Best smartphones in the TK 50,000-70,000 price range
A look at both official and unofficial upper-mid-range phones available in our domestic market
With the introduction of budget-oriented gaming processors by Qualcomm Snapdragon through the G series, a new segment in the smartphone market has been created, which popular reviewers have unofficially termed as the 'upper-mid-range' category. This is a price bracket that slips between mid-range smartphones and high-end flagships.
With the prices of flagship smartphones reaching over $1000-$2000, the demand for these expensive phones dropped significantly, paving the way for huge demand in the upper mid-range smartphone market.
In this article, we take a look at both official and unofficial upper-mid-range phones available in our domestic market, suitable for users with different needs.
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Corporate or creative professionals
Galaxy Note 10 Lite
Price: Tk49,999 (official)
The Galaxy Note 10 Lite is priced at Tk49,999, however, it can be purchased for Tk44,999 from their online store at the time of writing this article.
Specifications:
Body: 163.7x76.1x8.7mm, 199g
Screen: 6.7" Super AMOLED, 1080x2400px resolution; 20:9 aspect ratio; 394ppi; HDR support.
Chipset: Exynos 9810 (10nm)
Memory: 6/8GB RAM, 128GB built-in UFS 2.1 storage, shared microSD slot.
OS/Software: Android 10, One UI 2.0.
Rear camera: 12MP, 1/2.55" sensor, f/1.7 aperture, dual pixel PDAF, OIS. Telephoto: 12MP, PDAF, OIS. Ultra-wide: 12MP, f/2.2, fixed focus.
Front camera: 32MP, f/2.2.
Battery: 4,500mAh, 25W fast charging.
Miscellaneous: S Pen stylus; optical under-display fingerprint reader; single bottom-firing loudspeaker.
If you are looking for a large display phone with excellent specifications at an official price hovering around TK 50,000 budget, the Note 10 Lite is an excellent phone for corporate employees and creative professionals. The standout feature of this smartphone is the fact it offers support for the use of the S Pen stylus which can come in handy for quick note-taking or the occasional scribbles and sketches if that is what interests you.
It also has a big and beautiful AMOLED screen which provides rich and vibrant colours that will help make your long meetings over zoom less boring. For presentations, you can use this device's USB-C port with an HDMI adapter to directly project your PowerPoint slides. Moreover, One UI 2.0 in the phone is much more streamlined with its 6-8 GB of RAM, enough for your multitasking needs.
One standout feature by Samsung is the fact it promises 3 years of Android version updates with an additional 1 year of security patch updates which makes their devices ideal for long term usage. Furthermore, arguably Samsung is the king of having some of the best cameras in the smartphone industry.
Do note that Samsung has a notorious track record when it comes to crippling the user experience over their future software updates.
Reliable software or a small phone
iPhone 11
Price: Tk62,000 (unofficial)
The iPhone 11 is an easy recommendation for people who are looking for a compact phone which is a rare sight these days in the smartphone world coming at just 6.1 inches.
Specification:
IP68 certified for water and dust resistance.
Screen: 6.1" IPS LCD screen of 828 x 1792 resolution.
OS: Apple iOS 13
Chipset: Apple A13 Bionic chip (7nm+)
Memory: 4GB of RAM; 64-128GB of internal storage
Rear Camera: Dual 12MP camera, OIS, Dual Pixel AutoFocus; ultra-wide-angle, F/2.4.
Selfie: Dual camera - 12MP f/2.2 front-facing camera.
Battery: 3,110 mAh battery, 18W fast charging, wireless charging
Miscellaneous: Face ID through dedicated TrueDepth camera, stereo speakers, Taptic Engine
Apple's unique selling point relative to its Android counterparts is its software as most Android options have a heavy software skin on top of their Android version. This is a big reason why business professionals prefer using iPhones over Androids as the reliability of their bug-free software seldom lets any user down.
With the prices of flagship smartphones reaching over $1000-$2000, the demand for these expensive phones dropped significantly, paving the way for huge demand in the upper mid-range smartphone market.
Furthermore, iOS devices have an excellent record of being updated for many years after their release, almost 4-5 years in general which makes it an ideal purchase if you are looking for a compact phone with long term usage as a requirement along with reliable cameras.
The tech enthusiast
OnePlus 9
Price: Tk56,999 (unofficial)
The OnePlus 9 is the latest smartphone by the OnePlus brand and boasts the latest Snapdragon 888 which is the fastest/most powerful chipset available for Android smartphones. Furthermore, unlike previous OnePlus phones, the OnePlus 9 does have a flagship-grade camera, however, despite being as good as it is, it has faced stern criticism from tech reviewers and long term OnePlus fans due to the mass marketing campaign undertaken by the brand for their hyped-up Hasselblad Cameras which later turned out to be only a camera software optimisation in partnership with the Hasselblad brand.
Specification:
Display: 6.55" 120Hz Fluid AMOLED 1080x2400p resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
OS/Software: Android 11, OxygenOS 11.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8 PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: 16 MP.
Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 65W, 1-100 percent in 29 min (advertised), Fast wireless charging 15W (EU/NA only).
Miscellaneous: Fingerprint reader (optical under-display)
OnePlus is one of the only few OEM's offering a clean and fast Android software experience- something most Android OEM's are notoriously criticised for.
OnePlus's Oxygen OS is the best Android software experience money can buy as they keep a clean stock Android that is fast and responsive.
Moreover, the OnePlus comes with useful features like lock screen gestures, theming engines, parallel app support to note a few among many. None of these features slows down the system or hog resources.
Best camera on a smartphone
Pixel 4A 5G
Price: TK48,999 (unofficial)
At just under TK 50,000, there is the Google Pixel 4A 5G.
Specification:
- Display: 6.2 inches, 2340 x 1080 pixels
- Camera: 12.2 MP (dual camera), 8 MP front camera
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
- 6GB RAM
- Storage: 128GB, not expandable
- Battery: 3885 mAh
- OS: Android 11
The Pixel 4A 5G has the best camera in the market right now and it runs on pure stock Android UI giving you a bloatware-free snappy experience despite not having the latest hardware the industry has to offer in 2021. Google promises 2 years of software version updates along with another year of security patch updates. The Pixel line of phones is the first in line to receive the latest software updates Android has to offer.
Where do I get one?
All the aforementioned phones can be purchased both officially and unofficially. Some of the more reliable shops I would recommend:
Jack N Gadget - A Complete Lifestyle Store
Address: Shop: 82, 95 Block: D Level: 6 Bashundhara City Shopping Mall
Kry International
Address: Bashundhara City Shopping Mall, level # 5, Block # C, Shop No # 42.66.55 1215 Dhaka, Dhaka Division, BangladeshThe author can be reached at [email protected]
