Continuing the series, our next entry is for smartphones within the price range of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 35000. This price range is for someone who is looking to buy a good phone to last them for around 2 years at least.
It means that the phone needs to be durable enough with specs that can age well. This price range gets you the best bang for buck for a lot of phones. These phones will also last you around 2 years as well.
Lets get started.
1. Lenovo Zuk Z1 – Rs. 25,000
The Zuk Z1 comes with a flagship worthy but old processor, the Snapdragon 801. It was Snapdragon’s most stable chip. This is coupled with a gigantic 4,100 mAh battery which should easily last you at least 2 days, if not more, on medium usage. There’s a fingerprint scanner on board too.
The Lenovo Zuk Z1 comes with Cyanogenmod by default which allows for a wide variety of customization options. Cyanogenmod has been getting bloated with features but maintains the stock look and feel of Android. Though, you can rest assured you won’t find any lag and poor performance because of the OS, which is very much the case of Pakistani OEMs and Samsung.
The camera is limited to only 1080p (1920 x 1080) video recording at most which is weird considering that the camera sensor and the processor on the Zuk Z1 is capable of 4k (3840 x 2160) video recording. This can be fixed by flashing a newer version of Cyanogenmod so it won’t be a problem for most. The sharpness, noise and color reproduction with the camera is average at best though, when compared with the current batch of flagships.
This phone is an all rounder and can fulfill all of your needs in this price range as well. It is only the camera, which might not make you extremely happy, but otherwise its one of the best you can find in this price segment.
This phone costs Rs. 25,000 and comes with 64GB storage only.
Lenovo Zuk Z1 Specifications
- CPU: Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
- GPU: Adreno 330
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
- OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G, Dual Sim
- Design: Fingerprint scanner
- Metal frame
- Display: 5.5” with FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution
- Memory:
- RAM: 3 GB
- Internal: 64 GB
- Card slot: No
- Camera:
- Primary: 13 MP, f/2.2, autofocus, LED flash, OIS, 1080p (1920 x 1080) 60fps & Slow motion video recording
- Secondary: 8 MP, f/2.2 1080p (1920 x 1080) video recording
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, dualband, hotspot, Bluetooth V4.1, GPS with AGPS/GLONASS
- Battery: 4,100 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery, fast charging, USB type-C slot
- Colours: White, Dark Grey
- Price: Rs. 24,990
2. LG Nexus 5X – Rs. 27,000
One of the two Nexus phones released last year, the cheaper Nexus 5X came with slightly different specs than it’s big brother the Nexus 6P. It comes with a polycarbonate body and does not feel premium at all as compared with the Huawei P9 lite or the Xperia Z3 which make use premium materials.
It features stock android so your experience would be very smooth and snappy. The good thing is that you can get software updates before any other phone does, including the Android 7.0 Nougat update. No other phone on this list has received this update yet. The bad thing is that stock Android is very plain and does not have the customization features or themes that other companies add on their phones (HTC, Huawei etc.)
The battery life is satisfactory and you can see a day’s usage on medium use. This phone offers the best performance in terms of raw power compared to other phones in the list thanks to the Snapdragon 808 processor which powers the phone. The RAM might be too low at 2GB for some people though. Same goes for storage, it does not have a microSD card slot.
Camera is also one of its good features with low light performance and sharpness that rivals flagships of this year as well. As far as your photography experience goes, 5X is the best you can find in this price whether it’s 4K video recording or plain photos.
This phone costs Rs. 27,000 for the 16GB model.
LG Nexus 5X Specifications
- CPU: 2x Cortex-A57 @1.8GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @1.4GHz
- GPU: Adreno 418
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
- OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
- Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G
- Design: Fingerprint scanner
- Display: 5.2” with FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution
- Memory:
- RAM: 2 GB
- Internal: 16/32 GB
- Card slot: No
- Camera:
- Primary: 12.3 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, dual LED flash, 4k (3840 x 2160)/1080p (1920 x 1080)/720p@120fps slow motion video recording
- Secondary: 5 MP, f/2.0
- Connectivity: NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, dualband, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth V4.2, GPS with AGPS/GLONASS
- Battery: 2,700 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery, fast charging, USB type-C slot
- Colours: Quartz (white), Carbon (black), Ice (blue)
- Price: Rs. 27,000
3. Sony Xperia Z3 – Rs. 30,499
The 2 year old Sony flagship could very well be the star of the list. The phone dropped in price over the years and now falls within the Rs. 25,000 – Rs. 35,000 price category.
This phone also features the aforementioned Snapdragon 801 processor, the very same found in the Zuk Z1. Xperia Z3 was also updated over the years so you won’t be left behind, at least on the OS front. The difference in build quality will be immediately noticeable compared with the rest of the phones in the list. It has a shatter-resistant glass back with an aluminium frame on the sides.
Despite having a glass back the phone does not break as easily as other phones with glass back do. Shock-proof corners also help with the phone’s durability. Water and dust resistance further compliment the sturdiness of this device as it has an IP 68 water resistance rating.
The camera is good but not great when compared with today’s flagships. The camera on the Nexus beats the one on Xperia Z3 but that doesn’t mean the camera sucks by any means and it can show a thing or two to all other phones which reside in this price range. Sony says that the Z3 is capable of taking pictures with an ISO of upto 12,800, which is nearly pitch black. Though don’t hold your breath as the picture despite being bright would have plenty of noise.
Another noteworthy thing about it is the battery which despite being smaller than that of the Zuk Z1 can offer a battery life comparable to it. It can easily get you through 2 days of usage thanks to Sony’s optimizations for the battery.
All of this comes with a price tag though, Sony Xperia Z3 costs Rs. 30,499 for the 32GB model.
Sony Xperia Z3 Specification
- CPU: Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
- GPU: Adreno 330
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
- OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G
- Design: Glass back
- Metal frame
- Water and Dust resistance (IP 68)
- Display: 5.2” with FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution
- Memory:
- RAM: 3 GB
- Internal: 16/32 GB
- Card slot: Yes, supports up to 256GB of expandable storage
- Camera:
- Primary: 20.7 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, LED flash, 4k (3840 x 2160)/1080p (1920 x 1080)/720p@120fps slow motion video recording
- Secondary: 2.2 MP, f/2.8 1080p (1920 x 1080) video recording
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dualband, Wi-Fi direct, DLNA, hotspot, Bluetooth V4.0, GPS with AGPS/GLONASS/BDS
- Battery: 3,100 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery, fast charging (japanese models only)
- Colours: Black, White, Copper, Silver Green, Purple
- Price: Rs. 32,000
4. Huawei P9 Lite – Rs. 26,000
The only Huawei phone on the list is perhaps one of the best of Huawei’s midrange phones to date. The P9 lite goes a step forward with last year’s P8 lite and adds a fingerprint sensor to it.
The plastic body from the P8 lite was also replaced with a metal frame and a polycarbonate back. Overall it feels premium when you hold it in your hand. It also supports a lot of gestures and customizability in the custom skin that Huawei uses for the P9 lite. You can swipe on the fingerprint scanner or tap and hold for different gestures and commands.
In terms of battery life and performance this phone should hold up pretty well, don’t expect flagship level numbers though. The camera is unfortunately average at best.
This is one of the cheaper phones on the list and starts at Rs. 26,000
Huawei P9 Lite Specifications
- CPU: 4x Cortex-A53 @2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @1.7GHz
- GPU: Mali-T830MP2
- Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 650
- OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow based EMUI
- Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G Dual Sim (hybrid slot)
- Design: Metal Frame
- Fingerprint scanner
- Display: 5.2” with FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution
- Memory:
- RAM: 2GB
- Internal: 16 GB
- Card slot: Yes, supports up to 256GB of expandable storage
- Camera:
- Primary: 13MP, autofocus, LED flash, 1080p (1920 x 1080) video recording
- Secondary: 8 MP, f/2.0
- Connectivity: NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth V4.1, GPS with AGPS/GLONASS
- Battery: 3,000 mAh Li-ion non-removable
- Colours: Black, White, Gold
- Price: Rs. 26,000
5. iPhone 5S – Rs. 35,000
The last phone on the list but by no means the least. It comes with one of Apple’s best designs to date, the iPhone 5 series.
Although old, it is still somehow useable today. This is because you can update the phone to iOS version 10.1 and get all the latest features from the update. The iPhone 5S came with a fingerprint sensor before it became a standard in the smartphone industry. It was by no means the first phone to get one, but it was the first flagship phone to get the feature.
Specs wise it doesn’t compare to the behemoths in the list but that doesn’t stop the phone from running smoothly. Its mostly because the animations hide the loading times which gives it the illusion of being buttery smooth. Storage is also going to be an issue as you will run out of space soon after updating to iOS 10.1.
The camera on this phone is also good, better than most midrangers in terms of color reproduction. The results look better on the iPhone mainly because it has a tiny 4 inch screen and low resolution. The Nexus still takes the cake at least in the camera department.
The battery might not be good though. iPhones are notorious for having meager battery life and iPhone 5S is no exception. With 3 years of its life in the shelf, who is to say whether it got even worse in that time.
Overall if you don’t have the cash to buy an iPhone 6 or 7, but still want to try an iPhone, the 5s is the way to go.
This phone costs Rs. 35,000 for the 16GB model.
iPhone 5S Specifications
- CPU: Dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone
- GPU: PowerVR G6430 (quad core)
- Chipset: Apple A7
- OS: iOS 7 upgradeable to iOS 10.1
- Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G
- Design: Glass and Aluminium Frame
- Fingerprint Sensor
- Sapphire crystal Touch ID button with Stainless steel frame
- Display: 4.0” with 640 x 1136 (slightly less than 720p) resolution
- Memory:
- RAM: 1 GB
- Internal: 16/32/64 GB
- Card slot: No
- Camera:
- Primary: 8 MP, f/2.2, autofocus, dual tone LED flash, 1080p (1920 x 1080)/720p@120fps slow motion video recording
- Secondary: 1.2 MP, f/2.4, 720p (1280 x 720) video recording with FaceTime over Wi-Fi or mobile data
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, hotspot, Bluetooth V4.0, GPS with AGPS/GLONASS
- Battery: 1,560 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery, reversible connector
- Colours: Space Gray, White/Silver, Gold
- Price: Rs. 35,000
Do you know of better phones in this price range? Comment below
using nexus 5x and its awesome
Don’t forget Oppo F1s and Samsung j7. Huawei 5X is also fine
All 3 lose to these phones spec wise. iPhone is the only exception.
Nice but I bought iPhone 5s only for 28500 Band New :)
Lucky you then :)
from where?
Oppo Phones are certainly a good choice!
How is S6 Edge? and how much it costs? any idea/suggestion, anyone?
S6 Edge’s screen is more liable to break compared with the non edge one. The S6 series was fragile too, drop tests showed that too.
The UI is a hit or miss, liable to lag or sometimes even hang (rarely).
Otherwise its a pretty good phone, performance, camera, looks, battery life its all good.
Price ka idea nai mujhay, online 50k tak available he new main.
Haamiz Bhai, tu phir aap koi9 suggest karo yaar, 40k tak ki range main. Looks ache hone chahiye..
nexus 6p
Jani agar look chahiye to honor 8 lelo black color mein beauty with brains, agar fastest updates chahiye to go with nexus
lagta ha ap salary is dafa yahan lagana ka soch lia ha…… : )
Samsung galaxy c5 ya c7 best hai
Oppo f1 plus
Sony k phone kafi der chaltay hain jahan tak mujhe pata he. Z5 ki 40K tak keemat ja rhi he, camera acha nai hoga lekin. Oneplus 3 bhi he bohat acha iss range main
Im gonna write another article on phones between 35K to 50K rupees though.
Oneplus 3 is around Rs. 54000/- with great specs. I am using Oneplus 1 ..quite similar specs with moto turbo.
KMQ, make a list of cell phones by keeping your needs / requirements in your mind. I would help you by suggesting accordingly :-)
what about noir z14 and oppo f1 plus?
oppo f1 plus has lower specs than the ones mentioned here. Noir Z14’s UI might be a hassle though, not smooth or optimized. Plus raw performance wise all these phones outperform Noir Z14 and the oppo.
Im not sure about Huawei’s camera but all the other phones can easily beat noir and oppo in terms of camera performance as well.
Just bought Huawei p9 lite few days ago for 26,500 Awesome phone. faster than nexus 5x.
ram management is good. antutu score is 53000 and 1080p display is excellent with 423 ppi. Overall phone is fast and feels premium.
Enjoy :)
If camera is not your focus then p9 lite should be great for you.
Camera is great in daytime usage, picture quality reduces in low light which same with most of mid rangers.
Yeah but not with the Nexus (low light quality reduction). Which is why it was mentioned to be the best in the list in terms of camera quality.
Nexus users are using 7.1 and you are still stuck at 6.0 ?
main reason to go for p9 lite was new hardware and better performance ?
Better performance ?
Ghanta ?
These all cells are old and almost outdated,as well the markets are full of refurbished phones .
so pretty much unwise to buy a refurb which doesnt bear any warranty
Nexus 5X has 7.0, is going to get 7.1 in December, and will get Android 8 or whatever next year’s version is called.
So even if it is “old” it is still “gold”
Nougat is the last update nexus phones will get. Next Android update (8) won’t be available for Nexus devices from 2017 onwards
Please link to your evidence. Google has always supported for 18-24 months, and I know 7.1 will arrive on Nexus 5X and 6P (according to their own blog posts). So why do you say next major release will not be on 5X/6P?
Bro im talking about Refurbished phone.You really think that a refub phone (housing/led or module changed) is still a piece of Gold?
And then there’s the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro which easily beats all these phones quite easily.
Yeah but that’s banned in pakistan
Why banned in Pak?
I’d love to add Xiaomi phones in the list but its hard to find one in Pakistan. You can’t get warranty for them either.
LG Nexus 5X all the way, nothing else comapares to it in this list!!!
What about LG G4? It has the b
est specs in this range
Forgot about the G4 lol. Performance wise the Nexus is better coz it doesn’t have a QHD screen (G4) which means less load on the processor/better performance.
Otherwise its a pretty good phone.
IPhone 5S? Seriously?
Koi shaq ? ?
:D
xD
Samsung J7???
Specs are not good. You could get a phone with similar specs below 20k easily
Can you please tell their names/models?
You can check out my previous article for this. Best phones between 10K-20K Rupees
3GB Ram nahi unmay???
Using P9 Lite, its really awesome
NEXUS would be better choice
I boight Huawei P9 lite after extensive research ! Well I came to know that Lenovo Zuke Z1 was better in specs but not in quality. Huawei is something exceptional. It was a right decision.
Bought Nexus 5X (32GB) for Rs. 30K from Jinnah Super Market Islamabad last month…..best phone.
Nice deal, i got mine a few months back for 28k though (16GB).
BUS IS K ELAWA KOI CHOICE NHI WAISAY AAP OPPO KO BHOL GYE BSET SMART PHONES HY KASH YAHAAN BHI XIAOMI /LE ECO ETC SMART PHONSE LAUNCH HO TA K BUYERS K PASS OPTIONS HO JAYE
Most users don’t know what they want to buy and how it will fulfill their requirements. 3 Things to know before buying a cell phone.
1. What is the necessity and what will you do after buying a new phone?
2. What can you buy by being in your limit?
3. Up-gradable / can cop with new technology if comes later?
I usually play online games on my cell phone by using cellular data. It consumes lot of battery consumption. Secondly i prefer taking good snaps to keep the memories remembered. Third one i am fond of music so when i listen to music, it should be felt great with bass and clear sound. I spend my free time to search new cell phones with latest technology by keeping above things in my mind. I Found Motorola Turbo (XT1254) one of the best to fulfill these requirements.
Zuk Z1/Xperia Z3 fits your criteria. Both of them have excellent battery life in this price range. For speakers though these two aren’t good. Sony’s speakers aren’t loud enough but offer pretty good quality sound.
For sound i would recommend ZTE Axon 7 but that’s not available in Pakistan. It has exceptional sound quality.
HTC phones might also have what you need
I will deny HTC my whole life. 2200 mah phones, lasting for two hours only on cellular data.
Loud speaker, large battery, I am satisfied with turbo as of now :-)
Cool :)
some1 please post about best smart phone ranging between 5 to 10,000 for people in Karachi so they wont feel frustrated while getting snatched.
I am using GFive LTE 2 which I brought from Daraz during their azadi sales in 4500 and really amazed by its performance. both sim slots are 4g supported and i got free warid lte sim with 2 gb date free / month for whole year. so in reality i got this phone free of cost. In one sim slot I use Zong Data Sim and on other warid Lte sim and enjoying fastest internet of both networks thru cheapest and best smart phone of its range. Big Hurrah to both warid and Gfive for introducing this gem.
Infinix Hot 3, you might get for 9500 or so if available somewhere there else infinix hot 4 costs 12,500, 2.5K more than the mentioned requirement. Otherwise Lumia 535 you might get for around 7K.
You can wait for 25th Nov as Daraz celebrating Black Friday shopping gala. You may have many choices to buy a NEW Box packed set instead of wasting money on refurb.
Bought Xiaomi Mi5 for 32k, upgraded from xiaomi redmi note 3.
Xiaomi phones are best in class and quality, no comparison.
Where did you get from? I also want to get but these aren’t allowed in Pakistan to be sold, still I want to purchase…
Mi5 from Saudia, and redmi note 3 from China to Dubai to PK :)
In Pakistan especially in Karachi you can find it on OLX, there are some sellers there who sell Xiaomi note 3 phones for 23-25k dabba pack :)
Share your experience while using this model.
Both Mi5 and Note 3 are awesome, as I said no comparison in the price and performance. I think PTA banned Xiaomi because of same IMEI numbers on both sims, but their international models have different IMEI’s, so PTA should banned only Chinese variants not the international ones.
Zuk Z1 or Infinix Note 3?
Motorola Moto G 2014 edition