The mid-range smartphone segment has seen an explosion in India in recent times with the regular influx of phones with ever-improving specs and features. And without a doubt, it is the sub-INR15,000 band that has benefited the most.
Given the teething competition amongst the OEMs, the specs and features that were once common in the premium mid-range devices have now been freely available in the under INR15,000 segment. The design and build quality of these smartphones have also gone under a sea change.
If you are planning to purchase a smartphone under INR15,000 you might find yourself spoilt for choice given the sheer number of phones available in this price band. So to ease your task we have picked top 5 smartphones available to buy in September that will offer great value to your hard-earned money. Here we go.
Realme 5 Pro
Realme has been changing the budget as well as the low-midrange smartphone landscape in India with its near-perfect value smartphones. And with Realme 5 Pro it has further raised the bar for the competitors.
Starting at INR13,999 the Realme 5 Pro is a complete package with quad-rear cameras rated at 48MP+8MP+2MP+2MP and an impressive Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 at the helm. The smartphone has a 16MP selfie shooter with face unlock capability, ensconced inside the small water-drop notch.
The phone is backed by a 4,030mAh battery and icing on the cake is it comes with a VOOC 3.0 fast charging support. It has a USB Type-C port and fortunately doesn’t let go the traditional 3.5mm audio jack. There is a provision of two SIM slots independent of a dedicated microSD card slot.
The phone is covered by Gorilla Glass 3-protected 6.3-inch full-screen LCD display with full HD+ resolution. The curved back though is polycarbonate it sports a new eye-catching crystal design with the diamond cut pattern.
The pone has Nightscape mode for better low-light photography and Dirac Power Sound speaker for more natural sound. The Realme 5 Pro is offered in 4GB+64GB, 6GB+64GB, and 8GB+128GB variants.
Vivo Z1 Pro
Vivo remains to be a prime player in the above INR20,000 category but, of late, it has shifted its focus on the low mid-range segment as well with the newly minted Z series. The Vivo Z1 Pro is the first smartphone in this series and from the very outset, it has success written all over it thanks to all the current day features it has.
The smartphone is kitted with a Snapdragon 712 SoC paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage for powerful performance but the salient aspects of the device are its massive 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging and the camera optics both on front and back.
The Vivo Z1 Pro gets a 32MP selfie shooter which sits inside a smaller hole-punch cutout on a 6.53-inch full HD+ LCD display. The polycarbonate back with gradient finish tacks on a triple-camera setup with 16MP primary sensor alongside an 8MP wide-angle sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The back also hosts a fingerprint scanner.
The phone has a dedicated microSD card slot and possesses a 3.5mm audio jack. But it misses out on a USB Type-C port. The base variant of the phone with 4GB RAM+64GB internal storage is priced at INR14,990. Weighing 201 grams the Vivo Z1 Pro is slightly on the heavier side but given the feature-rich package it offers, it is a trade-off anybody would like to make.
Xiaomi Mi A3
Those who love clean stock Android and better camera experience the Xiaomi A3 is the way to go. The Mi A3 is compact and feels premium thanks to glass-made front and back panel. The back has curved edges and Gorilla Glass 5 protected, so it is pretty sturdy too.
The front features a water-drop notch packing a 32MP selfie shooter. The rear is stacked with a triple-camera array that has a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary sensor paired with an 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor and a 2MP depth sensor.
A Snapdragon 665 SoC powers the handset aided by up to 6GBRAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage. The storage can be expanded up to 512GB via microSD card but doing so you have to sacrifice one SIM card as there is no dedicated microSD slot.
For the first time in A series, the Mi A3 comes with a 4,000+mAh battery and a Super AMOLED display. The 6.03-inch display, however, offers HD+ resolution only. But since it uses AMOLED technology instead of LCD the resolution limitation somewhat gets papered over.
The phone uses a USB Type-C port while a 3.5mm audio jack also finds a place after being dropped from the Mi A2. The 4GB+64GB base model of the Mi A3 starts at INR12,999 only.
Redmi Note 7 Pro
Redmi Note 7 Pro has been ruling the sub-INR15,000 segment ever since it was launched in February this year. The much-sought-after smartphone has an impressive camera, a capable processor, and a durable battery working in its favor.
The Redmi Note 7 Pro features a 6.3-inch bezel-less LCD display with FHD+ resolution and a water-drop notch. Coming in 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB configurations it has Snapdragon 675 SoC under the hood. The Note 7 Pro sports a glass back with Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
The optics is the strong suit of the Note 7 Pro as it makes use of a 48MP sensor and an 8MP depth sensor forming a dual-rear-camera setup. A 13MP front-facing shooter handles the selfie task.
Other notable aspects include Android 9 Pie, 4,000mAh battery with Qualcomm 4.0 Quick Charge, IR Blaster, 3.5mm audio jack, rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, and USB Type-C port.
The base variant of the Note 7 Pro is available at INR13,999. On the downside, the Note 7 Pro lacks a dedicated microSD card slot.
Motorola One Action
If you want differentiation in experience, the newly launched Motorola One Action with its tall 21:9 aspect ratio, near-stock Android, and GoPro like Action camera promises to do so. The smartphone is priced at INR13,999 for its sole 4GB RAM+ 128GB storage variant.
The Motorola One Action is powered by an Exynos 9609 SoC but misses out on a dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansion. Nevertheless, storage can still be expanded up to 512GB using shared SIM slot.
A 3,500mAh battery fuels the handset. You get USB Type-C and 3.5mm headphone jack both. A fingerprint scanner is mounted on the back which is plastic built with gradient finish. A 6.3-inch FHD+ LCD display features a slightly wider hole-punch cutout on the top left corner.
The triple rear-camera includes a 12MP primary sensor and a 5MP depth sensor in addition to a 16MP ultra-wide-angle Action camera that can record videos in landscape mode when the phone is held vertically. The Action camera can’t be utilized for still photography though.
