Top 5 Phone Picks For When You're On a Budget

Since the 21^st century, cellphones have played a major role in our lives. What was once a luxury, has now become a necessity. With so many options available, one often finds themselves overwhelmed – especially with the high prices.

Here we have picked for you our top 5 phones that fulfil the purpose of a modern smartphone, but for half the price or even less.­­­­

1. Xiaomi Mi A1 

The Xiaomi Mi A1 features a 5.5-inch IPS screen, a Snapdragon 625 CPU and 4GB of RAM, as well as a 12MP dual-camera and 64GB of expandable internal storage (via microSD)

This phone features the Stock Android software which makes the performance very smooth. This combined with the power efficient 625 chip makes for some very good battery life. The 12 megapixel normal lens and the 12 megapixel telephoto lens means you can get up to two times optical zoom without losing any quality however the camera does lack optimal image stabilisation. The Mi A1 does not have NFC and is also non-water proof and non-dust resistant. 

The price of Xiamo Mi A1 is around PKR 23,000-25,000.

2. Huawei Y7 Prime

Huawei Y7 Prime features a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen that supports 720 x 1280 pixels, a Snapdragon 430 (Octa-core 1.4 GHz processor), 32GB ROM and 3GB RAM and can be expanded though an SD Card of up to 256 GB.

The back camera is 12 megapixels and the front is 8 megapixels which makes for great photography.

Huawei Y7 Prime only supports 720p display and with its efficient Snap dragon 430 chipset the battery lasts very long.

The price of Huawei Y7 Prime is PKR 23,500.

3. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

The Redmi Note 5 sports a 5.99-inch display with full-HD+ resolution. The model is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor. You also get 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage. 

The Redmi Note 5 sports a 12-megapixel primary camera and a front facing camera of 5 megapixels with fantastic image stabilization on the back camera. The phone has a dual-SIM tray that accepts two Nano-SIMs or one SIM along with a microSD card of up to 128GB. 

The 450 chipset makes it very power efficient and solid battery life. The fingerprint scanner is fast with an IR blaster.

However, Redmi Note 5 does not support NFC & 5GHz Wi-Fi support and there is no fast charging.

The price of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is PKR 27,000.

4. Huawei Mate 10 Lite

Huawei Mate 10 Lite comes with a 5.90-inch touchscreen display with a 1080p HD resolution. It is powered by 1.7GHz octa-core processor and comes with 4GB of RAM. The phone has 64GB of internal storage that you can expand up to 256GB using a MicroSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Huawei Mate 10 Lite has a dual camera system on the back as well as the front with 16-megapixel back camera and a 13-megapixel front shooter for selfies.

The Huawei Mate 10 Lite is powered by a 3340mAh non removable battery and runs on Android 7.0. This makes the battery run efficiently and much longer even with maximum usage.

The dual cameras on both sides makes for fantastic photography such as bokeh effects, blur backgrounds however night-time or dim light photography might produce noise.

The price of Huawei Mate 10 Lite is PKR 33,000.

5. Samsung Galaxy J7

The Galaxy J7 comes with 5.5 inch display with a HD resolution of 720p. It includes a 3,300mAh battery and 3GB of RAM. It also offers 2GB along with 16GB of storage. There is also a MicroSD card for expandable storage up to 256GB in case you need extra space.

The back camera is 13 megapixesl which is especially designed to work in dimly lit areas and low light environment. That way, you will be able to take clear photos in the dark with reduced noise. The front-facing camera is also 13 megapixels.

The J7 runs Android 8.0 Oreo. Although it is no longer the latest Android operating system, it’s still pretty amazing and comes with great features.

This phone does not have a pre-installed music player and does not support NFC.

The price of Samsung Galaxy J7 is around PKR 30,000.