As a smartphone owner and reviewer, I am constantly being surprised by the fact that every year the smartphone companies are able to pack more and more tech inside smartphones at very reasonable prices. Just take a look at the cameras the so-called budget devices pack. You are getting dual cameras, portrait mode, great low-light photography and much more. The cameras in budget smartphones are getting better at a faster pace than the ones in the flagship devices. These days, if you want a good camera phone, you don’t need to splurge a huge amount of money. In fact, you can find some really good camera phones under 20000 INR. Don’t believe me? Well, here are the 10 best camera phones under 20000 INR you can buy:
Best Camera Phones Under 20000 INR
1. Mi A2
Xiaomi Mi A1 was one of the best smartphones you could buy under the INR 20000 price point and the company has just released its successor, the Mi A2, which is turning out to be quite a good budget smartphone and the best camera phone under 20000 INR. I love the cameras on this smartphone as they can capture really good shots. The primary camera is bringing a 12 MP + 20 MP dual camera combo which is quite powerful. While the 20MP camera is using the Sony IMX376 sensor, the 12MP sensor is Sony IMX486 with f/1.75 aperture, large 1.25μm pixels. This means that the smartphone takes great photos in good lighting conditions but it also brings very good low-light performance. The primary camera is also capable of 4K recording which is great. The front-facing 20 MP shooter does a decent job of capturing selfies. While it’s not the best in the business, it’s right there at the top in our price range.
Talking about the other features of the smartphone, I love the stock Android experience which is the biggest benefit of using an Android One device. I mean the smartphone is first in line to receive Android P, what more do you want? The smartphone also brings good processing power. With its Snapdragon 660 chipset which is being paired with Adreno 512 GPU, you will never be disappointed with its speed. Other features include a beautiful 5.99-inch IPS LCD display which has a resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels, a 3000 mAh battery, and more. If you love stock Android and good cameras, this is the phone you should get. Plus, with the release of the new Redmi Note 6 Pro on the horizon, Xiaomi has slashed the prices of the Mi A2 by Rs. 1000, so it’s now available at an even better starting price of Rs. 15,999.
Mi A2 Camera Samples
Buy From Amazon: ₹15,999
2. Huawei P20 Lite
Huawei just launched three new smartphones in 2018, the P20, the P20 Pro and the P20 Lite. While the first two are flagship devices, the P20 Lite is priced just below INR 20,000 and was one of our first choices for this list. The Huawei P20 Lite packs a dual primary camera setup with a 16MP and 2 MP sensor. Not only does the camera take great daylight photos, but it also takes really great photos in low light, and don’t forget the portrait shots. I mean, just use this phone and you will be amazed by its camera quality.
The smartphone also packs a 24MP front-facing shooter with f/2.0 aperture which can take awesome selfies. What’s best is that it can also take portrait selfies and can execute the 3D portrait lighting effects, like the iPhone X. If you are looking for a good camera phone under 20000 INR, your search ends here.
Note: We don’t have the camera samples for the P20 Lite yet, but we’ll update the article with those soon.
Buy From Amazon: ₹19,999
3. Realme 2 Pro
Oppo’s Realme, and the Realme 2 may have had underwhelming cameras, but the Realme 2 Pro is definitely a phone that deserves to be on this list. The Realme 2 Pro comes with 16MP + 2MP dual rear camera and it takes great images in almost all lighting conditions. The photos do have some noise in low light, but they’re definitely good for the price. The phone also comes with a 16MP selfie camera that can take decent quality shots. There are issues with overexposed backgrounds in backlit conditions, but still, the selfie camera is satisfactory here. You can check out some of the shots we took with the Realme 2 Pro and see for yourself the way this camera phone performs.
On fronts other than the cameras, the Realme 2 Pro brings in a Snapdragon 660 and comes in three variants, a 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB, and 8GB/128GB. The phone has some really incredible performance and as we said in our full review, “Right off the bat, the device simply blazes past any task you throw at it.” The Realme 2 Pro is definitely a phone worthy of its price tag and the ‘Pro’ tag that Realme has appended to its name.
Realme 2 Pro Camera Samples:
Buy the Realme 2 Pro from Flipkart (starts at Rs. 13,999)
4. Redmi Note 6 Pro
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 6 Pro is definitely one of the best camera phones under Rs. 20,000. The phone comes with a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera same as the Redmi Note 5 Pro. However, this time around the main camera has a wider f/1.9 aperture and the performance of the camera has been improved anyway. Photos from the rear camera on the Redmi Note 6 Pro are pretty great in good lighting, but it’s in low light where the f/1.9 aperture of the phone really shines. Low light images from the Redmi Note 6 Pro are quite good, and considerably better than the Redmi Note 5 Pro that earlier occupied this spot on our list.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro is also the first Xiaomi phone to feature dual selfie cameras. The phone comes with a 20MP + 2MP dual front camera set up, and the front cameras here are pretty great in all types of conditions. Whether it’s in low light or good lighting, images from the front camera on the Redmi Note 6 Pro turn out pretty good. Thanks to the 2MP depth sensor on the front, portrait selfies from the Redmi Note 6 Pro have really good edge detection and the bokeh is just better overall. It’s definitely a phone you can consider if you’re looking for good cameras under Rs. 20,000.
Note: We don’t have the camera samples for the Redmi Note 6 Pro yet, but we’ll update the article with those soon.
Buy the Redmi Note 6 Pro from Flipkart (starts at Rs. 13,999)
5. Honor Play
Another great camera phone under Rs. 20,000, the Honor Play might be marketed as a phone for gamers, but it does come with pretty decent cameras for the price. The phone packs a 16MP + 2MP dual rear camera set up that is capable of taking decent shots. In good lighting, the phone takes some really good photos with ample detail and excellent colors. Plus, if you’re a fan of Samsung-like photos, there’s an AI option that you can use since it basically over saturates the images making them look more punchy. Personally, I prefer natural looking colors, but it’s nice to have the option to get more punchy images if the need arises.
There’s also a 16MP f/2.0 front facing camera on the Honor Play that takes decent selfies. However, there are issues with over sharpening sometimes, and there are definitely times when the background gets overexposed. However, overall, the front camera is definitely nice here, plus it comes with portrait mode and portrait lighting effects similar to what you’ll find on phones like the iPhone XS. That’s quite impressive.
For videos, the Honor Play supports shooting 4K videos at 30FPS and 1080p at 60FPS. The phone has EIS, but that only kicks in for 1080p videos, so videos shot in 4K do have stability issues. Overall than that, the video performance here is rather average, but if that’s not an issue to you, the still photos from the Honor Play are definitely worth considering.
Honor Play Camera Samples
Buy the Honor Play from Amazon (Rs. 19,999)
6. Realme U1
Realme has been launching a lot of smartphones, and the Realme U1 is just one of the Realme phones that come with impressive cameras for its price. The phone features a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera that takes really good pictures. In good lighting, the performance of the Realme U1’s rear cameras is great. There are issues with over sharpening sometimes, but that’s not very common and over all the pictures from the rear cameras on the Realme U1 turn out decently good enough.
On the front, the Realme U1 comes with a 25MP camera that is capable of taking good shots. In good lighting, the performance of the front shooter on the Realme U1 is obviously good, but it even performs really well in low light situations which is definitely impressive. In fact, the selfie camera on the Realme U1 is better than that on the Realme 2 Pro, and that’s saying something since the Realme 2 Pro has impressive cameras. However, if there are light sources behind your subject, the U1’s front camera does tend to over expose them.
In terms of video quality, the Realme U1 can only shoot at 1080p (there’s no 4K support here), and even then, the video quality here isn’t anything impressive. The colors are dull for the most part, and the videos just don’t look all that good. However, unless you’re gonna be shooting a lot of videos, the Realme U1 will not let you down.
Realme U1 Camera Samples
Buy the Realme U1 from Flipkart (starts at Rs. 13,990)
7. Honor 8X
The Honor 7X was previously mentioned on our list as one of the best camera smartphones under 20,000 Rupees. However, Honor has now launched its successor — the Honor 8X and it improves upon the 7X in almost every way. The Honor 8X comes with a 19.5:9 display with a notch, a Kirin 710 processor, up to 6GB RAM, and up to 128GB storage. The Honor 8X packs in a dual 20MP + 2MP rear camera, along with a 16MP front camera and it takes some pretty decent pictures for the price. While it’s not really as good as the Mi A2 in terms of camera performance, it’s definitely still a good choice to go with. You can also read our detailed Honor 8X review, or our Honor 8X camera review to learn more.
It’s not just the specs, the Honor 8X packs in some impressive camera features as well. There’s a dedicated light painting mode that will let you create awesome light painting shots without having to fiddle with pro-mode controls. There’s a night mode too, but it’s not like the ones you’ll find on the Pixel 3, or the P20 Pro. This simply lets you adjust the ISO and shutter speed to gather more light in low light conditions and is easier to use than the full pro mode. The Honor 8X comes with enough camera features to suit almost any need you may have from the camera, so it’s definitely worth considering.
Honor 8X Camera Samples
Buy the Honor 8X from Amazon (starts at Rs. 14,999)
8. Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1
I had a lot of contradictory feelings when it came to including this smartphone on this list. The fact that it only costs INR 10,999 wanted me to keep it off the list, however, the device packs such a heavy punch when it comes to cameras that I could not keep if off the list. You can read all about its camera performance in our full review, however, the TLDR version is that the cameras on this phone gave a tough completion to the one on Redmi Note 5 Pro. Seeing how the phone costs 1/3rd of the Redmi Note 5 Pro, that is a huge achievement.
The phone that we reviewed came with a with a 13MP+5MP dual camera sensor at the back and a 8MP camera at the front. The primary camera took great daylight shots. Even the portrait mode shots came out great. However, the phone did suffered in lowlight conditions. Also, the front camera cannot compete with some of the other smartphones on this list. That said, seeing the price of this device, I really don’t have much complains. You should also consider the fact that the Zenfone Max Pro has a higher priced version which upgrades the cameras.
ZenFone Max Pro M1 Camera Samples
Note: Asus is expected to launch the ZenFone Max Pro M2 sometime in December, and if you’re thinking of buying the ZenFone Max Pro M1, I’d suggest you to wait before making a decision.
Buy From Flipkart: starts at ₹10,999
9. Moto 1 Power
Motorola recently launched the Moto 1 Power, and the phone packs in decent cameras as well. On the back, the phone comes with a 16MP f/1.8 + 5MP f/2.2 dual camera set up and is capable of taking good photos. In good lighting, the phone takes nice and crisp photos and manages to keep colors as close to natural as possible along with a nice balance between exposure and sharpness in the images. In low light however, things take a hit and images turn out slightly soft, but it’s not a deal breaker by any means.
There’s portrait mode here too, so you can take shots with that nice, soft bokeh effect. The phone does have problems with edge detection sometimes though. On the front, the Moto 1 Power comes with a single 12MP camera which is a pretty good one for selfie lovers. The camera takes good selfies in good lighting conditions, and even though there is some noise in the shots, it’s not really visible unless you’re looking too closely.
The Moto 1 Power also finds itself in the company of the few phones in its price range that support shooting 4K videos, and while the videos do look good with nice, punchy colors, there’s no stabilisation here so you’ll have to endure some shake in your videos. That said, Moto does offer a post-recording stabilisation feature that you can use to get slightly better results.
Moto 1 Power Camera Samples
Buy the Moto 1 Power from Flipkart (Rs. 15,999)
10. Moto G6
The Moto G6 is another smartphone that brings pretty great cameras under Rs. 20,000. The smartphone packs in a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera that takes some pretty great photos. Plus, there’s a 16MP front camera as well that can take great selfies. The front camera here comes with a group selfie mode as well, so even if you have a large group of friends you’ll not have trouble taking awesome selfies with the Moto G6. There’s a front facing flash too, so selfies in low light will not be an issue.
Starting at Rs. 13,999, the Moto G6 brings impressive cameras to the fold, and packs in specs that are slightly confusing when you compare them to phones like the Mi A2, or the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The G6 packs in a Snapdragon 450 processor paired with up to 4 GB of RAM along with a 3000 mAh battery to keep things running. Add to that the fact that even though the phone’s 5.7-inch FullHD+ display is an 18:9 display, the forehead and the chin here are considerably big with Moto even packing in a front facing fingerprint scanner on the phone. Still, if you’re looking for a phone with decent cameras that will handle less intensive tasks perfectly fine, the Moto G6 is a good option to consider.
Note: We don’t have the camera samples for the Moto G6 yet, but we’ll update the article with those soon.
Buy the Moto G6 from Flipkart (starts at Rs. 13,999)
11. Vivo V9 Pro
The Vivo V9 Pro is also a pretty great camera smartphone under 20,000 INR that you can consider buying. The phone comes with a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera set up that is capable of taking good looking shots in a variety of lighting situations. Obviously, since this is a dual camera smartphone, it can take portrait mode shots as well, and these too look decently good enough. The phone also comes with a 16MP front facing camera which is a pretty solid performer too. Other than that, the V9 Pro comes with an AI based HDR mode as well for getting even more detail in your shots. You should definitely take a look at the V9 Pro if you’re looking for great camera smartphones under Rs. 20,000.
Apart from that, the Vivo V9 Pro boasts of a Snapdragon 660 processor so it can handle most tasks easily, including gaming, and it comes paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. Plus it follows all the latest trends in the smartphone world, there’s a bezel-less display with a notch on the top, a rear mounted fingerprint scanner, a microSD card slot, and a decently big enough 3,260mAh battery in tow. So yeah, the Vivo V9 Pro is definitely a great camera and all around phone under Rs. 20,000.
Note: We don’t have the camera samples for the Vivo V9 Pro yet, but we’ll update the article with those soon.
Buy the Vivo V9 Pro from Flipkart (Rs. 15,990)
12. Oppo F9
Previously, the Oppo F7 had featured in this list, and it has since been replaced by the newer Oppo F9 instead. The Oppo F9 comes with a solid 16MP + 2MP dual rear camera that takes detailed photos in most conditions and is definitely a pretty great camera. Plus, the 16MP front facing camera is awesome too and can take good looking selfies. There’s a slo-mo video feature in the Oppo F9 as well, so you can take some impressive videos too. The phone has an AI beautification feature that may not be to everyone’s liking, but if you like it, it’s pretty impressive.
Along with all of that, the phone uses not only the dual rear camera, but also AI to get its portrait mode shots just right and the results are pretty impressive too, especially because the AI here tries to ensure (in most cases) that the lighting in the final shot looks great. Apart from the cameras, the Oppo F9 comes with a Helio P60 processor which is a decent performer, and paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, the phone should not run into issues with most tasks. If you’re looking for a great camera phone under 20000 INR, the Oppo F9 is worthy of your consideration.
Note: We don’t have the camera samples for the Oppo F9 yet, but we’ll update the article with those soon.
Buy the Oppo F9 from Flipkart (Rs. 18,990)
SEE ALSO: 10 Best Smartphones With Notch You Can Buy Right Now
Take Great Photos with These Awesome Camera Phones
That ends our list of the best camera phones you can buy under 20000 INR in India. We have included the best camera phones out there in this price range. Some are great at selfies, some offer great lowlight photography, and some offer a great overall camera experience. Do let us know your favorite camera phone of the bunch by dropping its name in the comments section below.
