When choosing a smartphone, it is always best to consider the model with the most hardware at the lowest price possible. You’re not missing out on specs, but it won’t burn holes in your pockets either. Good thing there are plenty of smartphones in the market priced at under PHP 10K. But how do you pick the right one? Here are things you should look for when searching for a sub-PHP 10K smartphone.

Large AMOLED screen

A few years back, if you want to have a smartphone with a large AMOLED screen (at least 6-inches), you’ll have to get a flagship smartphone. That’s not the case nowadays as AMOLED screens have already made their way to sub-PHP 10K smartphones.

The reason why we’re going for AMOLED screens is that its vibrant and produce punchy colors and deep blacks, which in turn gives you a richer experience when viewing photos or watching videos. In addition, it could also improve battery life when using dark mode or dark wallpapers as it uses switched-off LEDs to produce blacks.

FHD+ screens with high refresh rates

If you have a large screen, then it has to have at the least a Full HD+ resolution. Don’t settle for HD+ as pixels will be visible and will look low-res. FHD+ screens will look nice on an AMOLED screen as they will produce a high pixel density, making your images and videos look sharp. This is a must-have if you plan to use your smartphone as an entertainment device, like for watching videos on YouTube or Netflix or playing games.

For the high refresh rate, this is can be considered a luxury and not really a big requirement, but if you can find one with a refresh rate of at least 90Hz, that’s a big bonus. A high refresh rate will provide you with a pleasing viewing experience as transitions and animations will look buttery smooth.

New chipset

The chipset of a smartphone basically contains the core components needed to make the whole device run. It usually has the CPU, GPU, memory controllers, modem, and other processing units. Some smartphone manufacturers usually use old chipsets (1 to 2 years old) to keep the price down, which is common in the sub-PHP 10K price range.

We recommend researching the chipset and finding out when it is released. If it’s less than a year, then it’s good. The newer, the better. The reason for that is newer chipsets have more powerful CPUs and GPU for their class, are more power-efficient as they’re manufactured using a newer process, and support newer features for the cameras, connectivity, and gaming.

Big RAM and storage

There are plenty of reasons to use a smartphone nowadays. You can use it to watch movies, take photos and videos, browse the internet, install plenty of apps, and play games. Given the functionality, you have to make sure that you can do all those things without experiencing lags or quickly losing storage space.

This means you have to get a model with the biggest RAM and storage possible under this price range. The good news is you’ll be able to find some with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Those should be enough to ensure a stable experience.

Versatile rear cameras

If you’re planning to use your smartphone as your go-to device for taking photos and videos, then you have to get a smartphone with good cameras. The number of megapixels is not that important as it only translates to the resolution of the image captured. But if you can find one with a hi-res sensor, that’s good. The number of cameras is also not that important, but in our experience, what you’ll mostly use is the main camera and ultra-wide camera. The macro and depth lenses can be considered bonuses, but if you can have all four, then you got yourself a versatile set of cameras.

Wide range of connectivity features

Now it’s time to look at connectivity features. Most smartphones nowadays have dual-SIM so this shouldn’t be an issue. If you can find one with 5G, that’s good, but it’s not a hard requirement. You’ll be fine with 4G LTE for now. It should also have at least WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, fingerprint scanner, USB-C, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Big battery

You should also take into consideration the battery capacity of the smartphone. Since you will be using it for a wide variety of things, you need something that can last at least a whole day. For under PHP 10K, pick the one with at least a 5,000mAh battery. If it’s partnered with a new and power-efficient chipset, you can be sure that it can keep up with your heavy usage. Then make sure it has fast charging. Since the battery capacity is large, you don’t want something that will take longer to charge.

Bonus features

These are features that we’d consider as bonuses. Meaning they’re not really a requirement but are nice to have and will make you enjoy your smartphone more. This includes water and dust resistance, so you don’t have to worry about water damage, stereo speakers for a more immersive listening experience when watching videos, NFC, and an IR blaster so you can use it to control IR-based appliances like your TV.

Which phone has these features?

There are plenty of offerings under this budget, but one of the best and newest options right now is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11. It has a large 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It’s powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC with an octa-core CPU, Adreno 610 GPU, up to 6GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of storage.

For the cameras, it has four at the back, consisting of a 50MP main, 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth. For selfies, it has a 13MP shooter.

For other features, it has dual-SIM with 4G, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, an IR blaster, USB-C, dual-speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack, an IP53 splash-proof body, and MIUI 13 based on Android 11.

Then for the battery, it has a large 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

Lastly, the price. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 4GB + 64GB is priced at PHP 8,999USD 153INR 13,000EUR 146CNY 1,117, while the 6GB + 128GB is priced at PHP 9,999USD 170INR 14,445EUR 162CNY 1,241. As you can see, you can even go down to sub-PHP 9K if you want, but you can stretch your budget a bit, you won’t have to spend more than PHP 10K, making it a good value for your money.

So what do you guys think? Which feature is most important to you when picking a smartphone under this budget? Let us know in the comments below.