 "Composite Image")
Most premium flagship phones are meant to be dreamt about and drooled over (hence the IP rating) as few can afford them. That gave rise to the next category of phones commonly referred to as sub-flagship or flagship-killers. In fact, we like to call them the more practical flagship phones. Financially speaking, these are phones priced between Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 at launch. However, most of them can now be found under 60K, thus improving the value quotient further. Today, we celebrate some of the best ones that reached the Indian shores in 2024.
Best Flagship-killers of 2024
OnePlus 12
With a barrage of phones launched over the past 12 months, it is easy to forget something that was launched right at the start of the year. But the OnePlus 12 has held its own and is still very relevant. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, the phone brings several enhancements over its predecessor other than just processing power. For starters, it has an excellent 6.82-inch curved QHD+ LTPO display with a peak brightness of 4500 nits, 120 Hz variable refresh rate and compliance with Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
A 5400 mAh battery keeps the phone running for a day and a half of moderate use comfortably. The bundled 100W wired charger juices it up in less than 30 minutes and it also supports fast wireless charging. The phone offers up to 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The OnePlus 12 launched with OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14, with the Android 15 update around the corner and more OS and security updates to follow. OxygenOS remains one of the better Android skins around.
The rear camera department here is quite stacked, starting with a 50MP primary camera with OIS and Sony’s LYT-808 sensor. The support cast is equally impressive with a 48MP ultrawide camera with auto-focus that also doubles up as a quality macro camera and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera with OIS that provides 3X optical zoom and 6X in-sensor zoom. Hasselblad’s colour tuning and portrait tricks elevate the output. All of the above makes the OnePlus 12 one of the best in this category.
Xiaomi 14
Xiaomi 14 is another loaded phone that was launched in January with comparable features and performance. It is one of the rare compact flagship phones available in this price range. It bears a 6.36-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate up to 120 Hz and a resolution of 2670 x 1200 pixels. The Pro HDR display is HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliant, has 3000 nits peak brightness and supports 68 billion colour shades.
This phone too is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, and you get 12 GB RAM along with 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage. The cameras on this phone have been designed in collaboration with Leica. You get three 50MP units at the back, with the primary camera flaunting a Light Fusion 900 image sensor, Leica Summilux optics and OIS. Giving it company is an ultra-wide shooter with 115-degrees FOV along with a 75 mm floating telephoto camera with OIS that facilitates 3.2X optical zoom.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe telephoto camera is competent at macro and portrait photography as well. The 32MP front camera does enough to impress the selfie enthusiasts. The phone’s 4610 mAh battery comfortably lasts over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 90W fast charger juices it up fully in a little over half an hour. The phone also supports 50W fast wireless charging. Given its impressive feature list, the fact that it sells closer to 50K now makes it one of the best buys of the year hands down.
Samsung Galaxy S24 5G
It may seem somewhat ironic that Samsung has produced one of the best flagship phones of the year and also a capable flagship-killer. Yes, the Ultra variant offers several extras but the Samsung Galaxy S24 5G covers most of the key bases quite well and for a lot less money. The S24 is fairly compact yet sturdy and is powered by an Exynos 2400 chip, which is almost as powerful as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with sufficient RAM and internal storage.
It sports an Armor Aluminium 2 frame and a glass back with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection, which also protects the screen from scratches and cracks. The Samsung Galaxy S24 5G has a 6.2-inch Full HD+ Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display with 2600 nits peak brightness, HDR10+ compliance and 120 Hz refresh rate. The phone runs Android 14 with Samsung’s One UI 6.1 and the company has promised 7 years of software updates, which is incredible.
Photography department comprises three rear cameras starting with a 50MP primary unit with dual pixel PDAF and optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 12MP ultra-wide camera with Super Steady video support and a 10MP telephoto camera with OIS for 3X optical zoom. The camera performance is best in class, and one can record videos in up to 8K resolution. All this for close to 60K makes the Samsung Galaxy S24 one of the best flagship-killers around.
Realme GT 7 Pro
Now let’s jump towards the end of this year that has seen some great releases. The new Realme flagship is one of them and easily one of the most powerful phones at the moment. The Realme GT 7 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC with up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB internal storage. And a powerful processor is not the only thing that makes this a great phone. This rugged device flaunts an IP69-rated ingress protection that allows you to do underwater photography too.
Speaking of photography, the camera department here consists of two 50MP cameras at the back (primary and telephoto with 3X optical zoom) both with OIS and an 8MP ultra-wide shooter. The phone lets you record videos at up to 8K resolution. You also get an excellent 6.78-inch QHD+ 10-bit LTPO AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and up to 6500 nits of peak brightness. The HDR10+ and Dolby Vision-compliant display is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.
Battery life is impressive too thanks to a massive 5800 mAh battery that keeps the phone running for close to two days of moderate use, with the bundled 120W fast charger juicing it fully in under 40 minutes. The Realme GT 7 Pro runs the latest Android 15 out of the box with Realme UI 6.0, and the company has promised at least 3 major OS and 4 years of security updates going ahead.
Vivo X200 5G
The Vivo X200 5G may lack a couple of more premium features of its Pro variant that we rated as one of the best flagship phones of 2024, but it packs more than enough to earn a spot on this list. You get a sharp AMOLED display with a resolution of 2800 x 1260 pixels, 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ compliance and 4500 nits peak brightness. This phone is powered by a flagship MediaTek Dimensity 9400 SoC with up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage.
The cameras on this phone have been designed in collaboration with Zeiss Optics. You get three 50MP units at the back, with the primary camera flaunting a Sony IMX921 sensor and OIS. Giving it company is an ultra-wide shooter with 119-degrees FOV and auto-focus, along with a telephoto camera with a Sony IMX882 sensor and OIS that provides 3X optical zoom. Collectively, they cover all the key bases including macro and portrait photography.
Thanks to its IP69-rated ingress protection, you can indulge in some underwater photography too. The phone’s larger 5800 mAh battery comfortably lasts over a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 90W fast charger juices it up briskly. The Vivo X200 5G runs the latest Android 15 with the company’s Funtouch 15 UI. Vivo has promised four major Android updates for this device to keep it secure and relevant for long.