Here’s five of the brands you’ll gonna need to rely on depending on your budget to get the best experience possible!
We assume that you have an x amount of budget looking for the best phone from a trusted brand, you may want an efficient battery, a smooth software experience, maybe a set of decent cameras and a nice overall design– but you want to stick to your preferences as much as possible, so we are recommending you a brand for every price ceiling (5K, 10K, 15K, 20K, and above).
BEST BRAND FOR YOUR 5K BUDGET: INFINIX
They have so many competitively priced phones around 5k such as the Hot 12 Play which has a 90Hz refresh rate, an updated punch hole look with Full HD resolution, and a huge 6,000mAh battery for fewer charging trips. They also have the past Hot 11 Play and other models that tread between ₱4,000 and ₱6,000 pesos. So if you’re having a hard time buying a really good phone with your preferred budget then look no further than Infinix.
Runner up: Itel
Itel is another sub-brand of HK-based Transsion Holdings, which also holds TECNO and Infinix as well. If your budget can’t really break the 5k mark, their latest Itel Vision 5 smartphone with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage can be yours at less than ₱4,000 pesos, and their Vision 3 Series, is on par in terms of pricing, so not bad if you’re really on a tight budget.
BEST BRAND FOR YOUR 10K BUDGET: TECNO
The trifecta is finally complete: basically, if you’re looking for a phone that’s 10K below, look no further than TECNO’s offering.
There are many brands eligible on this spot but nothing else comes close with the POVA 4 Pro which you can get 8/256GB of RAM and storage, a large 6.66 AMOLED display, and a beastly 6,000mAh battery, not to mention its speedy 45W charger and the freshest Helio G99 that’s designed for long gaming sessions. And you can get that all under ₱10,000 which is real rare for a beefed-up specsfest like this phone offers. Other phones to consider from includes the whole POVA 4 and NEO Series.
Runner ups: Infinix AND POCO
Infinix’s offering from 5k above is also nothing short of a miracle, from the Super Sulit phones including Infinix Hot 20 5G, and Infinix Note 12 G96. We also get the Infinix Hot 20S on the list.
Xiaomi’s POCO sub-brand on the other hand, delivers a quite compelling spec sheet for less than 10K for their POCO M5, M5s and C40, but they fell short since the first two models we’ve mention only has 64GB of storage and spending a little more past the 10K mark will get you the 128GB variants.
BEST BRAND FOR YOUR 15K BUDGET: POCO
Nothing else comes close with everything POCO provides under this category, namely their higher specs variants of POCO M5, and POCO M5s, you can also see the bestsellers POCO M4 Pro 5G, and its AMOLED counterpart, the POCO M4 Pro, all have tremendous support, battery life, performance, and even its camera, while not exactly the best can always capture decent photos.
But this is the part where it gets exciting: the undisputed king of speed, the POCO X4 GT is now available under 15K, and there’s nothing better than that.
Runner ups: realme and narzo
The first appearances of the BBK sub-brand, and a “former sub-brand of a BBK sub-brand” boasts some quite innovative and beautiful pieces of hardware here starting with the realme 10 Series with an 8GB RAM (that can be extended up to 16GB via Dynamic RAM), a sweet Super AMOLED display, a new futuristic design, and a great price point if not because of POCO’s more aggressive pricing, realme could take that spot.
narzo on the other hand, while still on its younger days as an “independent” brand in the country, managed to release a set of good smartphones under its narzo 50 Series with the best being narzo 50 Pro 5G which has all the specs that scream “premium”.
BEST BRAND FOR YOUR 20K BUDGET: ONEPLUS
Yet another BBK brand dominates the best 20K price point with their best phone under this category, the OnePlus Nord 2T which packs quite a punch starting with a Dimensity 1300 chipset, 90Hz AMOLED display, the smooth af OxygenOS with 4,500mAh battery and a very fast 80W charger to seal the deal, it has also one of the highest megapixel count for a smartphone under this price range with 32MP.
There’s also other offerings like OnePlus CE 2 5G with a Dimensity 900 chipset in it. Overall, if you’re not settling for less, then settle for OnePlus.
Runner up: Redmi
Redmi is shattering consumers expectation with their Note 12 lineup like the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G, Redmi Note 12 Pro, and the Redmi Note 12 Explorer, which while it is not officially available here in the Philippines, you can order directly on their website and you can bask in the greatness of their phones.
BEST BRAND FOR YOUR 20K AND ABOVE BUDGET: A MIX OF…APPLE, VIVO, SAMSUNG, POCO, AND MORE…
All limits are off and you can buy whatever that speaks to your heart. Many Samsung Galaxy phones under 30k are perfectly fine and provides a smooth experience– same from vivo, OPPO, and realme, even OnePlus gets to snag some of the accolades here. If you’re an IOS user on a budget, you may to consider getting an iPhone SE (2022). For realme, the GT Neo 3 is your best bet under 30K.
But the biggest shocker of them all is the POCO F4 GT which has the most affordable Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phone on the market, which makes this a great addition to the list. But all in all, if you have a budget more than 20K or 30K, then you’ll know the drill.
Runner-up: REFURBISHED FLAGSHIPS
Do you really need a brand new phone? If yes, then go ahead. If not but you still want a great phone for less, then settle for a refurbished flagship from two or three years ago. Not only that it still works and even outperform most recent smartphones today, you get to save some dough and the environment too. Recommended: Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact/XZ2/XZ2 Premium, Sony Xperia XZ3, Sharp Sense3 5G, Sony Xperia I, LG V50 ThinQ, LG V60 ThinQ, LG G7 ThinQ, LG V50S ThinQ, LG G8x, LG G8 ThinQ, LG Velvet, any past Redmi devices, Sharp Aquos R3, and more
So that’s it, do you have any suggestions or think this list can be improved? Let us know in the comments.
