- If you think gaming phones under Rs 20,000 are almost non-existent, think again as we are listing 10 best phones you can pick on a budget.
- With varying specs and performance, these are some budget-friendly gaming phones that won't burn holes in your pocket, for sure.
- It is also true the actual hands-on performance on your part is subjective as there are hundreds of variables involved so take this listicle as a guide rather than an absolute go getter.
Searching for the best gaming phones under Rs 20000? Well, you have come to the right place as we will check out the list of best gaming phones under a tight budget of INR 20,000/-. Of course, if you are talking about this price tag, you have to be ready for some compromises since these phones wouldn’t perform like upper mid-range or flagship budgets but they will still get you a decent performance as promised.
Note
We will be considering AnTuTu scores among other benchmarks and specs to list out these phones, however, the actual performance also depends on your use case and thus, you might have a different take on the numbering so discretion is advisable.
Note: We will be considering AnTuTu scores among other benchmarks and specs to list out these phones, however, the actual performance also depends on your use case and thus, you might have a different take on the numbering so discretion is advisable.
Best Gaming Phones Under Rs 20,000/-
Poco X6 Pro
On the specs sheet, Poco X6 Pro packs in a Dimensity 8300 Ultra 5G SoC fabbed on a 4nm node and with a max 3.35GHz frequency. The phone is equipped with a Mali G615-MC6 GPU, 512GB UFS 4.0 and 12GB of RAM, and a 6.67” AMOLED 120Hz HDR10+ display on-board. On the battery front, we see a 5,000mAh battery paired with 67W wired charging tech.
When it comes to performance, Dimensity 8300 Ultra is an exclusive SoC for X6 and Redmi K70E. It can handle hefty tasks thanks to four big cores at 3.35GHz. When tested on Geekbench 6, the phone scored 1,498 and 4,696 points on single and multi-core tests, putting it ahead of Poco X6 in performance mode. Overall, the Poco X6 Pro is able to take sustained load without throttling the CPU for a long duration.
Realme Narzo 80 Pro 5G
Realme India is launching Narzo 80 Pro 5G on April 9 depending upon when you read it. The phone brings Dimensity 7400 SoC and with a AnTuTu score of 780K+ as advertised by Realme itself (the actuals might differ).
Specs-wise, the phone brings a Cyclone 6050mm VC cooling system, 90fps of BGMI support, 4500 nits of peak brightness, and a 6000mAh battery that can keep your gaming adrenaline pumping for hours. The phone is also priced under INR 20,000/- making it to this list so yeah, we added it as well.
Realme 13+
A notch off-centered concerning the chipset, Realme 13+ takes on the world of gaming phones with a Dimensity 7300 Energy 5G SoC built on a 4nm node. The chipset is clocked at 2.5GHz of max frequency. It has Mali-G615 MC2, up to 12GB RAM, and 256GB at UFS 3.1 storage. On the battery front, we have the same 5,000mAh battery as X6 Pro although with a slightly faster 80W wired tech.
We tried the phone on BGMI at Ultra frame rate and Ultra HDR graphics and it worked like butter. The phone also enjoys 90fps on the game as well as on COD so that’s a fun part since you get quick refreshes and more chances to win than phones capped at 60fps or below. Note that the phone has received mixed responses so far.
iQOO Z9
Next on our list is iQOO Z9. The phone packs in a Dimensity 7200 5G SoC fabbed on a 4nm node with a max frequency of 2.8GHz. The phone does have 8GB RAM and up to 256GB UFS 2.2 storage on-board. There’s a 6.67” AMOLED 120Hz display panel taking care of your viewing as well.
Under the hood, we see a 5,000mAh battery, the same as all models listed above but with a slightly slower 44W charging tech. Overall, the phone is a solid build for gaming purposes so that’s something I would say is worth a shot considering the hyper-affordable price tag on it.
I would say iQOO should have got a better chipset at this price tag but here’s what we got – Dimensity 7200 SoC. It is still a good-quality processor capable of running apps and games like BGMI at high graphics and smooth fps which is doable.
The phone was able to score around 700K on the AnTuTu which puts it halfway to what the Poco X6 Pro is capable of but hey, the processor has changed and with that, we see a drop in performance. Note that it is still a good buy given almost every other smartphone except the first one has AnTuTu scores around the same ballpark.
Realme Narzo 70 Turbo
When it comes to the specs, the Realme Narzo 70 Turbo sports a Dimensity 7300 Energy just like Realme 13+ and thus, the performance can be similar. The phone has a 6.67” OLED 120Hz panel on-board, a Mali-G615 MC2 GPU, and up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. The power is supplied by a 5,000mAh battery paired with 45W wired tech.
On the performance side, Narzo 70 Turbo does score higher than CMF Phone 1. It can take on titles such as COD and BGMI making it one of the few best gaming phones under 20000 INR in India. You won’t be able to get 90fps on-board even though Realme claims you will, it does, however, perform exceptionally for its segment class which is a relief.
Vivo T3
Another smartphone in this series is Vivo T3. It is slightly older and with a DImensity 7200 SoC that recently hit around 715K points on AnTuTu. Specs-wise,
iQOO Z9S
Talking about the specs, the iQOO Z9S sports a Dimensity 7300 SoC. You can call it an entry-level smooth to extreme fps smartphone for BGMI in terms of performance. The device uses a 6.77” AMOLED 120Hz panel and has a 5,500mAh battery under the hood.
Overall, iQOO Z9S does offer a decent performance with a 715K AnTuTu score. We were able to play BGMI and COD on smooth to extreme settings and hours of gameplay before the battery eventually died requiring a recharge. One could argue Z9S is better than iQOO Z9 5G that uses a Dimensity 7200 SoC although we leave it up to you to decide.
Poco X7
On the specs front, Poco X7 sports a Dimensity 7300 Ultra SoC clocked at a max 2.5GHz. There’s a Mali-G615 MC2 GPU with up to 512GB storage and 12GB of RAM. The display on-board is a 6.67” AMOLED 120Hz HDR10+ capable of lighting up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. Under the hood, a beefy 5,500mAh battery supplies the power required while a 45W wired charging tech takes care of the power supply you’d need when playing high-octane games such as COD and BGMI.
For the unversed, if you can play these two titles (and Genshin Impact as well), you can play any game on that phone. Poco X7 was able to hurtle through BGMI on high settings. It did turn a bit warm but didn’t reach toast-level hot even after playing multiple longer sessions. We did see minimum throttling but that’s pretty much it.
Related
Infinix GT 20 Pro
When I say Infinix GT 20 Pro, you’d say isn’t it above INR 20,000? Well, it is but it is also true that the price usually drops every now and then. Moreover, Infinix usually drops its pricing over time and thus, I had to list it here.
Talking about the specs, we have a Dimensity 8200 Ultimate SoC made on a 4nm node, a Mali-G610 MC6 GPU, up to 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. A giant 6.78” AMOLED 144Hz panel takes care of what you want to view and how you interact while a beefy 5,000mAh battery paired alongside 45W charging tech gives the juice you’d need.
I was able to play heavy-duty games such as COD and BGMI on medium settings while maintaining a stellar 70-80fps. The phone didn’t see any glitches and stuttering which is the case with many phones under this price tag so yes, it wins a brownie point for the same.
Moreover, the phone looks like a gaming phone with tweakable lights on the back giving it a much Asus ROG or Nothing Phone vibe.
CMF Phone 1
On the specs end, we get a Dimensity 7300 SoC clocked at 2.5GHz, Mali-G615 MC2 GPU, up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A 6.67” AMOLED 120Hz display greets you while a beefy 5,000mAh battery paired alongside 33W wired charging tech takes on your power requirements.
Marketed extensively as a budget phone, CMF Phone 1 from Nothing is one heck of a budget gaming phone as well and I would like to add, ‘budget gaming phone’. It scored 1,027 and 2,948 points on single-core and multi-core tests on Geekbench and 642K on AnTuTu. I doubt you can compare it with some bigger siblings from Dimensity let alone Snapdragon and flagship chipsets.
However, the performance is pretty good for the bucks. We saw the Phone 1 bearing the OnePlus Nord N30 and Moto G (2024). The device can handle average frame rates and graphics settings on popular AAA titles, however, don’t stress it too much or you might see throttling and overheating although we didn’t feel it much when testing.
Wrapping Up!
These were some of the phones that you could choose from when it comes to best gaming smartphones under INR 20,000/-. We will keep this page updated once the latest smartphones are here so that you get a complete picture on which models to look out for when looking for gaming phones under a strict budget.
