Top 10 Camera Smartphones Under Rs 10,000 In June 2019

Looking for a budget smartphone with some great camera performance? From top-end processors to big batteries and top quality displays, the budget smartphones now too come with great cameras.

Smartphones from Xiaomi and Realme dominate the camera smartphone space under 10,000 rupees largely with a few from Asus and Samsung.

The smartphones under Rs 10,000 now do offer great still camera performance on a budget. Considering image quality, color reproduction, colour accuracy and low light performance, we made a whole list to pick the best.

Here’s the top camera smartphones you can buy under 10,000 rupees in June 2019.

All the smartphones in the list are chosen on basis of primarily camera performance.

The other parameters included to select the devices are display quality, core performance, battery, UI and user experience (not necessarily in the order).

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2

Available now at under 10,000 rupees, Max Pro M2 sports a 6.26-inch Full HD+ notched display with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection on top. Asus Max Pro M2 also runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC with stock Android UI with Oreo 8.1 OS with Android Pie update on the way.

Camera Specs: Max Pro M2 dons a 12MP + 5MP dual camera system at the back featuring a Sony IMX 486 sensor as the primary shooter. Upfront, it features a 13MP front camera.

Camera Performance: Max Pro M2 does a great job in broad daylight. It has an average performance in low light, but you can use the professional mode to improve the details. HDR helps to improve the dynamic range.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 packs up a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery. Available at Rs 9,999, you get 3GB RAM and 32GB storage with support for expandable memory.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7

Starting with the current hosteller Redmi Note 7, we have the budget beast on top offering Quad Bayer arrangement where four pixels are grouped in a square undere. The 12MP main camera uses the technology to produce 12 million big 1.6µm pixels.

Running on Snapdragon 660 SoC, Note 7 boasts a glass body and a 6.3-inch Full HD+ screen with a dot notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both sides.

Camera Specs: Redmi Note 7 comes with a rear dual camera system sporting a 12MP primary shooter coupled with a 5MP depth camera and a 13MP selfie camera up front.

Camera Performance: In broad daylight the shots come out well offering a lot of details and good contrast. The colors are bit artificial and are without any noise. Overall, it’s good even it artificial and low light. There’s also a special dedicated night mode for long-expsed shots.

At Rs 9,999, you get 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage variant with support for additional storage upto 256GB.

Realme 3

Up next is the recently launched Realme smartphone starting at just Rs 8,999. Running on Mediatek’s flagship Helio P70 chip. Realme 3 has a 6.22-inch only-HD+ display with a water drop notch on top backed by a massive 4,230 mAh battery unit.

Camera Specs: Realme 3 comes with a real dual camera system featuring a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. Up front, it sports a 13MP wide sensor.

Camera Performance: Daylight photos come out sharp and well detailed with top contrast and almost accurate colors. The HDR mode works good adding details in shadows and highlights, while the Chrome Boost helps to improve the dynamic range.

A special mention for the Nightscape, it helps to add more detail using HDR and exposure in bad lit conditions.

At Rs 8,990, you can grab the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage model, with support for 256GB extended storage.

Realme U1

The new entrant in the under 10,000 budget list is the first generation Realme U series smartphone, Realme U1. The smartphone runs on MediaTek Helio P70 chip backed by a dual rear camera system. After being permanently discounted, Realme U1 is now available starting at Rs 9,999 with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, with additional storage capacity.

Camera Specs: Being a selfie centric series, Realme U1 comes with a Sony IMX 576 25MP sensor upfront backed by AI features and capabilities. At the back, Realme U1 has a 13MP primary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a secondary 2MP f/2.4 lens.

Camera Performance: The shots taken by the 25MP selfie camera are wide and has good details. The rear photos are great with a lot of details and good contrast. While the light drops, the noise levels rise with softness around the corners.

Even it suffers from low dynamic range. HDR helps a bit, but in overall, it’s an average rear camera.

Samsung Galaxy M10

Samsung’s latest youth-focused Galaxy M series has been a huge hit in India. The first modle model, the Galaxy M10 sports a 6.22-inch HD+ display with an Infinity V notch design running on company’s own Exynos 7870 SoC under the hood. Similar to other budget phones in the list, Galaxy M10 comes with a rear dual camera system.

Camera Specs: The setup consists of a 13-megapixel sensor and a 5-megapixel camera. The front features a 5-megapixel selfie camera.

Camera Performance: Galaxy M10 does a good camera job for its price. Galaxy M10 does a great job when it comes to still photography in daylight. The contrast is above average, colors are great and details are quite sharp. HDR has limited dynamic range and the wide-angle camera does use the lens rightly.

Galaxy M10 is powered by a 3,400mAh battery and comes in only two color variants. You can buy the 2GB RAM variant with 16GB storage for Rs 7,990.

There is also a 3GB RAM variant with 32GB storage, which is priced at Rs 8,990.

Redmi Y3

Redmi Y3 comes with a 6.26-inch HD+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top running on Snapdragon 632 SoC with 3GB or 4GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB storage. Redmi Y3 runs on the latest Android 9.0 Pie with MIUI 10 on top. The storage can be further expanded up to 512GB via an external memory card.

Camera Specs: Redmi Y3 packs in a super 32-megapixel camera with an f/2.25 aperture with EIS support and a rear dual camera system featuring a 12-megapixel primary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Camera Performance: The Redmi Y3 32MP front camera uses with the 4-in-1 oversampling technique to take some great shots. In broad daylight, Redmi Y3 captures detailed selfies at the full sensor resolution. The rear dual camera captures ample light and landscapes take in good detail, while HDR and macros got the colours almost right.

The whole package is backed by a huge 4,000mAh battery. The base model with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage starts at Rs 9,999 in the country.

Redmi 7

Redmi 7 comes with a 6.26-inch HD+ only display running on 14nm Snapdragon 632 octa-core SoC with 2GB or 3GB RAM, available in two variants: 2GB RAM with 32GB storage and 3GB RAM with 32GB storage.

Camera Specs: Redmi 7 comes with the same 12MP primary snapper with 2MP secondary depth sensor rear camera combination as Redmi Y3. Up front, Redmi 7 has a 8MP selfie shooter. Just like Redmi Y3,

Camera Performance: The daylight performance is quite well with vibrant and saturated pictures and HDR rescuing images from being blown out. The dynamic range is good with sharp details and struggling in low lighting conditions.

Redmi 7 will run on MIUI 10 skin based on Android 9 Pie with a triple SIM slot (2+1) housing a 4,000mAh battery unit starting at Rs 7,999.

Redmi 6 Pro

The European Mi A2 Lite was relaunched in India as Redmi 6 Pro running on the same features and specs expect for the UI. The smartphone is now available at under 10,000 rupees with an above average rear camera. Redmi 6 Pro comes with a notched display, rear dual cameras, Snapdragon 625 and a 4,000mAh battery.

Camera Specs: The Redmi 6 Pro rear camera system comprises of a 12MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture coupled with a 5MP depth sensor.

Camera Performance: The image quality is really good in well-bit conditions including broad daylight. The photos come out sharp and crispy without almost any noise. The contrast is great and colors are good.

Dynamic range is above average and the photos are subtle even in low light.

Asus Zenfone Max M2

The toned down Pro version of Max M2 offers a great dual camera system on a budget. Asus Zenfone Max M2 runs on an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor featuring a 6.26-inch only HD+ display on top with a notch in an 19:9 aspect ratio. The whole package is backed by a huge 4,000mAh battery.

Camera Specs: Asus Zenfone Max M2 comes with a rear dual camera setup comprising of a 13MP shooter with f/1.8 aperture and secondary 2MP depth secondary shooter. Up front, Max M2 has an 8MP camera.

Camera Performance: In terms of imaging quality, Max M2 performs above-average. Color reproduction is good with a fast autofocus. The indoor shots come out good as well, and HDR helps to add details. The portrait mode works quite well with objects and in overall, Max M2 has a good camera.

Asus Zenfone Max M2 is now available at Rs 7,999 (special sale price) with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with expandable memory support.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1

The Asus bestseller, Zenfone Max Pro M1 from last year remains a top buy  under 10,000 rupees in 2019 with a 5.99-inch Full HD+ 18:9 widescreen, Snapdragon 636 SoC, a dual camera system at the back with Android 8.1 Oreo OS backed by a massive 5,000mAh battery.

Camera Specs: At the back, it includes a 13MP primary sensor coupled with a 5MP depth sensor. Up front, Max Pro M1 sports a 8-megapixel camera.

Camera Performance: Daylight images are above average. It struggles in low light and portrait mode is not accurate all the time. The 8MP selfie camera has bit of shutter lag, but in overall, the camera performance is decent.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 starts at Rs 7,999 for the base model with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. The top model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage is currently available at Rs 9,999.