Best Mobile Phones under ₹5,000 in India (May 2023)

The best phone you can buy in India under a tight budget of Rs 5000 is the Nokia C01. The Nokia C01 is a phone that comes with a textured plastic back, which is very resistant to drops and damage caused due to daily wear and tear. Another interesting feature of the Nokia C01 is that it features a removable battery which is decent for the specs at 3,000mAh. It is a phone that uses a micro-USB port which is present on the top, alongside the headphone jack. The phone features a 5.45-inch HD+ screen that promises decent viewing angles and colour reproduction. Nokia’s entry level offering also comes packing a single 5MP camera on the back, which offers basic performance while taking photos. You also get an LED module at the back to help improve images in low-light. The chipset running the Android Go device is the Unisoc SC9863A SoC. It houses a quad-core processor which may not be good for heavy duty tasks, but can handle simpler tasks just okay.

If you’re on a tight budget and looking to get an entry-level phone around the Rs 5,000 mark, your best bet is the Redmi A1. It is an Android Go phone, that offers a decent 6.52-inch HD+ LCD panel which can refresh at 60Hz and can be used for watching movies and playing the occasional game on it. This display also houses a waterdrop-style notch which hides within it the selfie camera on the phone. We also get decent cameras for the price on the device, with the photography work being handled by an 8MP primary shooter. This lens does a decent job in daylight but suffers a little when tasked to shoot in low light.

The best mobile to buy between Rs 4000 and 5000 is the Nokia C01. As mentioned above, it is one of the more well-rounded devices within this tight budget, and brings with it a lot to like despite its low price. The rugged textured plastic back is definitely one of the best things about the device, as it not only gives it an interesting look, but also makes it sturdy and resistant to the occasional drop. It also features, a big 5.45-inch display on the front that’s good enough for watching the occasional video on YouTube. It’s powered by the Unisoc SC9863A SoC that’s paired to a 3000mAh battery for decent run-time on a single charge. But it does have a few drawbacks, including the outdated micro-USB port. But the scales are balanced on the device by the inclusion of a 5MP camera with LED flash and a headphone jack.