Top 5 phones under Rs 40,000 that stood out for us in 2025

• By Ramneek Singh
Published On: 29 December 2025 | 09:41 IST

2025 was a year when we saw a bunch of smartphones adding a good variety to the sub-Rs 40,000 segment. While some phones placed a high emphasis on gaming, others featured versatile cameras while ensuring decent performance. Notably, this segment was also graced by devices that went all-in on these features, making them appealing to those who demand a well-rounded phone experience without paying a hefty price.

As the year comes to an end, we at 91mobiles have decided to pick our favourite smartphones that stood out in various ways, taking into account our hands-on experience during reviews. Moreover, we feel these devices can be a decent grab going into 2026, especially during upcoming sales, unless the newer launches offer something substantial. Have a look.

Note: The smartphones mentioned below are selected solely between the Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 price range based on their launch prices.

Best in day-to-day usage – Realme GT 7

Launch price: Rs 39,999 (8+256GB)

If there was a smartphone that truly excelled in most areas and delivered a holistic usage experience under Rs 40,000, it’s got to be the Realme GT 7 (review). Heading into 2026, the Realme GT 7 remains a spec-heavy device that has yet to be challenged by the competition. Moreover, in real-world use, the handset is easy to operate, handles any game thrown at it with ease, has great battery endurance, and packs cameras that deliver in most scenarios. Most of it has to do with the Realme UI 7 software.

Even though it comes pre-installed with tons of apps and unnecessary additions, Realme UI 7 on the GT 7 performs just as well as the latest Realme GT 8 Pro. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400e, the handset shows no signs of stutter or lag, swiftly switches between apps for seamless multitasking, offers a variety of customisation options, and is simply a fun smartphone to use for both power and casual users.

Coincidentally, the Realme GT 7 was recently crowned the ‘Best Phone of 2025 (under Rs 40,000)’ by a panel of experienced jurors at 91mobiles’ Indian Gadget Awards 2025.

Honourable mentions

POCO F7 and OnePlus Nord 5: Both these smartphones were launched at Rs 31,999 and excelled in their own right. The POCO F7 particularly impressed us with its massive 7,550mAh battery and splendid performance, while the OnePlus Nord 5 tops our charts for its feature-rich, fluid software and a reliable primary camera.

Best in gaming – OPPO K13 Turbo Pro

Launch price: Rs 37,999 (8+256GB)

While OPPO is widely known for its glamorous designs and camera optics, especially the Reno series, the K13 Turbo series that debuted this year was the complete opposite. Launched as a dedicated performance– and gaming-oriented lineup, the K13 Turbo series has grabbed everyone’s attention with an integrated cooling fan for best-in-class thermal efficiency. This is where the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4-powered K13 Turbo Pro (review) impressed us in real-world use, delivering smooth gameplay in titles like PUBG and CODM.

In our recent CODM test, we played six back-to-back matches (Medium + High settings) without pausing on the K13 Turbo Pro with the cooling fan enabled. The device natively supports 120FPS, and even after the 40-minute mark, it maintained an average frame rate of 120FPS by the end of the sixth match while temperatures stayed well below 39.4 degrees Celsius. In terms of technical specifications, it supports LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and a 7,000 mm² Vapour Chamber (VC).

In contrast to other performance-focused phones like the POCO F7 and iQOO Neo 10, both phones delivered around 118 FPS on average after 26 minutes of CODM gameplay at the same graphical settings. The POCO F7 reached 41.5 degrees, while the iQOO Neo 10 reached 41.3 degrees, both slightly warmer than the K13 Turbo Pro. In terms of benchmarks, the device scored 19,81,131 on AnTuTu (v11), while the Geekbench single-core and multi-core scores are 2,171 and 6,779, respectively.

Honourable mentions

OnePlus Nord 5: In a gaming test where we pitted the POCO F7, iQOO Neo 10, and OnePlus Nord 5 against each other, the latter came out on top, recording the lowest temperatures while natively supporting 144FPS in CODM. However, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 inside it may not offer as much raw performance as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 found on the K13 Turbo Pro. Also, the storage speeds are capped at UFS 3.1.

iQOO Neo 10 (review): The iQOO Neo 10 is the perfect alternative to the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro for those who demand more than just raw power and swift gaming performance. That’s because the Neo 10 is equipped with a better camera setup, a sophisticated design, and a huge 7,000mAh battery with 120W charging. This makes it a suitable pick for most.

Best in battery – POCO F7

Launch price: Rs 31,999 (12+256GB)

When it comes to battery endurance, the POCO F7 (review) remains our undisputed pick this year. Bearing a 7,550mAh cell, the F7 not only carried the largest capacity in its segment, but also across price ranges. In our in-house PCMark battery test, the handset delivered a runtime of 20 hours and 36 minutes when draining its battery from 100 to 20 percent. This test stimulates real-world tasks, such as social media scrolling, web browsing, video editing and viewing, and more.

It’s also worth noting that POCO has managed to keep the F7’s weight in check at 222g. More expensive phones, such as the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL and iPhone 17 Pro Max, have batteries of around 5,000mAh or equivalent and still weigh over 230g. With 90W charging support, the POCO F7 juices up in under 45 minutes from 20 to 100 percent despite the large battery, further giving it an advantage.

Honourable mention

Realme GT 7: As mentioned above, the Realme GT 7 offered a good blend of performance, camera prowess, and battery endurance during our usage. The latter aspect is handled by a hefty 7,000mAh battery, which delivered a respectable runtime of over 16 hours in our PCMark battery test. With 120W charging support, it charges faster than the POCO F7.

Best in cameras – Vivo T4 Ultra

Launch price: Rs 37,999 (8+256GB)

Among all the mid-premium launches, the Vivo T4 Ultra stands out as the only smartphone with a truly versatile camera setup, though a couple of others came very close. For context, let’s take a look at its camera setup: a 50MP 1/1.56-inch main camera with OIS and an f/1.88 aperture, a 50MP 1/2-inch 3x periscope, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 32MP selfie shooter.

While many sub-Rs 40,000 phones feature a 1/1.56-inch main camera, the T4 Ultra’s 50MP L-shaped periscope lens is what makes it stand out. This lens captures crystal clear macro shots at 3x optical zoom, thanks to a 15cm minimum focus distance, while digitally it can zoom up to 100x. As noted in our review, the periscope captures sharp, detailed images of distant subjects, with colour science well matched to the main sensor for consistent results. It excels in autofocus speed and subject tracking, making it versatile for everyday use.

As for the primary camera, it delivers bright, vibrant, and social media-ready images with natural skin tones and balanced night photography. Vividness over strict realism is prioritised, while sharpness is lower in low-light shots. Overall, it consistently produces appealing shots.

Honourable mentions

OPPO Reno 14 (review): If macro photography is not much of a concern to you, the OPPO Reno 14 is also an excellent pick for photography enthusiasts. While its price has risen from Rs 37,999 to Rs 42,999, it offers a longer optical zoom and produces sharper selfies than the Vivo T4 Ultra. However, the Vivo phone may pull ahead in low-light telephoto shots due to its larger sensor size.

Vivo V60 (review): The Vivo V60 features the same rear camera setup as the Vivo T4 Ultra, with the only difference being that its telephoto lens is W-shaped, similar to the Reno 14. Meaning, macros are out of the question, but it is still a worthy consideration for the signature ZEISS portrait filters and bokeh effects found on flagship Vivo phones.

Best in software experience – OnePlus Nord 5

Launch price: Rs 31,999 (8+256GB)
Current price (hiked): Rs 33,999

Personally, OxygenOS 16 remained my go-to Android software skin this year. Although I’ve been daily driving OxygenOS 16 on higher-end phones like the OnePlus 13s and OnePlus 12, the software performs just as well on the OnePlus Nord 5 (review) for the most part. While the software omits the Gaussian blur in several areas on the Nord 5, unlike the Realme GT 7, it comes with fewer pre-installed apps and first-party inclusions that tend to send unnecessary notifications.

Several key aspects make OxygenOS 16 fun to use in daily workloads. This includes a wide range of lockscreen and homescreen customisations, such as Flux themes and icons, responsive, seamless animations, excellent connectivity with Windows, macOS, and iOS, and an extensive feature set, including sports Live Alerts and an AI suite. While this is just a brief overview of what OxygenOS 16 offers, feel free to refer to our full hands-on review for an in-depth look.

Honourable mention

Samsung Galaxy A36: Launched at Rs 32,999 with Android 15-based One UI 7, the Galaxy A36 is the only smartphone in the Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 range to offer six OS upgrades and six years of security updates. One UI offers all the necessary and advanced features for daily use, along with a mature-looking design.

In addition to the smartphones mentioned above, we believe it’s worth highlighting the OnePlus 13R, despite its retail price of Rs 42,999 (before offers). This handset comes remarkably close to premium flagships like the OnePlus 13, compromising only on the telephoto and ultrawide lenses, as well as a robust IP rating.

There you have it. While 2025 was an eventful year, several mid-premium devices are already confirmed to debut in early January. Landing on January 6th, the Realme 16 Pro series will mark the return of the ‘Pro+’ model, which was missing from the Realme 15 series. Meanwhile, OPPO is gearing up to release the Reno 15 series on January 8th, which will include a compact phone for the first time. Both these lineups will put design and camera optics at the forefront.

If you’re interested, we have also picked the top phones that impressed us under Rs 20,000 and under Rs 30,000 this year.