Top smartphones under Rs.10,000

Following our list of top smartphones under Rs. 20,000 and Rs.15,000, we are taking the budget a tad lower to gauge the top smartphones that currently exist below Rs.10,000. Under that price category, there’s a massive range of phones that are currently available in the market, and our criteria for selection is based on the handset that we reviewed and their overall scores. Here are the smartphones that have made it to the list. 

Spice Mi-350n 

With a rather stylish metal body for a phone that price, the Mi-350n is a pretty good looker. Oh, and this dual SIM phone is quite functional as well. Powered by a 650 MHz processor, Gingerbread and 170 MB of internal memory, the Spice Mi-350n is a well priced Android phone. It’s one of the few phones in this price range that boast of an autofocus camera and comes with a pretty good battery life. Just about what you’d want in your next budget phone.

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Spice Mi -350n

Here are the specs for the Spice Mi-350n:

• 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera 
• Secondary VGA camera
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Samsung Galaxy Y 

The Galaxy edition phone for the budget minded, the Y with its small form factor and powerful processor quite impressed us. It comes with an 830 MHz processor, with Gingerbread on board and 180 MB internal memory. The audio department has been covered pretty well with enhancements and a slick TouchWiz user interface. This small and compact phone is quick, has a powerful battery and makes for a good value for money handset.

A smart looking phone

Here are the specs for the Galaxy Y:

• 3 inch capacitive touchscreen with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 2 megapixel camera
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Lava S12

The S12 comes with a 3.2-inch touchscreen and though it has a predominantly plastic build, it looks quite professional and stylish. It is powered by a 600 MHz processor and has 120 MB of internal memory with a stylish 3D UI running atop Froyo. Connectivity options are pretty much covered as well and the S12 comes with a powerful battery life. The phone comes with a range of pre-installed apps, so you’re ready from the word ‘go’.

Here are the remaining specs for the Lava S12:

The Lava S12

• 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 480 x 320 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5 megapixel rear camera 
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Micromax A75 

The ‘Lite’ version of its elder sibling, the Superfone, the Micromax A75 packs in a 650 MHz processor, Gingerbread and 140 MB of internal memory. It’s dual SIM as well. In our comparison test, the A75 came out on top to its similar priced competitors. It looks quite similar to the Nexus S and has a good battery packed under the hood. Also, it’s worthy to mention that in this price bracket, the A75 is the only one in our list to have a 3.7-inch screen size. 

Brimming with features

Here are the specs of the device:

• 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 3 megapixel camera with LED flash
• Secondary VGA camera
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Samsung Wave Y

We’re in the process of reviewing this handset and right from the start, it’s been looking promising. It has a 832 MHz processor, Bada OS v2.0 and 150 MB of internal storage. Though the app support isn’t as much as an Android phone, it’s got its own small ecosystem of applications that you can play around with. Also, during normal usage, the phone’s battery lasted easily for more than a day, making the Wave Y a powerful low budget handset.  

Here are the remaining specs for the Samsung Wave Y:

The Wave Y

• 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 2 megapixel camera, HVGA video recording
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Spice Mi-280  

The cheapest of the lot, the Spice Mi-280 doesn’t look all that great in terms of design, but it’s powerful in its own small way. The Mi 280 runs on a 650MHz processor with Android 2.3.4 onboard and 134 MB of internal memory. The interface isn’t laggy, and for a 5K budget, you’ll get a really sweet Android experience. Plus, it’s a dual SIM standby phone, so your connectivity needs are well taken care of. The Mi-280 might not have that great a battery life as the other ones in this list, but it more than makes up for that by being the cheapest phone in this range. 

Brilliantly priced

Here are the rest of the specs of the Spice Mi-280:

• 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 320 x 240 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Secondary VGA camera
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

The reviews for the phones can be viewed by clicking their respective names. That wraps up the list of smartphones that we think are worth buying below 10k. Besides these phones that we’ve reviewed are there any particular ones in this price range that you liked? Let us know in the comments section below.