The under Rs.15,000 price point is crucial to the Indian smartphone industry since it is accessible to a lot of people. Over the years we have seen multiple manufacturers attempting to capture this segment by offering better cameras, faster processors, and better batteries. In order to be the best in this segment, manufacturers have flooded the sub-Rs. 15,000 price segment with a range of good smartphones.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 which was earlier exclusive to smartphones above Rs. 20,000 is now available under Rs. 15,000. You can also find mightier processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, and MediaTek Helio P70 at this price point, giving users powerful hardware at a bargain price.
Good camera technology has also trickled down to the sub Rs. 15,000 segment over the years giving people the option to capture good photos without paying a bomb for flagship devices. Some of the recent smartphones we have seen in this price point pack in as much as a 48-megapixel sensor. With so many options in the market, picking up a smartphone isn’t easy. But we’ve put together a list of the best phones under Rs. 15,000 for you. As usual, we've restricted ourselves to phones that have fared well in our review process.
| Redmi Note 10S Specifications | |
| Display | 6.43-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G95 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 5000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 64MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 13MP |
The Redmi Note 10 isn't pathbreaking in terms of features and specifications for the sub-Rs. 12,000 segment, but it does cover all the bases and offer a few nice extra touches. It's slimmer and lighter than the Redmi Note 9, and debuts a new 'Evol' design language which makes it look quite smart. The 6.43-inch full-HD+ AMOLED screen is a major highlight, producing crisp details and colours that pop. You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 SoC which is powerful enough for casual gaming as well as everyday tasks. Battery life is good enough to get you through at least a full day, and charging is quick. The cameras are quite ordinary, with the 48-megapixel primary one taking good shots in the daytime ad acceptable ones at night. The ultra-wide and selfie cameras are also serviceable, but the macro one is just for amusement. MIUI is still full of promotional content and ads, but the company promises to remove these with a future update.
| Redmi Note 10 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.43-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 5000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 13MP |
Motorola G30 was alongside the Moto G10 Power and is targetted at the budget segment in India. The Motorola Moto G30 has a new design, it has a 6.5-inch display with a dewdrop notch at the top. The frame of the Moto G30 is made of plastic and all the buttons are on the right side.Its volume buttons are higher, and the Google Assistant button is right on top, making it somewhat hard to reach, Motorola offers an IP52 rating for water resistance and the SIM tray has a rubber seal.
Motorola has picked the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC and offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. You can expand storage using the hybrid SIM slot. The Moto G30 has an HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a 5,000mAh battery and gets a 20W charger in the box. Motorola ships the G30 with Android 11 out of the box with a few customisations. The software is clean with no bloatware apps preinstalled on it. Battery performance too is good and the phone can go beyond a day and a half quite easily.
Motorola has equipped the Moto G30 with a quad-camera setup consisting of a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.. Daylight photos clicked from the primary camera had good detail. The ultra-wide angle camera offered a wider field of view but at a loss in details.. the Macro camera lets you go close to the subject but was limited in terms of resolution. Lowlight camera performance was decent in regular mode with some loss in details in the shadows. Night mode was too aggressive making the image unusually bright with blown-out highlights. Video recording tops out at 1080p for the primary as well as the selfie shooter and had stabilisation.
| Motorola Moto G30 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.50-inch, 720x1600 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 5000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 64MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 13MP |
Poco X3
| Poco X3 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.67-inch, 1080x2340 pixels |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 6000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 64MP + 13MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 20MP |
The Realme Narzo 20 Pro shares the same design as the Realme 7. It sports a 6.5-inch 90Hz full-HD+ display with a camera hole in the top left corner which some might find to be distracting. The Narzo 20 Pro has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner placed on the power button. The volume buttons are moved over to the other side of the device, which makes them easy to hit.
The Narzo 20 Pro has a quad-camera setup and the back panel has a V-shaped pattern that shines when light bounces off it at the right angle Realme has used a 4,500mAh battery for the Narzo 20 Pro, consisting of two 2,250mAh cells, in order to enable faster charging. It supports Realme's proprietary 65W SuperDart charging, with a suitable charger bundled in the box. The Narzo 20 Pro weighs 191g which is acceptable given its size and the battery it packs in.
Realme has opted for the same MediaTek Helio G95 for the Narzo 20 Pro. It has two variants with 6GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage, The Narzo 20 Pro gave me no reason to complain in everyday use. It was quick to load apps, and switching between them was a breeze. The fingerprint scanner and face recognition were quick to unlock the device.
The quad-camera setup on the Narzo 20 Pro consists of a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2-megapixel black-and-white portrait camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. the phone clicks 12-megapixel shots by default and had good dynamic range. Photos from the ultra-wide-angle camera had a lower resolution output. Close-ups were good, and the Narzo 20 Pro managed sharp results with a soft blur for the background. Portrait shots were decent.
Low-light camera performance was strictly average but switching to Night mode returned slightly brighter results.Selfies taken with the Realme Narzo 20 Pro were decent, and the output was smoothened. Video recording tops out at 4K for the primary camera, while the selfie camera can shoot up to 1080p footage. Daylight videos shot at 1080p had a mild shimmer while 4K footage wasn't stabilised.
| Realme Narzo 20 Pro Specifications | |
| Display | 6.50-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G95 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Battery Capacity | 4500mAh |
| Rear Camera | 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
Realme 7
The Realme 7 brings in three main upgrades over the Realme 6 — a new SoC, a bigger battery, and a new primary camera sensor. It features a mirror-split design, which creates some interesting patterns when light hits it. The Realme 7 is actually thicker (9.4mm) and heavier (196.5g) than the 6, due to its larger battery, and this is very noticeable in daily usage.
The Realme 7 is the first phone to debut with the MediaTek Helio G95 SoC. This is an updated version of the Helio G90T, which was seen in the Realme 6, but it's not a major upgrade. Performance is pretty satisfactory. The Realme 7 uses Realme UI, based on Android 10, which worked smoothly. Face recognition and the side-mounted fingerprint sensor are also quick. The Realme 7 is good with games too. Battle Prime looked great at the highest graphics settings and gameplay was smooth.
The Realme 7 gets a chunky, 5,000mAh battery and you can charge the battery fairly quickly too, thanks to the 30W Dart Charge fast charging.
The new primary rear camera in the Realme 7 offers a noticeable improvement in pixel-binned images, comapred to the Realme 6. It exhibits improved dynamic range and exposure, with better details too. Low light photos look cleaner too, with less grain. Shots captured using Night mode look more pleasing, compared to what the Realme 6 can produce. The Realme 7 can shoot videos at up to 4K, but without stabilisation. The colours are a bit on the warmer side.
| Realme 7 Specifications | |
| Display | 6.50-inch, 1080x2400 pixels |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G95 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Battery Capacity | 5000mAh |
| Rear Camera | 64MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
