Best camera phone to buy between the budget of 10 to 15 thousand Rupees

Smartphones have improved over a period of time and we have reached a phase where almost every camera is good. Now we can certainly debate how that's possible and shouldn't we compare one camera with other & see which one is better. That's a valid point, but I go via other route - identify what you need in a phone-camera and then find a best device. Rather keep comparing phones and get confused with some of the jazzy marketing terms by companies. Does it sound reasonable? Either ways, I would encourage you to read more for better understanding about core things that almost all cameras are offering these days and what extra you get by paying more.

Why do I say, almost all phone cameras are good these days?

If you have used any phone camera which is 3+ years old, you would know some of the basic limitations those phones had and those were mainly around clicking photographs in low light conditions, resolution, color balances etc. All those fundamental issues have gone away, as all phone are offering decent resolution for personal usage and low light capabilities have been improved as phone manufacturers kept improving hardware in terms of lens and the sensor. Today I can pick any smartphone and click good photographs in day light and with few quick tips I can do a decent job in low light condition as well. Name any phone which can be bought in 10,000 rs and doesn't offer these basic photographs. 

So it's about phone camera meeting your needs and not best camera which may not be that useful for your use-cases. 

Most of the Phone Cameras are giving differential value on software than hardware. 

Although all phone cameras are upgrading hardware with each new model launch but it's unfortunate that not many are making best use of lend and sensor capabilities. E.g. - many dual lens cameras are creating bokeh through softwares and then fail to give good results when the background is not very appropriate for software to distinguish between the subject and the background. 

Related Post -  Don't go Gung-ho about multi-camera phones and rather understand the value you need !

Do you need those fancy controls for handling f-stop, ISO, Shutter-speed etc?

If that's the case, then I can understand that your needs are little advanced and you are better placed to make a call on the basis of options available. But again, be aware if the controls are acting fine with hardware tweaking or something in  software and display is being done. All this is tricky to crackdown. That's the reason I always recommend to visit a phone store, try the camera and then decide what you need. 

Check out Mobile Photograph clicked with some of the basic Phone Cameras. 

Visit a Smartphone showroom and compare cameras by clicking photographs. 

Here are some of the tests we would recommend you to do when you visit a showroom to compare cameras of different phone brands/models - 

1. Click one photograph as min & max zoom each. This would give you a sense about how wide the camera can click and what are the zoom capabilities.
2. Always look at the photographs clicked by zooming in and observe some of the things mentioned below -
1. How sharp the photograph is.
2. Is there any noise?
3. Observe around edges and ensure that there are no unwanted artifacts.
3. Try selfie and observe 
1. Does photograph look close to original? Many phones do extra processing and spoil the portrait. I have seen cameras making photograph look like wax statutes or distort faces. 
2. How wide the selfie camera is? Wider the selfie camera, better results you would get. 
3. Sharpness
4. Colors and the contrast 
4. Click photographs of light, dark colors as well as black objects.
1. Observe quality by zooming-in

Some of these tests with multiple phone cameras would give you some sense about differences. 

Check out more blog-posts about Phone Cameras here.

Sorry if you were expecting names of Phone Brands and Models, but please ask specific questions in comments.

Although I am not sharing names of recommended Phone Camera models, but please feel free to comment below if you need view on a particular phone model or want us to review 2 models of Smartphones for you. We try to respond on time and don't mind writing new blog catered to your specific needs. E.g. - We have compared Nikon D3300 and D3400 on the request of one of the viewers of Travellingcamera. 

Some basic tips to make your photographs look better even when it's clicked with a 10K phone camera -

- Applications like Snapseed bring life to the dull photographs or make your portraits even better. 

- Try understanding some basic of using Mobile Phone Cameras and fundamental principles of photography beats all marketing jazz in seconds. 

Some useful links :

8 tips for taking stunning pictures on your smartphone

Learn to shoot some creative photographs with Phone Camera

I can undersand that Camera is one of the prime features when it comes to decision making about a Smartphone and that's one of the main reasons that all Phone companies do their branding around Camera capabilities. Be it the advertisement where Amir Khan shows Vivo Phone and it's capabilities about adjusting the focus area or iPhone big banner ads around the main highways, where they try to highlight that iPhone clicked photographs can be printed in such big canvases and professional looking photographs can be clicked with a phone camera. Oppo has been branding their phones as Selfie phones and from the beginning they have been offering higher resolution camera on the front side in comparison to the back side of the phone body. Other brands like Honor, Asus are also putting best marketing efforts on the camera these days. 

But I would also to emphasize the important of processing power, battery life and ram that you get on your phone. With decent camera on your phone, you certainly don't want too much slugishness or the worry about keeping your phone charged or a bulky beast which may not fit well in your hand etc. 

So be a little caucious about Smartphone under 10000 and evaluate them carefully. I am not saying that all the phone under 10000 are not worth but evaluting it w.r.t. your needs and budget is the key. Smartphones under 15000 can offer you decent stuff that you might need and there is lot of variety in India. Choosing one would be challenging but it's all worth the effort. Other factor which plays a role is how frequently you change your phone and each time, how much you would want to spend. 

I have always used phones which costed less than 15000 and little above 10000. Recently moved to iPhone 8 Plus and I can tell you that I am not able to make anything different what I was able to create with my no so pricy Honor 5X. From camera standpoint, I can tell you that I could find anything great in iphone which changed my use-cases in much better way. I may encounter some interesting things in future but nothing from last 3 months, at least. The most interesting part is that Phone prices in India are pretty compititive, which is a great benefit for buyers.

Hope that some of the details would help you decide your phone well and we are looking forward to your specific questions through comments or the contact form. Best !

If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -

1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter
2. Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite