Are you the one looking to step up your geek game a bit? With a bunch of choices lying around in smartphones under Rs.30,000, you will sweat it out to find the best.
1. IQOO 7 5G
IQOO was formed as a subsidiary of Vivo but later spun itself off to an independent smartphone manufacturer. The IQOO 7 5G is the latest smartphone from the IQOO stable to launch in the Indian market.
Design And Build Quality
The IQOO 7 has a polished finish and with the finely crafted polycarbonate back with round edges, this device feels premium in its hands. Talking about the device’s physical overview, it has power and volume buttons on the right side of the frame and the USB-C port is on the bottom section.
Sadly, there is no 3.5mm audio output therefore either you can use wireless earphones or else you can invest some money to purchase a converter (USB-C to audio jack).
Display
The IQOO 7 sports a 6.62-inch 120Hz AMOLED punch-hole display with a resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. This is a 120Hz refresh rate display panel that can deliver buttery-smooth visuals and a gaming experience.
Being an OLED panel, the colours look gorgeous, and the visuals appear sharp and clean with no sort of pixelation. With a peak brightness of 1300nits, this display is a delight to use both indoors and outdoors.
Processor And Performance
The showrunner of IQOO 7 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 octa-core processor clocked at 3.2GHz, paired with 8GB RAM. The performance of this smartphone is top of the line in this price segment. You can play any game and run multiple applications simultaneously, facing no lag or stutter.
Thanks to the liquid cool technology, this smartphone stays relatively cool even under intense usage. Regarding storage, the IQOO 7 comes with super-fast 128GB UFS3.1 memory with no option to expand further.
The IQOO 7 comes pre-installed with the FunTouch OS 11.1 based on Android 11 OS. The user interface is the same as other Vivo phones and it runs flawlessly.
Camera
The IQOO 7 has a triple rear camera setup comprising a 48MP main lens, a 13MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. The 48MP main camera comes with OIS support and the photos clicked from the primary sensor come out clear, crisp, and with ample details.
The dynamic range and details remain on par in the ultrawide sensor; however, a slight improvement is needed with colours in ultrawide. The OIS will combine with the EIS to provide an ultra-stable mode in video recording, and the ultimate results will amaze you.
We thought that a 2MP depth sensor would fail in portrait photography, but the reality is different–the edge detection in portrait images is so accurate. The 16MP selfie camera captures sharp selfie photos, but the contrast is a bit on a higher side. However, you can still share them in your Instagram story.
Battery Life
IQOO 7 comes with a 4400 mAh lithium polymer battery that will provide backup for about a day with normal to heavy use. The bundled 66W fast charger will juice up the battery levels from 0 to 100% in less than 45 minutes.
2. OnePlus Nord 2 5G
We know OnePlus for providing flagship smartphones at affordable prices and OxygenOS is the second reason many tech-savvy people prefer the smartphones from OnePlus.
Design And Build Quality
The Nord 2 5G smartphone has glass on the back and they made the front and the middle frame out of plastic. This device feels heavy in the hand and is not ideal for one-handed use. You will get the premium smartphone features like an in-display fingerprint scanner, and alert slider with this device. The 3.5mm audio jack is not available on this smartphone, but the dual speaker produces loud and ear-pleasing audio.
Display
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G sports a 6.43-inch 90Hz Full HD+ Fluid AMOLED punch-hole display with a resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. The touch response is precise and the 90Hz refresh rate makes the display fluid with animations and scrolling.
Processor And Performance
OnePlus Nord 2 5G is good for the price is because of the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 AI chipset that runs the show. This chipset is fabricated on 6-nm architecture–it is power efficient and with the highest clock speed of 3GHz, you will have a fast-paced performance.
Thanks to the UFS 3.1 storage technology, the applications will load faster, and the file transfer speeds are blazing fast as well. We’ve heard rumours going around that Oxygen OS will merge with ColorOS soon and in the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, we find some hints of this merger.
Camera
They took the main 50MP Sony IMX766 from the OnePlus 9 and we thought image processing might not live up to expectations. The 8MP ultrawide lens captures soft and less sharp images. We forgot to tell you the most important thing, the camera UI is the same as that of Oppo and Realme smartphones.
The primary shooter on the rear has OIS support so you can record videos without having much shake in the ultimate results, but sadly, you can not record 4K/60fps video. The 32MP selfie camera offers good selfies, but it is a hit and miss with a dynamic range.
Battery Life
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is powered by a 4500mAh lithium battery that is rated to last up to an entire day with normal use and with heavy use. It will last up to 6-7 hours. The 65W warp charger will juice up the smartphone battery from 0 to 100% in less than 45 minutes.
3. Apple iPhone SE 2020
Apple iPhone SE was one of the highly expected smartphone releases last year. A handy little iPhone in this era of large-screen display smartphones is still a viable choice for many all around the world.
Design And Build Quality
The iPhone SE 2020 has a premium glass sandwich design comprising a front and back glass panel with an aluminium frame in between. Certified IP67 dust and water-resistant, the iPhone SE 2020 is a well-built device that feels durable and sturdy in hand. Weighing at just 148g, this is one of the lightest smartphones available in the market as of now.
Even though this device looks small and feels very light in hand, it does not compromise the performance a bit. The good old power button still lives in the front lower chin and comes integrated with the TouchID fingerprint security.
Display
The Apple iPhone SE 2020 features a 4.7-inch Retina HD+ display with a resolution of 750×1334 pixels. Even though this isn’t a full HD panel, thanks to the smaller size and higher PPI count, the visuals and text look sharp and detailed. This retina IPS LCD has Apple true tone colour technology support for true to natural colour reproduction.
Processor And Performance
The same CPU that’s beneath the Apple iPhone 11 Pro powers the Apple iPhone SE–the 7nm+ A13 Bionic. This Hexa-core CPU from Apple beats even the Snapdragon 865 flagship processor from Qualcomm in terms of performance and power efficiency.
The iPhone SE 2020 comes with 3GB RAM, which is more than enough to run iOS 14.2 smoothly and the 64GB storage is super fast as well. There is no storage expansion with the iPhone SE 2020, so you might have to keep that in mind while purchasing the same.
Camera
The iPhone SE 2020 features a single 12MP rear camera with an aperture size of f/1.8. This camera has OIS (optical image stabilization) for steady photos and jitter-free video capturing. In the front, the iPhone SE 2020 has a 7MP shooter with HDR support for a good dynamic range. The rear camera of this device supports 4K video recording at 60fps while they limit the front camera to 1080p at 30fps.
Battery Life
This is one area where Apple has seen skimping a lot. The iPhone SE 2020 with its 1821mAh battery inside will last you around a day of light to moderate use. If you use this smartphone a lot, expect the battery to come down within 5-6 hours. Apple has included a 5W charger inside the box that takes almost 2 hours to juice up the battery.
4. Realme X7 Max 5G
The Realme X7 Max is one of the newest releases from the X series stable powered by the 5G capable MediaTek Dimensity processor available to purchase for just Rs.27,680.
Design And Build Quality
Hands down for the design, after almost 6-month of teasing, Realme has shown up with a new design, and to be honest, it’s impressive. However, the back is polycarbonate material which feels cheap, but a glass back would have made the phone feel premium.
Display
The Realme X7 Max 5G features a 6.43-inch 120Hz Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. Dragon Trail Glass protects this display, so the display remains safe from scratches and can survive the accidental falls.
The 120Hz refresh rate makes everything look buttery smooth, including the visuals and the UI animations. Not just that, the Realme X7 Max 5G comes with an enhanced 360Hz touch sampling rate for instantaneous touch response. This will prove highly beneficial for those who game a lot on their smartphones. This panel has a peak brightness of 1000 nits, which makes it usable both indoors and outdoors effortlessly.
Processor And Performance
The MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC, which is the latest iteration in the Dimensity series powers the Realme X7 Max 5G. Dimensity 1200 can give head-to-head competition to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset.
The 128GB UFS 3.1 storage adds more to the performance–it helps load apps and games faster and it will reduce the boot-up time significantly. The Realme X7 Max 5G comes pre-installed with the Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11 OS.
Camera
The Realme X7 Max 5G has a triple rear camera comprising a 64MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro sensor. From the previous model Realme X7 Pro, this one is short of one lens which is fine, but the disappointing part is that they have downgraded the camera.
In low-lit conditions, the camera takes decent photos and the details in the photo can be identified easily. We don’t say it’s pathetic, but compared to Realme X7 Pro, the camera performance is a little weak. The ultrawide performs well in broad daylight and with the use of a macro sensor, you can take pictures of an object from a 4cm distance. The 16MP selfie camera takes bright photos.
Battery Life
The Realme X7 Max 5G is powered by a 4500mah lithium battery that provides a screen on time up to 10-12 hours with normal to heavy use.
5. Poco F3 GT
The Poco F3 GT is now equipped with the MediaTek processor and has a wide viewing display. Let’s see if this smartphone is any good.
Design And Build Quality
If there’s any phone that can match the design of a ROG smartphone, it has to be the Poco F3 GT. Unlike its predecessors, this device features a completely original design every gamer would love. We made the middle frame of metal and there is glass protection on both sides, offering a premium feel.
This device has a trigger on the right frame, which Poco calls maglev triggers with the GT switch. Let us explain in simple terms. Two sliding buttons pull out the triggers from the smartphone body and offer you tactile feedback when you play games. Poco has used three microphones–the normal ones are on the top and bottom frame but there is another on the left frame so while playing battle royal games like Battlegrounds Mobile India or Free Fire, you can communicate with your pals easily.
Display
The Poco F3 GT sports a 6.67-inch 120Hz Full HD+ AMOLED punch-hole display with a resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. Poco has provided this display with a 480Hz touch sampling rate. The high refresh rate will provide a smooth user experience in regular use.
Thankfully, Poco has not compromised on colours and this AMOLED panel produces vivid colours and offers an excellent media consumption experience.
Processor And Performance
The MediaTek Dimensity 1200 powers the Poco F3 GT, which is the new chipset that offers flagship-level performance. The 8GB RAM paired with the CPU can easily handle multitasking load without breaking a sweat.
The 9-core ARM Mali G-77 MC9 GPU easily handles games like BattleGrounds Mobile India and you will get 60fps so the game will run smoothly with no noticeable frame drops. The 128GB UFS 3.1 storage should be sufficient for most users and it also helps elevate smartphone performance to a whole new level.
Camera
The Poco F3 GT houses a triple-lens system at the rear, which includes a 64MP wide, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro sensor. The 16MP front camera takes good selfies in daylight and it brightens up the skin tone sometimes, so focus properly while taking selfies.
Battery Life
The Poco F3 GT is powered by a 5065mAh lithium battery that offers battery backup for up to an entire day with heavy use. Poco has provided a 67W fast charger inside the box that juices up the smartphone battery in less than an hour.
