Best phones under Rs 50,000 (Sept 2022): OnePlus 9 Pro, Motorola Edge 30 Pro 5G to Realme GT 2 Pro- Technology News, Firstpost

If you feel a sense of deja vu after reading this article, it’s on us. Never before have all phones from our similar list from last quarter retained their place in the new list three months later. Yes, the price of some of them have dropped now, and yes, we could have replaced a couple with some other handsets, but they wouldn’t have necessarily offered better value than our top six picks. So after a long hard thought, we chose to retain all six and give you two more options to choose from. Here are your best smartphone options under Rs 50,000 this month.

Best phones to buy under Rs 50,000 in India

OnePlus 9 Pro
OnePlus 9 Pro’s price has dropped under 50K permanently it seems, and it remains a great buy for that price. The phone has some style courtesy of its metal frame and glass body protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 at the front and back. It has a 6.7-inch LTPO Fluid AMOLED display that can get up to 1300 nits bright and display a billion colours. The HDR10+ compliant screen has a QHD resolution of 3216 x 1440 pixels and 120 Hz refresh rate you should also check out OnePlus 9 Pro Users Manuals

The photography department offers a good variety, starting with a 48MP primary camera with OIS, a 50MP ultrawide shooter with auto-focus, 8MP telephoto camera with OIS for 3.3X optical zoom and a 2MP mono camera. Hasselblad’s colour tuning helps in keeping the colours more natural. The cameras manage to capture impressive shots in different lighting and modes. The 16MP front camera takes care of selfies and video calls. 

The 5G ready OnePlus 9 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s previous generation flagship Snapdragon 888 chip, and you get the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB UFS 3.1 storage variant in this budget. Its 4500 mAh battery lasts well over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 65W Warp charger can refill it in just about half an hour. The phone also supports fast wireless charging and has IP68 rated ingress protection. Android 12 update with OxygenOS 12 is already available for this phone.

OnePlus 9 Pro price in India: Rs 49,999 for 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage

Motorola Edge 30 Pro 5G
The Motorola Edge 30 Pro 5G is another highly impressive phone that has seen a good Rs 7,000 price cut this quarter. This phone is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip and comes with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. Its 6.7-inch Full HD+ OLED display flaunts a 144 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ compliance and can display over a billion colour shades too. You get Corning Gorilla Glass protection against scratches at the front and back.

The photography department on the Motorola Edge 30 Pro is impressive too, starting with a 50MP primary camera with OIS and another 50MP camera for ultra-wide photography; there’s a 2MP depth sensor too. The selfie enthusiasts are in for a treat courtesy of the 60MP front camera. Its 4800 mAh battery comfortably lasts close to a day and a half of moderate use and supports 68W fast charging as well as 15W fast wireless charging. This phone runs Android 12, and like most Motorola phones, you get a clean and near-stock user interface. 

Motorola Edge 30 Pro 5G price in India: Rs 42,999 for 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage

Realme GT 2 Pro
The Realme GT 2 Pro offers features comparable to the more expensive OnePlus 10 Pro and sells for the price of the 9 Pro, which translates into great value for money. It is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and is accompanied by 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. The design is quite soothing too, thanks to its paper-like biopolymer back. 

Another striking feature of this phone is its 6.7-inch QHD 10-bit LTPO 2.0 AMOLED display with an adaptive refresh rate ranging between 1 to 120 Hz and up to 1400 nits brightness. The HDR10+ compliant display is protected against scratches and cracks by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The phone runs Android 12 with Realme UI 3.0. 

The rear camera combination is quite interesting here with two 50MP cameras – the primary with OIS and an ultra-wide shooter that do an excellent job in different modes and lighting. The 3MP micro camera provides 20X to 40X magnification, which is quite unique. The 32MP front camera handles selfies and video calls quite well. The Realme GT 2 Pro has a 5000 mAh battery that keeps the phone running for a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 65W SuperDart charger juices it fully in just 37 minutes.

Realme GT 2 Pro price in India: Rs 49,999 for 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage

Asus ROG Phone 5s
It’s time for the gaming specialist, the Asus ROG Phone 5s. Other than powerful processing hardware, the phone has several optimisations and enhancements to give the gamers an immersive gaming experience. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ SoC, and you get 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage in this budget. This phone launched with Android 11 and Asus’ ROG UI, and a stable Android 12 update started rolling out a few months ago.

Its large 6.78-inch Full HD+ 10-bit AMOLED display has a 144 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ compliance and can get up to 1200 nits bright. This phone is targeted primarily at mobiler gamers, but the rear camera department is not bad either. It consists of a 64MP primary camera, 13MP ultra-wide snapper and a 5MP macro camera. The Asus ROG Phone 5s has a large 6000 mAh battery for long gaming sessions, and the bundled 65W fast charger can recharge it quickly. 

Asus ROG Phone 5s price in India: Rs 49,999 for 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage

iQOO 9 5G
It was a close race between the iQOO 9 and 9T, but we stuck with the former as it offers better value for money. The iQOO 9 5G too is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888+ chip, and you get its top variant with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage comfortably in this budget. Its 6.56-inch HDR10+ compliant Full HD+ AMOLED display has 120 Hz refresh rate and can display a billion colour shades. The phone runs Android 12 with FunTouch OS 12.

The rear camera department here is quite loaded. You get a 48MP primary camera with Gimbal stabilisation, accompanied by a 13MP ultra-wide camera and a 13MP 50 mm professional portrait camera for great portrait shots. The 16MP front camera is more than handy for selfies and video calls. The iQOO 9 5G has a 4350 mAh battery that can last for a day of moderate use, and the bundled 120W fast charger claims to charge it fully in just 18 minutes. 

iQOO 9 5G price in India: Rs 43,990 for 12 GB RAM/256 GB storage

Apple iPhone 11
The Apple iPhone 14 is just around the corner, but a couple of generations old iPhone is still a  decent buy for those looking to experience the hype for relatively less money. You get the 128 GB storage variant of the Apple iPhone 11 under 50K these days. I hope we will get to see the iPhone 12 in this list next quarter. The iPhone 11 is great for single handed operation. Its 6.1-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD screen supports wide colour gamut and is covered with a scratch resistant glass and an oleophobic coating.

Powering it is Apple’s former flagship A13 Bionic chip that is still reasonably powerful for any task you intend to perform on this phone. You get the two trusted 12MP cameras at the back with the primary lens offering OIS and the secondary capable of capturing ultra-wide shots. As you expect from iPhone cameras, the performance is excellent in different lighting, including low light, and it can shoot some great videos too. The Apple iPhone 11 launched with iOS 13, and is easily upgradable to the latest iOS 15.

Apple iPhone 11 price in India: Rs 49,900 for 128 GB storage

Honourable mentions:
These two phones just missed the bus but are still worth buying; the second actually missed two buses. While the iQOO 9T 5G always belonged to this price bracket, the Pixel 6a is now available under 40K, and could have easily been on our sub-40K list had it been selling for its current price when we compiled that list.

iQOO 9T 5G (Price: Rs 48,999 for 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage)
The iQOO 9T 5G is similar to the iQOO 9 in most ways barring three. Firstly, it is powered by a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 1 processor, but you don’t get the same amount of RAM and storage as the 9 in this budget. The display here is larger (6.78-inch), brighter and even better. And lastly, it uses a different primary camera with a 50MP GN5 sensor. If these benefits appeal to you and are willing to pay a sizable premium, choose the 9T over the 9. 

Google Pixel 6a (Price: from Rs 36,000 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage)
Google recently launched its budget offering from the Pixel 6 series in India, and while many were expecting the price to be around the mid-30K mark, it was way over 40K. But the phone has been spotted around Rs 36,000 lately, and if you can get one for that price from a reliable seller, that would be a sweet deal. It is a reasonably powerful compact phone with great cameras and a clean OS. Need we say more?