Best 5G Android smartphones: From OnePlus, Samsung to Google, check best options

Are you planning to upgrade your smartphone? Make sure it can connect to a 5G cellular network being rolled out in the country. Samsung, Google, realme or OnePlus, all the brands have been launching 5G smartphones in India for the last couple of years. If you are confused about what to buy, here are our top five picks for the best 5 G-enabled Android smartphones in different price brackets, based on our testing. 

Samsung M15 5G: Price: Rs 13,999

If you are looking for a 5G-enabled smartphone under Rs 15,000, you should consider Samsung’s M15 5G. This is a worthy budget 5G smartphone featuring a 6.5-inch HD+ display with 720×1,440p resolution with a small notch for the selfie camera and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It also has a variable 90Hz refresh rate where the screen refresh rate switches to 60Hz depending on the nature of the app and even saves battery.

The phone is powered by a 2.2Ghz Octa-core processor with 6GB RAM. And comes with 128GB internal storage and supports an expandable memory card. For Rs 13,999, Samsung has added a dual camera setup – a 50MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The images shot using the primary camera are impressive, and portrait shots captured using the depth sensor come out just fine. It works well on humans and pets but not on objects. Although low-light imaging isn’t a strong area for the M13 5G, the night mode comes to the rescue.

All this is backed with a 5000 battery which lasts over a day and a half with average usage.  The phone’s accompanied by a 15W fast charging solution, which takes close to three hours for a full charge.

Realme 9 Pro 5G: Rs 20,999

Launched early this year, the Realme 9 Pro is a sleek, stylish-looking mid-budget 5G smartphone with just 8.5mm thickness and weighs 195 grams. The rear has what Realme calls the Light Shift design (for the sunrise blue variant), which changes the colour of the rear from light blue to red when exposed to the sun. 

The 9 Pro is a big device that features a bright 6.6-inch full HD+ LCD display with 2412x1080 pixel resolution and a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.  Running Android 12 with Realme UI on the top, this one is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G chipset and is paired with 8GB of RAM. The onboard memory is restricted to 128GB, and more can be accessed using a microSD card. And with Dynamic RAM Expansion technology, you can expand its RAM by another 5GB (which will be borrowed from the  ROM). This is a dual SIM phone with both SIM slots supporting 5G simultaneously.

It houses a triple rear camera with a 64MP primary sensor, 8MP wide-angle lens, and 2MP macro lens, and the combination of the three results in some good shorts worthy of sharing on social media platforms. The device comes with a 5,000 mAh battery which easily lasts a day and supports 33W Dart Charge.

Vivo V25 Pro 5G: Rs 35,990

If you are looking for a camera-centric 5G smartphone in the price range of Rs 35,000, look no further. This phone has a colour-changing panel, which changes to a darker shade of blue when exposed to sunlight (UV light).

Promising professional-class imaging, Vivo has packed in an optically stabilised 64MP primary lens and an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro lens. The camera does an impressive job during daylight and in well-lit surroundings. Vivo is also betting on low-light/night photography on the back of a 64MP OIS camera system. The shots captured using night mode had software at work that smoothened the images to reduce noise.

Elegantly designed, the rear and the display are curved towards the edges blending into an ultra-sleek side panel. A 6.56-inch 3D Curved AMOLED display dominates the front with a 120 Hz refresh rate and 1300 nits, a treat for multimedia, including streaming shows on Netflix, Hotstar, and gaming. This 5G phone is powered by Mediatek Dimensity 1300, which is popular in mid-segment phones nowadays. And while by default the RAM was 8+8 GB, you can bring it down to 8GB and release the rest back to storage (total storage 128GB).

The performance is backed by a 4830mAh battery that lasts a day with medium usage. The 66W flash takes about 55 minutes for a full charge.

OnePlus 10T : Rs 49,999

If you are looking for a smartphone that looks good and does not compromise performance, the OnePlus 10T should be your pick. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system-on-chip and is paired with up to 16GB RAM and 256GB onboard storage with no signs of lag. A good-looking device, the OnePlus 10T sports a 10-bit 6.7-inch fullHD+ AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate.

On the camera front, it has a 50MP primary camera with an 8MP ultra-wide-angle and a 2MP Macro lens. The images captured from the primary camera are impressive, but the ultra-wide-angle lens struggles in low light. The macro mode is just average; nothing to rave about.

The phone houses  4,800mAh power that lasts a day on a single charge on moderate usage. It is accompanied with a 150W fast-wired charger which charges the phone in just 30 minutes.

Google Pixel 7: Rs 59,999

Google’s recently launched Pixel 7 is one of the best Android smartphones as it scores high in every department –from the looks to the camera to performance. Google has opted for a glass rear with a raised camera bar that packs a 50MP wide-angle camera and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera. Along with the sensors, a lot of computational photography (software) is at work that results in stunning images. Plenty of editing options are accessible too.

The phone has a 6.3-inch Always-on display with 1080 x 2400 pixels resolution, 416 PPI density, and a 90Hz refresh rate display that feels bright under bright daylight. It is powered by Google’s in-house Tensor G2 chip built with AI and ML and is paired with 8GB RAM. On benchmarks, it is not as powerful as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, yet it has enough power to handle all tasks smoothly. It also has only 128 GB storage with no expandable memory. Belonging to Google, Pixel 7 runs on Android 13 with no third-party software and bloatware. A 4355 mAh battery backs this, and while Google has added a charging cable, the adapter is a miss. While the Pixel  7 supports 5G, Google is working closely with Indian operators to enable 5G functionality on the phone.

Also read: Oppo Android smartphones get Reliance Jio 5G support; check full list of phones