Christmas is right around the corner, which means people have begun shopping for their Christmas gifts, and what better gift to give to your loved ones than a smartphone?
In the next few weeks, we’ll be giving you our recommendations on the best smartphones you can buy for every price point. We’ll also be listing the links for those smartphones so no need to scour the internet on where to buy.
Disclaimer: The prices you’ll find are not fixed and are subject to change depending on the time and day you’re buying.
Alright, starting off with the best smartphones you can buy for under PHP 5,000.
REDMI A5/POCO C71
Since these are two very similar smartphones under Xiaomi, we figured it would be best to just list them together.
Both smartphones are equipped with a UNISOC T7250 chipset, but in our testing, the POCO C71 fared a little better at AnTuTu Benchmark v11, scoring 367,021 against the REDMI A5’s 350,893.
Aside from the chipset, both smartphones have a 6.88-inch 720p IPS LCD display, 5200 mAh battery with 15W wired charging, and both run Android 15 Go edition with support for up to 2 major Android updates.
In the A5’s defense, the unit we have on hand is packed with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, compared to the C71’s 4GB/128GB configuration. Other than that, the only difference between the two are the colors available.
Right now, the REDMI A5 is retails for ₱3,499 – ₱4,099. While the POCO C71 goes around for ₱3,599 – ₱4,399. You can even score those in a lower price if you watch out for the coming 11.11 Mega Sale of Xiaomi and POCO.
REDMI A5: Shopee | Lazada | TikTok Shop
TECNO SPARK Go 2
The SPARK Go 2 is just the second iteration of the widely popular Go series, but already it’s offering unbeatable specs that would put others to shame. Retailing for ₱3,515 – ₱5,199 on Shopee and Lazada, it crosses the threshold of our budget but only if you opt for the 4GB/256GB variant.
Similar to the REDMI A5 and POCO C71, the TECNO SPARK Go 2 is powered by a UNISOC T7250 chipset, scoring 268,472 in AnTuTu Benchmark v10. It runs HIOS 15 (no Go edition here) and has a 5,000 mAh battery with 15W wired charging.
But unlike the two smartphones I just mentioned, what you won’t find is an IP64 dust and water resistance rating and a dual speaker tuned by DTS Audio. Granted it’s not a stereo speaker but I mean come on… It’s under 5K, a loud and clear sounding audio is all you need.
Shopee | Lazada | TikTok Shop
vivo Y04
vivo!? Mura!? I know, I know… but vivo has budget offerings. It may not be as glamorous as the V series, but the Y series has always been vivo’s value offering. Compared to the other two, it’s a bit more expensive, hovering around ₱4,417 – ₱4,987 but believe me when I say, every peso counts with the Y04.
Under the hood, it sports a slightly older UNISOC T7225 than the T7250 that the other uses. But the differences are so minimal it’s practically negligible. JayTineTV recorded a score of 249,010 on AnTuTu Benchmark v10, just a bit lower than the T7250.
Where the Y04 really shines is in battery and durability. At 5,500 mAh, it has one of the largest batteries among all the smartphones in this list. And what’s better is that vivo promises a 5-year battery health with its BlueVolt battery which maintains an 80% capacity after 1600 charge/discharge cycles.
The vivo Y04 further one ups the competition by including an SGS 5-Star Drop Resistance into the already impressive Military-Grade Shock Resistance rating, and finally, the cherry on top, the IP64 dust and water resistance rating.
Shopee | Lazada | TikTok Shop
nubia V70 Max
The aptly named nubia V70 Max isn’t just Max in the name, it’s also the Max in specs. If you saw the specs first, you’d think that this is a smartphone for the under 10K list, but you’d be wrong.
There are 3 things that the V70 Max does well: RAM, Battery, and Charging. Starting off with the RAM, a 6GB of RAM, it’s the biggest that we’ve seen at this price point. You’d think that that’s just a marketing gimmick like 8GB but only 4GB with a 4GB virtual RAM but no, it’s the amount of physical RAM available in the V70 Max.
Next are battery and charging, the V70 max one ups the vivo Y04 with a 6,000 mAh battery, again, the biggest we’ve seen on a smartphone at this price. That massive battery is replenished with a 22.5W fast charging. I guess that’s pretty logical since it does have a larger battery than the others.
Apart from those things, the V70 Max is also the biggest with a 6.9-inch 120Hz 720p IPS LCD display. It’s powered by the UNISOC T606 chipset which has been rebranded to UNISOC T7200. Benchmarks-wise, it scores around 240,000 to 250,000 on AnTuTu Benchmark v10, so you’re not losing a lot in terms of performance despite being a 4-year-old chip.
The nubia V70 Max currently retails for ₱4,579 to ₱4,699 for the sole 6GB/128GB variant.
Shopee | Lazada | TikTok Shop
itel Power 70
The “Power” in the itel Power 70 doesn’t refer to its performance, that’s actually one of its weaknesses. The “Power” refers to the phone’s battery, which it has a lot of… A LOT…
The phone itself only has 6,000 mAh, which is still a lot. But slapped on the bundled charging case? The figures rise to 10,000 mAh! 10K! Parang Motolite lang! It also has reverse wired charging so you can help a brother out when push comes to shove.
Aside from the monstrous battery, the Power 70 also comes with a 6.67-inch 720p 120Hz IPS LCD display, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. All wrapped in a mecha-inspired design that’s IP54 dust and splash resistant.
The itel Power 70 currently retails for around ₱4,739 – ₱4,999 for 4GB/128GB variant, you can also bide your time and wait for any upcoming sale like the 11.11 Mega Sale to cop it at a lower price.
Final Thoughts
Look, at the end of the day, the decision’s still up to you, the buyer. It still depends on what you want, what you’re looking for, and what you’re able to spend with your hard-earned pesos(es?). We’re just here to help you wade through the ocean of specs.
If you want a closer look on the smartphones we just mentioned, check out their specs pages on our website and if you’re looking for more options, visit our Smartphone Tier List to see the other smartphones we didn’t get to mention. Good luck!