Smartphones have become an essential part of our everyday lives; it’s hard to remember they didn’t even exist at the turn of the century. Today we take a look at 10 of the best smartphones that cost below 20000 naira.
The world has truly become a global village; the way we do everything has changed so much over time. The technological revolution began with the discovery of computers. However, with time making computers and making them faster wasn’t enough. As the hurdle of speed and innovation was being crossed, the next big question became portability.
Yes, computers were helping out big time but they were capable of so much, if only. If only they could be moved about more easily. Soon laptops and palmtops were answering that question but not sufficiently. Then came the first generation of smartphones: IBM, Nokia, Motorola and BlackBerry were frontrunners. However, not until the launch of the iPhone in 2007 did we truly begin to see the true capability of smartphones.
Then came Android…
Since then, the war that involved Operating Systems (OS) like Java, Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows and iOS has been significantly narrowed down. These days, the two major players in the smartphone OS game are Android and iOS.
Android, is the Google-owned Operating System that powers over 90% of the smartphone market. Its huge popularity is as a result of it being open-source. This means that any smartphone manufacturer can install the OS on their device. They can also freely alter the OS to their taste—given license to go as far as choosing not to preload Google apps on their devices.
What this freedom meant is that smartphone manufacturers only need to focus on creating their hardware in the knowledge that they can always use the Android OS on it. This has, in turn, led to the rise in diverse smartphone brands. In fact, an overwhelming majority of the most affordable smartphones in the market today aren’t products of the big players, but upstart companies—most of whom are based in Asia.
Best smartphones below 20000 naira
Recently, the naira has consistently performed unfavourably in the foreign exchange market. This reason, coupled with rising inflation in Nigeria has meant that the best smartphones have stayed out of the reach of those without tens of grand to spare.
We’ve, however, scoured the market for some of the best deals out there. These phones are not necessarily high-end phones but they pretty much get the basics done and are good value for money.
Also, note that the prices on display here may not necessarily be what you get eventually. This is because prices may differ based on time and where you are purchasing the devices from. However, the difference between what you see here and what you get in the market should not be too significant. Most of the phones listed below can easily be gotten from online stores like Jumia and Konga.
The phones listed below are not arranged in any particular order as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Go through them all and see what suits you.
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1. Cubot P7
The Cubot brand is one of the lesser-known mobile phone manufacturers who have a number of affordable phones with decent specifications. Right off the bat, I must say I am deeply impressed by the battery size of the Cubot P7. I mean, 4000 MaH on an 18,000 naira phone?! If you’re not one who uses their phone too much that should amount to 2-3 days without your battery dying.
The phone also features a respectable 8 GB of internal storage and 1 GB RAM while supporting memory card extension of up to 32 GB.
The phone uses 2 SIMs, one of the slots work for 3G and the other for 2G. It has a 2MP front camera and a 5MP camera at the back.
The screen, as with many of these low budget phones is quite small, at 4.7 inches (the entire phone is 5 inches). However, there are some who prefer smaller screens anyway.
Key specifications of Cubot P7
| Price | N18,000 |
| OS | Android 4.4 |
| Screen Size | 4.7 in (inches) |
| Display Resolution | 960 x 540 pixels QHD screen |
| Processor | Quad-core, 1.3 GHz |
| GPU | Mali |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Storage Space | 8 GB |
| microSD Slot | TF card up to 32 GB extended |
| Primary Camera | 5.0 MP |
| Selfie Camera | 2.0 MP |
| Battery | 4,000 MaH |
| Connectivity | 3G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, Tethering and Hotspot |
| SIMS | 2 |
2. Itel A16
Itel is one of the major manufacturers of low-budget smartphones available in Nigeria. The Itel A16 uses one of the recent versions of Android (8.1). However, it uses the Go edition of the OS which is the lightweight version of it. The Go edition of Android consumes less space and requires less RAM and CPU to run.
There are two kinds of A16 in the market, the only difference being the RAM. One has 512MB RAM size while the other has 1 GB, that’s something to be watchful of if you choose to get the phone for yourself.
All in all, it’s a decent budget phone with its main weakness being the battery and the price it sells for.
Key specifications of Itel A16
| Price | N19,550 |
| OS | Android 8.1 (Go edition) |
| Screen Size | 5 in (inches) |
| Display Resolution | 480 x 854 pixels |
| Processor | Quad-core,1.3 GHz |
| GPU | ARM Mali-T820 MP1, Cores: 1 |
| RAM | 512 MB / 1 GB |
| Storage Space | 8 GB |
| microSD Slot | TF card up to 32 GB extended |
| Primary Camera | 5.0 MP |
| Selfie Camera | 2.0 MP |
| Battery | 2,050mAh |
| Connectivity | 3G LTE, Wifi, Bluetooth, USB, Tethering and Hotspot |
| SIMS | 2 |
3. Swisstone QUBO SD510
A relative unknown in the phone market, Qubo’s Swisstone SD510 is another choice to opt for. At 16,000 Naira the phone has 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. This can be expanded with up to 64 GB memory card, so you can see why it made our list of best smartphones below 20000 naira. Also, the phone’s multi-window mode enables the screen to be split (split-screen).
It’s a pretty decent phone with 3G network and 2 SIM slots available. However, as with many of the phones here, its battery is rather small and doesn’t last that long. At its price though, it’s a good deal.
Key specifications of Swisstone QUBO SD510
| Price | N16,000 |
| OS | Android 4.4 |
| Screen Size | 5 in (inches) |
| Display Resolution | 854 x 480 pixels |
| Processor | Quad-core,1.3 GHz |
| GPU | ARM Mali400 MP2 |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Storage Space | 8 GB |
| microSD Slot | TF card up to 64 GB extended |
| Primary Camera | 5.0 MP |
| Selfie Camera | 2.0 MP |
| Battery | 2,050MaH |
| Connectivity | 3G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, Tethering and Hotspot |
| SIMS | 2 |
4. Huawei Y3II (MTN SIM only)
Huawei Y3II is maybe the device with the most value for money on our list of best smartphones below 20000 naira. Firstly, it is sold at an affordable price of 14,000 naira – less than most of the other phones on this list. It also has an okay-ish 2100 MaH battery. The phone is loaded with Android 5.1 and has a 1 GB RAM as well as 8 GB of internal memory.
The two major drawbacks of this device are its slow processor – 1 GHz, which means that apps would many times run slower than on the other phones featured here. Also, it only has 1 SIM slot unlike the others here. That singular SIM also has to be an MTN SIM because the phone is the result of a partnership between Huawei and MTN. These days many Nigerians have multiple SIM cards and try to put at least two in every one of their phones. The good thing though is that unlike when we had to use phones like Visafone and Starcomms, MTN is the network with the widest network coverage in the entire country. For this reason, there should be no issues with having to use only their SIM in the phone.
