Digit Zero1 Awards 2022: Best Performing Budget Phone (Under Rs 20k)

The budget smartphone category in India is the most competitive out there. The number of options for a smartphone under Rs 20,000 leads to a lot of confusion among buyers as to which smartphone to go for, if they are looking for the best of both worlds – performance without paying a premium. Budget phones these days have come a long way. Smartphones under Rs 20,000 these days offer similar performance chops as some of the most premium offerings a few years ago. With more and more youngsters and students venturing into mobile gaming, performance is something that a lot of users look for in the budget segment. This year was a close fight between eight contenders from various brands like Xiaomi, Motorola, Samsung, OnePlus, Realme, iQoo,and more. However, one smartphone stood out in all aspects including performance, features, build and design, display, and more parameters. 

Winner: Moto G82 (Buy link)

Price: ₹19,999

The Moto G82 launched back in June, emerged as the winner in our budget smartphone category for this year’s Zero1 awards. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 5G chipset, the Moto G82 offers linear performance, along with an attractive design, a vibrant 10-bit display, and a clean, bloatware-free software experience. The Moto G82 outperformed the competition in our stringent performance and battery tests. The Moto G82 comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The smartphone also comes with a vibrant 10-bit pOLED display with an FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. In our tests, this also came out to be the brightest display in the Budget category. Apart from the powerful chip and a high quality display, the Moto G82 also stood out in terms of software, as it offered the cleanest Android experience with the close-to-stock MyUX Android skin. There is no bloatware on the Moto G82, and the smartphone offers a very neat and clean experience, without any unnecessary tweaks to the Android interface and a seamless setup process, making it a clear winner in the Budget smartphone category. 

Runner-up: Redmi Note 11 Pro+ (Buy link)

Price: ₹19,999

The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, one of the most popular and well-rounded budget smartphones for the previous year, emerged as the runner-up in the under-Rs 20,000 category. The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G was a close second with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset paired with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. The Redmi Note 11 Pro’s Snapdragon 695 chipset is similar in configuration to the Moto G82’s chip, with two 2.2GHz performance cores and six 1.7GHz efficiency cores. The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ also has a display that is right up there with the winner. It is a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a claimed peak brightness of 1200 nits. The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, however, falls short in few areas like the software experience, making the smartphone a close second in the Best Budget Phone (under Rs 20,000) category. 

2nd Runner-up: Poco X4 Pro (Buy link)

Price: ₹26,900

The Poco X4 Pro was the third-best smartphone in our budget category. The Poco X4 Pro wasn’t too far away from the top two products in the category in terms of pure performance figures. The smartphone’s display also gave one of the best results during our tests, second to only the winner, the Moto G82. With the 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset paired with up to 8GB of RAM, the Poco X4 Pro was a promising performer in our tests. The smartphone comes with a super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,200 nits of claimed peak brightness. While in performance the Poco smartphone stood tall and held its own among tough competition, the smartphone lacked behind slightly in terms of the build and design, the features on offer, and the complete software experience, which is similar to the runner-up. Overall, the Poco X4 Pro performed well in our tests, but wasn’t able to beat the Moto G82 and the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G in the category.

Best Buy: Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G (Buy Link)

Price: ₹15,999

This year’s runner-up for the Budget Smartphone category is also our winner for the Best Buy Award for this year. As mentioned, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G’s overall balance of performance, display, and build and design, all with the affordable price tag makes the smartphone our Best Buy for this year’s awards. The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 695 chipset paired with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. The Redmi Note 11 Pro’s Snapdragon 695 chipset comes with two performance cores and six efficiency cores. The smartphone’s display is also right up there with the competition, if not better, and the Redmi Note series has once again proved that there is a reason why the smartphone is so popular in the budget segment. It is a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a claimed peak brightness of 1200 nits. The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, however, falls short in few areas like the software experience

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Darab Mansoor Ali