Smartphones Under Rs. 10,000

In today’s economy it’s not everyone who can afford the iPhones, Galaxy S’ or Optimus 2Xs. For some it’s also a little difficult swinging cash for even the Optimus One’s or Quench XT’s but that doesn’t mean there aren’t smartphones that aren’t affordable these days. Ok so you won’t get the very best that one should expect when you use the term ‘Smartphone’, but in most of these cases you will get your money’s worth. But just to give you a hint of what’s out there in the lower end segment, here are a few smartphones that are available for under Rs. 10,000.

Please keep in mind the prices mentioned below are Best Buy Prices or Market Operating Prices (MOP). The cost of each device might vary depending on your location.

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BlackBerry Curve 8520 - Rs. 9,990
The most popular amongst the BBM-crazy youth these days is the 8520 that’s still rocking the boat over a year and half since its launch. It’s the definitive BlackBerry handset for the youth segment and the way RIM is pushing their BBM app it’s no wonder this is the one that’s making the money, considering the price tag. If you can live without 3G connectivity you’ll have no issues, but BBM is one of those messengers that offers quite a bit of functionality in a simplistic UI and speed is not really an issue that you’ll have to contend with.

Ruling the youth with BBM

The 8520 comes with -

• 2.4-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels
• Wi-Fi, EDGE/GPRS
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 2 megapixel camera with fixed focus
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD cards

LG Optimus Me P350 – Rs. 7,950
This is LG’s first attempt at a low budget smartphone. Their Cookie series did well enough as they were offering all kinds of multimedia capabilities with touchscreens and at reasonable prices. I guess LG has decided to up the ante and directly compete with fellow South Korean and major rival, Samsung. The Me P350 is designed to look funky and offer all of Android 2.2 aka FroYo’s goodies to the masses. Complete with Wi-Fi hotspot offering, 3G speeds and a 3 MP Autofocus snapper the LG ME P350 could make a big splash in the low end smartphone segment. Look out Samsung!

Cute looking handset, isn’t it?

Here’s what’s loaded onto the Me -

• 2.8-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality,
• GPS with A-GPS with Google Maps, geotagging
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 3 megapixel camera with auto focus
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD cards

Samsung Galaxy 5 I5503 – Rs. 8,499
Samsung’s got the lower-end smartphone segment covered. Their low budget Galaxy series have made quite a name for themselves and it seems like the range has no intention of slowing down. The Galaxy 5 with FroYo comes with all the features you’d expect from an Android smartphone and pacs it all into a trendy looking devices that’s 12.3mm in depth. With a 1200mAh battery you should be able to get decent enough usage out of it.

Galaxy series got you covered

Samsung’s galaxy 5 smartphone features -

• 2.8-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality and DLNA capabilities
• GPS with A-GPS with Google Maps, geotagging
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 2 megapixel camera, smileshot, face detection
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory expandable up to 16 GB via microSD cards

Spice Mi - 310 - Rs. 8,999
The Mi-310 is offers some pretty good features for the price making it a value for money mobile phone. It has a larger than most in its class capacitive display making viewing just a tad better. Running Android FroYo Spice has also thrown in quite a few extras with the handset from chat applications to other helpful options. It also features a very HTC-like touchpad for menu navigation and at 12mm in depth weighing in at 120g, it’s also a slim lightweight handset.

Slim, sleek, cheap

The Mi-310 comes with -

• 3.1-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen screen with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality
• GPS with A-GPS with Google Maps, geotagging
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 2 megapixel camera
• FM Radio
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory expandable up to 16 GB via microSD cards

Nokia E5 - Rs. 8990
The Nokia E5 was also included in our under Rs. 15,000 segment but the price has dropped since then and this business class Symbian handset has now has been made even more affordable. With a full QWERTY keypad that’s designed to be soft and elevated enough to make for comfortable typing to a 5 megapixel camera (fixed focus) the E5 offers all the goodness that Symbian brings to the table. For business users email is an easy set up process and QuickOffice makes editing or just viewing documents on the go a simple task. That being said it still manages to offer pretty good multimedia functionality as well.

Perfect for the business class users on a budget

The E5 features -

• 2.3-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA support for media sharing,
• A-GPS with Nokia maps
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 5 megapixel camera with fixed focus and LED flash
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD cards

The Huawei IDEOS U8150 - Rs. 8,499
This is not Huawei’s first entry into the Indian mobile market, but this is their first smartphone to make it here. The company has tried to offer as much as possible in their FroYo equipped device. It’s neat looking handset that comes in a variety of interchangeable rear panels so you can choose your color according to your mood, if necessary. The one major thing it’s got going for it is the price factor so you might want to keep that in mind.

Colorful and affordable

The U8150 is equipped with -

• 2.8-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality
• GPS with A-GPS with Google Maps, geotagging
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 3 megapixel camera
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD cards

So there you have it, a few smartphones that are equipped to meet most requirements and a bit more for those who are on a tight budget. There are a few other options, as well and for those of you readers who are using those options please feel free to leave your suggestions for those looking for handsets under the Rs. 10,000 mark.