Today, smartphones play a significant role in our daily lives. Whether it is for everyday household chores or professional work, the majority of people, if not all, rely on their smartphones in some way. Due to the widespread use of smartphones, there is now fierce competition among companies to be the best and most popular. There once was a time when hardly any other smartphones could compete with popular brands. However, that era has long passed, and numerous new companies are now competing to win over customers in every category, from budget smartphones to premium ones.
This intense competition has led them to outdo their rivals by as much as possible, from which the customers are getting a wider range of options. Even budget smartphones now offer more than just a handful of features. Also, the ban on the import of smartphones worth more than USD 300 has paved the path for other smartphone companies to introduce their budget smartphones to the market.
Today, we have prepared a list of the best six smartphones that are available on the market that cost up to Rs 20,000.
| SN | Phone | Price |
| 1 | Redmi 10 | Rs 18,999 |
| 2 | Samsung Galaxy A04s | Rs 19,999 |
| 3 | Realme Narzo 50A Prime | Rs 20,299 |
| 4 | Infinix Hot 12 Pro | Rs 19,899 |
| 5 | Xiaomi Poco M5 | Rs 19,999 |
| 6 | Motorola Moto E40 | Rs 18,999 |
1. Redmi 10
We are starting the list of best budget smartphones currently available with the smartphone market leader in Nepal, Xiaomi. Its Redmi 10 is one of the best smartphones in this price category. It comes with a minimalistic design and is a bit bulky, weighing around 203 grams and measuring a thickness of 9.13mm. It also offers a big 6.67-inch IPS LCD display supporting a 60Hz refresh rate.
Redmi 10 has a 50MP primary camera on the back accompanied by a 2MP depth sensor. On the front is a 5MP selfie shooter. It runs on MIUI 13 based on Android 11 and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 (6nm) chipset.
It comes with 4GB RAM coupled with 64GB of internal storage. There is a dedicated card slot on it for memory expansion. Similarly, there is a 6,000mAh non-removable li-po battery, which is really handy and it supports 18W fast charging as well.
The price of Redmi 10 is Rs 18,999.
2. Samsung Galaxy A04s
You will find Samsung smartphones in every price category. It is probably the most popular smartphone company in the country. Its latest release Samsung Galaxy A04s, as a budget smartphone, offers some decent features for the price range it is being offered at. With a decent design, it weighs 195 grams and measures 9.10mm in thickness. The 6.50-inch LCD display on it supports a 90Hz refresh rate, which is impressive.
Samsung Galaxy A04s comes with a triple camera setup. The 50MP primary camera is accompanied by a couple of 2MP macro and depth sensors. On the front, it has a 5MP sensor. It runs on One UI Core 4, which is based on Android 12 and is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 850 (8nm) chipset.
With 4GB of RAM storage, it is available in either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. The storage can be further expanded by up to 1TB with a microSD card. There is a standard 5,000mAH battery on it, which gets a 15W fast charger.
The price of the Samsung Galaxy A04s is Rs 19,999 for the 4/64GB variant. With an additional Rs 500, you can also get Samsung Galaxy F22, which offers a better display, a larger battery capacity and some tweaks in its features.
3. Realme Narzo 50A Prime
Realme is one of the top smartphone brands in Nepal. The smartphones from the company are performing well, which has led it to compete against the giants like Samsung and Xiaomi in every category and has been successful to overtake them on a few occasions. If you are looking for a good budget smartphone, Realme Narzo 50A Prime can be a good option.
It offers a Kevlar speed texture design. It comes with a 6.60-inch IPS LCD display, which offers a resolution of 1,080*2,408 pixels and 400 PPI density. It weighs around 189 grams and measures 8.10mm in thickness. Realme Narzo 50A Prime comes with a triple camera setup. The 50MP primary camera on the back is accompanied by a 2MP macro and 0.3MP depth sensor. On the front is an 8MP selfie shooter.
It runs on Android 11 and is powered by a Unisoc T612 chipset. It comes with a standard 4GB RAM accompanied by either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. There is also a dedicated card slot on it for storage expansion. Realme Narzo 50A Prime gets a 5,000mAh battery backup with an 18W fast charger.
Realme Narzo 50A Prime is priced at Rs 20,299 for the 4/64GB variant.
4. Infinix Hot 12 Pro
Infinix is a very less-known smartphone brand in Nepal, but lately, it has been releasing some budget smartphones. Infinix Hot 12 Pro is one of the many models of the latest Hot 12 series from the company. It comes with a 6.60-inch IPS LCD display supporting a 90Hz refresh rate. It weighs around 191 grams and measures 8.42 mm in thickness.
The dual camera setup on the camera includes a 50MP primary and QVGA sensors. On the front is an 8MP selfie shooter. The cameras on it are capable of capturing 1080p resolution videos.
It runs on XOS 10.6 based on Android 12 and is powered by a Unisoc T616 chipset. Furthermore, the 6GB RAM on it is coupled with 64GB of internal storage. There is also a dedicated slot on it in case the user wants to expand the memory. There is a 5,000mAh battery on it and gets an 18W fast charger.
Infinix Hot 12 Pro is priced at Rs 19,899 for the 6/64GB variant.
5. Xiaomi Poco M5
The Poco series is probably the most popular smartphone from Xiaomi. At the moment, Poco M5 is the best option from the Poco series among budget smartphones under Rs 20,000. There is a 6.58-inch IPS LCD display on it offering 1,080*2,400 pixels resolution and 400 PPI density. The display also supports a 90Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ and has Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
There are four cameras on it. The 50MP primary camera on the back is accompanied by a couple of 2MP macro and depth sensors. On the front is an 8MP camera sensor.
It runs on MIUI 13 based on Android 12 and is powered by MediaTek Helio G99 (6nm) chipset. The budget smartphone comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. There is also a dedicated card slot on it. Giving life to Xiaomi Poco M5 is a 5,000mAh battery and gets an 18W fast charger. This is definitely a feature-packed budget smartphone.
The price of Xiaomi Poco M5 is Rs 19,999 for the 4/64GB variant.
6. Motorola Moto E40
Well, if you did not know, Motorola smartphones are still available in the market and the brand does offer genuine features on its budget smartphones also. Though they are not as popular as they once were, Motorola is still releasing a good amount of smartphones.
Moto E40 is the best budget smartphone from the company. It has a pretty basic design. It comes with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display offering a resolution of 720*1,600 pixels and 90Hz refresh rate support. It weighs around 198 grams and is 9.1mm thick.
The 48MP primary camera on it is accompanied by a couple of basic 2MP depth and macro sensors. On the front, there is an 8MP camera for photos and videos.
Moto E40 runs on Android 11 and is powered by a Unisoc T700 chipset. It is also available in the basic 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage option. There is a dedicated memory card slot on it for expanding storage. Furthermore, a 5,000mAh battery provides the needed juice to the phone and sadly it does not support fast charging.
The price of Motorola Moto E40 is Rs 18,999.
These are our picks of the best budget smartphones on the market costing up to Rs 20,000. Apart from the list, there are a sizable number of other worthy budget smartphones in the market that you can choose from. In a similar price range, you can also get smartphones like Redmi 10 Prime, Realme C33 and C25Y, Tecno Spark 8 and Spark 7T.
