We all face dilemmas when looking to buy a smartphone ourselves. With a range of companies luring Indian consumers, it is quite hard for us to decide. That is why we are here with a list of the best phones under 20000 in India. We have tried to include both 4G and 5G phones out there, but keep in mind that 5G phones come with few compromises.
Smartphones keep emerging out of nowhere now and then. Thus, it becomes quite harder to choose one for yourself over time. With that being said, in this guide, we’ll help you choose the best phone under 20000.
Best Phones Under 20000 in India (2021)
1. Redmi Note 10 Pro – Best Phone Under 20000
With the last year’s Redmi Note 9 Pro series, the company did not significantly upgrade from their Note 8 series. So this year, we were hoping to see some key upgrades, especially in terms of display, form factor, and, of course — their all-time buggy MIUI. Well, the last problem is still a problem, but the Note 10 Pro series turned out to be a banger. Wait till we explain why it blindly deserves the #1 spot on our list of best phones under 20000.
With specs like 120Hz AMOLED Display, exceptional camera setup, excellent form factor, it’s almost concerning where the profits are coming from. However, TechBaked’s recommendation would be to go with the Redmi Note 10 Pro instead of Pro Max, just because paying almost 3000 more for getting a 108MP primary sensor instead of 64MP is not a wise choice.
Starting with the gorgeous display, we can easily say that this display is similar or better to phones costing around 30000. It has a 6.67″ FHD+ 120Hz Super AMOLED Display with 1200nits of peak brightness. The front and back glass is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which is something most companies tend to skip, especially in their budget offerings. The phone houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G processor, which on a 16-17k phone, performs adequately enough for casual gaming, day-to-day tasks, and decent multitasking.
You can definitely find phones with better processors, but none of them has a spec sheet like this. With such great specs so far, this phone comes with a tiny little asterisk, and that is the software. It runs on MIUI 12 based on Android 11. Like every other Mi or Redmi phone, this phone also has stutters, lags, and uninstallable bloatware. With this phone’s processor being a mid-range one, these issues are more prominent to notice, somewhat ruining the overall experience. Another con to pay attention to is its proximity sensor, which lacks calibration and could get annoying while on a call.
The Note 10 Pro comes with a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, 5MP telemacro camera assisted by a 2MP depth sensor, which is easily forgettable. The Note 10 Pro Max features a 108MP primary lens, with every other sensor being precisely the same, including the 16MP selfie camera. Safe to say, The Note 10 Pro Max has the best camera in this price range. The Note 10 Pro is faintly behind, but only in terms of details, which aren’t even noticed if not looked closely. The macro sensor on this phone is definitely more than a gimmick and is simply the best on any smartphone so far. Selfies come out to be above average, nothing crazy special.
It houses a massive 5020mAh battery coupled with 33W of fast charging. The battery life is just awe-inspiring. It can last a full day of heavy usage or one and a half-day of moderate usage effortlessly. The in-box 33W fast charger takes about 80-90 minutes to charge fully. The phone is beautifully built and is super-premium to hold and use. Overall, apart from the minor issues in MIUI, this phone is Redmi’s pinnacle. It’ll be interesting to see where will Redmi go from here, as it is so God damn perfect. Definitely the best phone under 20000.
| Display | 6.67″ FHD+ 120Hz Super AMOLED 1200 nits Peak Brightness Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Side-mounted fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G |
| OS and Speakers | MIUI 12 (Android 11) Dual stereo speakers |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 64GB/128GB (UFS 2.2) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 64 MP Samsung GW3, f/1.9 (Wide) 8 MP (Ultra-Wide) 5 MP (Macro) 2 MP (Depth) |
| Front Camera(s) | 16 MP, f/2.45 |
| Battery | 5,020 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 33W |
| Price | Starts at ₹15,999 |
2. Realme X7 5G
Realme X7 5G was the company’s first budget 5G offering, and for the most part, this is the best 5G phone under 20000 in India. It is a seriously underrated device, where Realme has tried to provide the best combination of specs along with 5G connectivity, all while costing under 20000. With no sacrifices made just for the sake of having 5G, Realme X7 had to be included on our list of best phones under 20000.
It houses a quality 6.4″ FHD+ 60Hz Super AMOLED Display with 600nits of peak brightness and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. It is a good panel for the price with no compromises whatsoever. Realme X7 was the first phone in India to launch with MediaTek Dimensity 800U 5G. The phone is a breeze to use and offers excellent power. The phone launched with Realme UI based on Android 10. Beta testing for Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11 is open now, so it should get the Android 11 update soon.
The phone packs a 64MP triple camera setup with an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro lens. It has a 16MP in-display selfie camera. The camera output is remarkable, and photos come to be in a typical Realme algorithm, i.e. slightly boosted colours, excellent dynamic range and enough details. The selfie camera lacks dynamic range but is a good one for the most part. Thanks to the 60Hz AMOLED Display and power-efficient MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor, the 4310mAh battery lasts almost a day and a half. The in-box 50W SuperDart charger takes just 50 minutes to charge from nil to 100%.
The phone is extremely comfortable to hold and looks fantastic. The bold branding on the back might be a little finicky, but it all comes down to personal preference. The phone misses out on expandable storage and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It safely secures the #2 spot on our list and #1 when it comes to 5G phones, with no apparent compromises.
| Display | 6.4″ FHD+ 60Hz Super AMOLED 600 nits Peak Brightness Corning Gorilla Glass 3 In-Display fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 800U 5G Four 5G bands supported |
| OS and Speakers | Realme UI (Android 10) Realme UI 2.0 Beta (Android 11) SIngle mono speakers |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128GB (UFS 2.1) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 64 MP, f/1.8 (Wide) 8 MP, f/2.3 (Ultra-Wide) 2 MP, f/2.4 (Macro) |
| Front Camera(s) | 16 MP Sony IMX 471, f/2.5 |
| Battery | 4,310 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 50W SuperDart Charge |
| Price | Starts at ₹19,999 |
3. iQOO Z3 5G
The iQOO Z3 5G is a direct competitor to the Realme X7 5G. All because of an AMOLED display and other quality of life improvements, Realme X7 5G is overall a better package in our view. With that being said, other aspects like performance, battery and charging, camera are top-notch. So it definitely deserves the #3 spot on our list of best phones under 20000.
It features a 6.58″ FHD+ IPS LCD Display with a 120Hz fast refresh rate, a 180Hz touch sampling rate and 460nits of peak brightness. The display is a good one, but AMOLED on the Realme X7 is just better. AMOLED produces better colours, has better viewing angles, is significantly brighter, and is power efficient. Although it has a 120Hz fast refresh rate, which makes the display feel smoother, it doesn’t make it better than an AMOLED panel by any means. Overall, it’s a good display, but AMOLED would’ve been better. iQOO’s choice of using a water-drop notch in 2021 is not a good one, but I am nitpicking.
The performance on this phone is unmatched and is undoubtedly a key selling point of this phone. It houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G 5G processor, which is significantly better than Realme X7 and Redmi Note 10 Pro’s processors. In our personal opinion, the company should’ve opted for Snapdragon 765G or 750G and instead given us an AMOLED Display, but we have all we have. Long story short, performance is excellent but could’ve been traded with an AMOLED display instead. It runs Funtouch OS 11.1 based on Android 11 out of the box.
iQOO Z3’s camera setup is the mirror image of Realme X7’s camera setup, i.e. 64MP main+ 8MP ultra-wide+2MP macro sensor with a 16MP selfie camera. It comes to no one’s surprise that both perform almost similar. But if we had to choose one, we’d probably go with Realme because the photos come out a bit more eye-pleasing and more social-media ready. iQOO Z3, on the other hand, performs well, with the scope of improvement in some areas but no vital caveats whatsoever. iQOO Z3 shoots better videos than Realme X7. Both perform equally well on the front side, so no significant differences there.
It has a 4400mAh battery paired with 55W Flashcharge, which takes around 55-60 minutes to charge fully. Surprisingly, even with 120Hz, battery life is impressive. It should last a day of moderate usage easily. iQOO has tried to cut on subtle things like poor quality oleophobic coating, oily plastic back attracting fingerprints, flat sounding speakers, and below-average haptic feedback. These things leave a bad taste towards the phone and definitely could’ve been improved upon. Summing it up, this phone is better suited for enthusiasts than those looking for an overall package. Therefore, #3 place on our list of best phones under 20000.
| Display | 6.58″ FHD+ 120Hz IPS LCD 460 nits Peak Brightness Panda Glass protection Side-mounted fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G 5G Two 5G bands supported |
| OS and Speakers | Funtouch OS 11.1 (Android 11) Single mono speakers |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X Extended RAM Feature, Up to 3GB on 8GB RAM variant, Up to 1GB on 6GB RAM variant |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB (UFS 2.2) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 64 MP Samsung GW3, f/1.79 (Wide) 8 MP, f/2.2 (Ultra-Wide) 2 MP, f/2.4 (Macro) |
| Front Camera(s) | 16 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | 4,400 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 55W FlashCharge |
| Price | Starts at ₹19,990 |
4. Realme 8 Pro
Realme, as a brand, tries to push boundaries with every new phone, but the Realme 8 Pro failed to meet fans expectations. Realme nailing the key aspects of a perfect mid-range phone with the Realme 7 Pro, the Realme 8 Pro is where the company took a step back. However, it is still a great device and thus makes its way to our list of best phones under 20000.
It features a perfectly sized 6.4″ FHD+ Super AMOLED Display with 1000nits of peak brightness and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. Only if Realme had added a higher refresh rate, it would’ve felt a lot more complete. This panel is excellent overall and certainly the best after Redmi Note 10 Pro’s and Mi 11 Lite’s display, which offer higher refresh rates. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, precisely the same as on the year-old Realme 6 Pro. Performance is good enough for day to day tasks, but we were expecting an upgrade from Realme this time. It runs on Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11.
It houses a 108MP+8MP+2MP+2MP quad-camera setup, which was hyped like crazy by the brand. And just like every other incident, karma fought back, and the overall camera experience turned out to be mediocre. The photos come out to be typical Realme style — slightly saturated and boosted colours with an excellent dynamic range. Still, the details could’ve been better, considering it has a 108MP sensor. Like most other mid-range phones, it struggles in low light situations.
In contrast, its competitor — the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, performs better. Overall, the camera performance is an easy B plus. The other sensors perform average, as they have lower resolution. The 16MP selfie camera performs well. It has a 4500mAh cell which can last more than a day of normal usage easily. The in-box 50W SuperDart charger takes 40ish minutes to juice up the battery.
Realme missed out on stereo speakers, which should’ve been included considering even the last year’s Realme 7 Pro had them. To sum it up, Realme 8 Pro is a great device overall, but not much of an upgrade compared to its predecessor. It is definitely not better than Redmi Note 10 Pro or Pro Max. Thus, it secures #4 position overall and #2 position in the 4G phones category.
| Display | 6.4″ FHD+ 60Hz Super AMOLED 1000 nits Peak Brightness Corning Gorilla Glass 3 In-Display fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G |
| OS and Speakers | Realme UI 2.0 (Android 11) Single mono speakers |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128GB (UFS 2.1) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 108MP Samsung HM2, f/1.88 (Wide) 8 MP, f/2.25 (Ultra-Wide) 2 MP, f/2.4 (Macro) 2 MP, f/2.4 (B&W portrait) |
| Front Camera(s) | 16 MP Sony IMX 471, f/2.45 |
| Battery | 4,500 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 50W SuperDart Charge |
| Price | Starts at ₹17,999 |
5. Moto G60
Moto G60’s right hand is its stock android which offers absolutely no bloatware, no unnecessary notifications and runs as smooth as silk. We know that some people just love stock android, and this is why we have kept it on our list of best phones under 20000.
Moto G60 features a giant 6.8″ FHD+ 120Hz IPS LCD Display with 450nits of peak brightness. The screen has nothing special but is a good panel for the most part. 120Hz works flawlessly, but the rest of things like brightness and viewing angles are just average. Motorola has never given an AMOLED Display on any of their phones except their flagship Edge series, and it’s high time now. Simply speaking, phones like Realme 8 Pro, Realme X7, or even the Redmi Note 10 Pro offer superior displays. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G processor, which works like a charm.
To give you a perspective, it performs better than the Redmi Note 10 Pro but not better than the Realme X7 5G or the iQOO Z3 5G. The main reason for this phone performing better than Redmi is mainly because of stock- Android 11. No doubt, stock android is perfect, but modern UI’s have come a long way and are better in terms of customizations and usefulness. I use Nokia 8.1 with stock android, and now I am craving customization features on my phone, which isn’t possible. However, this is a subjective choice, so that I won’t argue much.
The cameras on this phone perform well. The setup might sound fancy — 108MP+8MP+2MP and 32MP selfie, but the images are not out of this world. Photos come out to be a little soft and slightly less detailed, considering it has a 108MP sensor. The colours look a bit dull compared to Realme’s or Redmi’s photos because Moto G60 captures natural colours. Night mode requires optimizations, as the camera barely captures any light at all. The sensor is very well capable of doing that, but the software processing drags it down. No doubt, Redmi Note 10 Pro or Pro Max or even the Realme 8 Pro perform slightly better.
Battery life is the probably only positive point after the performance of this phone, and that too not because of good optimization, but big battery capacity. It has a 6000mAh cell, and the battery should last a day very easily. It can survive even more if used lightly. Battery life is above average, but it still can’t surpass the Redmi Note 10 Pro or the Realme 8 Pro in terms of continuous screen-on time. The shortcoming of a bigger battery is that it takes longer to charge fully. The in-box 20W TurboPower charger is painfully slow and takes almost 2.5 hours to charge fully.
And like every other Motorola phone, this device feels and weighs like a bloated sandwich. The phone is almost unbearable at first, which is a big drawback. Lastly, it all comes down to how much you are willing to sacrifice just for the sake of stock android. With a versatile spec sheet that achieves perfection in nothing but has a good amount of everything and the goodness of Stock Android, this phone is #5 on our list of best phones under 20000.
| Display | 6.8″ FHD+ 120Hz IPS LCD 450 nits Peak Brightness Unspecified glass protection; equivalent to Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Rear fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G |
| OS and Speakers | Stock Android 11 Single mono speakers |
| RAM | 6GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128GB (UFS 2.1) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 108MP, f/1.9 (Wide) 8 MP, f/2.2 (Ultra-Wide+Macro) 2 MP, f/2.4 (Depth) |
| Front Camera(s) | 32 MP, f/2.2 |
| Battery | 6,000 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 20W TurboPower |
| Price | ₹17,999 |
6. Poco X3 Pro
The Poco X3 Pro is built for core performance enthusiasts, which include gamers and heavy taskers. With no obvious compromises and a near flagship-grade performance, the Poco X3 Pro is a must on our list of best phones under 20000. On a bit of a side note, if you don’t fall under the category of gamers or heavy taskers, then avoiding this phone is a better choice.
The phone houses a 6.67″ FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Display with 450nits of peak brightness and Gorilla Glass 6 for protecting the front display. Like the Moto G60, the display is decent, with good viewing angles because of a smaller size and sufficient brightness levels.
Talking about the beast inside — the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 with UFS 3.1 storage, it performs Godlike. The 120Hz display and buttery smooth animations of MIUI make the phone feel so much faster. I have experienced it, and trust me, I’ve never seen MIUI run so flawlessly on a budget phone. Yes, the phone heats a little while gaming with noticeable frame drops after continuous sessions, but that is obvious. After all, you can’t expect a full-fledged flagship-level gaming experience on a 20k phone, but it should give a taste of that. Apart from those issues mentioned above, there are absolutely no complaints at all. It runs on MIUI 12 based on Android 11.
Just like every other “gaming” phone, the cameras perform decently well. With a flagship-grade ISP (image signal processor), the not-so capable hardware takes good photos. It is not the best, but it should get the job done efficiently. The rear camera is a 48MP+8MP+2MP+2MP quad-camera setup with a 20MP selfie snapper. As told earlier, camera enthusiasts should probably avoid it. It has a 5160mAh cell with 33W charging. The phone can only last a day of usage at max, and the in-box charger takes about 70-80 minutes to charge fully.
With a distinct audience to target and a budget gaming phone with nothing missing in particular, the Poco X3 Pro deserves #6 place on our list of best phones under 20000. However, if you don’t care about cameras, dimensions or display, and performance is your only priority, then it could be the best choice available out there.
| Display | 6.67″ FHD+ 120Hz IPS LCD 450 nits Peak Brightness Corning Gorilla Glass 6 Side-mounted fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 |
| OS and Speakers | MIUI 12 (Android 11) Dual stereo speakers |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128GB (UFS 3.1) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 48 MP Sony IMX582, f/1.79 (Wide) 8 MP, f/2.2 (Ultra-Wide) 2 MP, f/2.4 (Macro) 2 MP, f/2.4 (Depth) |
| Front Camera(s) | 20 MP, f/2.2 |
| Battery | 5,160 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 33W |
| Price | Starts at ₹18,999 |
7. Honourable Mention — Mi 11 Lite
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite’s has a different fan base, the main reason being its design and the beautiful form factor it offers, which makes it the slimmest smartphone of 2021 so far, along with being featherlike. The company earned over 200 crores in the first week of launch itself, which shows how much people care about form-factor and usability. Hence, we had to include on our list of best phones under 20000.
It features an industry-first — 6.55″ 10-Bit FHD+ 90Hz AMOLED Display, which is fantastic. 10-Bit means that the display can show more than a billion colours instead of the traditional 16.7 million colours that every other display offers. In addition, there is minimal colour banding effect, i.e. less visible transition between colour shades. The point to note is that there’s barely any 10-bit content available, so you can’t utilize the display at its full potential. But having an extra feature is never harmful, so overall, a big thumbs up for the screen.
Like its sibling — the Redmi Note 10 Pro, it has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G processor, which on a mid-range device like this performs well enough. The processor is enough for day to day tasks and casual gaming but certainly not enough for heavy tasks like continuous gaming and editing. And since it has to handle 90Hz instead of 120Hz, it performs slightly better than the Redmi Note 10 Pro. It has a 4250mAh battery inside a body that’s just 6.81mm thick and weighs a mere 157g. Battery life can last a day of usage very easily, and more, if used efficiently. The in-box 33W fast charger can fill it up in about 60-70 minutes. The phone runs on MIUI 12 based on Android 11.
It has a 64MP+8MP+5MP triple camera setup paired with a 16MP selfie snapper. The overall camera quality is outstanding. With an excellent software processing algorithm, the camera churns out some beautiful pictures. The selfie camera performs decent, and the macro sensor is fabulous. And unlike other Xiaomi phones, it captures slight natural colours. The most beautiful thing about this phone is its thin and light form factor, which no other phone offers.
The phone is a little expensive for sure, but someone caring about the form factor shouldn’t hesitate to pay a slight premium for it. Lastly, it all depends on whether you want a phone with such a form factor. We know some people love it, whereas some don’t; therefore, we decided to give it an honourable mention.
| Display | 6.55″ FHD+ 90Hz 10-Bit AMOLED 800 nits Peak Brightness Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Side-mounted fingerprint scanner |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G |
| OS and Speakers | MIUI 12 (Android 11) Dual stereo speakers |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128GB (UFS 2.2) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 64 MP, f/1.79 (Wide) 8 MP, f/2.2 (Ultra-Wide) 5 MP, f/2.4 (Macro) |
| Front Camera(s) | 16 MP, f/2.45 |
| Battery | 4,250mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, 33W |
| Price | Starts at ₹21,999 |
Conclusion
We have included a total of seven devices only. If you are wondering why, well, that’s because we don’t want you to waste your hard-earned money on the wrong smartphone. We want to be genuine to our readers, and thus, we haven’t included devices that are not worth paying for. This concludes our list of best phones under 20000 in India for July 2021. We will keep updating this list in the upcoming months to keep track of the latest smartphones.
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