With only a few weeks left to go before 2018 comes to a close, it is now safe to say that the following list of phones are some of the best you can find this year
October is usually when most major smartphone launches take place after which there is a lull until CES in January. But strangely that has not been the case this year. Even after the new iPhones and Pixels, a lot of companies continued to launch some new smartphones all the way into December. Late November, Huawei announced the Mate 20 Pro in India. Earlier this week, we got the Oppo R17 Pro in the country. And in a few days, HMD will be bringing the Nokia 8.1 to India. It’s safe to say that this has been a really busy year for smartphone launches.
With only a few weeks left to go before 2018 comes to a close, it is now safe to say that the following list of phones are some of the best this year. We take a look at phones ranging from affordable to the ultra premium to help you find the right phone for your budget.
Realme has surprised everyone by offering some really impressive phone in the budget segment, which is not an easy feat to achieve in today’s competitive scenario. After laying the groundowrk with the Realme 1 and Realme 2, the company took thing up a notch with the Realme 2 Pro, C1 and U1. The Realme C1 ( Review) is the cheapest phone with a notched display. It is in fact very similar to the Realme 2, but at a cheaper price point.
The Realme C1 sports a 6.2-inch notched display, Snapdragon 450 chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM. It houses a 4,230mAh battery similar to the Realme 2. The entry-level smartphone comes with a 13MP + 2MP dual camera setup on the back with PDAF and f/2.2 aperture, and a 5MP front-facing sensor. It ships with Android 8.1 Oreo with Oppo’s ColorOS 5.1 on top
Redmi 6: Rs 8,499
The Redmi Note 5 was so far one of the best value smartphones under Rs 10,000, but Xiaomi has quietly discontinued the phone this week. But that’s okay because Xiaomi has more than enough budget phones to take its place such as the Redmi 6.
The Redmi 6 comes with a 5.45-inch HD+ Full-Screen display with 1440 x 720 pixels resolution and an aspect ratio of 18:9. It offers AI-powered dual cameras on the rear panel. The smartphone includes a primary sensor of 12-megapixel and secondary sensor of 5-megapixel with 1.25 micron pixel size for depth shots. On the front, the phone carries a 5-megapixel sensor for selfies paired with AI portrait mode. It is powered by Helio P22 processor paired with up to 3GB RAM and 64GB storage.
By far the most impressive Realme phone this year, the Realme 2 Pro ( Review) is probably the most powerful device you can get under Rs 15,000. With a Snapdragon 660 chipset running the show, you can expect nothing short of a beast while performing day-to-day tasks, browsing heavy apps and playing graphic intensive games like PUBG. But the Realme 2 Pro is not just about raw power as it also offers a premium dewdrop design with a bright and immersive waterdrop display.
Powering the Realme 2 Pro is an octa-core Snapdragon 660 AIE chipset with Adreno 512 GPU. This is coupled with up to 8GB of RAM for smooth and swift multitasking experience. The company is also touting a great gaming experience thanks to a powerful mid-range chipset. The phone will be offered with up to 128GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card. The Realme 2 Pro houses a 3,500mAh battery that will deliver a full day of battery life. It also supports dual 4G and dual VoLTE. The phone also offers 16MP sensors for all three cameras on board.
HMD Global probably launched the most number of phones compared to any other company this year. And most of the Nokia phone launched this year have done exceptionally well by offering a classy and premium design along with good performance. The Nokia 6.1 Plus ( Review) is a culmination of that and it is probably one of the most economically priced Nokia phones in the market.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus brings a 5.8-inch FHD+ (1080×2280) TFT display with a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top and an aspect ratio of 19:9. Powering the device is an octa-core Snapdragon 636 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 400GB via microSD card. The Nokia 6.1 Plus bears a dual camera setup which includes a 16-megapixel primary sensor with f/2.0 aperture and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor with similar aperture. The phone houses a 3,060mAh battery with support for fast charging via USB Type-C port. Notably, the Android One phone got updated to Android 9 Pie, making it an even sweeter deal for anyone looking for an affordable smartphone with Pie.
