light camera performance is acceptable but shooting in night mode is a tad slow.
| Vivo V19 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.44-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Battery Capacity | 4500mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 32MP |
Vivo V17 is a good looking smartphone finished in a fancy paint job, At the front, it has a hole-punch selfie camera which makes it look modern. It has a 6.44-inch display with thin bezels on the sides. It also packs in a 4,500mAh battery but it isn’t very bulky at 176g. It sports a quad-camera setup at the back with a 48-megapixel primary shooter.
Powering the Vivo V17 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC which is relatively dated. It is paired with 8GB of RAM which makes multitasking easy. There is 128GB of storage which is plenty for an average user. The Vivo V17 runs Funtouch OS 9.2 on top of Android 9. There is a fair amount of bloatware on the device and we found that a few preinstalled apps pushed spammy notifications.
Battery life is good and the smartphone could last over a day easily. Camera performance of the Vivo V17 was very good in daylight but low-light photos had some noise. Night mode helps deliver a better shot. Low-light video recording is below average and could do with a few tweaks.
| Vivo V17 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.44-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Battery Capacity | 4500mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 32MP |
The K20 Pro is a part of the new K series of smartphones from Redmi. It is the flagship smartphone and sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. This smartphone sports a 6.39-inch AMOLED display which makes it the first Redmi smartphone with an AMOLED display. The big display dominates the front of the smartphone and the K20 Pro has a 91.9% screen-to-body ratio. It is a FHD+ HDR panel and has good viewing angles and adequate brightness to be visible outdoors.
Xiaomi has also opted for a unique gradient pattern for the back which helps the device stand out. There is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection at the front and the back which helps the smartphone resist wear caused by daily use. The Redmi K20 Pro is available in two variants, 6GB RAM with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage, priced at Rs. 27,999 and Rs. 30,999 respectively.
It sports a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 48-megapixel primary sensor, 13-megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor and an 8-megapixel tele-photo sensor. It has a 20-megapixel pop-up selfie camera. These cameras deliver good photos during the day and we liked the smartphone's macro performance. Portraits were very good and the phone did manage edge detection well.
The Redmi K20 Pro runs MIUI 10 on top of Android 9 Pie. The UI does have useful features but is riddled with spammy notifications throughout the day. The Redmi K20 Pro packs in a 4,000mAh battery that delivers more than a day and a half of battery life. It ran very well in our HD video loop test and we manage to go beyond a day with our usage.
The advantage the K20 Pro has over its competition is in terms of price. It is the most affordable smartphone with a Qualcomm 855 SoC in India. However, Xiaomi's sale model might make it hard to get your hands on one.
| Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro Specifications | |
| Display | 6.39-inch, 1080x2340 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Battery Capacity | 4000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 13MP + 8MP |
| Front Camera | 20MP |
The Honor 20 sports an eye-catching design and has a very compact form factor, which makes it quite easy to hold the phone in palms, but the glossy rear panel is a fingerprint magnet. The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is extremely fast and does not pose any issue with its positioning either. The phone runs Magic UI 2.1 based on Android Pie and it is loaded with features, although it comes with a healthy amount of bloatware and has a learning curve to it.
The 6.26-inch full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) All-View display renders vibrant colours and offers good viewing angles, but its temperature is slightly warm by default. Honor 20 is powered by the Kirin 980 SoC, which proves to be a capable performer in all scenarios, be it heavy multi-tasking or gaming. But the phone quickly gets hot while gaming, and the Honor 20's sound output is also not up to the mark either.
Honor 20's quad rear cameras are led by a 48-megapixel sensor, which captures detailed photos with an ample amount of detail and sharpness, however, the colours are a bit oversaturated and there are some consistency issues as well. The selfie snapper gets its job done quite well, but not all people will like the smoothening done to the photos. The phone easily lasts a full day of usage, and its 3,750mAh battery can be fully charged, thanks to the bundled 22.5W fast charger.
| Honor 20 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.26-inch, 1080x2340 pixels |
| Processor | HiSilicon Kirin 980 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Battery Capacity | 3750mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 16MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 32MP |
The Redmi K20's aesthetics are appealing and it stands out in a sea of other phones with a glass slab design and gaudy gradients. The 6.39-inch AMOLED display is of excellent quality, and the in-display fingerprint sensor is also quick.
The triple rear cameras deliver impressive results, and except for the underwhelming low-light performance and some other minor issues, the overall output is a cut above what the competition offers. The phone's battery life is also great, with the 4,000mAh unit easily making it past a day and more.
The Snapdragon 730 SoC powering this phone ensures a lag-free usage in even the most demanding situations and delivers a smooth gaming experience. A refined MIUI with fewer ads and features like a dark mode, app drawer, and ambient display are an added bonus on the software side.
| Xiaomi Redmi K20 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.39-inch, 1080x2340 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 4000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 8MP + 13MP |
| Front Camera | 20MP |
The Google Pixel 3a XL is an affordable alternative to the Pixel 3 XL. It is bigger in size than a Pixel 3a and promises the same Google Pixel experience at a relatively affordable price point of Rs. 44,999.
The Pixel 3a XL sports a 6-inch OLED display with full-HD+ resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio. Thankfully, it does not have a huge notch which the Pixel 3 XL was criticised for. The display has three colour profiles which help change the output of the display. It has good viewing angles and punchy contrast. The Pixel 3a XL gets stereo speakers as well but these aren't front firing like the Pixel 3 XL. The stereo speakers produce a good output but sound tinny at full volume.
Compared to the Pixel 3a, the Pixel 3a XL is bigger in size and might not be very comfortable for everyone to use. Im terms of connectivity, it has a single Nano-SIM slot but offers dual-SIM functionality via an E-SIM. You can take full advantage of the E-SIM if your carrier supports this functionality. It also gets a 3.5mm headphone jack which has been missing on Pixel devices since the Pixel 2.
Google has opted for a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 SoC which is an octa-core chip. The Pixel 3a XL comes in one variant only, offering 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which isn't expandable. However, Google does offer unlimited photo storage at compressed resolution.
Being a Pixel smartphone, it runs stock Android Pie with some of Google's customisation on top. Pixel devices are known to get timely software and security updates. With the Pixel 3a XL Google promises 3 years of guaranteed software support. The smartphone offers a good user experience and we did not notice any lag or stutter during our usage.
The primary camera is a 12.2-megapixel Sony IMX363 sensor just like the Pixel 3. At the front, it has a single 8-megapixel selfie shooter. It gets most of the camera features of the Pixel 3 like Night Sight, Super Res Zoom and Playground. The camera performance is very good and the Pixel 3a XL manages to deliver crisp shots in most lighting conditions.
Google has equipped the Pixel 3a XL with a 3700mAh battery that helps it offer good battery life. The search giant also includes an 18W Type-C charger in the box that helps charge the Pixel 3a XL quickly. We could go on for over a day and a half once the Pixel 3a XL was fully charged.
For the launch price of Rs. 44,999 the Pixel 3a XL feels expensive for what it offers. Some of the competitors offer more powerful hardware for lower prices. But if you want the best camera performance under Rs. 50,000, the Pixel 3a XL delivers on that front.
| Google Pixel 3a XL Specifications | |
| Display | 6.00-inch, 1080x2160 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 3700mAh |
| Rear Camera | 12.2MP |
| Front Camera | 8MP |
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