Best phones under Rs 60,000 (Sept 2023): OnePlus 11 5G, Apple iPhone 13 to iQOO 11 5G

It is that time of the year when the festive sales are just a few weeks away. I generally ask potential buyers to defer their buying decision till then unless it’s unavoidable. If you are among those who are looking to buy a smartphone under 60K and cannot wait for the Big Billion Days and Great Indian Shopping Festivals, we have compiled a list of the best options available in that budget at the moment. The list has everything from former flagships to current flagship devices. Take a look.

Best phones to buy under Rs 60,000 in India

OnePlus 11 5G
We start with two phones with the fastest processing hardware around and with similar model numbers too. The OnePlus 11 5G is loaded with a lot of features generally reserved for the Pro variant. It is powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and you get its 8 GB RAM and 128 GB UFS 3.1 storage variant in this budget. The phone feels great in hand and has a 6.7-inch curved LTPO3 AMOLED display with a resolution of 3216 x 1440 pixels and 1300 nits peak brightness. This HDR10+ and Dolby Vision-compliant screen supports 10-bit colour depth and variable refresh rate going as high as 120 Hz.

The rear camera department is helmed by a 50MP primary camera with OIS and Hasselblad’s colour tuning. 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 32MP telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom that’s great with portrait shots too. Its 5000 mAh battery easily lasts for a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 100W charger juices it up in under half an hour. The OnePlus 11 5G runs OxygenOS 13 based on Android 13 and one can expect several OS and security updates over the next few years.

Pro tip: If you play your cards right, I mean with the right credit card you can get its top variant with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB UFS 4.0 storage under Rs 60,000 effectively.

OnePlus 11 5G price in India: Rs 56,999 for 8GB RAM/128GB storage

iQOO 11 5G
The iQOO 11 5G is also powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. It is accompanied by 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. You can get its 16 GB RAM variant under 60K too, but given the Rs 5,000 price difference, I would stick to the 8 GB variant as the storage is same for both. This phone has a sharp 10-bit 6.78-inch HDR10+ compliant E6 AMOLED display with a resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels and 144 Hz refresh rate. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The phone runs Android 13 with FunTouch OS 13.

The rear camera department consists of a 50MP primary camera with a Samsung GN5 sensor and OIS, accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 13MP telephoto camera that gives you 2X optical zoom and also doubles up as a portrait camera. The 16MP front camera takes care of selfies and video calls. The iQOO 11 5G’s 5000 mAh battery lasts for a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 120W fast charger claims to charge 50 per cent of it in just 8 minutes, and fully in well under 30 minutes.

iQOO 11 5G price in India: Rs 54,999 for 8GB RAM/256GB storage

Apple iPhone 13
From 11 we move on to 13, and from Android to iOS. With the launch of the iPhone 15 series, the Apple iPhone 13 with 128 GB storage is available under 60K again even before the festive sales. The phone’s performance and camera quality are still commendable. Its photography department has two 12MP cameras at the back with the primary lens offering OIS, and the secondary capable of capturing ultra-wide shots. The performance in photography and videography is excellent, as one expects from an iPhone.

The Apple iPhone 13 has a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2532 x 1170 pixels, and is compliant with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The phone feels great in hand due to its compact size and reasonable weight and offers IP68-rated ingress protection. It is powered by Apple’s previous flagship A15 Bionic chip which also powers the iPhone 14. It is still fairly powerful for most tasks including gaming. The phone launched with iOS 15, and is upgradable to iOS 16, with more OS updates to follow over the next few years.

Apple iPhone 13 price in India: Rs 55,999 for 128GB storage

Samsung Galaxy S22 5G
Samsung’s previous flagship phone retains its place in this list, and even better, you can now get its higher capacity variant under 60K. This phone too has an IP68 rated ingress protection along with a compact design. The Samsung Galaxy S22 5G sports an aluminium frame and glass back with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection at the front and back. It has a 6.1-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a peak brightness of 1300 nits, HDR10+ compliance and 120 Hz refresh rate.

This Samsung phone is powered by Qualcomm’s previous flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, and you can get its 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage variant in this budget comfortably at the moment. A 3700 mAh battery keeps the phone powered for a day of moderate use and supports 25W fast charging as well as 15W wireless charging. It launched with Android 12 and Samsung’s One UI 4.1 and is now upgradeable to Android 13 with One UI 5.x.

The photography department on the Samsung Galaxy S22 5G is mighty impressive. You get a 50MP primary camera with dual-pixel PDAF and OIS, a 12MP ultra-wide camera with Super Steady video support and a 10MP telephoto camera with OIS that provides 3X optical zoom. The camera performance is flagship grade as expected, and can record videos in 8K resolution too.

Samsung Galaxy S22 5G price in India: Rs 57,499 for 8GB RAM/256GB storage

Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
The top variant of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra can still be purchased close to 50K, and offers great value for money. This Moto phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip and there’s 12 GB RAM and 256 GB of internal storage to give it company. You get a 6.67-inch Full HD+ 10-bit P-OLED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and 1250 nits peak brightness. The HDR10+ compliant display is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The phone now runs Android 13, and like all Motorola phones, you get a near-stock user interface.

The camera department on this phone is impressive too. You get a 200MP primary camera with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide shooter and a 12MP telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom. Thus, you have most of the key bases covered. The 60MP front camera is bound to impress the selfie enthusiasts. The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra has a 4610 mAh battery that keeps it going for well over a day of moderate use, and supports 125 Watts wired and 50 Watts wireless fast charging.

Motorola Edge 30 Ultra price in India: Rs 49,999 for 12GB RAM/256GB storage