Here is a list of value for money smartphones that you can buy in the month of August 2020. For full list of recommended smartphones, you can go to Smartphone recommendation list .
VFM Smartphone of the month
The Good The Bad Looks very good, new gradient design is flashy. No dust/water resistance 6.39″ 2340×1080 FullHD+ Super AMOLED edge to edge display. No NFC Very well priced. Pop up camera and glass back makes it very brittle. Under display fingerprint scanner. 18W charger in box, have to get 27W QC4.0 charger for 80 minute 0-100% charging. 48MP + 13MP + 8MP AI Triple Rear camera setup. 20mp pop-up front facing camera. 4000mAh battery, supports Quick Charge 4.0 fast charging. Snapdragon 855 chipset is very fast. 6GB or 8GB of RAM. 128GB or256GB of storage. MIUI 12 look and feel is far better than that of ColorOS. Extremely good battery life.
Other value for money smartphones
The Good The Bad The best phone that a gamer can buy. 6.59” 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution, 144Hz refresh rate AMOLED display with 1ms response time, Weighs 240 grams. 113.3% DCI-P3, 108.8% NTSC, 153.7% sRGB color gamut coverage, Delta-E < 1, HDR10+ for display is the best you can get on phone. No rated water/dust resistance. Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ is the best chip out there, nothing can beat this monster. Dual front facing speakers. Ultrasonic touch sensors on right side of phone and motion sensors enable wide range of gestures. Up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, up to 512GB storage. 64mp Sony IMX686 prime + 13mp ultra wide + 5mp macro Rear camera can record videos at 8K resolution. 24mp front camera setup. Dual Type-C ports (one bottom and one on left side). Wi-Fi 6 to offer super fast speeds. microSD card slot, up to 512GB. Humongous 6000mAh battery, supports USB PD 3.0 fast charging. Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is under the display. AeroActive Cooler 3 clip-on external cooling fan for increased cooling helps with extended gaming sessions. Aura RGB lighting support.
The Good The Bad 6.7″ 1080×2400 FullHD Super AMOLED Infinity-O display is gorgeous. No IP rating, no wireless charging for a 42k phone. Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is screaming fast. Cannot match competition in camera performance. 6GB or 8GB of RAM. 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage. No headphone jack, power key is mapped to Bixby. Plastic back is more durable than glass. 3500 watt battery may not provide solid battery life. Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. 60Hz refresh rate. 48mp prime+12mp ultra wide+5mp macro rear camera. USB 2.0 Type-C port. 32mp front camera can do 1440p videos. 4500mAh battery, supports 45W fast charging and USB-PD.
The Good The Bad 6.55″ FullHD AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. 2mp macro lens is a joke and useless. Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is the best chipset available right now. Do not buy this for 5G alone as we are at the least a year away from 5G. In-display fingerprint reader. cannot justify 8k increase in price over 7t’s 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.0 storage, 8GB or 12GB RAM. No rated water resistance Rear camera : 48mp Sony IMX 586 prime sensor + 2mp macro lens + 16mp wide angle lens. OnePlus still won’t provide headset 16mp front selfie camera. Oxygen OS provide clean Android experience, has better update cycle. 4300mAh battery gives great life, 30T 30W Warp Charge. Dual stereo speakers.
Pricing details Amazon India Not Available Flipkart ₹34,990
The Good The Bad Very well priced. 60Hz refresh rate for display. Supports 5G networks (12GB RAM variant), once they are enabled. FunTouchOS on Andorid tries too much to be like iOS Looks extremely good, especially the orange color. 18W fast charging. Other phones from vivo/oppo/oneplus/realme get 30W fast charging. 6.44″ FullHD Super AMOLED edge to edge display with tiny hole for camera. Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset is the best you can get. 8GB or 12GB of RAM. 256GB or 128GB of storage, dedicated microSD card. Massive 4440mAh battery. Under display fingerprint sensor. 48mp prime + 12mp telephoto + 13mp wide + 2mp depth quad rear camera setup. 16mp front facing selfie camera.
The Good The Bad Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset is a performance monster. AMOLED is much better than IPS LCD, period. X2 phones had AMOLED. 6.6” FullHD IPS display with 120Hz refresh rate. Generic design, does not look different than Realme phones that cost under 20k. 64mp (prime lens, Samsung GW1)+8mp(telephoto)+8mp (wide angle)+2mp (macro) quad rear camera. No way to expand onboard storage. 32mp dual front selfie Sony IMX 616 cameras. 2mp macro lens is as good as dead lens. 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. X2 Pro had 50W fast charging. Up to 4K 60fps video recording, up to 960fps slo-mo recording. Fingerprint sensor on power key, not the ideal place for a scanner. 4200mAh battery, 30W Dart Charge super fast charging. Priced to perfection.
The Good The Bad 6.4″ Super AMOLED FullHD+ display among best midrange displays. Slow 15W charging, competition has moved past 25W charging now. Samsung Exynos 9611 is a great midrange chipset. Above average camera quality. Humongous 6000mAh battery for long battery life. Average looks, competing phones look so much better. 6GB or RAM. 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage. 64mp wide + 8mp ultra wide + 5mp macro + 5mp depth sensing quad rear camera setup. 32mp front facing camera. Better and lighter TouchWiz. Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C
The Good The Bad 6.5” FullHD IPS LCD without any notch or hole. Not having AMOLED can be deal breaker for some. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 730G with 2.2GHz octa-core Kryo™ 470 CPU. Lenovo’s Moto is very slow in pushing firmware and security udpates. 64mp (prime lens)+8mp(ultrawide)+5mp (macro)+2mp (depth) quad rear camera setup. 16mp pop up selfie cameras. Weighs 210 grams. Plastic back makes it more durable than glass back. Flash sale circus. 5000mAh battery and pure Android experience. Pop up camera module should be handled with care. 6GB or RAM and 128GB or storage. Loud speaker is loud, very loud. Dedicated Google Assistant button. USB Type-C port. Water repellent coating.
The Good The Bad The Bad 6.67″ FullHD LCD 120Hz display is super smooth. Rebranded K30, unable to live up to the expectations of Poco F1. Long lasting 4500mAh battery with 27W fast charging. 120Hz refresh rate is negated by 730G chipset. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 730G is power efficient. Flash sale circus. 64mp+2mp+8mp+2mp rear camera setup takes very good photos. Very slow OS updates. 8GB RAM or 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, up to 256GB storage. Extremely weak body, failed stress test. nanoSIM + nanoSIM/microSD card slots 20MP + 2MP front camera setup.
Pricing details Amazon India NA Flipkart ₹13,999
The Good The Bad Price. Customer service is a hit and miss. Looks really good. Flash sale circus. Type-C port with 33W super fast charging. Brittle glass back need protective case. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 720G is very good for midrange phone. MIUI OS level ads can be irritating. 5020mAh battery, with 33W fast charger bundled in the box. 6GB of RAM, 64GB storage or 128GB storage. 48mp high-res + 8mp ultra-wide + 5mp macro lens + 2mp depth sensor. 6.67″ FullHD display. Gorilla glass 5, splash proof design. 16mp front camera.
The Good The Bad First phone under 12k with pop up camera MediaTek P35 chipset is under powered. Price. microUSB port. 6.53″ FullHD+ display, with no notch. Average camera quality. Looks really good, especially the forest green color. 4000mAh battery for long battery life. 4GB of RAM, 64GB of onboard storage. 48mp + 2mp + depth effect triple rear camera setup. 16mp front facing camera. Dedicated microSD card slot. Near stock Android experience.
The Good The Bad The best budget phone you can buy. 720p display on 6.5″ is a stretch. 5000mAh battery, reverse charging support. 10W charger takes lot of time to charge 5000mAh battery. 6.5″ display with teardrop notch. Flash sale circus 3GB of RAM + 32GB of storage. Slow OS updates Up to 256GB microSD card slot. 12mp prime + 2mp portrait + 2mp macro triple rear facing camera setup and 5mp front facing camera. Corning Gorilla glass protection Comes with Android 10 out of the box.
