Xiaomi Mi A2 to Nokia 6.1 Plus: Top five smartphones under ₹20,000

Thanks to Nokia and Xiaomi, the mid-range segment is finally seeing some action. While Xiaomi introduced Poco F1 (with price starting at ₹20,999), HMD Global launched Nokia 6.1 Plus under ₹20,000.

The latest under ₹20,000 phones in India come with capable processors and premium design without compromising on the performance. From Huawei's EMIUI to stock Android, now you have a lot of choices for the software as well.

If you are looking to buy a phone under ₹20,000, here are our top picks.

Xiaomi Mi A2
₹16,999
Xiaomi's second-generation Android One smartphone comes with a premium design but compromises on a few features like 3.5mm headphone jack. Apart from that Xiaomi Mi A2 delivers solid performance. The stock Android in Xiaomi hardware is simply excellent. Xiaomi Mi A2 also impresses with its camera capabilities, including low-light photography.

In terms of specifications, Xioami Mi A2 has a 5.99-inch full HD+ display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor along with 4GB of RAM. Xiaomi Mi A2 features dual-rear camera consisting of a 12-megapixel sensor and a 20-megapixel sensor with f/1.75 aperture, LED flash. For selfies, it has a 20-megapixel camera. It is powered by 3,010mAh battery.

Nokia 6.1 Plus
₹15,999
The new launch from HMD Global brings a premium design with Android One goodness. Unlike Mi A2, it retains 3.5mm headphone jack. Nokia 6.1 Plus doesn't have a superior processor, but the on-board Snapdragon 636 processor with 4GB of RAM should be good enough for daily tasks.

Nokia 6.1 Plus sports a 5.8-inch 19:9 display with full HD resolution and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The smartphone has 64GB built-in storage and supports expandable storage up to 400GB via microSD card. It also has two-camera setup on the back which includes 16-megapixel sensor and 5-megapixel fast focus. For selfies, it offers a 16-megapixel camera. Nokia 6.1 Plus also has a 3060mAh battery.

Apple iPhone SE
₹17,738
You didn't expect an Apple iPhone in the list, did you? Even though iPhone SE is now a two-year old model, the phone is still compatible with the latest iOS 12. A compact form factor is another element that may appeal you. The phone doesn't disappoint in terms of performance and camera. If you have been looking for your first iPhone and never had the budget for it, iPhone SE is worth considering.

Honor Play
₹19,999
Honor Play (base model with 4GB RAM + 64GB storage) will appeal to those who love to play a lot of games on their phones. The Honor Play has comes with the in-house Kirin 970 processor and GPU Turbo technology which is said to improve gaming experience on the phone.

Honor claims its "Kirin 970's NPU is trained with 100 million pictures to enable its AI Camera to detect 22 different scenes from 500 different scenarios and apply the best camera settings for that perfect shot."

Key specifications Honor Play includes 6.2-inch full HD+ display with 19:9 aspect ratio, 16-megapixel and 2-megapixel dual-cameras, 16-megapixel selfie camera, and microSD support up to 256GB, and a 3,750mAh battery.

Poco F1
₹20,999
Another Xiaomi smartphone in the list, Poco F1 brings the flagship-level experience at one-third of the price of the premium phones. Sporting Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, the base model of Poco F1 starts at ₹20,999 (just ₹900 above from the ₹20K threshold).

Key specifications of Poco F1 includes 5.99-inch Full HD+ display, 6GB of RAM, 4000mAh battery and with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
₹14,999
If Poco F1 is out of your budget, you should consider Redmi Note 5 Pro. The smartphone is still among the best budget smartphones in India. It comes with Snapdragon 636 processor with RAM variants up to 6GB RAM. It has a 5.99-inch display, 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel rear cameras, and 20-megapixel front camera. For more, check out our Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Review.