If your budget is Rs. 40,000, you can get some great devices with up-to-date specifications, enough power for gaming and impressive camera quality. Manufacturers have also gone to great lengths to stand out in terms of design, and you’ll see features like super fast charging and an IP rating, as well as plenty of RAM and storage. These phones surprisingly also offer incredible value compared to their more premium counterparts.
Rs. Here are the best smartphones under the price. 40,000 in India, reviewed and rated by Gadgets 360, in no particular order.
Rs. Best phone under 40,000
| Rs. 40,000 for internal phones | Gadgets 360 Rating (out of 10) | Price in India (Recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| None Phone 1 | 8 | Rs. 33,999 |
| OnePlus 10R 5G Endurance Edition | 8 | Rs. 39,999 |
| Xiaomi 11T Pro | 9 | Rs. 34,999 |
| iQoo 9 SE | 8 | Rs. 33,900 |
| Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G | 8 | Rs. 39,999 |
| Motorola Edge 20 Pro | 8 | Rs. 34,999 |
| Realme GT Neo 2 | 8 | Rs. 31,999 |
| Motorola Edge 30 Fusion | 9 | Rs. 39,999 |
None Phone 1
If you want a phone that breaks the mold or looks radically different from everything else currently available, the Nothing Phone 1 should be high on your list. Its transparent design, complete with a set of intricately arranged LED light strips, will ensure your phone stands out wherever you go. The lights don’t change color, but will dance in sync with the ringtone, show the current charging status when plugged in, and even blink for notifications. This mid-ranger certainly packs a punch, mainly because its unique design is also IP53-rated for dust and water resistance. It also offers wireless charging at an incredibly cut-throat starting price. Charging speed isn’t the fastest in its segment and nothing bundles a charger in the box.
OnePlus 10R 5G Endurance Edition
The design of OnePlus 10R is very subjective with sharp edges and straight lines. While some may find it attractive, others may find it very odd and very different from OnePlus’ usual round and curved design. Regardless of which side you’re on, its recent price drop makes the OnePlus 10R Endurance Edition very attractive as it’s one of the few phones in the segment to offer 150W wired charging and a 160W charger bundled in the box. Camera performance is good in daylight and low light but not best in class. Battery life is very good and the MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max SoC works well for games with a 120Hz refresh rate display. If you’re a fan of OnePlus, we must warn you that it lacks the iconic alert slider.
Xiaomi 11T Pro
The Xiaomi 11T Pro looks no different in terms of design with a polycarbonate mid-frame sandwiched between two sheets of glass. However, it delivers raw performance thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and is a good all-rounder. Its attractive price and features make it a good deal. Its AMOLED display displays accurate colors and is also Dolby Vision certified. You get stereo sound with Dolby Atmos support, which makes for immersive video streaming. Battery life is excellent and the phone offers up to two days of casual use on a single charge. You also get a 120W fast charger in the box. Camera performance is good except for low light selfie quality.
iQoo 9 SE
The iQoo 9 SE looks very premium. There’s no official IP rating, but you get high-quality stereo speakers that sound great when streaming videos and playing games. The 6.62-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED display produces punchy colors and is HDR10+ certified. The software experience is smooth and fluid with Android 12, but the phone comes with a lot of pre-installed third-party apps. Gaming performance is excellent with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and the 4,500mAh battery lasted a day and a half on a single charge in our tests. Camera performance in daylight is impressive, but we expected better from an ultra-wide-angle camera. The iQoo 9 SE also shoots good macros and selfies come out great.
Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G
Design has always been a big talking point for the Oppo Reno series and the Reno 7 Pro has a glass back with a laser micro-etched finish. The 6.5-inch full-HD+ 90Hz AMOLED panel provides very good colors and contrast, as well as Corning Gorilla 5 for scratch protection. The Dimensity 1200-Max SoC from MediaTek has custom optimizations and runs games smoothly. You get ColorOS 12 but it’s still based on Android 11, not Android 12. Battery life is solid and charging is very fast.
Motorola Edge 20 Pro
The Motorola Edge 20 Pro features a 6.7-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. It is well built and has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back as well as an aluminum frame. It is IP52 rated for dust and water resistance. Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. There’s a 4,500mAh battery and you get a 30W charger in the box. Motorola ships Android 12 almost exclusively with minor customizations. The Edge 20 Pro has a 108-megapixel primary camera, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera and an 8-megapixel 5X telephoto camera. Photos taken in daylight were good, especially close-ups. A telephoto camera can be useful for photographing distant objects. However, the low-light camera performance was not up to the mark.
Realme GT Neo 2
It is a solid mid-range gaming smartphone. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor offers plenty of raw performance and the cooling system does a good job of maintaining that performance. Realme GT Neo 2 is available in bright Neo Green as well as two other subtle colors. The 5,000mAh battery easily lasts a day and a half even with a few gaming sessions. The dual speakers are very loud and provide an immersive experience while gaming and watching movies. Camera performance is a mixed bag. While daylight performance was good, low-light shots and videos weren’t as impressive, meaning the GT Neo 2 isn’t an all-rounder.
Realme recently launched the GT Neo 3 which we haven’t reviewed. The GT Neo 3 (150W) is similar and performed well in our tests but costs Rs. is more than 40,000.
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
Motorola Edge 30 Fusion is a good offering that looks stylish and has good features. The phone packs premium hardware and offers a great user experience. The camera performs well but needs a bit of software tweaking to do justice to the hardware. Also, while the phone can record videos up to 8K, internal storage is limited to just 128GB, so it would have been nice to have more storage options. While there are other phones on this list that offer similar hardware for the price, the Motorola Edge 30 Fusion one-ups them with its distinctive and clean user experience and stylish design.
