BEST MOBILE PHONES UNDER 20000 IN INDIA

At a price tag of Rs. 18,999, the Poco M8 5G is a well-rounded smartphone that's more about delivering on the basics than on fancy features. It brings quite an upgrade in terms of design, a large and colourful AMOLED display, decent performance, and lasting battery life. The promise of long-term software support further adds to its appeal. The cameras, however, are anything but impressive, and the UI is burdened with bloat. But once again, these are expected compromises at this price.

At a starting price of Rs. 15,499 (Rs. 13,499 with offers), the Realme P4x 5G gets a lot right — especially day-to-day performance, battery life, and its refreshed design. The phone feels smooth in regular use, handles gaming well, and the large battery easily delivers up to two days of runtime. However, there are compromises. Its advertised 144Hz refresh rate is inconsistent in behaviour, the software experience lacks refinement, and the cameras are strictly average. If strong performance and long battery life are priorities, the Realme P4x 5G is worth considering.

The Moto G67 Power offers plenty of value given its performance and design turning into a well-balanced budget offering from Motorola. Despite its budget price tag, its design does feel quite premium thanks to its vegan-leather rear panel. The device also has an IP64 rating offering good dust and decent water resistance.

Its display shows natural colours but is a bit dim for the bright outdoors. The 120Hz high refresh works mainly for the software as most games can only be enjoyed at 60 fps.

Performance is on point for a budget device as the software experience is smooth and lag-free. What is disappointing is the software commitment which only includes one major Android update.

Cameras offer decent image quality. The primary camera is the one that performs just fine, while the ultrawide is only there to fill up the spec sheet. Battery life is quite solid and can easily last two days with casual use. Charging is relatively fast given the slow charger and its higher capacity.

Motorola’s Moto G96 has a design that makes use of glass, silicon and polycarbonate, but still manages to deliver an IP68 rating. The phone has a classy design with tapered sides thanks to the curved-edge front and rear panels.

The phone’s processor is a capable one and delivers reliable performance whether its daily app multitasking or mid-level gaming. Heating is also not an issue.

Camera performance is quite good both in daylight and in low light. The primary camera steals the show, while the ultrawide camera, which also doubles up as the macro camera, is present just to fill up the spec sheet.

Software is updated, but Motorola’s one year OS commitment seems a bit shaky given that it's still running Android 15. Battery life can easily last a day with heavy usage. Charging speeds are quick enough for a smartphone at this price point. 
 

The CMF Phone 2 Pro brings a lot of improvements to the CMF series. The latest smartphone from the brand offers a sleeker design language and a good in-hand feel. The handset provides decent performance and a good value-for-money proposition in this price segment. The cameras are capable of taking some good photos in different lighting conditions. The CMF Phone 2 Pro also has a good battery life, lasting slightly more than a day and having moderate to heavy usage. That said, if you are looking for an all-around package and want to experience a clean user interface, consider this smartphone. 

The iQOO Z10x is a budget smartphone that uses a polycarbonate frame and rear panel but still manages to offer an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance. The phone offers a textured rear panel, which makes it appear attractive given its price tag.

Performance is not exactly a problem, given the capable processor. However, we did notice some stutters from time to time, which points to software optimisation issues. The phone is updated to the latest Android 15, but only supports 2 years of software updates.

Camera is not the iQOO Z10x’s biggest drawback. Daylight images are far from the best we have seen in this segment. Low light images are not usable. Video recording isn’t great either.

Despite packing a high capacity battery, charging speeds are pretty good. Standby time is also very good and the phone can easily last two days with light usage.

The Realme P3 Pro seems like an intriguing low-priced mid-ranger aimed mainly at the youth. Its design offers a selection of bright, loud colourways with interesting textures and finishes. Its rounded design is also IP68 and IP69-rated for dust and water resistance.

The phone offers a quad-curved display with thin borders. The curved edges do add some distracting reflections but make for an immersive viewing experience. Still, the display somehow does not feel bright outdoors.

Performance is not a problem with daily use, and casual users will see no slowdowns or hiccups of any sort. However, the phone comes loaded with plenty of bloatware and double apps.

Its camera performs well in daylight but not so much in low light. Video recording is a bit below average overall. Battery life is good, but we did expect better given the battery’s higher than usual capacity. 

The Poco X7 is packed with features to the brim and, on paper, is a great device for everyday use. Starting with the display, the peak brightness is on par with the competition, and the additional IP rating offers consumers peace of mind. It is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra and is a decent processor for everyday tasks. The phone also packs AI features and comes with 3+4 years of software update. The camera isn't the strongest highlight, but its performance credentials make it an excellent choice for its price segment.

The Moto G85 5G is a mid-range smartphone that is desiged to combines a modern design with reliable performance. It boasts a large curved display with a high refresh rate for smooth visuals and vibrant colours that enable users to watch content on a range of applications.

Powered by a recently launched midrange processor, the Moto G85 handles multitasking and gaming efficiently and comes with enough memory and internal storage, which are both expandable as per your needs.

For photography, the Moto G85 features a dual-camera setup with optical image stabilisation (OIS). It also has a high-resolution front-facing camera for selfies. The It packs a large battery with support for fast charging, ensuring all-day use.

Running on Android 14, the Moto G85 5G includes useful software features and security updates but comes with some bloatware and notification spam. Its practical design includes a plastic frame and back, and the phone has an IP54 dust and splash resistance rating.

The Honor 200 offers a stunning design, which makes it stand out from the crowd. The handset offers a crisp display, making it an ideal multimedia device. The Honor 200 also brings decent performance, though looking at the competition, it may appear to be an underdog. However, the camera is where the Honor 200 stands out from the competition. The phone takes some perfect photos in both daylight and low-light conditions. The portraits came out to be quite good from the rear sensor, while the selfies look good, though they are a bit over-styled. The device also packs a decent battery life that can easily last one whole day with medium usage. That said, if you are looking for a sleek phone with good camera capabilities, then you can consider the Honor 200. 

The OnePlus Nord CE4 has an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance. It has a frame made out of polycarbonate that is supposed to be very durable and is able to sustain drops. The rear panel too is made of polycarbonate.

The phone offers good performance for the casual user, but is not ideal for gaming. Its display can get really bright outdoors and is also HDR10-certified. While it offers a high refresh rate, its touch sampling rate or sensitivity comes up a bit short while playing FPS games

The Nord CE4 comes with OxygenOS 14, which is based on Android 14. It is highly customisable and offers some handy new features like Fluid Cloud. Some of these features are AI-enabled.

Overall camera performance is quite average for its segment and video recording quality isn’t great either. Battery life is excellent and the phone offers fast wired charging.

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G is official with a starting price of Rs. 19,999 in India. The most affordable Nord series phone in India gets a bigger 6.72-inch IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is flat and houses a 16-megapixel front camera inside the hole-punch cutout at the top.

At the back, the Nord CE 3 Lite 5G has a 108-megapixel main camera. Its triple rear camera setup also features two 2-megapixel sensors for macro photography and depth mapping. The phone features a 5,000mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging out of the box.

There is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC. The phone has 8GB of RAM as standard and offers 128GB/ 256GB of storage. There is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner along with AI face recognition.

The Nord CE 3 Lite 5G gets Android 13-based OxygenOS 13.1 out-of-the-box. It will get two major Android updates and three years of security support.