As a smartphone owner and reviewer, I am constantly being surprised by the fact that every year the smartphone companies are able to pack more and more tech inside smartphones at very reasonable prices. Just take a look at the cameras the so-called budget devices pack. You are getting dual cameras, portrait mode, great low-light photography and much more. The cameras in budget smartphones are getting better at a faster pace than the ones in the flagship devices. These days, if you want a good camera phone, you don’t need to splurge a huge amount of money. In fact, you can find some really good camera phones under 20000 INR. Don’t believe me? Well, here are the 10 best camera phones under 20000 INR you can buy:

1. Mi A2

Xiaomi Mi A1 was one of the best smartphones you could buy under the INR 20000 price point and the company has just released its successor, the Mi A2, which is turning out to be quite a good budget smartphone and the best camera phone under 20000 INR. I love the cameras on this smartphone as they can capture really good shots. The primary camera is bringing a 12 MP + 20 MP dual camera combo which is quite powerful. While the 20MP camera is using the Sony IMX376 sensor, the 12MP sensor is Sony IMX486 with f/1.75 aperture, large 1.25μm pixels. This means that the smartphone takes great photos in good lighting conditions but it also brings very good low-light performance. The primary camera is also capable of 4K recording which is great. The front-facing 20 MP shooter does a decent job of capturing selfies. While it’s not the best in the business, it’s right there at the top in our price range.

2. Huawei P20 Lite

Huawei just launched three new smartphones in 2018, the P20, the P20 Pro and the P20 Lite. While the first two are flagship devices, the P20 Lite is priced just below INR 20,000 and was one of our first choices for this list. The Huawei P20 Lite packs a dual primary camera setup with a 16MP and 2 MP sensor. Not only does the camera take great daylight photos, but it also takes really great photos in low light, and don’t forget the portrait shots. I mean, just use this phone and you will be amazed by its camera quality.

3. Realme 2 Pro

Oppo’s Realme, and the Realme 2 may have had underwhelming cameras, but the Realme 2 Pro is definitely a phone that deserves to be on this list. The Realme 2 Pro comes with 16MP + 2MP dual rear camera and it takes great images in almost all lighting conditions. The photos do have some noise in low light, but they’re definitely good for the price. The phone also comes with a 16MP selfie camera that can take decent quality shots. There are issues with overexposed backgrounds in backlit conditions, but still, the selfie camera is satisfactory here. You can check out some of the shots we took with the Realme 2 Pro and see for yourself the way this camera phone performs.

Buy the Realme 2 Pro from Flipkart (starts at Rs. 13,999)

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 6 Pro is definitely one of the best camera phones under Rs. 20,000. The phone comes with a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera same as the Redmi Note 5 Pro. However, this time around the main camera has a wider f/1.9 aperture and the performance of the camera has been improved anyway. Photos from the rear camera on the Redmi Note 6 Pro are pretty great in good lighting, but it’s in low light where the f/1.9 aperture of the phone really shines. Low light images from the Redmi Note 6 Pro are quite good, and considerably better than the Redmi Note 5 Pro that earlier occupied this spot on our list.

Another great camera phone under Rs. 20,000, the Honor Play might be marketed as a phone for gamers, but it does come with pretty decent cameras for the price. The phone packs a 16MP + 2MP dual rear camera set up that is capable of taking decent shots. In good lighting, the phone takes some really good photos with ample detail and excellent colors. Plus, if you’re a fan of Samsung-like photos, there’s an AI option that you can use since it basically over saturates the images making them look more punchy. Personally, I prefer natural looking colors, but it’s nice to have the option to get more punchy images if the need arises.

Realme has been launching a lot of smartphones, and the Realme U1 is just one of the Realme phones that come with impressive cameras for its price. The phone features a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera that takes really good pictures. In good lighting, the performance of the Realme U1’s rear cameras is great. There are issues with over sharpening sometimes, but that’s not very common and over all the pictures from the rear cameras on the Realme U1 turn out decently good enough.

Buy the Realme U1 from Flipkart (starts at Rs. 13,990)

The Honor 7X was previously mentioned on our list as one of the best camera smartphones under 20,000 Rupees. However, Honor has now launched its successor — the Honor 8X and it improves upon the 7X in almost every way. The Honor 8X comes with a 19.5:9 display with a notch, a Kirin 710 processor, up to 6GB RAM, and up to 128GB storage. The Honor 8X packs in a dual 20MP + 2MP rear camera, along with a 16MP front camera and it takes some pretty decent pictures for the price. While it’s not really as good as the Mi A2 in terms of camera performance, it’s definitely still a good choice to go with. You can also read our detailed Honor 8X review, or our Honor 8X camera review to learn more.

I had a lot of contradictory feelings when it came to including this smartphone on this list. The fact that it only costs INR 10,999 wanted me to keep it off the list, however, the device packs such a heavy punch when it comes to cameras that I could not keep if off the list. You can read all about its camera performance in our full review, however, the TLDR version is that the cameras on this phone gave a tough completion to the one on Redmi Note 5 Pro. Seeing how the phone costs 1/3rd of the Redmi Note 5 Pro, that is a huge achievement.

The phone that we reviewed came with a with a 13MP+5MP dual camera sensor at the back and a 8MP camera at the front. The primary camera took great daylight shots. Even the portrait mode shots came out great. However, the phone did suffered in lowlight conditions. Also, the front camera cannot compete with some of the other smartphones on this list. That said, seeing the price of this device, I really don’t have much complains. You should also consider the fact that the Zenfone Max Pro has a higher priced version which upgrades the cameras.

Note: Asus is expected to launch the ZenFone Max Pro M2 sometime in December, and if you’re thinking of buying the ZenFone Max Pro M1, I’d suggest you to wait before making a decision.

Motorola recently launched the Moto 1 Power, and the phone packs in decent cameras as well. On the back, the phone comes with a 16MP f/1.8 + 5MP f/2.2 dual camera set up and is capable of taking good photos. In good lighting, the phone takes nice and crisp photos and manages to keep colors as close to natural as possible along with a nice balance between exposure and sharpness in the images. In low light however, things take a hit and images turn out slightly soft, but it’s not a deal breaker by any means.

There’s portrait mode here too, so you can take shots with that nice, soft bokeh effect. The phone does have problems with edge detection sometimes though. On the front, the Moto 1 Power comes with a single 12MP camera which is a pretty good one for selfie lovers. The camera takes good selfies in good lighting conditions, and even though there is some noise in the shots, it’s not really visible unless you’re looking too closely.

Buy the Moto 1 Power from Flipkart (Rs. 15,999)

The Moto G6 is another smartphone that brings pretty great cameras under Rs. 20,000. The smartphone packs in a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera that takes some pretty great photos. Plus, there’s a 16MP front camera as well that can take great selfies. The front camera here comes with a group selfie mode as well, so even if you have a large group of friends you’ll not have trouble taking awesome selfies with the Moto G6. There’s a front facing flash too, so selfies in low light will not be an issue.

Starting at Rs. 13,999, the Moto G6 brings impressive cameras to the fold, and packs in specs that are slightly confusing when you compare them to phones like the Mi A2, or the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The G6 packs in a Snapdragon 450 processor paired with up to 4 GB of RAM along with a 3000 mAh battery to keep things running. Add to that the fact that even though the phone’s 5.7-inch FullHD+ display is an 18:9 display, the forehead and the chin here are considerably big with Moto even packing in a front facing fingerprint scanner on the phone. Still, if you’re looking for a phone with decent cameras that will handle less intensive tasks perfectly fine, the Moto G6 is a good option to consider.

The Vivo V9 Pro is also a pretty great camera smartphone under 20,000 INR that you can consider buying. The phone comes with a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera set up that is capable of taking good looking shots in a variety of lighting situations. Obviously, since this is a dual camera smartphone, it can take portrait mode shots as well, and these too look decently good enough. The phone also comes with a 16MP front facing camera which is a pretty solid performer too. Other than that, the V9 Pro comes with an AI based HDR mode as well for getting even more detail in your shots. You should definitely take a look at the V9 Pro if you’re looking for great camera smartphones under Rs. 20,000.

Apart from that, the Vivo V9 Pro boasts of a Snapdragon 660 processor so it can handle most tasks easily, including gaming, and it comes paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. Plus it follows all the latest trends in the smartphone world, there’s a bezel-less display with a notch on the top, a rear mounted fingerprint scanner, a microSD card slot, and a decently big enough 3,260mAh battery in tow. So yeah, the Vivo V9 Pro is definitely a great camera and all around phone under Rs. 20,000.

Previously, the Oppo F7 had featured in this list, and it has since been replaced by the newer Oppo F9 instead. The Oppo F9 comes with a solid 16MP + 2MP dual rear camera that takes detailed photos in most conditions and is definitely a pretty great camera. Plus, the 16MP front facing camera is awesome too and can take good looking selfies. There’s a slo-mo video feature in the Oppo F9 as well, so you can take some impressive videos too. The phone has an AI beautification feature that may not be to everyone’s liking, but if you like it, it’s pretty impressive.

Along with all of that, the phone uses not only the dual rear camera, but also AI to get its portrait mode shots just right and the results are pretty impressive too, especially because the AI here tries to ensure (in most cases) that the lighting in the final shot looks great. Apart from the cameras, the Oppo F9 comes with a Helio P60 processor which is a decent performer, and paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, the phone should not run into issues with most tasks. If you’re looking for a great camera phone under 20000 INR, the Oppo F9 is worthy of your consideration.