Let’s face it: the golden era of the ₹15,000 budget smartphone is officially dead. If you’ve been paying attention to the tech industry in 2026, you already know the grim reality. We are currently grappling with a relentless global chip and memory shortage, and manufacturers have predictably passed those costs down to us.

Just a year ago, you could snag a highly capable daily driver for under 15K without breaking a sweat. Today? That price bracket has violently breached the ₹20,000 mark.

If you are looking to upgrade in mid-2026, here are the absolute best budget smartphones you can buy right now.

CMF Phone 2 Pro

Although a chip price crisis prevented CMF from releasing a new model this year, the company continues to sell the previous version without raising the price. Starting at ₹18,999, the CMF Phone 2 Pro by Nothing remains highly distinctive thanks to its modular design.

It retains the customizable back cover from the first generation, which users can easily unscrew to switch colors or attach various accessories, such as a kickstand, a lanyard, or specialized macro and fisheye lenses.

Beyond the design, it features a 6.77-inch 120Hz AMOLED display that gets plenty bright for outdoor use. Inside, it runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro, which handles daily tasks smoothly and includes an NPU for basic AI functions.

The camera setup is also quite capable for the price, featuring a 50MP main sensor and a 50MP 2x telephoto lens. It runs Nothing OS 3.2, which remains one of the cleaner Android interfaces available, and the company is promising three years of OS updates.

Realme P4x 5G

If you spend a lot of time playing mobile games like BGMI or Free Fire, the Realme P4x 5G is built specifically with that use case in mind. Priced around ₹20,999 (often lower with standard discounts), it uses a 6.72-inch 144Hz LCD and is powered by the Dimensity 7400 Ultra processor.

What makes it interesting for gaming is its thermal management. It includes a large vapor chamber cooling system and a very practical feature called Bypass Charging.

When you are playing a game while plugged in, the phone routes power directly to the motherboard rather than the battery. This prevents the phone from overheating during long sessions and helps preserve the health of the 7000mAh battery over time.

Realme P4R 5G

For those who just want a phone that rarely needs to be plugged in, the Realme P4R 5G starts at ₹18,999 and includes a massive 8000mAh battery. Realme says it can last up to three days on a single charge, which aligns with what you’d expect from a capacity this large.

Despite the battery size, the phone is relatively standard in its dimensions at 8.8mm thick. It runs on the Dimensity 6300 and has a 6.8-inch 144Hz LCD. It also features an IP65 rating and MIL-STD-810H certification, meaning it can handle minor drops and splashes.

You can even use it to reverse-charge other devices via a cable, making it a useful tool if you carry around wireless earbuds or a smartwatch.

Moto G37 Power

Motorola continues to offer reliable phones with minimal fuss, and the Moto G37 Power is a great example. Starting at ₹15,999, it provides a clean software experience with Android 16 and very little bloatware.

It features a 6.7-inch HD+ 120Hz LCD, the Dimensity 6400 processor, and a 7000mAh battery with 30W charging. It also has IP64 water and dust resistance, Gorilla Glass 7i for screen protection, and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support.

If your budget is strictly under 16k-17k, this phone is a very safe bet. It offers a stylish look with its textured Pantone color options and delivers smooth, reliable performance for all your daily essentials like web browsing, texting, and media consumption.

iQOO Z11 Lite

Priced at ₹19,499, the iQOO Z11 Lite focuses on physical durability and software additions. It shares the MIL-STD-810H military-grade rating and IP65 resistance seen on some of the other phones on this list, making it a sturdy option.

The display is a 6.74-inch HD+ 120Hz LCD that reaches up to 1200 nits of brightness, making it easy to read outdoors. It runs on the Dimensity 6300 and includes a 6500mAh battery with 44W fast charging.

The device comes with OriginOS, which includes built-in AI tools for generating text and summarizing audio or video recordings. If you find those kinds of productivity features useful, it’s worth considering.

In other news, we’ve rounded up the 7 best camera smartphones available in July 2026. Check it out as well.

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The post The Best Budget Smartphones You Can Buy in Mid-2026 appeared first on Gizmochina.

iQOO has finally put a date on the calendar for its next budget phone. iQOO India confirmed on X that the Z11 Lite 5G will launch in the country on July 24, and the phone is set to succeed the iQOO Z10 Lite, which arrived in India last June.

Even though iQOO hasn’t shared the full spec sheet yet, one tipster on X had already leaked most of the important details. 

iQOO Z11 Lite Specifications

According to the leak, the iQOO Z11 Lite will run on a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset paired with Mali-G57 MC2 graphics, and it should be available with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. On the software side, the phone is tipped to launch with OriginOS 6 built on top of Android 16.

Moreover, the battery is said to come at 6,500mAh, a decent jump from the 6,000mAh unit on the older Z10 Lite. And iQOO is boosting the charging speed too, from 15W to 44W.

On the camera front, the leak suggests a dual rear setup made up of a 50MP main sensor along with a 2MP secondary sensor. The display is expected to measure around 6.74 to 6.78 inches running at a 120Hz refresh rate. The phone is also rumoured to carry an IP64 rating.

Design-wise, an Amazon India listing had already suggested the phone would come in a Solar Flame colourway, and teaser images show a vertical rear camera module with a circular LED ring underneath it for notifications, something like a mini light-up alert system.

iQOO is expected to sell the Z11 Lite through Amazon India, its own official website, and select offline retailers. We’ll keep you updated the moment there’s more to share.

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Yesterday, iQOO India chief Nipun Maurya rolled out the first teaser of an upcoming Z-series phone. Today, he is back with a new X post to reveal that the upcoming device will be called the iQOO Z11 Lite. It also gives the first look at the rear design of the phone.

iQOO Z11 Lite design teased

As can be seen above, the iQOO Z11 Lite has a vertical camera module along with a ring LED flash. While the company has not confirmed any details about the phone’s specifications, it is confirmed to be sold via Amazon, which is not a surprise considering all iQOO phones are sold through this platform.

In the recent past, two unannounced iQOO devices have emerged in the database of the Geekbench benchmarking platform. These include phones with model numbers I2510 and I2514. As per reports, these devices are expected to hit the Indian market with monikers iQOO Z11 Lite and Z11.

At present, there is no clarity about the launch timeframe of the Dimensity 7500-powered iQOO Z11. However, the iQOO Z11 Lite’s launch seems imminent as its teasers have already begun.

The Z11 Lite’s Geekbench listing revealed that it will arrive with a Dimensity 6300-series chipset. It is also expected to have 8GB of RAM, OriginOS 6-based Android 16, and 44W fast charging.

The IQOO Z11 Lite is expected to be priced lower then the Z11x, which debuted with a price tag of Rs 18,999. Therefore, it appears that the Lite variant’s base model could be priced at around Rs 15,000.

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iQOO announced the iQOO Z11 smartphone in March. Two months later, we are hearing news of the iQOO Z11 Lite. The smartphone has now surfaced on Geekbench, giving an early look at some of its hardware.

iQOO Z11 Lite Geekbench run

The phone is listed with the model number I2510 and has managed 549 points in the single-core test and 1,776 points in the multi-core test. These are not flagship-level numbers, which is no surprise, since the Z Lite series usually targets the budget and lower mid-range segment.

The benchmark listing also reveals that the device is powered by an octa-core chip. Two of the cores are clocked at 2.40GHz, while the other six run at 2.00GHz. Geekbench also mentions the Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, which hints that the processor in question is the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset.

Interestingly, its predecessor, the iQOO Z10 Lite 5G, also uses the same SoC. Another detail shown in the listing is 8GB of RAM, and the phone is also said to run on Android 16.

This is not the first time the phone has appeared in the leak cycle. Earlier, the same model was spotted on the Bluetooth SIG database, where its name and 44W wired fast charging support were confirmed. It was also seen on the BIS certification site in India, which confirms that the phone is meant for the Indian market.

The Z10 Lite launched at a starting price of Rs 9,999, so we expect its successor to launch in a similar ballpark. Especially given that both share the same chipset. We will keep you in the loop if we get any new updates.

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