Best Mobile Phones under ₹12,000 in India (September 2023)

POCO’s yellow-and-black design formula has won many hearts, and the company goes with the if-it-ain’t-broke approach for the POCO M5 as well. The phone is not just good-looking, with its chic leather textured back panel, but it also packs multiple essential features at an affordable price. The phone has a vibrant display with 90 Hz refresh rate. The phone houses the MediaTek Helio G99 SoC, which is a 6 nm processor that delivers fast performance in day-to-day tasks. The phone also has solid thermal management and runs games such as Call of Duty: Mobile with minimal frame drops. There’s a 5,000 mAh battery that can last for almost two days on a single charge for most users, however, the charging speeds are quite slow. The cameras are decent, but low-light photos have some grain. Nevertheless, with its performance chops, solid display, and chic design, the POCO M5 sits atop our best phones under ₹12,000 list.

If the POCO M5 impressed you, the Tecno POVA 4 should be right up your alley as well. It features the same MediaTek Helio G99 SoC as the POCO M5, but goes a step further by also adding a 6,000 mAh battery which means that the battery life should be more long-lasting than most phones at this price. However, the only reason why it is number two on our list is that it comes with an HD+ panel, albeit with a smooth 90 Hz refresh rate. Now, at ₹12,000, we expect phones to feature FHD+ displays like the POCO M5 and most other phones on this list do. HD+ resolution isn’t bad but you can tell the difference when you put the screens side-by-side. That aside, the Tecno POVA 4 is still an impressive budget device with performance and battery life being its key differentiators.

5G on a budget is hard to get but the Infinix Hot 20 has got that going for it. It is one of the cheapest phones you can buy with 5G support. The phone comes with 12 5G bands in its repertoire, which is high at this price. Usually, we see only 8-9 bands supported. You also get the super powerful MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC at this price which pulls up impressive scores in benchmarks such as AnTuTu and GeekBench. However, the company’s XOS UI isn’t well optimised and the phone does lag and stutter a bit. There is also a ton of bloatware. That aside, you’ve got a 6.6-inch 120 Hz FHD+ panel. This is the only phone on this list that comes with a fast 120 Hz refresh rate, so expect super smooth animations but the less-than-optimised software can put a wrench in this fluidity. Overall, we like this phone for its feature set, but XOS really could do with some fine-tuning.

If you’re looking for a super sleek smartphone that has an excellent display for content consumption, consider the Motorola Moto G52. It comes packing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC that gets a decent score in benchmarks. It is not the most powerful phone at this price but handles basic tasks such as texting, social media, browsing, and calling with ease. However, where it shines is design and display. The phone is one of the few at this price to feature an AMOLED panel. The phone houses a 6.6-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate. This kind of display setup is extremely rare under ₹12K. The design is also classy and minimalist and the phone is extremely lightweight. Not just that, but you get a triple camera setup with a good 50 MP primary camera and an 8 MP ultrawide shooter. Usually ultrawide shooters are absent at this price, so once again you’re getting access to an uncommon feature at this price, making this phone an easy recommendation.

The Lava Blaze 5G is the most affordable 5G smartphone you can buy in India right now at just ₹10,999. Not just that, it is also the only smartphone on this list to feature a glass back panel – a feat that’s remarkable at this aggressive price. The glass display is impressive but it does pick up fingerprints. The display has a large chin bezel but it is surprisingly bright and supports 90 Hz refresh rate. The phone houses the Dimensity 700 SoC, and while we haven’t tested the performance of this phone, we got generally decent results on another phone with the same processor. So you can expect to be able to perform all basic tasks with ease and even indulge in some light gaming. The phone also comes with clean, bloatware-free Android 12 out of the box, making it one of the smoothest UIs at this price. Battery life is decent, but 10 W charging in 2023 is just criminal. However, if you don’t mind that, the Lava Blaze 5G is quite a decent option.

The Xiaomi Redmi 10 packs impressive hardware for its price including a reliable Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC and a massive 6,000 mAh battery. The Snapdragon 680 is a power-efficient and decently fast processor at this price that gives the user quite a smooth experience be it when you’re gaming or going about your day-to-day tasks. The 6,000 mAh battery will easily last you 2-3 days depending on your usage patterns, however, the 18 W charger in the box is quite sluggish. We like the 6.71-inch display since it is vibrant enough and legible in sunlight, but there’s no fast refresh rate which can be a deal breaker at this price since, let’s face it, most phones on this list come with a 90 Hz panel. Also, this is an HD+ panel, so it’s not as clear as phones with FHD+ panels on this list.

The Realme Narzo N55 is one of the latest budget smartphones we’ve tested and it is merely a rebranded Realme C55 – another phone, from the same company, that launched not too long ago. The specifications are the exact same, in fact, even the design is very similar. The phone houses a MediaTek Helio G88 SoC. During our testing, we found that the phone gave us decent scores in benchmarks but the reason why it sits above the Realme C55 on this list is because it actually got slightly better scores in most benchmarks. The reason is unclear, but this is a decent phone on a budget which comes packing Realme’s Mini Capsule feature – a trimmed down, basic version of Apple’s Dynamic Island. The battery life from the 5,000 mAh cell is fantastic though, even better than some phones with 6,000 mAh batteries on this list. You also get the latest Android 13 out of the box with Realme UI 4.0 on top – but it does have a lot of bloatware.

As we mentioned above, the Realme C55 and Realme Narzo N55 are the same device, just with different names and a slightly altered design. This is a decent device at its price point of ₹10,999 but don’t buy the top-end variant at ₹13,999 as there are much better options at that price on the market. The phone’s performance is decent but its scores are easily beaten by the POCO M5 which tops our list. We also faced considerable lag and stutter when using this device but what sold this smartphone to us was the battery life. It is really good and it lasts really long, even with heavy usage. The phone’s FHD+ 90 Hz display is also vivid but the viewing angles are mediocre and it could be brighter. Overall, a decent device which gets a lot of basic things right but has some misses as well.

If you’re someone who likes staying away from charging bricks and power banks as much as possible, go for the Samsung Galaxy F22. Not only do you get a massive 6,000 mAh battery that can power through 2-3 days’ worth of usage without breaking a sweat, it is also one of the few phones at this price to feature a Super AMOLED display. The display also supports 90 Hz refresh rate. Now, with the Super AMOLED display and 90 Hz turned off, you can extend the battery life of the device even further since AMOLED displays turn off black pixels completely. Set your wallpaper to a predominantly black picture, and watch your on-screen time increase! The phone houses the Snapdragon 680 SoC that gives satisfactory performance for day-to-day tasks but falters in gaming. The phone can run quite hot which, in turn, makes it throttle the performance. Still, if you’re not a gamer, this is a solid device with features that are usually reserved for more premium devices.

The Realme C35 is a pretty basic phone that you can get under ₹12,000. The phone is priced at ₹11,999 for the 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variant which honestly seems a bit overpriced. However, the design is rather stunning. The phone is quite slim and has flat sides that give it a premium look. For the display, there’s a FHD+ panel but there’s no fast refresh rate support, which is slightly disappointing. Also, the Unisoc T616 processor it features doesn’t perform as well as most processors on this list. The camera, however, is quite decent in daylight with good detail and HDR. The 5,000 mAh battery is also long-lasting, but aside from that it is a pretty basic phone with no extra flair or eye-catching features. But the design is surely one of the best at this price.