The Indian smartphone market has already become a centre of attraction of OEMs. Many manufacturers are eyeing this market and nobody wants to miss out on this opportunity called "India". The Rs 10,000-15,000 segment has been seeing a lot of launches off late and the entry of new OEMs in the market is only adding up to the number of options on offer.
The segment usually sees the buyers who are looking a good mid-range phone that gets the job done. Users want an experience that is better than the entry level smartphones but doesn't burn a hole in their pockets either. It is slowly becoming the sweet spot in the mid-range smartphone market and is becoming crowded.
So, in order to help you zero in on the best one as per your needs, we list out the top 5 smartphones in the Rs 10,000-15,000 price bracket.
ASUS Zenfone 2 ZE550ML/ZE551ML (Rs 12,999/Rs 14,999)
- 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels/1920 x 1080 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Glove Touch support
- Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system with new Zen UI
- Intel Atom 3560 SoC, 1.8GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB RAM
- 16GB of internal storage which is expandable with a microSD card (up to 64GB)
- 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera
- Dual-SIM, 4G LTE, 3G HSUPA, FM Radio, GPS with 5 satellite connectivity
- Wi-Fi ac/a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, Micro-USB port with USB Host, and 3.5 mm headphone jack
- 3,000 mAh battery; 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9 mm; 170 grams
The two variants are differentiated only by the display resolution. The HD variant costs for Rs 12,999 while the full HD unit costs Rs 14,999.
Xiaomi Mi 4i (Rs 12,999)
- 5-inch IPS LCD display, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 441 ppi, OGS (One Glass Solution)
- Android 5.0 Lollipop-based MIUI 6 with support for 6 Indian languages
- 64-bit Snapdragon 615 processor, 1.7GHz quad-core Cortex A53 CPU + 1.1GHz quad-core Cortex A53 CPU, Adreno 405 GPU, and 2GB RAM
- 16GB non-expandable internal storage
- 13-megapixel rear camera, dual-tone dual-LED flash, five-element lens, f/2.0 aperture, 1080p video recording
- 5-megapixel secondary camera
- Dual-SIM (4G + 3G/2G), Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Micro-USB port, and 3.5 mm headphone jack
- 3,120 mAh battery
It is one of the best buys in this segment and has enough processing power to take care of all your needs. It is available exclusively on Flipkart.
Meizu M1 Note specifications (Rs 11,999)
- 5.5-inch IPS display, 1920 x 1080 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
- Android 4.4 KitKat based Flyme OS 4
- 64-bit MediaTek MT6752 SoC, 1.7GHz octa-core CPU, 600MHz Mali-T760 MP2 GPU
- 2GB DDR3 RAM
- 16GB
- 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture; 5-megapixel front camera, f/2.0 aperture, 69-degree wide angle
- 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and dual SIM
- 3,140 mAh battery
The device has just been launched in India and puts forth a strong case in its favour as far as the spec sheet goes. A slightly lower price would have done wonders for this one but this pricing works just fine too.
Lenovo S60 (Rs 12,999)
- 5-inch display, 1280 x 720 pixels, ~294 ppi
- Android 4.4 KitKat based Vibe UI 2.0
- 64-bit Snapdragon MSM8916 410 SoC, 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, Adreno 306 GPU
- 2GB RAM
- 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front camera
- Dual SIM 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS
- 2,150 mAh battery
The smartphone's highlight is its build quality and looks and this is probably one of the better looking smartphones in this category. Its iPhone 6-like looks may appeal to some too. But overall, it is quite a capable mid-ranger.
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL (Rs 14,999)
- 5.7-inch ClearBlack IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top of it
- Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim update
- 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 GPU and 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage, further expandable up to 128GB via microSD card
- 13MP rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics and LED flash, along with 5MP front camera
- Dual SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
- 3,000 mAh battery
Many of you may be surprised with the inclusion of this one in the list, but we have to say that it is quite a good mid-range Windows Phone and if you are looking for a good mid-range Windows smartphone, the buck stops here.
