As the prices of premium smartphones are moving northward, we are seeing changes in some of the old price segments and currently, Rs. If you want a decent, efficient Android smartphone, the 10,000 segment is the main entry point. Most phones in this price range still don’t offer an ideal experience, but there are a few worth recommending if you’re working on a tight budget or just need a secondary phone. We admit, we haven’t been able to test all the latest offerings in this segment, but we’ve updated the list with options that we think are worth checking out.
Realme C31 is a recent addition that offers better design and battery life. Micromax In 2b is still worth getting as it strikes a good balance between performance, design and price. There is also Moto E40 and Realme Narzo 30A. Here are the best smartphones in India at Rs. 10,000 in no particular order.
Best Phones Under 10,000
| Rs. 10,000 for internal phones | Gadgets 360 Rating (out of 10) | Price in India (Recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| Motorola Moto E40 | 7 | Rs. 9,999 |
| In Micromax 2b | 8 | Rs. 8,999 |
| Realme Narzo 30A | 8 | Rs. 8,999 |
| Realme C31 | 7 | Rs. 9,999 |
Motorola Moto E40
Moto E40 is Motorola’s sub-Rs. has a decent budget offering in 10,000 sections. It offers acceptable hardware, and performance is adequate for causal use. The Unisoc T700 SoC is fine for day-to-day apps, but won’t be suitable if you often switch to more demanding tasks like video editing. Heavy apps and games take a bit longer than usual to load. Still, there’s plenty to like about this phone, like its 90Hz display, clean and bloat-free Android experience, and good battery life. Its main drawbacks are slow charging and average camera performance, which is not common for a phone at this price.
In Micromax 2b
The Micromax In 2b may not be a jack of all trades, but it’s good at the basics, which boosts its value compared to some rival smartphones. The back of the phone is made of plastic but is practical in terms of design and does not collect fingerprints and smudges. Its display is bright enough and displays decent colors considering its entry-level price. The Unisoc T610 SoC in the phone is a good performer for a phone in this class. Camera performance was weak, but battery life and software experience were very good, making it a strong contender in this segment.
Realme Narzo 30A
The Realme Narzo 30A still offers good value for its current selling price. It has a new design with a square-shaped camera module as well as a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The display size is a generous 6.5 inches but only has HD+ resolution. Narzo 30A is powered by MediaTek Helio G85 SoC and comes with up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
You get a dual-camera setup on the Narzo 30A that delivers decent photos in daylight, but low-light camera performance is below average. If you love taking a lot of selfies, the Realme Narzo 30A will keep you happy. The large battery also helps deliver excellent battery life but the device comes at the cost of being a bit large and bulky.
Realme C31
The Realme C31 performs well as a daily driver for casual use. The phone looks modern and stylish and at first glance, it’s hard to tell that it’s actually a budget device. The 5,000mAh battery is also sufficient to provide good battery life. While the SoC can handle basic multitasking and social apps, gaming isn’t its main feature, which means you’ll have to stick to casual games at most.
The cameras on the C31 could have been better, and we don’t like that the portrait mode only works with human subjects. We think it’s better if you get the higher RAM and storage variant of the Realme C31 instead of the base model, as the price difference isn’t huge and it can deliver better performance in the long run.
