Buyer's guide: Budget camera phones

Please suggest a smartphone with a good camera that can be used to shoot pictures that can be shared on social networks, and which also work well with apps like Instagram.

--Bhushan Kumar, Manish Nagpal, Rahul Sawant, Tareeq Shah

If your budget under Rs 10,000Consider the Xiaomi Redmi 2 (Rs 5,999) for its responsive cameras and the ability to capture a fair amount of detail in natural light.

Colours in photos shot with the rear camera are slightly punched up, while the front camera is capable of snapshots that are good enough for sharing online. Its camera app comes with basic modes like HDR for shooting subjects against a bright background and photo filters that you can choose before you take a picture.

Specifications4.7-inch (1280720p) display1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor1GB RAM5MP, 2MP cameras8GB, microSD2,200mAh battery

If you prefer a larger screen, then try the Honor 4X (Rs 9,999). Its camera app boasts of features such as Panorama, HDR, au dio note, best photo, and watermark. Notably, it comes with an All-Focus mode that lets you shoot a picture first and later decide on the area of focus. Also, its front snapper comes with a beauty mode for selfies.

Specifications5.5-inch (1280x720p) display1.2GHz MSM8916 quad-core processor2GB RAM13MP, 5MP cameras8GB, microSD3,000mAh battery

Under Rs 20,000The cameras on the Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (Rs 19,999) are responsive, take surprisingly crisp shots and perform really well in poorly-lit environments. The camera app comes with a bunch of built-in photo effects that let you create GIF animations, time lapse videos and more.

Specifications5.5-inch (1920x1080p) IPS display2.3GHz Intel Atom Z3580 quad-core processor4GB RAM13MP,5MP cameras32GB storage, microSD3,000mAh battery

The Xiaomi Mi 4 64GB (Rs 19,999) cameras come with features like dynamic flash where a photo is taken with and without flash to create a well-lit shot, the option to change focus after yo u take a picture and more.

Also, this handset's wide-angle front camera shoots pictures that are a lot better than other devices in its price range. We would recommend the 64GB version of this phone to store images and videos, but it is also available in a 16GB (Rs 14,999) variant.

Specifications5-inch (1920x1080p) display2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor13GB RAM13MP, 8MP cameras16GB, 64GB storage3,080mAh battery

For a camera phone with a rugged build, opt for the water and dust-proof Sony Xperia M4 Aqua (Rs 20,000). Here, you get an "intelligent" auto mode that figures what scene mode to use and downloadable apps that let you create movies of your albums, a virtual environment around a subject and more.

Specifications5-inch (1280x720p) display1.5GHz Snapdragon 615 quad-core processor2GB RAM13MP,5MP cameras16GB storage, microSD2,400mAh battery

Alternatively, you could consider the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL dual-sim (Rs 15,000) Windows Phone, which uses a wide-angle Carl Zeiss lens on its rear camera. Image results are sharp, display good amount of detail and have less grain.That said, image quality suffers a bit in poorly-lit settings.

Specifications5.7-inch (1920x1080p) IPS display1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor1GB RAM13MP, 5MP cameras8GB storage, microSD3,000mAh battery

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Source: Buyer's guide: Budget camera phones