5 smartphones under Rs 35,000 that are a steal
Of late, the smartphone market has witnessed a thoroughly good phase. Recent months have brought with them some interesting new products, adding to the list of options for customers. The biggest beneficiary of the development has been the Rs 35,000 mid-range flagship segment.
Over the last couple of years, this subset of the market has redefined itself constantly with offerings from established manufacturers.
Phones in the segment come with impressive hardware that can, at times, even rival top-of-the-line flagships. Here's our pick of the best smartphones under Rs 35,000 you can find:
Nokia 8
It is arguably the most value-for-money device on the list. HMD Global's flagship device for 2017 was initially launched in India on September 26, 2017, at the extremely aggressive price of Rs 36,999. However, over the next few months, the device got further price cuts and is currently retailing on e-commerce portal Amazon for a little over Rs 27,000, making it a stupendous deal.
For the price, the phone brings with it a phone that runs a close-to-stock Android skin with no bloatware – as seen with Google's Pixel and Pixel XL. At the front, there is a 5.3-inch Glance Screen Quad HD display with an impressive pixel density of 544ppi.
Under the hood, the phone comes packing Qualcomm's flagship from 2017, the 835 SoC paired with 4GB RAM and an impressive 3,090mAh battery with QuickCharge 3.0 support that it claims can fully charge the phone in just 30 minutes.
It also brings with it 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 256GB. There is also a fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button up front.
The device comes with a dual camera setup at the rear with ZEISS optics - a 13MP primary RGB (color) sensor paired with a 13MP monochrome (black and white) sensor, which allows for capturing depth and aids low-light photography. At the front, there's another 13MP RGB shooter – same as the one on the back.
Mi Mix 2
The successor to the phone that kicked off the bezel-less trend, the Mi Mix 2, uses premium materials such as ceramic and a display that occupies almost the entirety of the phone’s front, and quite frankly is stunning.
The phone comes with a display that is slightly smaller at 5.99-inch but is again Full HD+ with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Xiaomi claims that despite the size, the phone is only as big as a typical 5.5-inch display smartphone currently available in the market.
The move to the smaller display was made to make the phone more manageable for one-handed usage. However, upon physical review, we saw single-handed use still remains an issue. As was the case with its predecessors, reaching corners while using the phone with one hand is a problem.
That apart, the display looks great and performs as it should when used indoors or in bright sunlight.
In terms of specs, the phone comes with Qualcomm's 835 processor and Adreno 540 GPU coupled with 6GB of RAM and built-in 128 storage – something that shows through when you interact with the phone.
Currently retailing for Rs 32,999 – down from its original price of Rs 35,999 – the Mi Mix 2 makes for a compelling rival.
OnePlus 5T
Though the OnePlus 6 launch is just around the corner, it cannot be denied that the OnePlus 5T remains a very good buy if you can get your hands on one. Announced in November 2017, the OnePlus 5T comes with Qualcomm’s 835 SoC, which helps it stand in league with premium flagships. Depending on the variant, the phone's SoC is paired with 6GB/8GB of RAM and 64GB/128 of storage memory. It also has a 3300mAh battery under the hood with Dash Charging capabilities.
However, the standout feature of the phone is it's beautiful edge-to-edge 18:9 FHD+ AMOLED panel, which is also bigger in size at six-inches and gives the device a more futuristic look. The phone also brings with it a number of colour modes – including SRGB and DCI-P3 – to make the details on the display pop or fade according to the user's taste.
The phone is priced at Rs 32,999 for the 64GB storage variant.
Honor View 10
A strong contender for the mid-segment flagship crown, the Honor View 10, was officially launched in India at a price of Rs 29,999. At the price, the device brings with it enough to become a hit. Being marketed as an AI centric device, the Honor View 10 brings with it a Full HD+ 5.99-ich display, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.
The SoC on board is Huawei's own Kirin 970 processor, featuring a built-in AI processor, which is capable of performing complex AI functions. The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) inside the 970 enables AI features to occur locally, instead of over the cloud. Huawei claims this enables smartphones lie the V10 to not only process all AI features faster but also without compromising users privacy.
In terms of the cameras, the View 10 comes with a dual camera setup at the back - a 16-Megapixel primary RGB (colour) sensor paired with a 20-Megapixel monochrome (black and white) sensor. Both sensors have an aperture of f/1.8 and are accompanied by an LED flash. On the front, the V10 comes with a single 13-Megapixel camera capable of shooting bokeh shots via software algorithms.
Powering the package is a 3750mAh battery that's rated to deliver up to 23 hours of talk-time on 3G, and 22 days of standby time with - it is complete with 5V/ 4.5A fast charging support.
Nokia 7 Plus
Nokia 7 Plus, or as HMD Global likes to call it "the flagship hero for everyone" is a device that is most affordable on the list at Rs 25,999.
It is the first Nokia phone to adopt the 18:9 form factor, as the device is adorned by a 6-inch FHD+ (2160x1080) IPS LCD panel on the front.
The device has been machined from a solid block of 6000 series aluminum, and at the back coated with six layers of paint to give it a premium ceramic feel.
Under the hood, the device is no slouch and comes packing a Snapdragon 660 SoC paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 265GB using a MicroSD.
The Nokia 7 Plus is the first device to use the particular SoC in India, but if its performance on other phones is anything to go by, expect it to be a good performer.