Best smartphones under Rs 25,000 - Gadgets of the Year

The year 2013 saw many emerging trends in the smartphone space, from 1080p display and high-performance, low-cost quad-core processors, to solid hardware and mini variants of high-end phones. While superior features always demand hefty price tags, there are several smartphones that bring the same class and finesse at a lower price point. Today, we are looking at these smartphones, priced under Rs 25,000, that managed to win our approval after launching this year. Winner: Nexus 4 Nexus 4, the best under Rs 25,000 Our first pick is the Nexus 4 priced just under Rs 25,000. A worthy successor to the Galaxy Nexus, it comes with an improved IPS display, beefed up SoC and the camera is actually usable even if the lighting is not ideal. The BSI sensor captures a lot more detail and adjusts the white balance beautifully. The device was launched with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and can be upgraded to 4.4 KitKat. One can expect future Android OS updates as well. Read our review of this handset here.  First Runner-up: Samsung Galaxy S4 mini Galaxy S4 mini came pretty close to winning Pretty close in the competition is Samsung’s Galaxy S4 mini priced closer to the Rs 20,000 mark. The Galaxy S4 mini is available online for around Rs 22,000 and packs in a nifty set of features at that price. This toned down variant of the Galaxy S4 sports a 4.3-inch display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. Thanks to a dual-core processor and 1.5GB RAM, it runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz without any issues. Overall, the Galaxy S4 mini scores really well compared to devices at the price point, which often have lower-res displays. Click here to read its first impressions. Second Runner-up: Nokia Lumia 720 Nokia Lumia 720 - Value for money Currently selling around Rs 15,999, the Nokia Lumia 720 is a great option, especially cosnidering its features. It is sleek and light with a polycarbonate unibody design, and comes with a decent 4.3-inch IPS display and quite good battery life. The Lumia 720 runs Windows Phone 8 (WP8) OS and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon chipset from Qualcomm. Expect performance to be smooth. The primary camera is a 6.7MP with wide-angle lens and Carl Zeiss optics is capable of taking decent images. The only hiccup could be its 512MB RAM which will restrict you from installing many good apps that would typically need at least 1GB to run.Click here to read our extensive review.