Best gaming phones under INR 20,000 in India (July 2022)

Mobile gaming has become one of the fastest growing industries in India. According to a recent study by KPMG, the Indian mobile gaming industry raked in over INR 13,600 crore in revenue last year and it is expected to reach INR 29,000 crore in the next year or two.

India has over 750 million smartphone users and is projected to reach 1 billion smartphone users by 2026. At the current adoption rate, India is witnessing an unprecented growth in the mobile gaming sector. For instance, India accounted for 25% of the downloads for PUBG mobile game, with over 50 million active users per month. Not to mention, there are now over 920 gaming start-ups and over 100 million active users on YouTube gaming in India.

Needless to say, mobile gaming has become more mainstream and as a result, smartphones capable of achieving decent gaming performance have become much cheaper. You don’t really need a flagship smartphone to enjoy the latest mobile games like Battlegrounds Mobile India or Apex Legends Mobile.

You can find pretty decent smartphones with powerful chipsets capable of delivering 30fps at medium to high settings under INR 20,000. These phones can also deliver 60fps in some select games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang for example.

We have compiled a list of five android phones under INR 20,000 that can provide a decent gaming experience. We have chosen phones that have a powerful SoC, good battery life, fast-charging support, high refresh rate displays and efficient RAM.

Here are the best gaming phones under ₹20,000 in India for July, 2022

Realme 9 5G SE

This phone comes with a powerful Snapdragon 778G chipset and that alone makes it a great option for your gaming needs. It also comes with a 6.6 inch FHD+ 144 Hz display, 8GB RAM and 5000 mAh battery.

OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G

This smartphone comes with Snapdragon 695 SoC, 5000mAh battery, OxygenOS 12 and a triple camera setup. It comes in 6GB/8GB RAM with 128GB internal storage options and features a 6.59-inches IPS LCD display panel with support for 120Hz refresh rate.

Moto G82 5G

The Moto G82 5G is a good option for regular day-to-day usage as well as heavy gaming. It is powered by the Snapdragon 695 chipset and features an excellent 6.6-inches FHD+ pOLED Display with support for 120Hz refresh rate. It also has a 5,000 mAh Battery with 33W fast charging support. It is also the only phone to come with optical image stabilisation (OIS) in this price segment.

Poco X3 Pro

The Poco X3 Pro is hands down the most powerful gaming device in this price segment simply because of the Snapdragon 860 chipset under its hood. Along with the powerful flagship processor, the phone also features 120Hz IPS LCD display, 8GB RAM/128GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage, 5,160 mAh battery with 33W fast charging support.

iQOO Z3 5G

The iQOO Z3 5G is one of the most-balanced offerings in this price segment with a powerful Snapdragon 768G 5G processor. It also features a 6.58-inches LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 4,400 mAh battery with massive 55W fast charging support.