Smartphone companies now launch a successor under four to six months, and smartphone technology is being upgraded faster than ever. It’s not practically possible for anyone to get a new smartphone every six months or so. Look at the Realme 5 Pro, the predecessor Realme 3 Pro came just four months back.
While companies keep upgrading their devices, the predecessors lose the limelight even with good features and specs.
And that’s why there are a bunch of smartphones currently available in the market at a very good value for money pricing launched last year.
If you aren’t a geek or someone who need the latest technologies, this list is for you. For seamless day to day use, clean performance, decent photography, good battery backup and standard gaming, we picked some great budget devices from last year. They are still being sold, and are a great option to buy now given the price to performance ratio.
Let’s begin with the top smartphones from 2018 which are still worth buying.
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Honor Play
Starting with a great budget smartphone, Honor Play came to India as a toned-down Honor View10, the first dedicated mid-range gaming smartphone in India. Launched at Rs 19,999, the smartphone is now available starting at re 13,999. With a metal unibody design on the outside, Honor Play features a 6.3-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD notched display in an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The smartphone is powered by the previous generation flagship Kirin 970 processor with a dedicated Neural Processing Unit or NPU for crunching machine learning algorithms and tasks like image recognition.
Honor Play runs Android 8.1 Oreo-based EMUI 8.2 and packs in features like in-game network optimisation so that the phone will be able to seamlessly shift from Wi-Fi to mobile data to ensure uninterrupted gameplay.
The GPU technology helps to offer better frame rates and stable gameplay resulting in faster and seamless frame rates. 4D gaming helps to offer a more enriching gaming experience by detecting gaming scenes to feature vibrations and nuances to enhance the gaming experience further.
The phone is further backed by a 3,750mAh battery and supports fast charging. At the back, Honor Play comes with a dual rear camera system featuring a 16MP sensor paired with a 2MP sensor for depth sensing. It does reasonably well in good lighting, while upfront Honor Play comes with a 16MP camera with f/2.0 aperture.
Poco F1
Coming to the most-talked-about smartphone of 2018, Poco F1 is now available starting at Rs 17,999 in India. It still remains one of the best entry-level premium smartphones on a budget offering great camera performance and efficient gaming capabilities. 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.
In terms of optics, Poco F1 comes with a dual rear camera setup offering a combination of 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel secondary camera.
Upfront, Poco F1 features a 20-megapixel selfie camera. The dynamic range is good and it captures quite accurate details and produce good colours. Poco F1 made headlines back when it matched up the iPhone 8 score at DxOMark in terms of imaging capabilities.
It does an awesome job managing some great contrast, good details and quite accurate and natural colour procurement. Poco F1 is 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.
Xiaomi Mi A2
Xiaomi Mi A2 was one of the most-awaited smartphones of 2018. The predecessor Mi A1 set high standards, and the Mi A2 didn’t exactly set the tone right. While it definitely has its own set of positives and good features, but the pricing killed it. But now Xiaomi Mi A2 smartphone is available at a permanently discounted price of Rs 10,999, down from Rs 16,999, when launched back in August.
This price makes more sense. Mi A2 offers clean stock Android, has a great camera, a unibody design and the much-dependable Snapdragon 660 processor.
Given the needs and requirements, Mi A2 does a good job. If you want to experience seamless pure Android Pixel-like UI and doesn’t wish to have a notch on top, the Mi A2 is a perfect option at this price. Well the the third generation Mi A3 has been launched in the country starting at Rs 12,999.
The smartphone is an Android One device, directly backed by Google when it comes to timely security patches and two guaranteed version upgrades. Mi A2 runs on Snapdragon 660, Android Oreo, dual cameras, widescreen 18:9 notch-less display and a 3,000mAh battery supporting QC 4.0 fast charge. It’s available in four different colour combinations: Black, Lake Blue, Gold and Red.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2
Asuss decreased the price of its hit Zenfone Max Pro M2 smartphone after the launch of Redmi Note 7 and Realme 3 back in March, and it remains at the same price since then. The smartphone is now available at under 10,000 rupees. It hasn’t been successful as Max Pro M1, but the smartphone have it all to challenge some of the budget smartphones. The Asus device sports a 6.26-inch Full HD+ notched display with the latest top-end Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection on top.
While it’s actually better in a number of ways if compared to devices in the same range as Redmi Note 7S or the newly launched Realme 5.
Under the hood, Max Pro M2 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC with stock Android UI with Oreo 8.1 OS. The Android Pie update is already out. The device remains out of stock for most of the time, so you need to wait for the stock to refill. It’s better to click on the Notify Me button on Flipkart so that you get an instant notification when the stock is refilled.
Finally, coming to the optics, at the back, Max Pro M2 has a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera system including a Sony IMX 486 sensor. With a 13MP front camera, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 packs up a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery. Available starting at Rs 9,999, you get different storage options to choose from, starting with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage and support for additional memory.
Realme 2 Pro
This Realme smartphone from last year continues to dominate the market. While different successors are already here, the first Realme Pro first still is one of the best budget devices you can get at under 12,000 bucks. Realme 2 Pro is now available starting at Rs 10,990, and it does offer great value for money at this price. With a bigger notched display, larger battery and design on Realme 2 Pro, it still outperforms many budget devices.
Running on the same Snapdragon 660 processor as Max Pro M2 and Mi A2, Realme 2 Pro differentiates with a Full HD+ 6.2-inch water drop notches display, dual rear cameras and a 3,500mAh battery.
It used to be the most affordable Snapdragon 660 smartphone last year, and still makes a good buy in 2019. It sports a clear design on the outside without much clutter and hues, offering apt day to day performance with Snapdragon 660 SoC. The cameras do a fair job, while the gaming performance is standard. The battery is still okay to run for a whole day.
Realme U1
The first Realme U series smartphone from December last year still remains a viable option at under 10,000 rupees. The selfie-focused Realme U1 currently retails starting at a discounted price of Rs 9,999. Realme U1 features a AI-powered 25MP Sony IMX 576 sensor. On top the smartphone runs on MediaTek Helio P70 chip, the latest 12 nm chip.
On top Realme UI comes with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with a water drop notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
The smartphone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with Color OS 5.2. The Android Pie-based Color OS 6.0 has now been released, and you can enjoy the new UI on the device. The company also added a new Realme U1 variant with 64GB storage and 3GB RAM at Rs 10,999.
Honor 8X
The Honor 7X successor was unveiled back in October last year. The smartphone comes with a 6.5-inch Full HD+ with a notch on top running on an octa-core Kirin 710 12 nm processor. Honor 8X has Android 8.1 Oreo as its UI with EMUI 8.2 on top featuring a 20-megapixel primary rear camera coupled with a secondary 2-megapixel camera and a 16-megapixel selfie camera.
Honor 8X offers a massive display with amazing viewing experience, huge 3,750 mAh battery and great camera performance, starting at Rs 10,999.
Starting with the design, it’s one of the most sturdy devices you can use. The device is still available, and at Rs 10,999, it does make perfect sense to buy it. It has a clear design on the outside without much clutter and hues, offering apt day to day performance, the cameras do a fair job, while the gaming performance is standard.
Nokia 6.1 Plus
The rebranded Nokia X6 as Nokia 6.1 Plus is currently one of the most successful new Nokia range of smartphones in India. The device comes with an aluminum frame with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on both sides. Up front, Nokia 6.1 Plus comes with a 5.8-inch Full HD+ display with a wide notch as Apple iPhone X. Nokia 6.1 Plus gets the biggest advantage with the software.
Running on Android One, Nokia 6.1 Plus offers a Pixel-like experience on a budget. It will soon be getting the upcoming Android 10 update.
The device is powered by the Snapdragon 636 SoC with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. At the back, it comes with a dual rear camera system and a circular fingerprint sensor. The dual rear camera system on 6.1 Plus features a primary 16-megapixel sensor coupled with an additional 5-megapixel sensor.
Upfront, it has a 16-megapixel front camera. The Nokia Android One phone ships with Android Pie out of the box, and the software is ensured by Google for guaranteed upgrades and patches. The whole system is backed by a standard 3,060mAh battery, capable of running for a whole day with support for 18W fast charging tech.
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