Looking to upgrade your smartphone sooner or later but don’t want to shell out a premium for a good one? Read on to discover the best smartphone to buy under Rs 15000 in late 2020!
Smartphones have become everyone’s workhorses, especially in the days of quarantine and self-isolation. We find ourselves not only finding entertainment through apps like Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube but also end up getting a lot of work done through productivity apps such as Google Docs, Drive, and Zoom. If in case you have been looking to buy a new smartphone to replace your old one, this is the only guide you should be looking for!
Smartphone companies have been spitting out the absolute best-in-class hardware in the recent few years. We have already seen the trend of bezel-less displays and fast refresh rates bump up the pricing of phones. Even companies like OnePlus have hit the premium flagship levels of pricing. However, not all of us want the absolute best of the best and could settle with less performance and less fancy cameras. Lucky for those buyers, smartphones have gotten very competitive with pricing and features in the budget category over the past few years in markets such as India.
We have curated a list of some great phones that will help you pick your next smartphone! We have taken into consideration not only the price but also all the features that you can get under 15000. There is a wide variety of phones from different manufacturers that we have chosen below, so we feel you will be able to find the one that suits you the best. With that being said, let’s check the best smartphone to buy under Rs 15000 in late 2020!
Best Smartphone to Buy Under Rs 15000
Poco M2 Pro – Rs. 13,999
Kicking the list off, we have the Poco M2 Pro which is going to be best suited for those who want the most power under 15000 rupees. You can think of the Poco M2 Pro as a little brother to the popular Poco X2 that has previously set the benchmark for budget phones. The Poco M2 Pro retails at Rupees 13,999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant but has higher capacities of 6+64 and 6+128 for Rs 14,999 and 15,999 respectively.
When it comes to the specifications, the Poco M2 Pro rocks a big 6.67 IPS LCD display with a slower refresh rate of 60 Hz. It has a glass sandwich build with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides. Inside the Poco M2 Pro we have the Snapdragon 720G SoC which is quite sufficient for heavy tasks and casual gaming.
It is backed up by a massive 5000 mAh battery that you can fully charge just over an hour thanks to the 33W charger that Poco provides inside the box. The quad-camera setup on the Poco M2 Pro is quite satisfactory and does click good pictures when given an ample amount of light. If you care about performance and battery the most, the Poco M2 Pro is probably the best smartphone to buy under Rupees 15000, but if the camera quality is your priority, look elsewhere.
Samsung Galaxy M21 – Rs. 13,999
If you care about the status symbol and the brand when it comes to smartphones, then you cannot go wrong with the newly launched Samsung Galaxy M21. Although it lags behind the competition when it comes to performance and camera quality, it brings it back in other aspects such as the display, software, and, of course, the brand image. The Galaxy M21 starts at Rs 13,999 which gets you 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage but you can step it up to 6+128 for 15,999.
The Samsung Galaxy M21 boasts an AMOLED display to the front which is easily the best-looking panel that you can get for under 15,000 rupees. It has a rather small waterdrop notch housing the front camera which makes the display experience really good. Where it makes up in the display, it lacks in performance thanks to the Exynos 9611 SoC which is comparatively slower to the likes of the chipsets that the other budget phones are making use of from Qualcomm and MediaTek.
The cameras on the Samsung Galaxy M21 are also nothing to be very impressed by, and it fails to capture good quality images under low light scenarios. While this isn’t the best smartphone to buy under Rs 15000, if your main priority of getting a smartphone is the display and the brand status that comes with it, then the Galaxy M21 is a great device. It also comes backed up by Samsung’s One UI 2.0 skin which is definitely better than MIUI.
Realme 6i – Rs. 12,999
Next up is a phone that is geared towards performance nerds and people who love the best new-in-class technology in their smartphones. The Realme 6i is basically a step-down version of the Realme 6 and it has cut some evident corners when it comes to performance, camera and the build. However, all those compromises are very welcome when you contrast it against all the features that it does bring at a price tag of just Rs 12,999 for the 4+64GB variant and 14,999 for 6+64.
Talking about the best feature about the Realme 6i, the 90 Hz display is nothing that has been brought to phones at this price point. The quality of the IPS display is also really good and it sports a single hole-punch cutout which maximizes the screen to body ratio. The 6.5-inch Full HD+ display is something that you should really consider as the integral trait of the Realme 6i before buying it.
When it comes to performance, the Realme 6i is no slouch either. The MediaTek Helios G90T is a very capable SoC that can handle day-to-day activities and causal gaming just fine – just don’t expect it to crush through PUBG Mobile at 90 fps. The Realme 6i packs a mediocre quad-camera setup to the rear which we feel is one of the areas that Realme has cut corners in.
Redmi Note 9 Pro – Rs. 13,999
The Redmi Note 9 Pro is quite literally just the Poco M2 Pro under a different label, or shall we say it’s the other way around? In any case, both the phones are identical to one another and only differ when it comes to the software experience, albeit very less. We have put up both the Redmi Note 9 Pro as well as the Poco M2 Pro on this list since you will notice one or the other largely out of stock thanks to the popular demand.
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The Redmi Note 9 Pro brings the same 6.67-inch IPS LCD display with the standard 60Hz refresh rate. It also packs in the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC and comes in two variants of 4+64 or 6+128. Overall, if you cannot find the Poco M2 Pro in stock and don’t mind the slightly more bloaty version of MIUI, the Redmi Note 9 Pro is the exact same phone.
Redmi Note 9 – Rs. 11,999
Ending our list of some of the best smartphones to buy under 15000 rupees, we have the cheapest one on this list. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 is a little brother of the Redmi Note 9 Pro and it cuts corners in all the right areas uniformly. It boasts a 6.53-inch IPS LCD display to the front with a hole-punch cutout making the media experience on this phone very good. It starts at only Rs. 11,999 for 4GB RAM and 64GB storage but you can bump those specs up to 4+128 or 6+128 gigabyte for Rs. 13,499 and 14,999 respectively.
The Redmi Note 9 comes powered with the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC which is for all intents and purposes a slower processor when contrasted against the likes of the Snapdragon 720G or the MediaTek Helios G90T. However, we found it to be very capable at handling day-to-day tasks and running apps like Instagram and Snapchat without any hiccups.
You also get a massive 5,020 mAh battery within the phone and a 22.5W fast charger bundled inside the box. The Redmi Note 9 also happens to sport an IR blaster which can be quite convenient at times. It has a quad-camera setup to the rear, but not one which we might particularly recommend for photography nerds since its low light performance is quite hit or miss. Overall, as the cheapest phone you can get with the latest technology, the Redmi Note 9 is a great pick.
Conclusion
That ends our guide for picking out the best smartphone to buy under rupees 15000 in late 2020. If you wanted a phone specifically for the best performance, we would recommend the Realme 6i or the Poco M2 Pro. However, if you care much about the brand status and symbol and good display experience, the Samsung Galaxy M21 does not disappoint. Additionally, at the starting price of just 11,999, the Redmi Note 9 is a no-brainer for people who don’t game a lot.
Which smartphone have you finally decided to get for yourself? If our list helped you out, then make sure you stick around for more such buying guides! In case you have any queries about any of the products we’ve talked about above, do let us know in the comments below since we would love to help you out!
