BEST PHONES UNDER ₹8000 [APRIL 2020]

INTRODUCTION

There was a time when budget phones were not at all capable. But things changed with time but today one can get a phone for doing heavy tasks like extended gaming for as low at ₹7000. Today I will tell the 4 best phones under ₹8000. As of today, you can buy none of them due to Lockdown in the country. But you can surely spend some more time with your old phone. I would go in descending order.

4. Realme C2 (₹6499)

Realme C2

This is phone you can have a look at if you are on extreme budget. This has a 6.1” IPS Display with a waterdrop notch. This is the best thing about this phone. It also has 3D Diamond Cut Design which looks very premium. The overall form factor is pretty slim and compact. You get a dual 13+2 MP camera which performs well for the price and a 5MP camera which is okay. There is a portrait mode which works fine. You get 2+16, 2+32 and 3+32 variants. The 2GB 32GB variant makes the most sense. With this one you get a 10W adapter instead of a 5W one. Though you get an SD Card Slot, you can’t move apps on it. So buying the 32GB one is better. The performance is also decent for the price but heavy games like PUBG and Call of Duty don’t run that well even on low settings. It currently runs Color OS 6.0 on top of Android 9 but it will get Realme UI update. The only downside is a display defect in many units. A line of pixels is not there at the top which doesn’t look nice. But it is not that intrusive. Also, the display protection is not that good as it gets scratches with a blade which Gorilla Glass 3 shouldn’t. Still, you can have a look at it.

Display Pixel Defect (Courtesy:- True Techy)

Best Buy Link:- Realme C2 on Flipkart

Message from Realme Chat Support regarding pricing

3. Redmi 8A Dual (₹6999)

Redmi 8A Dual 

The Redmi 8A Dual was launched to replace the older Redmi 8A which just had a single camera. Since the prices of both are the same, the older one doesn’t make any sense. This comes with 6.22” HD+ IPS Display with a Teardrop Notch. The display is great in terms of both, looks and quality. It has a plastic back but a smudge-free Aura Wave Design which is a matte gradient and has a texture similar to Realme C2. It also has a Gorilla Glass 5 which is also a very good thing. But the fingerprint scanner is not there which I expected as its 2020. You get Face Unlock which is fast enough. So the design and build are pretty great too.

It has a Snapdragon 439 which is not the best but not the worst. The daily life performance is still good and you can play PUBG and Call of Duty at Low to Medium graphics. You get MIUI 11 with Android 9.0. It has ads but you can disable them. You get a 13MP (f/2.2) +2 MP depth sensor. It offers pretty good quality and edge detection in portrait mode is excellent too. The front 8MP camera also offers great quality for the price. The battery is a monstrous 5000 mAh pack which can easily last a full day. You even get a Type-C port which is uncommon at this price. A 10W charger is given in the box but it supports 18W charging which is another great thing. So this is a great phone for the price and you can surely consider it. 

Best Buy Link:- Redmi 8A Dual on Amazon

2. Realme C3 (₹7499)

Realme C3

Now you may think why this is at the second position and what can be better than this at this price. There’s one and that one is from Realme too. This comes with a huge 6.5” HD+ IPS LCD Display with a Waterdrop Notch. This is now pretty common in this price segment but the display has excellent quality. It has a Sunrise Design which looks good and has a texture similar to its predecessor. It also doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner but the face unlock is quite fast and secure. It has a 12MP (f/1.8) +2MP depth sensor. It offers good quality for the price and you get features like Slow-Motion and Portrait Mode. But the front camera is not that good as it is just 5MP. The main highlight of this phone is its Mediatek Helio G70 which is a budget gaming chipset that offers specs like Snapdragon 665 on paper. But I found that the UI often lags but it will improve with OTA Updates. But the gaming is pretty great and you can play heavy games at HD Settings. You get Android 10 with Realme UI 1.0. The battery is 5000 mAh which should last for a long time but there is no fast charging like Redmi 8A. It just has 10W charging. Also, it doesn’t have a Type-C but I can ignore it for now. Even with its cons, it is a great phone if you want to do gaming on a budget phone.

Best Buy Link:- Realme C3 on Flipkart

1. Realme 3 (₹7999)

Realme 3

Now comes the number one smartphone Realme 3. It may sound weird as it is over an year old. But I have my reasons to suggest it. Firstly you get a 6.22” HD+ Display with a waterdrop notch. It is a great panel with thin bezels. Also, it has a modern Glossy Back Panel which gets smudged easily. You also get a transparent back cover in the box which no other phone in this list gives and it’s of excellent quality too. So the design is overall modern even this being one year old. You even get a fingerprint scanner which no other phone here provides. You get a Helio P70 chip which is a pretty nice chip for the price. Even though G70 is better on paper, Realme 3 feels more optimized. You can play heavy games smoothly on high settings on this phone. The OTA update for Realme UI based on Android 10 came on April 30. You can download it from Realme website if you don't want to wait for the OTA.  The camera is a 13MP (f/1.8) + 2MP depth sensor. The camera quality is similar to Realme C3 and C3 may beat it in many situations. But this is not at all a bad camera. The front 13MP camera is any day better than all phones in this list. The battery is 4230 mAh which is less than Realme C3 but still performs pretty well and can easily get through a day. With this also you just get 10W charging support which is not a good thing. So the presence of a fingerprint scanner, a case in the box and a more optimized chip make it number one. Also, you can apply some offers and get it for cheap. You should surely have a look at this before buying Realme C3 which is a great phone too and I am not criticizing it.

Best Buy Link:- Realme 3 on Flipkart

Message from Realme Chat Support regarding pricing

CONCLUSION

I know that once the lockdown opens, the companies would like to launch new phones and for that, they would clear the old stock by giving heavy discounts and offers. Also, the big sales would also come on Amazon and Flipkart. I have given the links along if you want to buy any of these later. So that’s it for today.