Best phones under Rs 10,000: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, Honor 7A, Realme 1 are the best ones to buy this July

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It is a fact that the budget segment is the busiest in India as far as phones are concerned. In developing country like ours, consumers mostly prefer buying phones that have an eye-catchy design, offer decent hardware, and all of that for a pocket-friendly price. With pocket-friendly here I mean under Rs 10,000 category. Sadly, while there are many phones in this segment, the ones that are worth buying are few. Many of the phones sold for under Rs 10,000 come with boring design, outdated software, poor cameras or slow performance. Finding an all-rounder under Rs 10,000 is rare.

There are exceptions, though. And these are the exceptions that are part of this list. So without much ado, here are the under Rs 10,000 phones that you should keep in mind in case you are looking for your next smartphone.

XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 5

We reviewed the Redmi Note 5 and called it the "best phone under Rs 10,000". Kind of. Xiaomi announced the Redmi Note 5 alongside the Redmi Note 5 Pro earlier this year. The phone comes with almost all the features that one wants in a smartphone launched in 2018 -- a bezel-less display, solid build quality, outstanding performance and long-lasting battery life. If only the Redmi Note 5 was more attractively designed and had a better camera, we would have called it the best phone under Rs 10,000 without any qualifier like "sort of" or mostly. We would have called it "the best phone under Rs 10,000. Period."

But, considering the price of the phone -- Rs 9,999 for 3GB RAM and 32GB storage and Rs 11,999 for 4GB RAM and 64GB storage -- what the Redmi Note 5 Pro offers is brilliant.

The Redmi Note 5 comes with a 5.99-inch FHD+ display with a 2160x1080p resolution and is backed by a 4,000mAh battery. The phone was launched with Android 7.1.1 Nougat-based MIUI 9, but reports are that Xiaomi will be upgrading the phone's software to Oreo soon. The Redmi Note 5 is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clubbed with Adreno 506 GPU. The phone comes in two models -- the base one with 3GB and 32GB of internal storage, while the expensive model packs 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. In terms of camera hardware, The Redmi Note 5 comes with a single 12-megapixel rear sensor with f/2.2 aperture, phase-detect autofocus, and a dual-LED (dual-tone) flash. On the front, the phone includes a 5-megapixel sensor with LED flash.

HONOR 7A

Honor is leaving no stone unturned to compete with Xiaomi. The brand, which is owned by Huawei, recently launched two new budget segment smartphones -- Honor 7A and Honor 7C. Interestingly, both the phones fall under Rs 10,000 phone category, but in our review we found the Honor 7A to be a better device. We can say Honor 7A to be all-rounder phone under Rs 10,000 category. One problem, the phone's design could have been better, it looks dated.

The Honor 7A follows the latest trends and comes with a screen ratio of 18:9. Overall, the Honor 7A offers good performance, long lasting battery life, snappy software and a camera that captures clear and detailed pictures. Compared to the Redmi Note 5, Honor 7A comes with more recent software as it runs Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 software.

The phone comes in only in one variant, with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The Honor 7A sells in India at the price of Rs 8,999 on Flipkart. The Honor 7A has a 5.7-inch Full View HD+ IPS LCD display with a 1440x720 resolution and it is backed by a 3,000mAh battery. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor. The Honor 7A features a dual-rear camera system consisting of one 13-megapixel camera and another 2-megapixel camera for depth sensing, which is used for portrait mode feature. On the front, the phone includes an 8-megapixel camera with "soft" selfie light.

XIAOMI REDMI Y2

If you're looking for a phone that captures great pictures and is also pocket-friendly, Redmi Y2 is the one you should try. Xiaomi announced the Redmi Y2 in India recently with the starting price of Rs 9,999 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage version. The price of the top-end 4GB RAM and 64GB storage goes up to Rs 12,999. Apart from the excellent camera performance -- both front and back -- the Redmi Y2 offers decent performance in games, good battery life and looks exceptionally good for its price.

The Redmi Y2 comes with a 5.99-inch HD+ display with a 1440x720p resolution and 269ppi pixel density. The phone is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, clubbed with Adreno 506 GPU. It runs Android Oreo-based MIUI 9, and if recent reports are to be taken into consideration, will be upgraded to MIUI 10 very soon. The Redmi Y2 is backed by a 3,080mAh battery and comes with a dual-rear camera system consisting of 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors. On the front, the phone comes with a 16-megapixel camera with 'soft' LED flash. The front camera is also used for face unlock feature.

REALME 1

Realme is not a familiar name. But what about Oppo? Well, that you recognise. Realme is a brand owned by Oppo. This brand has been introduced by Oppo with an aim to compete with the likes of Xiaomi and Honor in the budget to mid-range segment. The first Realme phone that Oppo launched in India is the Realme 1 and we find it to be a good offering. We reviewed the Realme 1 and found it to be a decent sub-Rs 10,000 phone. Overall, Realme 1 offers battery life that easily lasts one full day on a single charge. The performance is good too. The only areas where Oppo could have worked a little more to make Realme 1 better are design and display.

But despite lacking a few things here and there -- it doesn't have fingerprint sensor, for example -- we know that the Realme 1 is a safe bet because it gets the basics mostly right.

The Realme 1 sports a 6.0-inch FHD+ display with an aspect ratio 18:9 and is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 chipset. The phone is offered in three variants -- 3GB, 4GB, and 6GB of RAM. It comes with up to 128GB of internal storage. The Realme 1 comes with single 13-megapixel camera on the rear with LED flash, PDAF and bokeh mode. On the front, the phone sports an 8-megapixel camera, which supports screen flash and depth mode. The Realme 1 runs Android 8.1 Oreo-based ColorOS 5.0 out-of-the-box and is backed by a 3,410mAh battery.

XIAOMI REDMI 5

The Redmi 5 is all about value for money. It is a tremendous value for money, probably the best value for money in the whole smartphone market. We said as much in the India Today Tech review. The smartphone has a great build quality, good display, excellent performance and long-lasting battery life. The software and the cameras could have been better -- sigh, there is no end to the desire for perfection.

The Redmi 5 is available at a starting price of Rs 7,999 for the 2GB RAM and 16GB storage version, while the top-end 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant sells for Rs 10,999 and the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage comes with a price tag of Rs 8,999.

The Redmi 5 comes with a 5.7-inch HD+ IPS LCD display that has resolution of 720x1440 pixels. The phone is powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor clubbed with Adreno 506 GPU and runs Android 7.1.2 Nougat-based MIUI 9. The Redmi 5 is backed by a 3,300mAh battery and comes with single camera setup on both front and back. The rear camera uses 12-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 aperture and supports phase detection autofocus, and a dual-LED (dual-tone) flash. On the front, the Redmi 5 comes with a 5-megapixel sensor with LED flash.