Top five 4G smartphones under Rs 15k

These five are budget-friendly yet feature rich.

4G or LTE-enabled (long-term evolution) smartphones are the flavour of the season.

According to International Data Corporation’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report, one out of three smartphones shipped into India were LTE-enabled as India prepares for a 4G revolution.

The one thing that makes a mobile a SMARTPHONE, in actual sense, is the Internet connectivity. Faster the network, faster your downloads and uploads.

While the mobile arena is full of options to choose from, picking the right option involves a lot of research and time investment. The budget too plays an important role when it comes to purchasing a 4G smartphone.

Let’s take a look at few of the options available in the market that are powered by the state-of-the-art 4G/LTE connectivity and fall in the sub-15K range:

Samsung Galaxy J7 (Rs 14,999)

Any list of mobile phones would be incomplete without the mention of this South Korean giant, be it top selling phones or budget handsets. After excelling with its Galaxy S series in the high end smartphones race, Samsung has joined the bandwagon of budget devices with its Galaxy J series. With the punch line J Hai Asli 4G the company has introduced Samsung Galaxy J7, designed for the ‘present generation with future technology’. Check the phraseology…

Galaxy J7 promises to provide a whopping speed of up to 150Mbps with the 4G LTE connectivity. The beast drives energy from a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 CPU mated to a 1.5GB RAM for faster processing and lag-free performance. The Android 5.1 Lollipop OS based Galaxy J7 holds a massive 5.5-inch HD sAMOLED display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels coupled with 267ppi of pixel density and true-to-life colour reproduction.

In terms of multimedia features, the handset is bestowed with a 13MP primary camera having the support of an LED flash and F/1.9 aperture. The secondary camera, on the other hand, has 5MP sensor with the all new selfie flash to make your selfies vibrant and sharper.

For storage, it comes with an internal memory of 16GB alongside a microSD card slot that allows an expansion of up to 128GB. Above all, the 3,000mAh gigantic Li-ion battery guarantees to deliver a talk time of up to 18 hours and up to 9 hours for Internet on 4G LTE network.

Motorola Moto G3 (Rs 11,999)

Right from the time when this American conglomerate had to wrap-up its business from the Indian market to the present time when a major chunk of the Indian population is trusting its handsets, a lot of development in terms of technology and performance has taken place. Motorola made its comeback on the Indian soil with its Moto G series that gradually picked up pace in the battle and is now celebrated as one of the most loved series in the mobile history.

Moto G 2nd Generation received more accolades than its precursor and now Moto G 3rd generation is all set to break its own siblings’ records in terms of sales.

4G LTE enabled Motorola Moto G3 shares the same design in the front but has a classy curvy back with a vertical strip carrying camera, flash and the Moto logo. The 5-inch HD IPS LCD display with the sturdiness of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology produces brilliant results with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and 294ppi of pixel density.

It is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor that accelerates at the speed of 1.4GHz in collaboration with a 1GB RAM for an 8GB model and a 2GB RAM for a 16GB variant.

The best part with Motorola devices are their upgradeability to the next Android version. Moto G3 runs on the latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop that is scalable to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The handset is IPX7 certified for water resistance and is available in the memory options of 8GB and 16GB, where the external memory is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card.

The company has made the camera section better by deploying a colossal 13MP primary camera with 76 degrees FOV (field of view) and CCT dual-LED flash in the next generation of Moto G. The front snapper too has stolen the show with its 5MP sensor backed by the screen flash.

For connectivity, the smartphone supports LTE (1, 3, 7, 8, 28, 40) bands, 3G HSPA+, Bluetooth v.4.0 with LTE support, Wi-Fi with Hotspot tethering and latest navigation technology with BeiDou, GLONASS, GPS & A-GPS alongside Google Maps. If you are worried about the battery of your smart device getting exhausted soon then Moto G3 is the device for you. With a long-lasting 2470mAh Li-ion battery, the mobile phone promises to deliver 24 hours of single charge life with mixed usage.

Xiaomi Mi4i (Rs 11,999)

Primarily popular as the Apple of China, Xiaomi has off late picked up pace in the cut throat competition by grabbing the third position in the world’s largest smartphone maker category. Seeing the potential in the Indian smartphone market, this Chinese firm entered the arena in 2014 and since then is giving major players like Motorola, Samsung and Micromax a run for their money. It started selling its devices through the popular e-tailer, Flipkart, but now has partnership with Snapdeal and Amazon for the sale of its smartphones and other products.

4G LTE enabled Mi4i is another marvel from this Chinese house that is full of advanced features yet affordable. Available in white, pink, yellow, dark grey and blue colours, the smartphone has 16GB and 32GB memory options with 2GB RAM. However, there is no provision of a microSD card slot; so if you are looking for a storage beast, then this is certainly not the option for you. But in case you want high-speed gaming and lag-free performance then its 64-bit architecture based octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, running at a speed of 1.7GHz, will satiate your desire.

It comes with a 5-inch Sharp/JDI Full HD touchscreen that has the touch of 5 different pixel-level innovations to provide clear picture from each angle. The display supports a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with a pixel density of 441ppi and has the protection of Corning Gorilla Glass.

On top of Android 5.0.2 Lollipop platform the dual-SIM Xiaomi Mi4i has MIUI 6.0 interface for better and hassle-free user experience. The camera department is taken care of well by the gigantic 13MP Sony/Samsung autofocus snapper that comes with the support of dual LED two-tone flash, 5-element lens and f/2.0 aperture.

The secondary shooter too complements the primary one with a 5MP camera sensor that helps capturing beautiful selfies through its large f/1.8 aperture and a wide angle lens.

Dual-band Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, 3G with HSPA+, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS etc are the options available for connectivity. The power house of this beast is a 3120mAh Li-ion polymer battery that gives up to 35 hours of talktime over 3G.

Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (Rs 14,999)

Asus doesn’t need any introduction. It has already proved its mettle in the field of laptops. Few years back, the company started manufacturing smartphones and tablets under the Zenfone, Padfone and Fonepad series. The gadgets are performing well in the market gathering accolades for their unprecedented performance and speed.

Recently the company introduced the second generation of Asus Zenfone smartphones, which claim to be the marvel of craftsmanship and engineering in the palm of your hand.

Named as Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML, the 4G LTE powered smartphone works on a seamless and intuitive UI that delivers exquisite visual design and a gamut of new features, namely SnapView, ZenMotion, Trend Micro security and many more.

Running on Android 5.0 Lollipop, upgradeable to 6.0 Marshmellow, the mobile phone draws energy from a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3560 processor with OpenGL 3.0 support mated to a 2GB RAM. The internal memory provided is 16GB with an option of a microSD card slot expandable up to 64GB.

The 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display reflects a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels that supports a pixel density of 401ppi. It has a 13MP rear and a 5MP front camera supporting F/2.0 aperture and GIF animation. The auto-focus primary camera supports low light mode with ASUS PixelEnhancing Technology that delivers up to 400 per cent brighter photos and videos. The secondary camera has a selfie Panorama mode that can extend up to 140 degrees.

In terms of connectivity, the dual SIM dual active Zenfone 2 supports Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, HSPA+ 3G, Bluetooth v.4.0, GPS with GLONASS, QZSS, SBAS & BDS.

Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML is available in Fusion series and Illusion series in black, ceramic white, silver, glacier gray, sheer gold and glamour red colours.

To keep the handset alive for a day with a single charge Asus has blessed the handset with a powerful 3000mAh Li-polymer battery that works nearly for 24 hours with mixed usage.

Lenovo Vibe P1 (Rs 14,399 to Rs 15,999)

Lenovo is one Chinese firm that has completely proved the notion wrong that Chinese products are not durable. With the highest number of sold units in the year 2014, it became the largest personal computer vendor globally. The company is renowned worldwide for providing quality laptops at reasonable prices.

Earlier the focus of the company was only on the personal computer division, but later on it started emphasising on its mobile phone division to capture the already dominated cell phone market by Nokia & Samsung. Akin to its laptops, the smartphones and tablets by Lenovo are affordable and loaded with latest technology features that are available in mid-range and high-end smartphones.

Lenovo Vibe P1 is one such example that excels in its field by delivering the expected performance to its users. Claimed to have the world’s fastest charger with a charging speed of 2.4x than its contemporaries, the 4G LTE enabled Vibe P1 comes with a colossal 5000mAh (effective 4,900mAh) Lithium-polymer battery that delivers a talktime of up to 44 hours on 3G and up to 45 hours on 4G. Running Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system, the handset is powered by a 64-bit architecture based 1.5GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor that is coupled with 2GB RAM and 32GB ROM. For external storage, the memory can be expanded by up to 128GB using a microSD card.

The 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology, delivers a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with a pixel density of 401ppi. When it comes to the multimedia features, the device proves its worth in this segment as well with a 13MP gigantic primary camera backed by the fast-focus PDAF technology, dual-colour LED flash and zero shutter lag.

The 5MP secondary snapper too doesn’t disappoint the selfie lovers with its crisp and sharp images. Gravitation, Proximity and Light sensors are supportable in the smartphone with the availability of the various connectivity options, namely 4G LTE, 3G with HSPA+, 2G, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, A-GPS, Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Hotspot, microUSB with USB OTG etc.

The list doesn’t end here as there are many more smartphones in the pipeline that sooner or later will capture the positions taken by these gadgets. Recently released Samsung Galaxy On5, Samsung Galaxy On7, Micromax Canvas Play 4G & Micromax Canvas Nitro 3 and the about-to-be launched Lenovo Vibe S1 & Xiaomi Note 2 Pro are few such prospects that can impose a threat to the existing leaders.