Best Budget Smartphones of 2025 in India

After presenting the best flagship and midrange phones of 2025, we now look at the best budget phones of the year. We have taken into consideration multiple factors like processing power, photography prowess, display quality and more for their respective price tags before shortlisting this lot in the Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 price range. Let’s see who made the cut this year.

Best phones of 2025 under Rs 30,000

Motorola Edge 60 Pro

The Motorola Edge 60 Pro has been the most balanced phone in this segment this year offering something for everyone. The phone has an attractive design courtesy of its eco-leather back. It also sports an IP69 rating for dust and water resistance, and the protection can handle a bit of submersion in shallow water too. It has a curved 10-bit 6.7-inch 1.5K P-OLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate, 4500 nits peak brightness, HDR10+ compliance and Gorilla Glass 7i protection.  

The camera department here is quite versatile with the three cameras at the back covering more bases than other phones in this segment. The Motorola Edge 60 Pro has a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 10MP telephoto camera with OIS that offers 3X optical zoom and a 50MP ultra-wide camera with auto-focus, which doubles up as a quality macro camera too. And not to forget the 50MP front camera that can also record 4K videos.  

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It is powered by a competent Mediatek Dimensity 8350 Extreme SoC with at least 8 GB RAM and 256 GB UFS 4.0 internal storage. Its large 6000 mAh battery can keep the phone powered for close to two days of moderate use and the bundled 90W turbo charger promises to take it from 0 to 100% in under 45 minutes. The Edge 60 Pro launched with Android 15, and like most Motorola phones, you get a clean and near-stock user interface. The company has promised three major Android updates for this device.

Realme P3 Ultra 5G

The Realme P3 Ultra 5G is another solid all-round phone that combines style, sturdiness and useful features in a single package. And it is often even more affordable than the Moto above. This Realme phone sports a 7.5 mm slim body and a faux leather back, and this too has an IP69-rated ingress protection. It is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 8350 Ultra SoC with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage. You get a large 6.83-inch 10-bit AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate. The HDR compliant display is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.  

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The camera department here consists of a 50MP primary camera with OIS and an 8MP ultrawide camera with 112 degrees FOV. You get a 16MP front camera to handle selfies and video calls. A 6000 mAh battery keeps the phone running for close to two days of moderate use, and the bundled 80W fast charger can top it up fully in a little over 45 minutes. The Realme P3 Ultra 5G launched with Android 15 with Realme UI 6.0 with more OS and security updates expected going forward.  

Best phones of 2025 under Rs 20,000

This segment has evolved tremendously over the past 12 months and the three phones we have chosen are a testament to that. Some of the features you now get in such a modest budget weren’t available even for 10K higher the previous year.

CMF (by Nothing) Phone 2 Pro

The CMF Phone 2 Pro by Nothing stands out for its unique industrial design with aluminium highlights around the cameras and stainless steel screws. Its 7.8 mm thickness and 185 grams weight give it a good hand feel. The photography department here is quite impressive, starting with the 50MP main camera that claims to have the largest sensor in this segment. You also get a 50MP telephoto camera that offers 2X optical zoom (something quite rare in the sub-20K segment), an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 16MP selfie camera.  

The CMF Phone 2 Pro has a large 6.77-inch 10-bit Full HD+ flexible AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 3000 nits, 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate and 1000 Hz touch sampling rate. The phone is fitted with a 5000 mAh battery that supports 33W fast wired charging with the necessary charger bundled along. The Phone 2 Pro is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Pro chip with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal (expandable) storage. The phone launched with Nothing OS 3.2 based on Android 15 and the company has promised 3 major OS updates and an impressive 6 years of security updates for this device.

Samsung Galaxy M36/ F36 5G

Speaking of impressive software update commitment, Samsung has gone a step or two further. The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G and the F36 5G (essentially the same phones, one sold on Amazon and the other on Flipkart) launched with Android 15 with Samsung’s One UI 7, and the company has promised 6 major Android updates going forward; something incredible for budget phones. The phones are quite slim too measuring 7.7 mm in thickness.

The Samsung Galaxy F36/ M36 5G has a sharp 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate, protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+. These phones offer a 50MP primary camera with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. The 13MP selfie camera does its job well. They are powered by an Exynos 1380 SoC with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal (expandable) storage. A 5000 mAh battery keeps them running for close to a day and a half of moderate use and supports 25W fast charging.  

Poco X7 5G

Last but not the least, the Poco X7 5G is another premium looking phone in this budget with some impressive features. This phone is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Ultra chip with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage. It has a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate and 3000 nits peak brightness. The screen is HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliant and protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Just like the Realme and Motorola above, this phone too boasts of IP69 ingress protection.

The rear camera department on this phone is helmed by a 50MP primary camera with OIS and accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. The 20MP front camera handles selfies and video calls quite well. A 5500 mAh battery keeps it powered for over a day and a half of moderate use, and the company bundles a 45W fast charger to juice it up within an hour. The Poco X7 5G runs Android 15 with Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2.0. The company has promised 3 major OS updates and 4 years of security updates for this phone since its launch.