Best Camera Smartphones Under Rs 20,000: Realme X, Poco F1, Vivo S1, Huawei Y9 Prime, Note 7 Pro, Vivo Z1 Pro, Realme 3 Pro

The under 20,000 segment has some awesome mid-range camera smartphones. A naive feature till a few quarters back, the midrange smartphones now offer some awesome camera performance without compromising on premium performance.

Sadly, Redmi K20 can’t be a part of it, a smartphone highly anticipated of being a solid under-20,000 contender in India.

Realme X wins big here, grabbing the top spot in the list. Poco F1 is at the second, and the new additions are Huawei Y9 Prime and Vivo Z1 Pro. The mid-range stalwarts, Redmi Note 7 Pro and Realme 3 Pro also feature in the list. Then we also have tri-camera devices as Galaxy M30 and Honor 20i.

Here’s the top camera smartphones under Rs 20,000.

Realme X

Realme finally been launched the much anticipated Realme X smartphone country India last month. It has been trending in the country since then, and the pricing of Redmi K20 has worked as a favour for the new Realme smartphone. Backed by some sleek features, the new Realme X device turns out to be a top contender at under Rs 20,000 with a full-screen AMOLED display, pop-up sensor, in-display fingerprint sensor, 48MP camera and more.

Rear Camera: The device comes with a 48-megapixel primary camera along with a 5-megapixel secondary sensor on the back.

Front Camera: Up front, Realme X has a 16-megapixel selfie camera.

Camera Performance: Realme X can take good detailed and sharp pictures in bright light with accurate colours. In poorly lit conditions, the device manages to click decent photos with almost accurate details and colours. Some images come out oversaturated.

It’s the first Realme notch-less smartphone runs on the Snapdragon 710 chip featuring a full-screen AMOLED display with an in-display fingerprint sensor embedded beneath the display.

Realme X is available via Flipkart starting at Rs 16,999 for the base model with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. At the back, Realme X comes with dual cameras featuring the 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor as the primary shooter. The company also launched a couple of special Realme X variants: Spiderman and Onion Garlic.

Poco F1

After the recent price cut, Poco F1 is now available starting at Rs 17,999 in India. Poco F1 is currently one of the best smartphones you can buy at under 20,000 rupees. Poco F1 comes with a 6.18-inch Full HD+ display offering a resolution of 1080 x 2246 pixels in an 18.7:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, Poco F1 runs on the previous Qualcomm flagship Snapdragon 845 SoC coupled with Adreno 630 GPU.

Rear Camera: In terms of optics, Poco F1 comes with a dual rear camera setup offering a combination of 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel secondary camera

Front Camera: Upfront, Poco F1 features a 20-megapixel selfie camera.

Camera Performance: The dynamic range is good and it captures quite accurate details and produce good colours.

It’s backed by a non-removable Li-Po 4,000 mah battery running on Android 8.1 Oreo with a special Poco customised MIUI 9.6 skin on top. The Xiaomi flagship is backed by 6GB or 8GB RAM and 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storage respectively. The memory can be further expanded up to 256GB via an additional microSD card.

Huawei Y9 Prime

Huawei launched its first pop-up sensor smartphone in the country, the Y9 Prime. The new Huawei Y9 Prime is also the most affordable pop-up sensor smartphone available in the country right now. The device comes with a 6.59-inch FullView display with a 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. The new Huawei smartphone runs on an octa-core Kirin 710F chipset, a slightly improved version of the existing Kirin 710 chip clocked at 2.2 GHz.

Rear Camera: The triple camera setup on Huawei Y9 Prime comprises of a 16MP primary sensor, 8MP secondary sensor and a 2MP tertiary depth sensor.

Front Camera: Up front, Y9 Prime packs in a 16MP pop-up selfie camera.

Camera Performance: All photos come out sharp and well detailed with top contrast and almost accurate colors. The HDR mode works well adding details in shadows and highlights.

Huawei Y9 Prime is going to be available in a single variant in the country with 4GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage. Huawei Y9 Prime houses a large 4,000 mAh battery with support for fast charging running on EMUI 9.0 based on Android 9 Pie. Huawei Y9 Prime is priced at Rs 15,990, to be available exclusively via Amazon.

Motorola One Vision

The recently-launched Motorola One Vision is takes the second spot to join the top smartphones under 20,000 list in the country. Available at Rs 19,999, the new Moto device runs on Google’s Android One program offering Pixel-like seamless user interface. Moto One Vision flaunts a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with 21:9 aspect taller display ratio and 3D Corning Gorilla Glass on the back.

Rear Camera: The device comes with a 48-megapixel primary camera along with a 5-megapixel secondary sensor on the back.

Front Camera: Up front, Motorola One Vision has a 25-megapixel selfie camera.

Camera Performance: With the 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor, the device takes some great shots. All photos come out sharp and well detailed with top contrast and almost accurate colors. The HDR mode works well adding details in shadows and highlights.

Motorola One Vision is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 9609 processor with 4GB RAM and 128GB built-in storage. The storage can be further expanded with an external microSD card. The device runs on Android 9.0 Pie with guaranteed upgrade till the next two versions, Android Q and Android R. It houses a 3,500mAh battery supporting 15W fast charging technology.

Redmi Note 7 Pro

Starting with the most-popular smartphone in the list, Redmi Note 7 Pro continues to top the list of current best smartphones under 20,000 rupees. The top mid-range smartphone from Redmi comes with a premium glass design body on the out sandwiched between Corning Gorilla Glass 5 body. Redmi Note 7 Pro on top has a 6.3-inch Full HD+ dot notched display.

Rear Camera: At the back, Redmi Note 7 Pro packs in a dual camera system comprising of the 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor as its primary lens coupled with a 5MP secondary depth sensor.

Front Camera: Upfront, Redmi Note 7 Pro packs in a 13-megapixel wide shooter.

Camera Performance: It comes with the original 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor. All photos come out sharp and well detailed with top contrast and almost accurate colors. At times, the camera struggles to capture details, if you zoom in. The HDR mode works well adding details in shadows and highlights. Colours are very natural compared to rivals.

Note 7 Pro runs on the 11nm Snapdragon 675 processor with on MIUI 10 top based on Android 9 Pie backed by a 4,000mAh battery supporting 18W fast charge. The smartphone is available starting at just Rs 13,999 via Flipkart and Mi.com.

Vivo Z1 Pro

Vivo Z1 Pro is the latest to join the under 20,000 best camera smartphones list. house a massive battery powered by fast charging capabilities. The smartphone comes with a 6.53-inch Full HD+ display offering a screen-to-body ratio of 90.77 per cent and a punch-hole inside the display. Z1 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 processor with a 3 camera system at the back panel.

Rear Camera: Coming to optics, Vivo Z1 Pro uses a 16-megapixel sensor, an 8-megapixel super-wide secondary sensor and finally a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Front Camera: Upfront, the Vivo phone packs in a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.

Camera Performance: Vivo Z1 Pro does a good job for its price in terms of overall photography. Maybe not be better than Note 7 Pro, but not bad either. The contrast is great, details are fine, colors are great and the sensors do their job well. HDR improves dynamic range and the wide-angle camera does use the lens correctly to come in handy at times.

Vivo Z1 Pro runs on Android 9 Pie with Funtouch 9.0 on top. As a plus, Vivo Z1 Pro comes with a huge 5,000mAh battery. It supports 18W fast charging technology and also packs in a fast charger inside the box. It takes around 2 hours to fully charge from 0 to 100 perfect. Charging it for around 40 minutes can ease you through the day.

Realme 3 Pro

Up next, Realme has it’s mid-range winner in the segment, the Realme 3 Pro. The super budget smartphone from Realme scores high in almost all the departments. Realme 3 Pro comes with a high polycarbonate body on the featuring a 6.3-inch full HD+ water drop notched display on top. It has added Gorilla Glass 5 with a gradient design at the back.

Rear Camera: At the back, the smartphone has a dual camera setup featuring a 16MP Sony IMX 519 sensor. The main sensor has an f/1.7 aperture coupled with a 5MP depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. It’s the same camera as OnePlus 6T.

Front Camera: Up front, Realme 3 Pro uses a 25MP selfie shooter with an f/2.0 aperture.

Camera Performance: Pictures taken in normal model come out sharp. They are well detailed with great contrast, but the colors are not exactly accurate. It uses AI to boost up the colours. Orelse, it works fine. The HDR mode works well adding details in shadows and highlights. Chrome Boost helps to improve the dynamic range and dial up the colours to a huge extent.

Running on Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor, Realme 3 Pro available in two variants with the new ColorOS 6.0 on top based on Android 9 Pie. The whole Realme 3 Pro package is backed by a 4,045 mAh battery supporting VOOC 3.0 fast charging (20W) with a Micro USB powered brick inside the box.

Vivo S1

The newly launched Vivo S1 comes with a great set of camera specs. The smartphone comes with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display offering a screen-to-body ratio of 90.77 per cent and a punch-hole inside the display. It is the first smartphone in the world to be powered by MediaTek Helio P65 chip with a 3 camera system at the back.

Rear Camera: Coming to optics, Vivo S1 uses a 16-megapixel sensor, an 8-megapixel super-wide secondary sensor and finally a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Front Camera: Upfront, the Vivo phone packs in a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.

Camera Performance: Vivo S1. does a good job for its price in terms of overall photography. Maybe not be better than Note 7 Pro, but not bad either. The contrast is great, details are fine, colors are great and the sensors do their job well. HDR improves dynamic range and the wide-angle camera does use the lens correctly to come in handy at times.

S1 runs on Android 9 Pie with Funtouch 9.0 on top. As a plus, Vivo S1 comes with a huge 4,500mAh battery. It supports 18W fast charging technology and also packs in a fast charger inside the box.

Samsung Galaxy M30

Taking the list further, it’s the hit Samsung Galaxy M30 smartphone next on the list. Samsung Galaxy M30 is one of the only smartphones in list to feature a triple camera setup at under Rs 20,000. Galaxy M30 dons a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ display featuring a water drop notch on top called the Infinity-V display. On the outside, it’s a high-quality plastic polycarbonate body with gradient finishes.

Rear Camera: The triple camera system on Galaxy M30 features a 13-megapixel f/1.9 primary shooter coupled with a 5-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a third 5-megapixel depth lens.

Front Camera: Upfront, Samsung Galaxy M30 comes with a 16-megapixel wide sensor.

Camera Performance: The Galaxy M30 offers some great camera performance on a budget. One of the only smartphones to come with a three camera setup, the price justifies for the performance it offers. It matches the likes of Note 7 Pro and Realme 3 Pro, and at times better. The contrast is great, details are good, colors are accurate and natural. The wide-angle lens come in handy at times.

The smartphone runs on Samsung’s own in-house Exynos 7904 SoC octa-core chip coupled with 4GB or 6GB of RAM.

Galaxy M30 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with One UI on top backed by a massive 5,000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging (ships with the fast charging supported adapter in the box). The base model of Galaxy M30 starts at Rs 14,990.

Honor 20i

The newly launched Honor 20 series has a perfect camera smartphone on a budget. A toned-down model of the original Honor 20, the new Honor 20i comes with a three camera setup at the back along with a super 32MP camera sensor upfront. On top Honor 20i has an edge to edge water drop notched display measuring 6.21-inches.

It’s a Full HD+ display offering an immersive experience with a thin chin down under. Honor 20i is powered by a Kirin 710 chipset running on Android 9.0 Pie with EMUI 9 skin on top.

Rear Camera: Honor 20i sports a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 24MP primary lens, an 8MP wide angle lens and a 2MP depth sensor.

Front Camera: Up front, the Honor phone has a 32MP camera.

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

The Honor 20i comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB memory, backed a considerable 3,400mAh battery. Currently, after the price cut, Honor 20i is available at under 20,000 rupees starting at Rs 14,999, making it a perfect option for an all-round performance along with some great camera performance.