Diwali 2014 buying guide: Six smartphones to buy between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000

After taking a look at smartphones priced under Rs 10,000 , we move to a slightly higher price bracket between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000.  It is for someone who doesn’t want to settle for a low-end phone, but doesn’t have the budget for a high-end or premium device. This segment is rather interesting because you will find several devices that have received price cuts and are now available at an even more lucrative pricing of under Rs 20k. Let’s quickly take a look at top 5 smartphones priced between 10k and 20k, worth taking a looking at. Asus Zenfone 5 – Rs 12,999  At Rs 12,999, the Zenfone 5 seems like unbeatable value when you consider its rich feature-set and good all-round performance. It’s really hard to fault the Zenfone 5 as it doesn’t really stumble much in any department. The Moto G seems to have met its match, finally! Read our complete **Asus Zenfone 5 review** . Motorola Moto X [caption id=“attachment_232633” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Moto G during the launch event. Tech2[/caption] At Rs 23,999, Motorola easily offered the best Android experience outside the Nexus clan under Rs 25,000. Now, with the price cut on some online sites, the device gets even more lucrative at around Rs 17,000. You will find some features seen in high-end devices such as Wi-Fi ‘ac’, Miracast and it could possibly receive the latest version of Android too. The Moto X proves that it’s not how many cores you squeeze in that matters but how you utilise them. The dual-core CPU gives even octa-core chipsets a run for their money. If you have the budget around 18k, look no further than the Moto X for the best Android experience. Here’s our Moto X review.   Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 [caption id=“attachment_217794” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  A worthy successor to the Duos but how does it fare against today’s competition?[/caption] Though the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 appeared to be slightly expensive when launched, it now seems a pretty good deal at around Rs 18,000. The Grand 2 ticks all those boxes perfectly, except maybe the pricing still seems slightly on the higher side. It has also missed out on little details like putting a notification light or NFC even. To sum up, the Grand 2 is a worthy upgrade to the Grand Duos and a good option for those looking for a large screen device from a seasoned OEM. Read our **Grand 2 review** , to know more about the device. Microsoft Lumia 730  The next smartphone in our list is Microsoft’s Lumia 730. Though we haven’t reviewed it, this new selfie smartphone seems like a good bet for around Rs 15,000, at least on paper. It sports a 4.7-inch screen with 720p resolution Corning Gorilla Glass 3, and pixel density of 316 ppi. The smartphone has a 5MP front camera with support for full HD recording and has wide angle lens. There’s a 6.7 MP rear camera, with 4x Digital zoom, and LED flash. It houses a Snapdragon 400 system-on-chip, with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz. The smartphone has 1 GB RAM, 8GB storage space and supports microSD with 128GB as the limit. Like the 830, there’s also free cloud storage space of 15 GB. The battery is 2220mAh and Microsoft is promising 17 hours talktime on 3G on this device. Lumia 730 will come in Green, Orange, Dark Grey, and White. Sony Xperia M2 Dual [caption id=“attachment_226862” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Good aesthetics are part of Sony’s repertoire now[/caption] The Sony Xperia M2 Dual is a good pick at a price of something around Rs 16,000. It can be called the premium alternative to the Moto G with a slightly better features and a better design. We didn’t find any major fault with the M2 which would sour the deal and it’s a good all-rounder which makes it highly recommendable. Read our complete **Xperia M2 Dual review** , to find out how it fares. Lenovo S860  The Lenovo S860, now selling for around Rs 18,000 online, is another great pick if you are looking for a great battery life.  Now, there’s no questioning its battery life – it’s probably the best you’ll get from a smartphone right now, but do watch out for some drawbacks. In our review, we found it too large and heavy, and other features such as the camera, screen quality and processor seemed mediocre at best. Now, it all really depends on what you are looking for in a smartphone, and if battery life is your only concern, we cannot recommend the S860 enough.  Read our **Lenovo S860 review** for more details about the device. Besides, if your budget is close to Rs 10,000, then the **Moto G second generation** is also a great option. The **Lenovo Vibe X** is yet another good option  just under Rs 20,000.