2023-08-21 06:01:10
As with many things related to smartphone technology, 5G also started from the premium segment and then worked its way into more affordable areas. Not so long ago, 5G connectivity was the preserve of the premium segment. Today, you can get a number of 5G phones for around 15,000 rupees, some even close to 10,000 rupees and that too without much major compromise in design or performance. So, if you are in the market for a 5G phone but not in the mood to splash a bomb or even wade in the mean waters, which phone should you choose? Well, there are a number of options available to you. Choosing one can be a task and it depends on what you’re looking for. Here’s our attempt to answer most of the queries you might have in this regard: Let’s start with the absolute basics. What is the cheapest 5G phone? The most affordable 5G smartphone on the market right now is the POCO M6 Pro 5G. The phone starts at 10,999 rupees for its 4GB / 64GB variant and comes with a very distinctive design in addition to the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip, a good 6.79-inch FHD + screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, a 50MP main camera, and a 5000mAh battery with support for fast charging. 18 watts. If you’re looking for the same spec sheet with a sleeker design, you can opt for the Redmi 12 5G, which starts at Rs 11,999 and has pretty much the same hardware but starts with double the storage (128GB). The Lava Blaze 5G also starts at Rs 10,999 and is powered by a decent MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor, but comes with a smaller 6.51-inch display with HD resolution only, which puts it a step behind Xiaomi devices. Usually, “budget” is synonymous with simple and fairly basic design. Are there good looking 5G phones out there or does their appearance reflect their price? Most budget 5G devices are more regarding function than style, but there are a few that really turn heads with their design. The Redmi 12 5G comes with a glass front and back (a rarity in this segment, where most of the back is plastic) and has a clean, sleek finish that gives it a surprisingly premium look – the pastel blue shade is particularly easy on the eye. It definitely doesn’t look like a phone priced at Rs 11,999. Equally eye-catching but much more in-your-face is the Mars orange shade of the Realme Narzo 60 5G, which is more expensive at Rs 17,999 but has a very large and distinctive circular camera module and also a bright orange vegan leather back, which is rare at this price and makes the phone distinct from others. Another phone on the orange vegan leather bandwagon is the Coral Orange variant of the Infinix Zero 5G 2023, also known as the Antman and Wasp edition. It might look a little more traditional in other ways, but the texture and color of the back make it look like anything but a budget phone. You can get a 5G phone on a budget and flaunt it too! Well, I need a budget 5G phone, but I can’t compromise on the screen. I want a very good screen, preferably an AMOLED screen. Which of them do I choose? It’s still relatively rare to see a 5G phone with an AMOLED screen in the budget segment. An exception is the POCO X5 5G which was launched at Rs 18,999 earlier this year, but is often available at Rs 14,999 or Rs 15,999. It has a very good 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 48MP main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide rear camera, and a large 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging support. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695G chip powering it isn’t the latest, but it’s still a highly capable performer. Move your budget to Rs 18,999 and you can get the Samsung Galaxy F34 5G and Galaxy M34 5G, both of which have FHD+ AMOLED displays and are impressively bright and colorful (well, they’re Samsung’s), though they’re slightly smaller at 6.5-inches and an average 120 Hz refresh. Both phones are also often available at slightly lower prices, so keep your eyes peeled for the deals. Are there any reasonably powerful phones out there? For some good games, or is this impossible in the budget segment? Well, high-end games can be left out in this segment, but you can get a decent gaming experience with a few tweaks to the graphics settings. Both Redmi 12 5G and POCO M6 Pro 5G come with the new and very efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor, POCO X5 5G comes with the tried and tested Snapdragon 695, which has been seen even in more expensive devices (such as OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G and Realme 10 Pro 5G), while you can get some decent budget Exynos 1330 in the Samsung Galaxy M14 5G and Galaxy F14 5G. However, if we had to recommend a budget 5G phone with gaming as the main requirement, we’d go for the Infinix Zero 5G 2023, powered by a slightly older but still very powerful (for this chip) Dimensity 920. It also has RAM ( RAM) with a capacity of 8 GB and 128 GB of storage and has a 6.78-inch FHD + display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and a large battery of 5000 mAh. It launched at Rs 17,999, but is often available at prices around or under Rs 15,000. Screens and processors are not the only part of the multimedia picture. Are there any good budget 5G phones with stereo speakers? Stereo speakers are a bit of a rarity in the budget 5G category. Most phones under ₹15,000 come with individual speakers, though almost all have a 3.5mm audio jack (a feature that disappears at higher price points). The Infinix Note 30 5G, which is generally available at around Rs 15,999, comes with a very good pair of stereo speakers. The Moto G73 5G which starts at Rs 16,999 also comes with stereo speakers, but they aren’t quite as good as the ones on the Infinix Note 30 5G. However, it should be noted that while these phones do quite well in terms of audio, they are giving up ground on other fronts to the competition. I need a good camera above all else. But I’m on a budget and I want a 5G phone too. Options? Cameras in general are one of the areas (like AMOLED screens) where manufacturers tend to try to save some money while rolling out 5G budget phones. It’s rare to see a budget 5G phone with a really good camera, though you’ll get several that do a decent job. If you want a 5G phone with a really good camera, we recommend going for the Samsung Galaxy F34 5G or Galaxy M34 5G, both priced at Rs 18,999 (although they are available at lower prices from time to time) with very good 50MP main sensors with OIS, dual cameras. Ultra-resolution 8 megapixels. Not much use from the 2MP cameras in either, but the 13MP selfie cameras take decent shots. Also, since they are both Samsung phones, you get a number of shooting and editing options. If your budget is under Rs 15,000, Samsung Galaxy F14 5G and M14 5G with 50MP main sensors offer decent performance. And if megapixels are what you’re following, the Infinix Note 30 5G delivers it with a highly efficient 108MP sensor and also offers a 16MP selfie camera for Rs 15,999, though the Dimensity 6080 chip isn’t the most powerful. Are there any stock Android or clean Android options available for someone in the budget 5G phone segment? Relatively clean interfaces are not very common in this segment, which is dominated by feature-rich user interfaces from different brands – MIUI, FunTouch, One UI, etc. An exception is the Moto G73 5G, which comes close to Android, and starts at Rs 16,999. It also comes with a 6.5-inch FHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP main camera and an 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 5,000mAh battery with support for 30W charging (and charger in the box). It also runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 930 processor, which is a competent performer in the gaming and other departments. If you want to say hello to Android storage in budget 5G territory, you’ll need to say Hello, Moto (G73)! The only other comparable option is the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, which is now a bit on the older side, but comes with OnePlus’ relatively clean OxygenOS for Rs 17,999. Some very large batteries are available, but charging speeds seem to be low in the budget segment. Are there any fast charging options, or do I need to shell out more for the charger? Yes, there are already some 5G phones with huge batteries in the budget segment, most notably the Samsung Galaxy F14 5G and M14 5G, both of which have a 6,000mAh battery, as well as the POCO M6 Pro 5G and Redmi 12 5G, both of which come with 5,000mAh batteries. However, one of the compromises we see in the budget segment is in terms of charging speed and chargers. The Samsung Galaxy M14 5G and Galaxy F14 both support charging speeds of up to 25W, but there’s no charger in the box, which means you’ll have to buy one separately. POCO M6 Pro 5G and Redmi 12 5G both have 22.5 watt chargers in the box, but they charge at 18W. If you are looking for a device with ultra-fast charging in the budget segment, we recommend going for the Infinix Note 30 5G, which comes with a large 5,000mAh battery that supports 45W charging and a 45W charger in the box. Another good option is the POCO X5 5G, which packs a 5,000mAh battery with a 33W charger in the box, and supports 33W charging. Phones in this price segment usually don’t get Android updates on time. Are there any phones with good update histories? Samsung is the market leader right now when it comes to updating its phones. In this segment, it has the Samsung Galaxy F14 5G and Galaxy M14 5G, both of which come with warranties of two years of Android updates and up to four years of security updates. A number of other brands also offer guaranteed Android updates (POCO M6 Pro 5G, comes with two years of Android updates and three years of security updates), but in terms of actual performance and on-the-ground delivery, Samsung is the best here. So if you are one of those who appreciate updated software, we recommend going for the Samsung Galaxy M14 5G or F14 5G both of which are under Rs 15,000, or the Galaxy M34 5G and Galaxy F34 5G, which range between Rs 15,000 – Rs 20,000. Are there any OnePlus phones available in this range? There are no OnePlus phones around the Rs 15,000 mark, at the time of writing. The most affordable OnePlus phone officially available is the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, which is now retailing at Rs 17,999. Although it is now a year old, it comes with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor that appeared in this year’s OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G (priced at Rs. 19,999). You also get a 6.59-inch FHD+ screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 64MP main sensor on the back, a very good 16MP front camera, and a large 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging support. (And a 33W charger in the box). Unlike other OnePlus phones, this one has a 3.5mm audio jack as well as an expandable memory slot. It launched with Android 12 but has since been updated to Android 13. Definitely the best option for the OnePlus crowd on a budget, though we’d advocate spending a bit more and getting the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G, which has better screens and cameras (sensor main with a resolution of 108 megapixels), and also faster charging at 67 watts. If you had to recommend one phone to someone looking for a 5G phone on a budget, which one would you pick? At the time of writing, it will boil down to choosing between Samsung Galaxy M34 5G and POCO X5 5G. POCO X5 5G sets all the rules with a great display, good processor, large battery and charger in the box. The Galaxy M34 5G has a similar processor, but a smaller screen, better cameras and a bigger battery, but no charger. It really comes down to what you consider most important, but those two will get our votes. Samsung Galaxy F34 5G can also be considered, which is almost twice the specifications of the Galaxy M34 5G. Of course, if your budget is really tight, we’d vote for the Redmi 12 5G, which offers amazing value for money at Rs 11,999, and has more storage than the less expensive POCO M6 Pro 5G.
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