We have come a long way from the time when we had to pay a premium price for a premium smartphone. Today, premium phones are getting cheap and cheap phones are getting premium. While the flagships have their own set of customers, upper mid-range is where most of the ‘flagship killers’ reside. There are numerous handsets from multiple brands available in the market which are priced under 30K, but selecting best among the best is an uphill task. So to make it easy for you, here we have shortlisted top five smartphones from top-notch handset manufacturers, which offer a lag-free performance and packs great hardware.
Asus Zenfone 5Z (6GB + 64GB) @ Rs 29,999
A little over six months ago, Asus launched what was supposed to be a rival to the OnePlus 6 and it was labelled as the Zenfone 5Z. The smartphone came at a starting price of Rs 29,999 for the base 6GB RAM variant and is on sale on Flipkart.
The Asus Zenfone 5Z (ZS620KL) has a 6.2-inch Full HD+ display with a 19:9 aspect ratio and a screen resolution of 1080 x 2246 pixels. It is powered by Qualcomm by Snapdragon 845 processor with Adreno 630 GPU, 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. The device came running Android 8.0 (Oreo) with ZenUI 5.0 but was recently seeded an update to Android P. There is a dual rear camera set up of 12 MP and 8 MP sensors in its back and an 8MP selfie camera with an 84-degree field of view. It comes with 3300 mAh battery with ASUS BoostMaster fast charging and AI charging.
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Asus Zenfone 5z Device Pictures
Asus Zenfone 5z Camera Samples
Xiaomi Poco F1 Armoured Edition (8GB + 256GB) @ Rs 28,999
To match up with the Asus’s efforts of releasing the cheapest smartphone powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor, Xiaomi announced the Poco F1 smartphone under a new brand for a starting price of Rs 20,999. That’s the base variant but there was a special Armoured Edition up for the taking which sold for a launch price of Rs 29,999, the same price as the Zenfone 5Z’s base variant. Since then, the device has received a price cut and the special Kevlar-made version can now be purchased for as low as Rs 28,999.
The Poco F1 smartphone features a 6.18-inch Full HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 19:9 on the front and a Kevlar aramid fibre at the back for a premium look. It’s powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It has a dual rear camera setup of 12MP + 5MP with a 20MP sensor on the front for selfies. The device is backed up by 4,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support and currently runs on Android 9 Pie.
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Xiaomi Poco F1 Armoured Edition Device Pictures
Oppo F9 Pro (6GB + 128GB) @ Rs 23,990
A day prior to the launch of the Poco F1, Oppo dropped the announcement about its Oppo F9 Pro smartphone. The device is available in a 128GB storage version which was initially priced at Rs 25,990 but since has come down to Rs 23,990.
The Oppo F9 Pro a 6.3-inch full HD+ (1080×2340 pixels) LTPS TFT display with a waterdrop notch and a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio. It’s powered by MediaTek Helio P60 processor with Mali-G72 MP3 GPU, 6GB RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. It’s backed up by a 3,500mAh battery and runs ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The device equips a dual camera setup at the back which combines a 16MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. For selfies, there’s a 25MP sensor with AI.
Vivo V11 Pro (6GB + 64GB) @ Rs 25,990
Back in September, Vivo introduced the V11 Pro smartphone as a take on the mid-range segment with an in-display fingerprint sensor. The device came for a price of Rs 25,990 and has since stuck to its initial pricing in the last five and a half months.
The Vivo V11 Pro equips a 6.41-inch Full HD+ AMOLED Display with a screen resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels, a waterdrop-like notch and an in-display fingerprint sensor. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor coupled with an Adreno 512 GPU, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage options. The V11 Pro features a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera combined with a large f/1.8 Aperture and 1.28μm pixels and a 25MP sensor on the front for selfies. The phone has a 3,400mAh battery with support for Dual-Engine fast charging (18W) and it runs on Funtouch OS 4.5, which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo.
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Vivo V11 Pro First Impressions
Nokia 8.1 (4GB + 64GB) @ Rs 26,999
The latest smartphone to pop up among the devices in this list is Nokia 8.1. HMD Global launched the device in December last year and was the first Nokia smartphone running Android 9 Pie out of the box. The Nokia 8.1 can be purchased through the Nokia Store and Amazon for an asking price of Rs 26,999.
The Nokia 8.1 utilises a 6.18-inch Full HD+ display with a screen resolution of 2246 x 1080 pixels, 18.7:9 aspect ratio and 500 nits brightness. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 2.2GHz octa-core processor with Adreno 616 GPU, 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It runs on Android 9.0 Pie operating system and is backed up by a 3500mAh battery with fast charging support. There’s a dual rear camera setup with a combination of a 12MP primary Sony IMX363 lens and a 13MP secondary sensor with ZEISS optics and a 20MP sensor on the front of selfies.
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