Best Smartphones Under ₹50,000 in India [2020]

Last Updated on May 5, 2021 by Akanksha Singh

If you are looking for the best smartphones under ₹50,000, you’ve come to the right place at the right time. As we approach the end of this difficult year, we decided to look back at all the smartphones that were launched in 2020 and choose the best ones. We have already published the list of best smartphones under ₹10,000, ₹20,000, and ₹30,000 price segments. Now, we are ready to list the best smartphones under ₹50,000 in India that were launched in 2020.

To choose the best smartphones in the sub-₹50,000 price segment, which is also called the ‘Flagship Killer’ segment, we chose the phones that take a balanced approach towards specs, design, performance, connectivity, and battery life.

What Are The Best Smartphones Under ₹50,000 in India?

Almost all the phones launched in the sub-₹50,000 price segment offer good design, powerful specs, good cameras, and battery life that can last an entire day. However, we chose phones that offered something extra and goes the extra mile such as a high-refresh-rate AMOLED display, a blazing-fast processor, 8K video recording, extremely optimised software, or a high-capacity battery. Here are the things that we looked for while choosing the best smartphones under ₹50,000 in India:

1. Full HD+ screen, preferably with a high refresh rate: 90Hz or 120Hz
2. Flagship processor
3. Great cameras
4. Optimised software and long operating system update promise
5. Fast wireless connectivity, preferably with 5G
6. Premium audio with stereo speakers
7. All-day battery life

Best Value-For-Money Smartphone: Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro – ₹39,999 Onwards

If you are looking for the best phone under ₹40,000, you can’t go wrong with the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro. It offers premium build and design, thanks to its aluminium-and-glass build. It uses the flagship Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. Although it uses a 6.67-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD screen, it is of high quality, thanks to HDR10+ certification, a 144Hz refresh rate, 650 nits of peak brightness, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The phone also features stereo speakers and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

The Mi 10T Pro has a triple-camera setup at the rear. Its primary camera uses a big, 108MP sensor (1/1.33-inch) with a wide-angle lens and 8K 30fps video recording. There is a 13MP ultrawide camera, and a 5MP macro camera. At the front, the phone has a 20MP selfie camera. It is a 5G smartphone and also has other connectivity features like GPS, dual-SIM card slot, 4G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, IR port, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. It has a side-mounted fingerprint reader and it can last more than a day on a single charge.

Best Smartphone Overall: Xiaomi Mi 10 – ₹44,999 Onwards

Spending ₹5,000 more than the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro will gain you access to the slightly more premium smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 10. It has a better screen in the form of a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, Full HD+ resolution, HDR10+, and Gorilla Glass 5. It also gets you premium features like wireless charging and an under-display fingerprint reader. Rest of the specifications and features remain similar to the Mi 10T Pro.

The phone has the Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 internal storage, 20MP selfie camera, 108MP+13MP+2MP+2MP quad rear-facing cameras, stereo speakers, 5G, GPS, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, IR Port, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. Its battery capacity (4,780mAh) and charging speed (30W), is slightly lower compared to the Mi 10T Pro, but you are unlikely to notice any difference in day-to-day usage.

Best Smartphone For Smooth UI: OnePlus 8T – ₹42,999 Onwards

If you don’t like Xiaomi phones or MIUI, the OnePlus 8T could be a great choice for you. It has the same extremely fast and smooth OxygenOS UI that OnePlus is known for and offers flagship specs. The OnePlus 8T looks amazing in its Aquamarine Green colour and its metal-and-glass body. The phone uses the Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB/12GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage. It comes pre-loaded with Android 11. The phone is powered by a 4,500mAh battery that can be fully charged from 0-100% within 39 minutes, thanks to the bundled 65W USB PD 3.0 PPS charger.

It has a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ certification, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It uses a 16MP selfie camera, which is quite average, but its rear-facing camera can take pretty decent pictures and videos. It has a quad-camera setup at the rear, featuring a 48MP wide-angle camera, a 16MP ultrawide camera, 5MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. It can record 4K 60fps videos using its 48MP and 16MP sensors. Other features of the phone include 5G, 4G, GPS, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, USB 3.1 Type-C port, stereo speakers, and an under-display fingerprint reader.

Best Camera Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy S20 FE – ₹40,999 Onwards

Are you a Samsung fan or love its One UI software? Then the Galaxy S20 FE is your best bet under the ₹50,000 price mark. Priced at just ₹40,990, you can get most of the Galaxy S20+ specs at a much lower price. Yes, it has a plastic back, but the amount of value that you are getting out of your money with the Galaxy S20 FE is unmatched by any other Samsung smartphone launched in 2020 or earlier. It has the same metal chassis, Exynos 990 processor, Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen (6.5-inch) with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+, stereo speakers, and IP68 water resistance, that you get with the Galaxy S20 or Galaxy S20+. It even has the same 12MP wide-angle and 12MP ultrawide cameras that are offered on the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy S20+.

The Galaxy S20 FE gets a slightly lower resolution telephoto camera, at 8MP, but it offers 3x optical zoom compared to 2x zoom on the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy S20+. It can even record 4K 60fps videos. It can’t record 8K videos, though, but do you really need 8K videos? We don’t think so. The phone has a 32MP selfie camera with 4K video recording. There is 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, and a microSD card slot. Other features include 4G (yes, it lacks 5G), dual-SIM card slot, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, a USB Type-C port, an under-display optical fingerprint reader, a 4,500mAh battery with up to 25W fast charging, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging. The phone feels slower than other phones in this list, though, and has a slightly worse battery life performance.

Best Gaming Smartphone: ASUS ROG Phone 3 – ₹46,999 Onwards

If you are a mobile gaming enthusiast or a professional smartphone gamer, the ASUS ROG Phone 3 is the best gaming smartphone for you. It has a 6.59-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, 1 billion colours, Full HD+ resolution, and Gorilla Glass 6. It also features stereo speakers with DTS:X, Snapdragon 865+ processor, 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB storage, dual-USB Type-C ports, shoulder buttons for gaming, various gaming accessories, RGB lighting, and a massive, 6,000mAh battery with 30W fast charging.

Also Read: Gaming Smartphone Buying Guide For 2020

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 has a 24MP selfie camera and a 64MP (wide-angle) + 13MP (ultrawide) + 5MP (macro) rear-facing camera. Other features include an in-display fingerprint reader, 5G, 4G, dual-SIM card slot, GPS, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and 10W reverse wired charging. Its 6,000mAh battery lasts up to two days on normal usage and a full-day with heavy gaming.

Best iPhone: Apple iPhone 11 – ₹54,900 Onwards (Lower With Credit Card Discounts)

If you really only want to buy an iPhone, I suggest you go with the iPhone 11, which is priced at ₹54,990 onwards. This is slightly higher than the sub-₹50,000 price segment that we are focussing on, but you can usually get discounts using credit cards. Plus, it is much better than the iPhone XR (which is too old now) and the iPhone SE 2020 (which has a very old design and short battery life).

The iPhone 11 has an HD+ LCD display and lacks a high-refresh-rate, but it is one of the most accurate in terms of colour reproduction and has high screen brightness. The iPhone 11 has a 12MP selfie camera at the front and a 12MP+12MP dual-camera at the rear. All its cameras can record up to 4K 60fps videos. It can also capture brilliant low-light images. It also features the fastest processor (A13 Bionic) among all the phones listed in this article. It has 4GB RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB internal storage.

It runs iOS 14 and uses Face ID for biometric authentication. It has stereo speakers, all-day battery life with its 3,110mAh battery, 18W fast charging, and Qi wireless charging. Other features include 4G, dual-SIM capability, GPS, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Lightning Port, stereo speakers, and IP68 certification for dust and water resistance. It only has 64GB storage in its base variant, though, which is low by today’s standards. However, that’s Apple we are talking about.

So, these were our best smartphones under ₹50,000 in India that were launched in 2020 (except for the iPhone 11). Did we miss any smartphone that deserved to be on this list? Do you own any of these smartphones? Let us know in the comments section below.