Best 5G Mobile Phones Under ₹10,000 (September 2023)

The Poco M4 5G was launched last year and the smartphone tops our list as it is one of the best 5G offerings for the budget. Priced just above Rs 10,000, the Poco M4 5G was launched last year as a rather powerful offering for the price. The smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7000 SoC, which is a 7nm chip and has given an AnTuTu score of about 338,273 on other smartphones. The Poco M4 5G also has a very good display for the price. We get a nice 90Hz IPS LCD display with 500 nits of peak brightness. This means the display is responsive, bright, and fairly accurate. We get a 13-megapixel dual rear camera setup with 5000mAh battery and 18W fast charging. Quite a bit for a smartphone priced just above Rs 10,000.

Another 5G smartphone priced slightly above the Rs 10,000 budget, the Vivo T2x 5G is a good option since the smartphone comes with one of the highest RAM in this segment. Over and above, you get extended RAM technology, with which users can double the RAM. The Vivo T2x 5G offers buyers up to 8GB of RAM with a MediaTek Dimensity 6020 SoC, which is also good for an AnTuTu score of about 330,000. There is also a pretty decent 50MP dual rear camera setup, along with a 5000mAh battery which is good for about a day and a half. The Vivo T2x 5G is also one of the slimmest smartphones in this list at about 8.15mm thickness.

The Samsung Galaxy F14 5G is another device that is priced slightly higher than our Rs 10,000 budget for this list, but the smartphone's powerful 5nm Exynos 1330 chip, paired with up to 6GB of RAM makes the smartphone worth the price. While we haven't tested the Galaxy F14 itself, the same 5nm chip has given us an AnTuTu score of over 400,000 in another Samsung smartphone (Galaxy M14). Apart from the rather powerful chip, the Samsung Galaxy F14 5G also comes with a very responsive and colour accurate 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with 90Hz refresh rate. There is also a dual rear camera setup on the Samsung Galaxy F14 5G that includes a 50-megapixel primary wide shooter and a 2-megapixel macro lens. We also get a huge 6,000mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging.

Infinix Hot 20 5G is another 5G offering priced just above the Rs 10,000 mark. The Infinix Hot 20 5G is one of the only smartphones in this list that features a 120Hz refresh rate display. We get a 6.58-inch IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of peak brightness. The display on the Infinix Hot 20 5G is one of the most responsive and brightest displays in this list. Coming to performance, the smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC, which is quite a powerful chip for a budget smartphone. Previously, we have tested the chip on other smartphones and achieved an AnTuTu score of roughly 390,000 - that is a lot for a smartphone priced at just Rs 11,499. Battery on the smartphone is a 5,000mAh unit with 18W. Futhermore, the Infinix Hot 20 5G is also capable of reverse charging at a speed of 5W.

Lava Blaze 5G is also priced at just above ₹10,000, and for Rs 10,499, we get enough. First and foremost, the smartphone is powered by a 5G-enabled MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC paired with up to 6GB of RAM. This is enough power for a smartphone smartphone priced just above Rs 10,000. Apart from this, we also get a triple rear camera setup, which comes with a rather confusing placement in the module. The Lava Blaze 5G is also one of the only smartphone in this list to come with a glass back (the other one also being a Lava smartphone). Further, we get a 90Hz HD+ IPS LCD display, which is responsive, but isn't as detailed since it maxes out at an HD+ resolution. Battery is also good with a 5,000mAh panel, but the 10W charging feels slow by today's standard.

Possibly one of the best sub-Rs 10,000 offerings in the market, the Poco M5 is a proper performer, just without 5G. The smartphone is powered by MediaTek’s powerful budget chip, the Helio G99, which focuses more on performance and gaming. The MediaTek Helio G99 is paired with up to 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB UFS 2.2 internal storage. This helps with the good gaming performance. On CPU-based benchmarks like AnTuTu, the Poco M5 puts up a score of over 350,000 points. On GPU-based benchmarks like 3D Mark, the Poco M5 put out a score of 1,239, which is good for a smartphone priced at about Rs 10,000. Apart from performance, the convenience features on the Poco M5 include a triple rear camera setup that includes a 50-megapixel primary shooter with phase detection, a 2-megapixel macro shooter, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. There is also a 5,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging, which is pretty much the standard in this range.

The Infinix Note 20i is the only smartphone in our sub-Rs 10,000 list that comes with an AMOLED display. It sports a 6.7-inches AMOLED display, but compromises on the responsiveness with just 60Hz refresh rate. This means that the Infinix Hot 20 Play is a good smartphone for entertainment purposes like watching movies and TV shows. The smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 chipset, which is a performance-centric budget chipset. We also get 6GB of RAM, which makes the Infinix Note 12i a good smartphone for gaming, if you don't mind slightly lower frame rate. The Infinix Note 12i also has one of the fastest charging in this list with a 33W speed, which charges the 5,000mAh battery in about one and a half hour.

The Redmi 12C is one of the latest sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone from Xiaomi. The Redmi 12C comes with an attractive design, a good camera, and offers a proper Android experience. In our review, we have found the design to be super attractive, and the 50MP dual rear camera does a good job in taking pictures. Further, the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC with up to 6GB RAM is good for an AnTuTu score of 235,049. In GPU-based tests also, the Redmi 12C gave decent numbers, which means the smartphone is also good for gaming, and it runs high power games like Call of Duty: Mobile very smoothly. While everything is good, the IPS LCD display feels a bit dull, mainly due to the low brightness and the rather lower HD+ resolution.