Ameya DalviJun 12, 2023 09:34:24 IST
If you have a budget of Rs 50,000 for a smartphone, you get a lot of good options to choose from. From the latest to a generation old premium phones, the choice keeps getting difficult. Selecting just five handsets from the options available wasn’t an easy task for us either. To compound the problem further, the price of certain more expensive smartphones has dropped under 50K this time. Taking all factors into consideration, here are your top 5 smartphones within a budget of Rs 50,000 this month.
Best phones to buy under Rs 50,000 in India
OnePlus 11R 5G
We are quite pleased with the OnePlus 11 series of phones. While the flagship OnePlus 11 5G offers more bells and whistles, the more affordable 11R 5G offers excellent value for money, and also borrows a handful of features from its more premium sibling, which also includes the design. This stylish phone looks just like the 11 5G from the front and back, barring the placement of the front camera and the absence of a Hasselblad logo at the back.
The OnePlus 11R gets a 6.74-inch curved display too with an unusual (higher than Full HD) resolution of 2772 x 1240 pixels. You get a standard Fluid AMOLED display here instead of the more premium LTPO3 variant on the 11. This HDR10+ compliant screen supports 10-bit colour, 120 Hz refresh rate and can get up to 1450 nits bright. This phone is powered by Qualcomm’s previous flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, and you can get its top variant with a generous 16 GB RAM and 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage in this budget.
While it doesn’t have the variety in the camera department present in the OnePlus 11, its 50MP primary camera with OIS is quite impressive, despite the lack of Hasselblad’s colour tuning. The support cast is modest with an 8MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP macro camera. A 16MP selfie camera handles selfies and video calls well. Its 5000 mAh battery can last for a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 100W charger promises to juice it up in less than 30 minutes. The OnePlus 11R 5G runs OxygenOS 13 based on Android 13, and one can expect more OS and security updates in the future.
OnePlus 11R 5G price in India: Rs 44,999 for 16GB RAM/256GB storage
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
The top variant of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is the first surprise entrant in this list. This Moto flagship too is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip and is accompanied by 12 GB RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. You get a 6.67-inch Full HD+ 10-bit P-OLED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1250 nits. This HDR10+ compliant display is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The phone launched with Android 12, and an Android 13 update is available for this phone. Like all Motorola phones, you get a near-stock user interface.
The camera department is quite impressive here. You get a 200MP primary camera with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide shooter and a 12MP telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom. Thus, you have all the key bases covered. You also get a 60MP front camera to cater to the selfie enthusiasts. The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra’s 4610 mAh battery keeps it powered for well over a day of moderate use, and supports 125 Watts wired and 50 Watts wireless fast charging.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra price in India: Rs 49,999 for 12GB RAM/256GB storage
Samsung Galaxy S22 5G
The Samsung Galaxy S22 5G is currently available under 50K on Amazon India; our second surprise. Samsung’s last-generation flagship phone has a compact design with an IP68 rating for dust and fluid resistance. The phone sports an aluminium frame and has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ at the front and back. It has a 6.1-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a peak brightness of 1300 nits, HDR10+ compliance and 120 Hz refresh rate. The Galaxy S22 5G is powered by Qualcomm’s previous flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, and you get its 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant in this budget.
The photography department consists of a 50MP primary camera with dual pixel PDAF and OIS, a 12MP ultra-wide camera with Super Steady video support and a 10MP telephoto camera with OIS for 3X optical zoom. The camera performance is excellent as expected, and can record videos in 8K resolution too. A 3700 mAh battery keeps the phone powered for a day of moderate use and supports 25W fast charging as well as 15W wireless charging. It debuted with Android 12 and Samsung’s One UI 4.1; the Android 13 update has started rolling out.
Samsung Galaxy S22 5G price in India: Rs 48,490 for 8GB RAM/128GB storage
Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G
The top variant of Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G can be comfortably purchased in this budget. The phone is packed with great features starting with a 6.73-inch LTPO 2.0 10-bit AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a QHD resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels. The screen is compliant with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision and can get up to 1500 nits bright. It is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, and you get a choice between 8 GB and 12 GB RAM along with 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage well under 50K. The phone launched with Android 12 with MIUI 13, and an Android 13 update with MIUI 14 has started rolling out.
The rear camera department has three 50MP cameras with the primary module offering OIS, the ultrawide providing you with 115 degrees FOV and a telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom. The 32MP front camera handles selfies and video calls quite well. The Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G also boasts of features like a quad-speaker system tuned by Harman Kardon and superfast charging. Its 4600 mAh battery lasts over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 120W charger claims to charge it fully in just 18 minutes. The phone also supports 50W fast wireless charging.
Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G price in India: Rs 43,990 for 8GB RAM/256GB storage; Rs 46,790 for 12GB RAM/256GB storage
iQOO 9 Pro 5G
Last but by no means the least, we have another fully loaded flagship device that used to sell for more than 50K not long ago. Like several phones in this list, the iQOO 9 Pro 5G is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, and you get 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage to go with it. You also get a 12 GB RAM variant, but it is not worth spending extra 5K on. The phone has a sharp 10-bit 6.78-inch HDR10+ compliant AMOLED display with a resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels and 120 Hz refresh rate. The phone now runs Android 13 with FunTouch OS 13.
The rear camera department here is quite versatile too. You get a 50MP primary camera with Gimbal OIS, accompanied by another 50MP ultra-wide camera with auto-focus and 150-degrees FOV. There’s also a 16MP telephoto camera with OIS that provides 2.5X optical zoom. A 16MP front camera takes care of selfies and video calls. The iQOO 9 Pro 5G’s 4700 mAh battery lasts over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 120W fast charger claims to charge it fully in just 20 minutes. This phone too supports 50W fast wireless charging.
iQOO 9 Pro 5G price in India: Rs 44,999 for 8GB RAM/256GB storage
