Deepavali 2022: Best smartphones to gift this festive season
It's the time of the year, people clean their houses ahead of Deepavali (Diwali), the festival of lights, and go on a shopping spree to get new clothes and also presents for their loved ones.
In the digital-savvy world, smartphones are good and thoughtful gifts and also, and they come with a good camera to capture the best moments and cherish them for years.
Here, we will be listing some of the feature-rich camera phones worth buying this festive season.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro series
With new triple-camera hardware, the new iPhone 14 Pro series captures some of the best mobiles that ace low-light photo quality, and in terms of video recording, it is the gold standard for stability. And, it boasts A16 Bionic, the most powerful chipset for phones in the industry. The Dynamic Island feature makes the iPhone 14 Pro stand out among the competition. Despite being a hardware limitation, it is one of the best visual interfaces we have seen on a phone
Apple iPhone 14 Pro prices start at Rs 1,29,900 in India. There are a lot of festive offers on the official Apple online store as well as authorised retail chains across the country.
Prospective buyers can also check out the iPhone 14 (& 14 Plus) or the iPhone 13 (review). They come with A15 Bionic, which continues to be better than the top-tier chipset found in most of the latest premium Android phones in the market. Also, the camera and the battery life are incredible too.
Must read | Apple iPhone 14: Incremental update
Samsung Galaxy S22
Samsung has done an incredible job with the 2022 series Galaxy S22 variants. The display, the camera hardware, and the build quality are exceptionally good.
Must read | Samsung Galaxy S22 review: Premium compact phone
The Galaxy S22 comes in three models-- Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra-- with prices starting at Rs 72,999.
Must read | Samsung Galaxy S22+ review: Just Excellent!
The top-end Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with S Pen. It is one of the most versatile premium phones in the industry. It has one of the best displays on a phone and an incredible camera too.
Even the Galaxy Fold4 too comes with upgraded photography hardware and better battery life, more durable than the previous iterations.
Read more | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 review: Refined and better
Google Pixel 7 series
After hiatus of more than three years, Google introduced the company's most premium pure Android phones-- Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Both have the best camera phones for still photos in the industry. The incredible Artificial Intelligence(AI)-based photography software are just top-notch. Just point and shoot, and you are assured to get terrific images. AI-powered Super Zoom, Night Sight, Unblur, and Macro (only on Pro) modes are several times better than any rival in the industry.
The Pixel 7 (128GB) is priced at Rs 59,999 and the Pixel 7 Pro(128GB) costs Rs 84,999.
OnePlus 10 Pro and 10T series
OnePlus 10 Pro and 10T with good hardware are worth the asking price. It ticks all the key features-- build quality, reliable Qualcomm chipset, long battery life. And, the best feature that beats all aforementioned premium phones is the super fast SuperVooc charging capability. They can fully charge from zero to 100 in 40 minutes and 50 per cent under 20 minutes.
Must read | OnePlus 10 Pro: Long-term review
Google Pixel 6a
Pixel 6a packs a punch above its weight to deliver exceptionally good photography and user experience. The credit goes to Tensor silicon. The photography tools-- Magic Eraser, Blur (& Depth), Sky, and features such as Portrait, Real Tone, and Night Sight are exceptionally better than any rival brand across all price bands. The smart suggestions while editing photos make the job easy even for a rookie.
It costs Rs 43,999(MRP) in India, but can be bought for much less through ongoing festive offers including exchange deals and bank card discounts, bringing the price under Rs 30,000.
Must read | Google Pixel 6a review: It's all about user experience
Oppo F21s Pro 5G
It features a 6.43-inch full HD+ (2400 × 1080p) AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh rate, up to 180Hz maximum touch sampling rate, and up to 600 nits peak brightness. It supports an in-display fingerprint sensor, Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 shield and comes with triple slots-- two nano SIMs and a microSD card.
It also comes with 6nm class Qualcomm Snapdragon 680, Adreno 610 GPU, Android 12-based ColorOS 12.1 OS, 8GB LPDDR4x RAM, 128GB UFS 2.2 storage (expandable), triple-camera module-- 64MP (f/1.7) + 2MP 30x microscope camera ( f/3.3) + 2MP macro camera (f/2.4) with LED flash on the back, a 32MP (1/2.74-inch Sony IMX709 sensor, f/2.4) on the front, and a 4,500mAh battery with 33W SuperVOOC charger. It costs Rs 25,999.
Realme GT Neo 3 150W
Besides the pretty design language, Realme GT Neo 3, performance-wise, works smoothly be it day-to-day tasks such as web browsing and even while playing games, the device never showed any noticeable lag-ness. Also, the photography hardware is good too; it takes pretty decent pictures on par with any of the rival brands in its class.
Must read | Realme GT Neo 3 150W review: Flashy all-rounder
Redmi K50i 5G
It boasts triple-camera module-- main 64MP (with Samsung ISOCELL GW1 1/1.72-inch sensor, f/1.89) + 8MP ultra-wide lens with 119-degree field-of-view (f/2.2)+ 2MP macro camera (f/2.4) with LED flash. On the front, it houses a 16MP (f/2.45) camera.
It features a 6.6-inch full HD+(2460 x 1080p) LCD screen, supports variable refresh rate (30-144Hz),MediaTek Dimensity 8100 5nm SoC with Mali-G610 6-core GPU, Android 12-based MIUI 13, 6GB/8GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 67W charger support. It can fully charge up from zero to 100 per cent capacity within 46 minutes. Its price starts at Rs 25,999.
Redmi Note 11 Pro series
It is one of the best mid-range phones in the market. It has a great display, premium design elements, really good photography hardware, delivers faster performance, and long-lasting battery life, and supports super fast charging speed. In all, it is better than any of the competition in its class.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ comes in three configurations--- 6GB RAM+ 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage--- for Rs. 20,999, Rs 22,999 and Rs 24,999, respectively. It is available for much less during the ongoing festive sales on e-commerce platforms and on the official mi.com website.
Must read | Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G review: Well-rounded phone
Samsung Galaxy F13
It features a 6.6-inch full HD+ (1080 x 2408p) LCD display with Infinity-V design language, Exynos 850 octa-core processor with Android 12 OS, 6000mAh battery with 15W charger, 4GB RAM and 64GB / 128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB) options. The device also supports Ram Plus and can extend up to 8GB, provided there is enough space in the storage.
It also boasts a dual-camera module-- wide 50 MP (f/1.8, PDAF: Phase Detection Auto Focus) with a 5MP 123-degree (f/2.2) wide-angle sensor with LED flash on the back. And, 2 MP (f/2.4) on the front.
Samsung Galaxy F13 comes in two configurations-- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 4GB RAM + 128GB storage-- for Rs 11,999 and Rs 12,999, respectively.
Read more | Samsung Galaxy F13 review
Poco M5
It features a 6.58-inch full HD+ (2408 × 1080p) LCD screen with up to 90Hz adaptive refresh rate and is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 shield.
It comes with a 6nm class MediaTek Helio G99 chipset, which by the way can clock maximum CPU speed up to 2.2Ghz. This is more than to ensure the phone runs smoothly during all day-to-day activities and some popular gaming apps too. The device runs Android 11-based MIUI OS and comes packed with a 5,000mAh battery with an 18W charger in the box.
It boasts a triple-camera module--main 50MP (with Samsung ISOCELL JN1 sensor, f/1.8 ) backed by 2MP depth (f/2.4) and 2MP portrait sensor (f/2.4) with LED flash on the back and an 8MP front camera (f/2.0).
The Poco M5 in two configurations-- 4GB LPDDR4x RAM + 64GB (UFS 2.2) storage and 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.2) storage-- for Rs 12,499 and Rs 14,999, respectively. For a limited time during the festive season, the device will be available for as low as Rs 9,499.
Redmi A1+
It has one of the best price-to-specification ratios in the sub-Rs 10,000 range. It features a 6.52-inch HD+ (1600 x 720p) display with support for a peak brightness of 400 nits. The screen is protected with scratch-resistant glass, the device has IP52 splash-resistant rating.
It comes with a 12nm class 2GHz MediaTek Helio octa-core processor with IMG PowerVR GE-class GPU, 2GB / 3GB LPDDR4X RAM, 32GB eMMC 5.1 storage (expandable up to 512GB), Android 12 Go Edition, dual-camera module-- 8MP + depth sensor with LED flash on the back, a 5MP front-facing camera, and a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charger.
The Redmi A1 Plus comes in three colours-- black, blue and light green. It will be available in two variants-- 2GB RAM + 32GB storage and 3GB RAM + 32GB storage-- for Rs 7,499 and Rs 8,499, respectively.
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