Best Gaming Phone under ₹20,000 with KILLER specs!!(April 2020)

There are young enthusiastic gamers out there who can't afford high-end gaming phones. But this doesn't deteriorate their dream to become gamers, thanks to the latest technology and mobile phone companies who are launching flagship phones that are almost equivalent to high-end phones and have killer specs. But the challenge here is to choose the best of the top available.

Each manufacturer adds features to their device which in most cases are not similar and people may get confused on what basis to compare. So here we compare some of the recently launched flagship phones. The final choice lies on you to decide your gadget. I broadly compare the phones based on the processor, storage, camera, battery, and additional features.

So coming to the point, here is the list of mobiles which we are going to compare:

1. Realme 6
2. Realme 6 Pro
3. Poco X2
4. Realme X2
5. Redmi Note 8 pro
6. Redmi Note 9 pro max

Performance:

The first criteria a gamer would be looking for is the performance. If you are not so geeky and don't understand the terms I use, never mind...I'll conclude things for you. First, let's look at the different chipsets used, RAM and clock speed.

	Phone	Chipset	RAM	Clock Speed
	Realme 6	MediaTek Helio G90T	8 GB	2.05 GHz
	Realme 6 Pro	Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G	8 GB	2.3 GHz
	Poco X2	Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G	8 GB	2.2 GHz
	Realme X2	Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G	8 GB	2.2 GHz
	Redmi Note 8 pro	MediaTek Helio G90T	8 GB	2.05 GHz
	Redmi Note 9 pro max	Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G	8 GB	2.3 GHz

We find that most chipsets are MediaTek Helio G90T, Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G is the most recent chipset launched by Qualcomm in the flagship sector and is claimed to be the most powerful in the budget sector. But actually, its performance was not as good as the previous version, i.e. Snapdragon 730G. But besides the two, there is a chipset which offers more performance. The MediaTek Helio G90T is currently the best flagship processer on the grounds of performance. But on a general view considering other features, Snapdragon 730G leads the chart. 

So you are determined to buy a phone solely for the purpose of gaming, I would recommend you to go for MediaTek Helio G90T. If not, choose between the snapdragon processors.

PUBG Test:

Now here comes the main part. This is what most of us would be looking for to buy a phone. "Would I be able to play PUBG on HDR graphics?" would be a criterion most of us would be looking for. So here I am to tell you about the graphic options one could avail of different chipsets.

In mobile with Helio G90T, you would be able to play PUBG with HDR graphics and Ultra frame rate.

In mobile with Snapdragon 720G or 730G, you would be able to play only with HD graphics and High frame rate.

But here is a trick. You can play on HDR graphics and extreme frame rate even on an SD720G or SD730G phone, thanks to GFX tools. You can simply search "PUBG GFX tool" on Play Store, download anyone, set the graphics as per your needs and enjoy! And to my surprise, it was rather smooth without any lag. So this makes all three chipsets almost equivalent. But the difference lies in the additional features offered by the phones. Let's check them out soon.

Additional features:

Refresh Rates:

Out of all these mobiles, Realme 6, Realme 6 Pro, and Poco X2 have an astonishing feature that brings them to the limelight. Realme 6 and 6 Pro have a 90Hz refresh rate and the Poco X2 has a humongous 120Hz refresh rate, whereas all other mobiles in this sector have managed only 60Hz. 

Wondering what 'Refresh rate' is? Well, that's simple. The number on your refresh rate is the number of Frames Per Second(FPS) you get. So your games would be much smoother.

But the bad part about this is that you can't play PUBG on 90Fps or 120Fps cuz the game isn't optimized for it. But still, you can play a lot of games like Real Racing 3, Shadow Fight 2&3, and Temple Run in 90 or 120 Fps based on the phone you choose.

Cooling system:

This is a really cool feature that is necessary for prolonged gaming hours. Most mobiles have a cooling system, which is not always the same in all cases. Both Poco X2 and Redmi Note 8 Pro claim to have a dedicated Liquid Cooling system to prevent the device from over-heating.

I hope I have discusses the required parts you need to know about the gaming performance part. The next important thing is the battery.

Battery:

It is a lot easier to compare the battery capacity of mobiles by merely noting down what is given in the specifications of the mobile. But this does not reflect the actual performance of the battery. So here comes the need for battery drain test under heavy performance.

The battery test is done on all mobiles. The test comprises of:

1. FHD video playback- 1hr
2. Gaming- 1hr
3. Music- 30min
4. Video Recording- 30min

This activity was repeated until the battery of each phone died. And the result was this:

1. Redmi Note 9 Pro Max- 7hr 57min
2. Realme X2- 7hr 41min
3. Realme 6- 7hr 25 min
4. Realme 6 Pro- 7hr 10min
5. Redmi Note 8 pro- 6hr 19min
6. Poco X2- 6hr 16min

Redmi Note 9 Pro Max lasted really long, which was amazing indeed.

Camera:

Ok, coming to the last part I'm just gonna keep it short I'll discuss the camera resolutions of different phones, and add shots taken on each phone.

	Phone	Rear Camera Resolution	Front Camera Resolution
	Realme 6	64 MP	16 MP
	Realme 6 Pro	64 MP	16 MP
	Poco X2	64 MP	20MP
	Realme X2	64 MP	32 MP
	Redmi Note 8 pro	64 MP	20 MP
	Redmi Note 9 pro max	64 MP	32 MP

As you can see, all mobiles have a 64 MP rear camera. There is some difference in the values of the front camera resolution. But the clarity and sharpness of each photo do not mainly lie on the camera resolution. There are many other factors to consider. Here we are not going much into details of it and jumping directly into the conclusion.

So finally, here I rank the top 3 mobiles under this lot based on customer reviews. 

1. POCO X2
2. Realme 6 Pro
3. Realme 6

There are other mobiles like Mi A3 and Samsung M31 coming into the list of camera phones under ₹20000, but here we are not considering them since they do not have capable chipsets.

Conclusion:

So from the above comparison, you can choose the best phone that suits you. If you feel confused even after reading this, let's make it simple. If you want an overall performance phone and the battery is not a big deal, close your eyes and pick POCO X2. But if your main concern is battery and still wanted to game on a casual basis, go with Redmi Note 9 Pro Max. If you want a good battery and a better gaming phone with good camera, go with Realme 6 Pro. The ultimate choice lies with you. If you would ask me to suggest one, my choice would be POCO X2. Good luck with choosing your new mobile phone.