Gone are the days when you had to spend over Rs 40,000 or buy a super costly flagship smartphone to get a good camera experience. The midrange smartphones have gotten better over the last couple of years. They offer a great camera experience and some of them even feature flagship-grade camera sensors.
It’s 2020 and you get at least a triple camera setup, if not a quad-cameras on a mid-range smartphone. The primary sensor will more likey sport a 48MP or a 64MP snapper. However, megapixel-count doesn’t always reflect on camera performance. It is refreshing to see a telephoto lens in some of the phones under Rs 20,000.
As said earlier, the most common camera array in the current best camera phones under Rs 20,000 will be a primary camera followed by an ultra-wide-angle lens, a macro, and depth/telephoto cameras.
If you are looking for a phone under 25K that has a balanced set of features, we've got you covered. Check our list of best phones under Rs 25,000.
Poco X2
Display: 6.6-inch LCD, 120Hz | Processor: Snapdragon 730G | RAM: 6/8GB | Cameras: 64 + 8 + 2 + 2MP | Battery: 4,500mAh
Launched recently, the Poco X2 looks to dominate the mid-range market with its mouth-watering price. It features a 120Hz refresh rate screen, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, dual punch-hole selfie shooter, and 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor. It flaunts a plastic-glass sandwich design.
Poco X2 offers a lot for the asking price with the likes of a high refresh rate display, versatile camera, great battery life with fast charging capabilities along with swift performance that’s been fine-tuned to offer better gaming experience.
If you’re looking for a smartphone with a great performance, battery life, and a high refresh rate panel, the Poco X2 won’t disappoint you. It is an overall solid phone to have.
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Read our full review: Poco X2 Review
Realme 6 Pro
Display: 6.3-inch LCD, 90Hz | Processor: Snapdragon 720G | Software: Realme UI, Android 10 | Camera: 64 + 8 + 12 + 2MP | Battery: 4,300mAh
Realme 6 Pro’s is India’s first phone to be powered by Snapdragon 720G chipset. It also makes it the first smartphone in India to be NavIC-capable. It offers a high refresh rate display and a dual punch-hole selfie camera.
Realme 6 Pro is paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. It houses a quad rear camera set-up with a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter, a 13MP 2x telephoto lens that offers up to 20x using a hybrid zoom, and a macro shooter that can focus on objects as close as 4cm.
Realme 6 Pro offers great performance along with a high refresh rate panel and good camera performance. It starts at Rs 17,999 and is available in two colour options.
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Redmi Note 9 Pro Max
Weight: 209g | Dimensions: 165.5 x 76.7 x 8.8 mm | OS: MIUI 11, Android 10 | Screen size: 6.67-inch | Resolution: 1080 x 2400 | CPU: Snapdragon 720G | RAM: 6/8GB | Storage: 64/128GB | Battery: 5020mAh | Rear camera: 64 + 8 + 5 + 2MP | Front camera: 32MP
The latest budget phone from the house of Xiaomi, the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max is a beast in all aspects. It retains the usual big display and big battery of the series and takes them to the next level to provide exceptional battery backup.
The star of the show is the new camera array, sporting a 64MP primary camera and an 8MP ultra-wide shooter. Along with a new processing algorithm, there's also a ton of shooting modes and a very comprehensive manual mode too.
Read our Redmi Note 9 Pro review
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Realme X2
OS: Realme UI, Android 10 | Display: 6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display | Resolution: 2340 x 1080 | CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G SoC | RAM: 4/6/8GB | Storage: 64/128GB, UFS 2.1 | Battery: 4000mAh | Rear camera: 64MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP | Front camera: 32MP
The elder sibling of the Realme XT, the Realme X2 retains all the great features of XT. It offers a beautiful display, premium design, reliable cameras, and a battery and charging combo like no other in this price range.
Powered by a powerful Snapdragon 730G which is claimed to be just below the Snapdragon 845 in terms of raw performance, the Realme X2 is one of the cheapest phones to feature this SoC. The gaming experience on the device is also excellent.
Not just the performance, the Realme X2 is very reliable camera performance. It features a quad-camera setup with a 64MP primary sensor followed by an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP depth sensor. The Realme X2 is a pretty easy recommendation for us.
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Read our full review: Realme X2 Review
Xiaomi Mi A3
Weight: 173.8g | Dimensions: 153.5 x 71.9 x 8.5 mm | OS: Android 9.0 Pie | Screen size: 6.01-inch | Resolution: 720 x 1560 pixels | CPU: Snapdragon 665 | RAM: 4/6GB | Storage: 64/128GB | Battery: 4030mAh | Rear camera: 48MP + 8MP + 2MP | Front camera: 32MP
Xiaomi's smartphones have been a hit in the budget segment and that trend has continued for years. However, not everyone is a fan of MIUI and Xiaomi has acknowledged that with the launch of its Android One series of smartphones.
The Mi A3 is the latest in this line of smartphones. It runs on clean, stock Android and should get updates faster than other phones. It also offers a decent camera experience, an in-display fingerprint sensor and a big battery at very aggressive prices, making it a great option if you want all these features.
Buy Mi A3 on Flipkart | Amazon
Vivo Z1x
Weight: 189.6g | Dimensions: 159.53 x 75.23 x 8.13 mm | OS: FunTouch OS, Android 10 | Screen size: 6.38-inch | Resolution: 2340 x 1080 pixels | CPU: Snapdragon 712 AIE | RAM: 6/8GB | Storage: 64/128GB | Battery: 4500mAh | Rear camera: 48MP + 8MP + 2MP | Front camera: 32MP
Vivo’s mid-ranger, the Z1x comes with triple camera setup at the rear which houses a 48MP f/1.8 primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 5MP depth sensor. The primary camera implements the Sony IMX582 image sensor which is very similar to the IMX586.
The Night mode will bring out the details in the shadows without blowing out the highlights. The shutter always takes 2 seconds to expose and has decent stabilization too. Overall the primary camera does its job pretty well, and never felt lacking, irrespective of the lighting conditions. Over at the front, you get a 32MP shooter.
It features a big 6.38-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED panel. Although not a massive battery, the device can last longer and it also features 22.5W fast charging via Type-C port.
Buy Vivo Z1x on Flipkart
- Need something more serious for your photography needs? Take a look at the best DSLR cameras available in India.