Best Mobile Phones Under Rs. 40,000 in India

If you’re looking for great value and don’t mind shelling out a bit more for solid camera performance, you’ve indeed come to the right place. The sub-Rs. The 40,000 segment is all about premium features and great pricing. It’s rare to find a smartphone in this segment that seems overpriced, mainly because the companies pack in more features and hardware than most buyers would expect or have on their checklist.

Our latest entrants include the OnePlus 11R 5G and the Vivo V27 Pro 5G, both of which bring a solid set of premium features to sub-R. Segment of 40,000 smartphones.

Here are the best smartphones priced under Rs. 40,000 in India that are reviewed and rated by Gadgets 360, in no particular order.

Phones under Rs. 40,000	Rating Gadgets 360 (out of 10)	Prices in India (as recommended)
OnePlus 11R 5G	9	Rs. 39,999
Vivo V27 Pro 5G	8	Rs. 37,999
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G	9	Rs. 34,999
Motorola Edge 30 Pro	9	Rs. 39,999
Xiaomi 11T Pro	9	Rs. 36,999
Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G	8	Rs. 34,999
Realme GT Neo 3	–	Rs. 36,999

OnePlus 11R 5G

The OnePlus 11R 5G will appeal to many OnePlus fans who have been waiting for something similar to the OnePlus 7T – a phone with a flagship SoC under Rs. 40,000. If you play a lot of demanding mobile games and need a good battery life, the 11R 5G will not disappoint. The main camera is also very good, although the others leave a lot to be desired. I think what a lot of people are going to like the most is the fact that the 11R 5G looks like the more expensive 11 5G, giving it an exaggerated value. The OnePlus 11R 5G could have been better in a few areas, but especially after last year’s offering, I think it’s a solid comeback.

Vivo V27 Pro 5G

The Vivo V27 Pro would be a good choice for those who want a phone with excellent grip. The color change trick is subjective but its novelty may wear off soon. The camera performance, especially the front camera, is also quite good for the price. However, it tends to heat up quickly due to its slim form factor. While the display itself offers a good experience and supports HDR10+, popular video streaming apps couldn’t detect this latter feature, which I found disappointing. What’s even more of a shame is a single-speaker setup in a phone at this price. There seem to be a lot of ifs and buts with the V27 Pro, which is a little disappointing. If you are someone who doesn’t care much about phone flaws, this can be considered.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is the successor to the all-in-one Galaxy S20 FE 5G. The S21 FE 5G upgrades are mostly incremental, so the difference is mostly due to the slightly refreshed design and SoC. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G benefits from the Galaxy S22’s premium contour cutout camera design with flat-finished back panels and cutouts for each camera lens. It’s also quite light and thin, making it ideal for one-handed use. The big upgrade here is the Exynos 2100 SoC from the Galaxy S21 series and it does a good job with gaming. All the good things from the S20 FE 5G have been carried over to the S21 FE 5G, including wireless charging and an IP68 certification for dust and water resistance, which it now brings to the sub-Rs. 40,000 segments.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro

The Motorola Edge 30 Pro was an incredible value for money product and offered good performance at launch. Today, it continues to do so after a recent price drop. The phone is available in a single configuration of 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, but at a very competitive price. It’s no longer Motorola’s flagship, but it still has a 144Hz AMOLED display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, dual 50-megapixel cameras on the back, and a 60-megapixel selfie camera. There’s a large 4,800mAh battery to ease your battery anxiety. Its design might be a little chunky compared to the new Edge 30 Fusion, but there’s an IP52 rating for basic dust and water resistance, which seems like the bare minimum, but that’s something thing. Motorola’s near-stock MyUX software experience, which comes with a single app preloaded, is the icing on the cake.

Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G

The Xiaomi 11T Pro doesn’t stand out in terms of aesthetic design, even if its central polycarbonate frame sandwiched between two sheets of glass looks premium. However, it offers good raw performance thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and is a good all-rounder.

Its attractive price and features make it a bargain. Its AMOLED screen displays accurate colors and is also one of the few Android smartphones with Dolby Vision certification for video streaming. You get stereo sound with support for Dolby Atmos, allowing for an immersive entertainment experience. Battery life is excellent and this phone delivers up to two days of casual use on a single charge. You also get a 120W fast charger in the box. Camera performance is pretty good, except for the quality of low-light selfies.

Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G

Design has always been a big talking point for the Oppo Reno series, and the Reno 7 Pro 5G looks the part with its glass back and micro-laser-etched finish. The notification LED strip around the camera module of the Oppo Reno 7 Pro is also quite unique.

The 6.5-inch Full HD+ 90Hz AMOLED panel offers great color and contrast, and there’s Corning Gorilla 5 for scratch protection. The MediaTek Dimensity 1200-Max SoC might be a bit old and looks a bit average, but it is said to have custom optimizations for a smoother gaming experience. While the phone was launched with Android 12, it was recently updated to ColourOS 13 which is based on Android 13. Battery life is solid and charging is super fast.

Realme GT Neo 3

The Realme GT Neo 3 is all about speed. It sure looks like the part with racing stripes on the back panel. Then there’s the large 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The phone comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 8100 SoC which is good enough for gaming. The major improvements over its predecessor (the Realme GT Neo 2) come in the form of improved cameras which also perform much better.

We tested the more expensive GT Neo 3 model, which has a smaller 4,500mAh battery but supports faster 150W wired charging, but the standard model is no slouch. neither with a larger 5,000mAh capacity and 80W support.

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