Best budget smartphones in India is a never-ending debate as companies like Xiaomi, Honor, Moto, and Samsung have chosen an aggressive approach by launching back to back VFM smartphones in this segment in a bid to reach the ultimate glory.
However, as far as the best budget smartphones of 2017 are concerned, the year was not only about price tags rather we saw many of the premium features making their way to the mid-budget segment. From bezel-less screens to dual cameras, from Android Oreo to a formidable gaming package, all in all, we got the best we could have expected from the industry.
That said, Honor also did a commendable job by going head to head with the likes of Xiaomi and Moto, which have been offering the best multimedia consumption and performance packages in the category. On the other hand, we also got the witness the revival of Samsung in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment, where Xiaomi shot past its competitors to share the numero uno position with the South Korean manufacturer.
With the competition get tougher with each passing day, one thing that the users will be happy about is the fact that they have realized what their money’s worth and how important is this segment to all the players in the smartphone business.
If you haven’t closely followed all the launches this year and are still looking to get your hands on one of the best budget smartphones of 2017, here is the list of the mid-rangers that impressed us the most this year.
Best Budget Smartphones Of 2017: The Benchmark Setters
Moto G5S Plus: The Budget Flagship
- 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080) Full HD display with 401 ppi and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
- Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2GHz coupled with Adreno 506 GPU for graphics.
- 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, expandable up to 128GB via microSD
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat
- Hybrid-dual SIM, Fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button, Bottom-ported loudspeaker and Water repellent nano-coating.
- 13MP (RGB) + 13MP (monochrome) rear cameras with dual-tone LED flash, 4K video recording, f/2.0 aperture, and depth editing software.
- 8MP front camera with fixed focus, LED flash wide-angle lens and f/2.0 aperture.
- 3000mAh battery with Turbo Charging support.
- 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS/GLONASS, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), NFC, Micro USB support and 3.5mm headphone jack
Xiaomi Mi A1: The Perfect Camera Smartphone
- 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080) Full HD 2.5D curved glass LTPS display with 450nit brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 403 ppi and Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
- Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 14nm SoC clocked at 2GHz coupled with Adreno 506 GPU
- 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage, expandable up to 128GB with microSD
- Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) out of the box which is upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
- Fingerprint Scanner at the rear panel, Infrared sensor and Hybrid Dual SIM (micro + nano/microSD).
- 12MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/2.2 aperture, 1.25μm pixel size, wide-angle lens, a secondary 12MP sensor with telephoto lens, PDAF, f/2.6 aperture, 1.0 μm pixel size.
- 5MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture, fixed focus, 1.12μm pixel size and facial recognition.
- Dedicated 10v amplifier for better audio output and 3.5mm audio jack.
- 3080mAh battery
- 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS + GLONASS, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz), and USB Type-C support
Honor 7X: The Formidable Competitor
- 5.93-inch (2160 x 1080) Full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 2.5D curved glass, 407 ppi, 77.0% screen-to-body ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
- Octa-Core Kirin 659 processor clocked at 1.7GHz coupled with MaliT830-MP2 GPU
- 4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB/128GB of internal memory, expandable up to 256GB with microSD card.
- EMUI 5.1 based Android 7.1 (Nougat)
- Hybrid Dual SIM (nano+nano/microSD) and Fingerprint sensor.
- 16MP+2MP (monochrome and RGB) dual rear cameras at the rear with f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, 1/2.9″ sensor size, 1.25 µm pixel size, panorama, HDR and Bokeh Effects.
- 8MP front camera with fixed focus, gestures support, f/2.0 aperture, and a 77-degree wide-angle lens.
- Histen sound algorithm for 3D surround sound
- 3340mAh non-removable battery with SuperCharge technology
- 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v4.1 LE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack and Micro USB support.
Honor 9i: The Trend Setter
- 5.9-inch (2160 x 1080) Full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 2.5D curved glass, 403 PPI and screen to body ratio of 83 percent.
- Octa-Core Kirin 659 processor clocked at 1.7GHz coupled with MaliT830-MP2 GPU for graphics
- 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, expandable up to 256GB via microSD card.
- EMUI 5.1 based Android 7.0 (Nougat)
- Fingerprint sensor at the rear panel, Hybrid Dual SIM (nano+nano/microSD) and 3.5mm headphone jack.
- 16MP monochrome sensor at the rear, PDAF, dual-tone LED flash, f/2.2 aperture, and secondary 2MP (RGB) sensor supporting 4K videos, and HDR.
- 13MP front monochrome sensor, soft LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, and secondary 2MP (RGB) sensor, supporting full-HD video recording.
- 3340 mAh non-removable battery with fast charging support.
- 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS / GLONASS, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Micro USB support
Samsung Galaxy On Max: The Underrated Contender
- 5.7-inch (1920 x 1080) Full HD TFT IPS display with 2.5D curved glass
- 64-bit Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P25 Lite SoC clocked at 1.69GHz paired with ARM Mali T880 GPU for graphics
- 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, expandable up to 128GB via microSD card.
- Android 7.0 (Nougat) out of the box
- Dual SIM support, fingerprint scanner and Samsung Pay Mini
- 3300mAh non-removable battery
- 13MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture and LED flash
- 13MP front camera with f/1.9 aperture, LED flash
- 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4+5GHz), GPS/GLONASS and Micro USB support.
Redmi 4A: The Best Entry-Level Smartphone
- 5-inch HD (720×1280) IPS Display with 72% NTSC color gamut, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 296 PPI.
- Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC clocked at 1.4GHz paired with Adreno 308 GPU for graphics.
- 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage, 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD card.
- 13MP rear camera with LED flash, PDAF, f/2.2 aperture and 5-lens system.
- 5MP front camera with fixed focus and f/2.2 aperture
- MIUI 8 based Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 3120 mAh non-removable battery with fast charging
- 4G VoLTE, Hybrid Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, and GPS/ A-GPS.
Nokia 6: A Formidable Comeback
- 5.5-inch (1080 x 1920) full-HD IPS display with 2.5D curved glass, 403ppi and Corning Gorilla Glass protection
- Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC paired with Adreno 505 GPU for graphics.
- 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, expandable up to 128GB with MicroSD card.
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box
- 16MP rear camera with PDAF, 1.0um pixel size, f/2.0 aperture and dual tone LED flash
- 8MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture, autofocus, 1.12um pixel size and 84 degrees field of view of group selfies
- Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos audio
- Fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button
- 3000mAh non-removable battery with micro-USB charging
- 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Micro USB (USB 2.0), USB OTG and NFC.
These were the best budget smartphones of 2017 that impressed with their specs sheet, price tag and real-time performance credentials, and if your looking to buy a smartphone on a budget, we recommend you to choose any one of these.