The Best Smartphones You Can Buy Under Rs. 30,000 in India

Our latest additions to the sub-Rs. 30,000 guide are the Oppo Reno 8 5G, the Poco F4 5G and the OnePlus Nord 2T 5G. The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G which launched at Rs. 34,499 has seen a price cut, and is now available at Rs. 30,499 and offers incredible value in this price segment.

If you want to spend around Rs. 30,000, you can now choose between a variety of very capable smartphones with premium features, modern hardware, and versatile cameras. Thanks to the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G’s price cut, one can now get a smartphone with an official IP67 rating at Rs. 30,499. There are also gaming-ready smartphones like the Poco F4 5G and the Poco F3 GT that offer excellent performance.

Here are Gadgets 360’s picks of the top phones under Rs. 30,000 in India, in no particular order. We have reviewed all the phones on this list and have tested them in depth, including their raw performance, camera capabilities, software and ease of use, physical design, battery life, and charging speed.

Best Phone under Rs. 30,000 to buy in India

Oppo Reno 8 5G

The Oppo Reno 8 5G is a slim and stylish smartphone that also offers good performance. Its slim and light (179g) form factor makes it great for one-handed use and it also looks unique in its Shimmer Gold finish. The 6.43-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display showcases deep blacks and also offers a 90Hz refresh rate. Camera performance is quite good for daylight photography, but just decent in low light. For a fashion-forward smartphone that’s focussed on design, the Oppo Reno 8 5G surprised us in our review with good battery life that could easily lasted two days on a single charge. Charging is quite fast as well because Oppo bundles an 80W charger in the box.

Poco F4 5G

The Poco F4 5G is another solid contender that combines design and raw performance to offer incredible value. It offers a 120Hz AMOLED display (with Dolby Vision support), an IP53 rating for dust and water resistance, and a monstrous Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC which is good for gaming. The phone is powered by a 4,500mAh battery and offers 67W wired charging. Did we mention that it also looks good with its glass back and slim frame? Indeed, the Poco F4 5G’s only let down is its software that’s littered  with third-party apps and bloatware, even though software performance was not an issue.

Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

Samsung Galaxy A53 5G replaces the Galaxy A52s 5G and shares a lot of its specifications, but looks slick with design elements borrowed from the top-end Galaxy S22 series. The new Exynos 1280 SoC delivers budget-level performance, so those looking for a good gaming phone will have to look elsewhere. There’s an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, which is a value-add. Camera performance for stilsl and video is good in daylight but average in low light. This phone’s 5,000mAh battery lasts two days with casual use. Samsung does not include a charger in the box, but the phone supports 25W fast charging.

Samsung Galaxy M53 5G

The Galaxy M53 5G now sits at the top of Samsung’s M series, which now spans a wide range of prices. Samsung’s latest smartphone boasts of some interesting hardware such as a 120Hz Super AMOLED display, a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC with vapour cooling, and a 108-megapixel primary camera. One of the main things working in favour of the Galaxy M53 5G is the guarantee of Android OS and security updates, which should keep it relevant longer than some of its direct competitors. In our opinion, the 6GB RAM variant offers much better value for money than the 8GB variant, and is the one to get.

Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G

Xiaomi certainly knows how to stand out – the 11i Hypercharge 5G lives up to its name with 120W fast charging, which means its 4500mAh battery can get from zero to 100 percent in about 20 minutes. Of course you’ll need to carry its rather bulky charger around with you if you need that quick charge outside. Beyond this, the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G looks smart with its matte glass rear panel, but is relatively heavy at 204g.

You get the MediaTek Dimensity 920 SoC and either 6GB or 8GB of RAM, depending on which variant you choose. There’s 128GB of storage, a 6.67-inch full-HD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, stereo speakers, and an IR emitter. You get MIUI 12.5 running on top of Android 11. The Xiaomi 11i without 120W charging costs a bit less and is otherwise nearly identical, so you would be paying a premium for this feature, if you think it’s important enough.

Realme GT Master Edition

Realme’s GT Master Edition comes in at a competitive price with a unique suitcase-like design. This Master Edition model in the first GT series packs a punch even though it’s not quite an all-rounder. The high-quality 120Hz refresh rate Super AMOLED display is good for gaming and watching movies on. You don’t get stereo speakers but this phone does have a a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Powering the gaming experience on the Realme GT Master Edition is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor, which is a worthy upgrade over the 768G and is on par with MediaTek’s Dimensity 1200. Camera performance is quite good in daylight but low-light performance is only saved by the Night mode. Battery life is quite good for a slim mid-range smartphone, and it charges quite quickly too, going from zero to 100 percent in about 35 minutes.

Poco F3 GT

The Poco F3 GT is designed around gaming features and performance. This new model has a premium body with a metal frame and a glass back. There are “maglev” trigger buttons which can be engaged using sliders on the side. You get a big 6.67-inch HDR10+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a touch sampling rate of up to 480Hz in Game Turbo mode. Poco has picked the Dimensity 1200 SoC to power the F3 GT and you can get this phone with 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

The Poco F3 GT has a triple camera setup consisting of a 64-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle, and 2-megapixel macro camera. It captured average quality photos in daylight as well as low light. On the plus side, the Poco F3 GT delivered a great gaming experience for the price.

OnePlus Nord 2T 5G

The OnePlus Nord 2T 5G is the first ‘T’ model in the Nord series of devices. Its design has not been overhauled mainly because this is just a ‘T’ refresh. Most of the changes have taken place under the hood. There’s an upgraded MediaTek Dimensity 1300 SoC, that’s an upgrade over the Dimensity 1200-AI SoC in the Nord 2. While its battery capacity has remained unchanged, OnePlus has sped up the charging to 80W. The software experience with Android 12 is also fluid and free of bloatware, unlike some other competing smartphones. All in all, the new Nord 2T 5G isn’t a major upgrade over the Nord 2, but remains distinctly ‘OnePlus’ when it comes to execution.

iQoo Neo 6 5G

The iQoo Neo 6 5G offers the best value when compared to the other phones in this segment. It’s not focussed on looks, but is more about raw performance, and all of it comes from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC, which is gaming-grade stuff. There’s an E4 AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate which works well while playing games. There’s no IP rating but you do get stereo speakers. Battery life, thanks to that 4,700mAh battery, is also quite good and charging it up using the 80W bundled charger is also quite fast. While it seems like this phone is just about gaming, there’s also a very capable 64-megapixel primary camera (with OIS) that‘s a capable shooter whether it’s day or night.