The Best Smartphones You Can Buy Under Rs. 10,000

We recently reviewed the Realme C25, priced just under Rs. 10,000, as the successor to the Realme C15. While the upgraded SoC in the C25 does deliver better performance compared to the C15, the rest of the phone is still not good enough to make it worth your while, in our opinion. Other than this, there hasn’t been any major changes to the sub-Rs. 10,000 segment. Motorola’s Moto G10 Power joined the ranks a month ago of other good offerings from Xiaomi and Realme.

Our list also contains a few special mentions for those of you who are flexible with your budget. These special mentions are slightly more expensive but well worth the premium they command. Here are the best smartphones in India under Rs. 10,000 in no particular order.

Best phones under 10,000

Moto G10 Power

Motorola’s latest addition to the G series, the G10 Power is priced such that it barely makes it onto this list. The Moto G10 Power sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 SoC and comes in one configuration only. You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 9,999.

The Moto G10 Power sports a 6.5-inch display with a dewdrop notch and packs in a big 6,000mAh battery. It has an IP52 rating for dust and water resistance which is uncommon at this price point. The Moto G10 Power runs Android 11 with a few of Motorola’s customisations which deliver a smooth user experience.

You get a quad-camera setup with the Moto G10 Power, comprising of a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. These cameras performed well in daylight but low-light performance wasn’t the best. You will get good battery life thanks to the bigger battery, and this phone would be a good choice for someone who prioritises that. The Moto G30 is a viable alternative with a more powerful processor if you are willing to go a little over budget.

Moto E7 Plus

The Moto E7 Plus is another low-cost offering from Motorola. It is priced at Rs. 9,499 and packs in some decent specifications. The Moto E7 Plus is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 processor, paired with 4GB of RAM. It sports a 6.5-inch display with HD+ resolution and a dewdrop notch at the top. The Moto E7 Plus has enough performance to handle day-to-day tasks as well as casual gaming. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner that works well.

Motorola offers a 5,000mAh battery but sadly, this phone misses out on a USB Type-C port and instead has a Micro-USB port. Charging is slow as the bundled charger is 10W only. You only get a dual-camera setup with a 48-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The cameras are capable of capturing good photos in daylight. Using Night mode, the Moto E7 Plus also takes some decent low-light shots.

The Moto E7 Plus offers a clean near-stock Android UI which is not very common at this price level. If you like a simple, easy-to-use interface then the Moto E7 Plus has that going for it. The Moto G9 and Moto G10 Power are suitable alternatives.

Redmi 9 Prime

The Redmi 9 Prime is a modified version of the Redmi 9 with a higher resolution full-HD+ display. While most smartphones on this list have an HD+ display, the Redmi 9 Prime has a 6.53-inch display with a dewdrop notch at the top.

The Redmi 9 Prime also has the relatively powerful MediaTek Helio G80 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM and you get 64GB or 128GB of storage, though only the 64GB option is within this budget. The Redmi 9 Prime runs MIUI 11 on top of Android 10 and comes with a fair amount of bloatware preinstalled.

The Redmi 9 Prime has a quad-camera setup consisting of a 13-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The camera performance is average overall. You will get good battery life thanks to a 5,020mAh battery, but the supplied 10W charger is rather slow. If you are fine with spending a little extra, the Redmi 9 Power will appeal to you with its stereo speakers and battery life.

Realme Narzo 30A

The Narzo 30A was launched in early 2021 and is the latest in the Narzo series from Realme. The phone is priced at Rs. 8,999 and offers good value. It has a fresh design with a square-shaped camera module as well as a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The display size is generous at 6.5 inches but it only has an HD+ resolution.

The Narzo 30A is powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC and is available in two variants. The base variant has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage while the higher variant offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. This phone runs Realme UI on top of Android 10.

You get a dual-camera setup on the Narzo 30A which delivers decent photos in daylight, but low-light camera performance is below average. If you like taking a lot of selfies, the Realme Narzo 30A will keep you happy. The big battery also helps deliver excellent battery life but it comes at the cost of the device being slightly big and bulky.

Realme Narzo 10A

The Realme Narzo 10A is slightly older now but still offers good value. It sports a 6.5-inch display with HD+ resolution and is powered by the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC. There are two variants of the Narzo 10A, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage priced at Rs. 8,999, and the other with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which costs Rs. 9,999.

The Narzo 10A packs in a 5,000mAh battery and offers good battery life. It has a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 12-megapixel primary camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. It has a 5-megapixel selfie camera. The Narzo 10A has a newer design compared to the Realme C3 and gets a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

If you are willing to stretch your budget and spend a little extra, the Realme Narzo 20 is worth considering. You will get better cameras, a more powerful MediaTek Helio G85 SoC and a bigger 6,000mAh by spending just Rs. 500 extra.

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