The top selling category of smartphones is under Rs. 10,000, but if you’ve got a bigger budget, you can end up with some pretty amazing phones. Our list covers the seven best phones you can get for under Rs. 20,000, with as few compromises as possible. As usual, the list is made up of top phones that we’ve reviewed ourselves. We do look around the Web to see what others – including actual users – are saying, but our detailed testing process makes it possible to directly compare phones more accurately and pick what we believe are the best phones.
If you are on a tighter budget, you should also check out our list of best mobiles under Rs. 10,000 and best phones under Rs. 15,000.
Here are our top picks for best phone under Rs. 20,000 in no particular order.
| Mobile under Rs. 20,000 | Gadgets 360 rating |
|---|---|
| Honor 8 | 9/10 |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | 8/10 |
| Samsung Galaxy On Max | 8/10 |
| Motorola Moto G5 Plus | 8/10 |
1. Honor 8
Coming in at just under the Rs. 20,000 cutoff, the Honor 8 is the top rated phone on this list. It is a single-SIM phone however, with could be a deal-breaker for some. Beyond that, it’s a strong contender for your money at this budget, as we noted in our review of the phone.
There’s a 5.2-inch display running at full-HD resolution, backed up by a 1.8GHz octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM, along with 32GB of storage. The phone has a 12-megapixel camera on the rear, and 8-megapixels on the front. The battery is 3000mAh.
Huawei Honor 8
Buy- REVIEW
- KEY SPECS
- NEWS
- Good
- Excellent display
- Striking aesthetics
- Powerful performance
- Very good cameras
- Good software features
- Bad
- No FM radio
- Single SIM functionality
- Huawei Honor 8 (Sunrise Gold, 32GB)Rs.19,500
- Huawei Honor 8 (Sakura Pink, 32GB, 4GB RAM) – OFFERRs.19,990
- Huawei Honor 8 (Blue, 32GB)Rs.27,999
2. Xiaomi Mi Max 2
The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 has been described as a battery pack with a phone attached, but it’s actually a pretty sleek and good looking phone, despite the enormous 6.44-inch display. As we note in our review, the camera is a little disappointing, but its battery life is predictably great, and has a good display and performance, making it a nice choice for media consumption, and one of the picks for the best phone under Rs. 20,000.
The phone has a 2GHz octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 12-megapixel camera on the rear, along with a 5-megapixel front camera. There’s 64GB storage, and a whopping 5300mAh battery as well.
Xiaomi Mi Max 2
Buy- REVIEW
- KEY SPECS
- NEWS
- Good
- Premium looks and solid build quality
- Battery life is impressive
- Overall performance is decent
- Quick charging support
- Bad
- Too bulky for any pocket
- Hybrid dual-SIM slot
- Camera could have been better
- Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Black, 64GB, 4GB RAM) –Rs.16,999
- Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Black, 64GB, 4GB RAM) – OFFERRs.16,999
- Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Black, 64GB, 4GB RAM)Rs.16,999
3. Samsung Galaxy On Max
The newest phone on this list, the Samsung Galaxy On Max is a solid all-rounder with good design and a nice display. In our review, we pointed out its camera as a highlight – possibly the best camera phone under Rs. 20,000 – but the battery life is only okay.
The cameras on the front and rear both have 13-megapixel sensors, and the phone, which is powered by a 1.69GHz octa-core processor and 4GB RAM, has a 5.7-inch display with full-HD resolution. The 3300mAh battery sounds good on paper, but we found that the real world results could have been better.
Samsung Galaxy On Max
- REVIEW
- KEY SPECS
- NEWS
- Good
- Face recognition
- Decent cameras
- Dedicated SIM and microSD slots
- Neat software enhancements
- Bad
- Slippery rear panel
- No notification LED
- Average battery life
4. Motorola G5 Plus
You can’t have a budget friendly list without a Motorola phone, and that’s true here as well. The Moto G5 Plus is a good all-rounder that doesn’t blow you away on many fronts, but won’t let you down either, thus finding a spot in our list of best mobiles under Rs. 20,000.
Packing a 2GHz octa-core processor, 4GB RAM, and 32GB of storage, the phone has a 5.2-inch display, running at full-HD resolution. There’s a 12-megapixel camera at the back, and a 5-megapixel front camera, backed up by a 3000mAh battery.
Motorola Moto G5 Plus
- REVIEW
- KEY SPECS
- NEWS
- Good
- Decent build quality
- Turbo charging support
- Near-stock Android Nougat experience
- Quick fingerprint sensor
- Bad
- Heating issues
- No LED indicator
- Loudspeaker not very good
- Low-light camera performance could be better
Budget friendly options
If these picks don’t have your fancy, you can save some money with these three budget friendly options. The Lenovo Z2 Plus has seen its price drop a lot since launch, but it’s still a solid option. The camera is one area where the phone could certainly improve, but battery life and performance are both excellent.
The Redmi Note 4 is another well-priced phone with great features. In our review, the only black mark against it is the camera, so if you’re looking for a value for money phone with great battery life and design, do consider this one.
There’s also the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is a great all-rounder. In our review, one issue that came up with the low light camera performance, but it has a superb screen, great battery life, and good performance too.
Additional options
These phones make up our top picks for phones under Rs. 20,000. If you’re on a tighter budget, here’s a list of all the best phones under Rs. 15,000, and under Rs. 10,000. In the under-Rs. 20,000 category, the Huawei Honor 8 Lite and the Asus ZenFone 3 Max also both hold a lower overall rating, but do well in different areas, and are worth your consideration, and there’s also the Oppo F3 which is a worthy contender.
So, between all of these phones, which ones caught your eye? If you’re planning on buying one of these, or are using another phone under Rs. 20,000, share your thoughts and experiences with us and the other readers, via the comments below.
