Honor 10 to OnePlus 6: Top value-for-money smartphones under ₹40,000

If you’re planning to buy a premium phone under ₹40,000, here’s a list of the top choices that you should consider.

Best value-for-money smartphones under ₹40,000 in India. (HT Photo)

Flagship smartphones like Apple's iPhone X and Samsung's Galaxy S9 aren't within everyone's budget reach. But with companies like OnePlus and Honor you have choices of flagship level smartphones at affordable rates.

These flagship phones come with top-of-the-line specifications and features such as dual cameras, latest processors, and RAM power up to 6GB. The latest generation of these 'flagship killer' phones also offer an improved design. For instance, OnePlus 6 comes with a glass back panel along with an edge-to-edge panel on the front. Honor 10 is among the best looking phones in the market.

If you're looking for an alternative to premium phones like Samsung Galaxy S9+ or Nokia 8 Sirocco, here are the top value-for-money phones under ₹40,000.

OnePlus 6

The OnePlus 5T successor comes with incremental upgrades in terms of specifications but major design improvements. Just like the predecessors, OnePlus 6 continues the tradition of delivering top-of-the-line specifications and features at price almost half of the likes of Galaxy S9. OnePlus 6 is available at a starting price of ₹34,999 for the base model with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. The top-end model with 8GB RAM plus 128GB storage variant is available for ₹39,999.

OnePlus 6 runs Qualcomm's most powerful Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor. It features a 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED display with 19:9 aspect ratio wrapped in a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 body. OnePlus 6 has a dual-camera setup of 20-megapixel and 16-megapixel Sony IMX 519 sensors. OnePlus has improved on the camera bit by adding OIS and slow motion video recording at 480fps. For selfies, there's a 16-megapixel Sony IMX371 sensor with f/2.0 aperture and EIS with support for 'Portrait Mode'.

More features of OnePlus 6 include USB Type-C port, NFC, OxygenOS based on Android Oreo, a 3,300mAh battery and face unlock. There's also a rear fingerprint sensor.

Honor 10

Huawei's online-only brand Honor has launched quite a few phones with impressive design. For instance, Honor 9 Lite, a budget phone, came with FullView Display on the front, and 2.5D glass on the back. Honor 10 which is a more of a premium phone goes big on design with a 3D Aurora Curved' technology which shows a reflective colour changing design from every angle in two options of phantom blue and midnight black.

Honor 10 is available at ₹32,999 with 6GB RAM and 128GB non-expandable storage. In terms of specifications, Honor 10 features a 5.84-inch full HD+ display, and is powered by a Kirin 970 octa-core processor. Honor 10 also has dual cameras comprising of 24-megapixel and 16-megapixel sensors with 4K recording capabilities, and a 24-megapixel selfie camera with support for full HD video recording.

The phone further comes with a 3,400mAh battery, and runs Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.0 on top. Honor 10 stands out with its Qualcomm ultrasonic under glass fingerprint sensor which unlocks the device even with wet fingers.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ 2018

While OnePlus 6 has hogged the maximum limelight in this category, Samsung's Galaxy A8+ 2018 is no slouch either. In fact, Samsung Galaxy A8+ is the company's first smartphone with a dual front camera setup which is a combination of 16-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors. With the Galaxy A8+, Samsung also adopted the edge-to-edge display design on a non-flagship smartphone.

The smartphone features a 6-inch full HD+ Super AMOLED display, and runs in-house Exynos 7885 octa-core processor. It comes with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ is fuelled by a 3,500mAh battery, and supports connectivity options like dual SIM (nano+nano), Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and USB Type-C port. There's also a fingerprint sensor at the rear. Samsung Galaxy A8+ is offered with a price tag of ₹34,990.

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 features a bezel-less design with a 5.99-inch full HD+ edge-to-edge design. (HT Photo)

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 features a bezel-less design with a 5.99-inch full HD+ edge-to-edge design. (HT Photo)

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2

Xiaomi's bezel-less designed smartphone Mi MIX 2 carries a price tag of ₹29,999 but is a worthy choice in this category. The smartphone has an edge-to-edge display with a thin bottom chin all wrapped in a ceramic body. Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 has a 5.99-inch full HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. It runs the older but still powerful Snapdragon 835 SoC paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The smartphone packs a 3,400mAh battery with USB Type-C for charging. It runs MIUI 9 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. In the photography department, Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 sports a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and a 5-megapixel camera for selfies.

Vivo X21

The most recent of the list is Vivo X21 which boasts an in-display fingerprint sensor. This technology lets users unlock the smartphone by just tapping on the display. Vivo X21 also features a facial recognition technology which the company claims to work in low light conditions as well using an infrared light sensor. Vivo X21 with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage is priced at ₹35,990.

The smartphone comes with a 6.28-Inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED 19:9 display, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 660 processor, and a 3,200mAh battery. On the software front, Vivo X21 runs Android 8.1 based on FunTouch OS 4.0 along with support for Android P public beta. For photography, Vivo X21 sports a dual-camera setup at the rear comprising of a 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors, and a 12-megapixel camera for selfies.