OnePlus Nord to Samsung Galaxy M42 5G, Which Is the Best Phone to Buy Under Rs. 30,000?

OnePlus, Realme, Samsung, and Xiaomi — all leading smartphone companies in India have started paying attention to the Rs. 30,000 price segment these days. This comes years after all of them fought to attract the masses in more affordable brackets. Last year, OnePlus attempted to disrupt the Rs. 30,000 segment with the OnePlus Nord. Many considered the phone as the best pick under the Rs. 30,000 price segment. However, Samsung and Xiaomi have also recently expanded their offerings in said segment to take on OnePlus.

On this week's episode of Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host Akhil Arora speaks with Gadgets 360 deputy reviews editor Roydon Cerejo and reviewer Aditya Shenoy to discuss which of the available models have the potential to be the best phone under the Rs. 30,000 price segment. Think of it as a follow-up to last month's episode on the best phones to buy under Rs. 15,000.

Qualcomm and MediaTek both recently started with new mid-range chipsets that offer more powerful processing capabilities and 5G support. This has allowed companies such as OnePlus, Samsung, and Xiaomi to bring some interesting choices in the sub-Rs. 30,000 price bracket.

In addition to the faster chips, smartphone vendors have also started embracing technologies such as stereo speakers, higher refresh rates, and ingress protection (IP) ratings for giving dust and water resistance on their new smartphones.

After years of slowly climbing up the price ladder, OnePlus has regained a strong presence in the Rs. 30,000 price segment since the launch of the OnePlus Nord in July last year. Since then, we have had Xiaomi trying hard to bear OnePlus in this segment with models such as the Mi 10i and the recently launched Mi 11X.

The Best Smartphones Under Rs. 30,000 You Can Buy in India

Samsung is showing more interest in the Rs. 30,000 segment too, with the newly debuted Galaxy M42 5G. Then there's Realme that has the Realme X7 Pro 5G. Lastly, LG, which exited the smartphone market last month, now also exists in this segment with the LG Wing — thanks to ongoing discounts.

Of course, there are more waiting in the wings. Samsung has one more model lined up in the Galaxy A52 5G. And could the Pixel 5A debut around Rs. 30,000? We might find out soon at next week's Google I/O 2021.

You can listen to the full discussion by hitting the play button above. You can follow Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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