The Indian smartphone market has seen a number of launches with Chinese brands successfully establishing their credibility in the country. Samsung, the erstwhile market leader has been lagging behind Xiaomi and others for more than three years in a row in some price segments.
Aside from the two giants going head-to-head, Oppo, Vivo and Realme are also among the top five brands in India. OnePlus too, has a cult following in India, with its smartphones leading the race in the premium smartphone category, defeating the likes of iPhone and the Galaxy flagships.
We have combed through various options that are available in the market across different price range with various features. Some of these phones are meant for selfie lovers while some are for people who love close to stock Android experience on their phones.
The OnePlus 7T Pro, the company’s costliest phones till date is also one of the best phones from the company. It competes with the flagships of other companies such as Samsung and Apple in India and is an excellent option if you are looking for a premium smartphone with a clean Android experience.
Powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus, the OnePlus 7T Pro runs on Android 10 with OxygenOS 10.0 and features a huge 6.67-inch Quad HD+ Fluid AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, HDR10, a triple camera setup at the back and a 16MP pop-up selfie camera. It is powered by a 4,080mAh battery with 30W fast charge support.
If you are looking for a flagship smartphone and don’t mind the 6.67-inch display, you cannot go wrong with the OnePlus 7T Pro.
Along with the OnePlus 7T Pro, OnePlus also launched the OnePlus 7T in India. The device features a smaller Full HD+ Fluid AMOLED display, a smaller battery and features a water drop notch selfie camera instead of the pop-up selfie camera as on the OnePlus 7T Pro.
If you do not want a huge display and still want a premium smartphone with a stock Android experience, the OnePlus 7T is a good option. It features the same camera setup as the OnePlus 7T Pro, however it features a circular camera setup.
The OnePlus 7T is powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset coupled with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.
Read our full review: OnePlus 7T
Realme X2 Pro is the company's first flagship smartphone that was announced back in 2019. Being a flagship phone, users can expect top-notch hardware under the chassis that's rounded up by glass on both the sides.
The phone features a versatile 64MP quad camera setup with a 90Hz refresh rate screen and supports 50W SuperVOOC fast charging standard that makes the X2 Pro one of its kind to be available in India.
Read our full review: Realme X2 Pro
With the launch of the OnePlus 7 Pro, the Chinese smartphone maker has propelled itself to the next level. The 7 Pro is supposed to take the fight to the high-end premium offerings like the Galaxy S10 series and the iPhone XS.
Sporting a Quad HD+ panel for the first time, the OnePlus 7 Pro is the most premium smartphone till date. This reflects in its performance, design as well as the price.
Read our full review: OnePlus 7 Pro
Xiaomi promised its new Redmi K series would be “Flagship Killer 2.0” and that seems to be fairly accurate, given the kind of specs that the Redmi K20 Pro offers at a starting price of Rs 25,999. Xiaomi is clearly taking the battle to OnePlus, which has developed a cult-like following amongst people looking for premium specs at affordable prices.
While the Redmi K20 Pro does not offer a 90Hz display, the display quality, notchless design, and the flagship-grade chipset, graphics, fast memory and storage offer plenty of value for money. The 4,000mAh battery coupled with up to 27W fast charging also helps a lot, especially if your gaming sessions last long.
The Redmi K20, the recently launched mid-range smartphone from Xiaomi’s Redmi brand has been designed keeping in mind the criticisms the company faced with its affordable flagship device, the Poco F1. With the device, the company has offered a premium device at an affordable price to take on the increasing competition in the smartphone segment.
While the Redmi K20 features a glass back, a stunning Full HD+ AMOLED display and an under-display fingerprint sensor, one of the main highlights of the device is its camera experience. It has a triple camera setup on the back with a powerful 48MP camera, an ultrawide camera and a telephoto lens, along with a 20MP selfie camera housed in the pop-up module.
The Redmi K20 now starts at Rs 19,999 in India, making it a great option under Rs 20,000.
Xiaomi has been delivering blockbusters upon blockbusters with its Redmi Note line up in India, and that seems to be true with the Redmi Note 8 Pro as well. After delivering massive improvements in terms of imaging with the Redmi Note 7 Pro earlier this year, Xiaomi has turned its focus to improving the gaming performance with the Redmi Note 8 Pro.
Powered by the MediaTek Helio G90T chipset, the Redmi Note 8 Pro lives up to the hype and offers fluid performance. The liquid cooling tech, a massive 4,500mAh battery, 18W fast charging and the 64MP quad cameras on the back seal the deal rather well.
Check out our Redmi Note 8 Pro hands-on experience
Realme has been making a splash since its debut last year. Over the last few months, the company has aggressively expanded its portfolio of smartphones right from the entry-level to the budget segment. The Realme XT is the latest in this line, and offers a versatile camera experience coupled with a vibrant display and a big battery.
The design of the Realme XT is also noteworthy, although it could be slightly over the top for people who prefer sticking to neat lines and patterns. Nevertheless, the Realme XT is a very good option in its segment.
Read our full review: Realme XT
The Oppo A9 2020 is a refreshed version of the Oppo A9 launched earlier this year. It offers a tweaked design with updated specifications and imaging capabilities.
The primary highlight of the Oppo A9 2020 is its quad camera setup on the back. But beyond that, the A9 2020 also offers ample storage and a massive battery. If you are someone who is on the move constantly and do not want to stream a lot of content, the A9 2020 could be what you need. The ample storage allows you to save plenty of content for offline consumption, and the big 5,000mAh battery means it should last you long enough.
It’s not just the mid-range and the premium smartphone segment that is dominated by Chinese smartphone makers. Coming back to the mid-range, we have the likes of the Realme X that aims to take on the budget king Redmi Note 7 Pro while also luring prospective Redmi K20 buyers.
If you are looking a smartphone that is somewhere between the Redmi Note 7 Pro and the Redmi K20 both in terms of price as well as specs, this is a noteworthy option even now.
Read our full review: Realme X
Not the one to be left behind, Vivo too has been launching several affordable and value for money smartphones of late. The Vivo S1 is the latest in this list. It features a premium Super AMOLED panel and sports a triple camera setup on the back.
Design-wise, the Vivo S1 has a gradient back that reflects light off to give a distinct look at different angles. However, the one area where Vivo could have done better is the camera bump that looks out of place with its golden borders.
