Popular Phones Worth Buying in India Currently
Update – 4/Dec/2018 – There are many mobile brands operating in India, we did a study a few days back and found there are more than 30 brands. (Can Read – The Hyper Competitive Indian Smartphone Market Analysis Report 2018).
Making India one of the most competitive markets in the world.
Every day there are many new phones getting launched and it is even difficult for hardcore enthusiasts to track all of them. I do it for a living, still, at times there are so many new phones getting launched that I find it difficult to write about each of them.
However, the point of this article is to have a look at the top phones that are most popular currently from top brands.
The data for this post is gathered using multiple sources, such as sales numbers posted by brands, from counterpoint research and other similar sources.
Also, we have taken the number of reviews (Flipkart and Amazon) and interest over time using Google Trends to factor in the Popularity of devices.
**But to make things more transparent, I will say it is an indicative analysis but not audited numbers shared by brands. Moreover, there is no central resource or agency that publishes this data.
Indian Smartphone Market Share
It is important to note that the top brands in India are Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, and Vivo. Micromax figured in this report due to a government order of phones, otherwise is not a top brand anymore. (Source – Smartphone Market Share India October 2018 (Xiaomi Leads, Micromax Comeback)
Also, It is interesting to see the high-end premium market is dominated by OnePlus, Samsung and Apple.
This article also gives you a fare idea about what is seling and popular currently.
Having established above, now based on our research, let’s look at some of the top phones sold by the brands.
Top 10 Most Popular Smartphones in India from Top Brands
Starting the with the Market leader Xiaomi.
1. Xiaomi Redmi 6A is a top seller in the sub 6k price range and is the successor to the Redmi 5A that the brand claims to have sold 5 million units.
2. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro or Note 6 Pro – The Note 6 Pro is recently launched and the brand claimed over 600,000 units sold on day 1. However, the real deal was the Note 5 Pro which is likely to have sold nearly 5 million units or more since its launch.
3. POCO F1 – The low-cost flagship phone from Xiaomi is another top seller and crowd favorite. POCO is a new sub-brand from Xiaomi and currently is selling only 1 device. The initial shipments for the device are very strong as per counterpoint research.
Samsung
Despite losing the leadership position to Xiaomi, the company still have some top sellers. Samsung is not a dominant force online but has a very strong retail distribution network that helps in selling huge volumes.
4. Budget Samsung Phones – In the budget segment Samsung has the Galaxy J6 (On6) and the Galaxy J8 (On 8) which are quite popular in both offline and online market. The company recently claimed they have sold more than 2 million J Series phones.
5. Premium Samsung Smartphones – The Galaxy S9/S9+ and Note 9 are the best sellers in the more than 50k price segment. Samsung’s wide aftersales network and great quality products are very popular not only in the metros but also in tier 2, tier 3 towns.
6. Oppo – Oppo has several new phones launching every month and the brand has a market share of 8% in India. Phones like Oppo A71K, F9, and F9 Pro are the crowd puller for the brand.
7. Vivo – Vivo also is very similar to Oppo and commands close to 10% market share. The brand has a strong retail presence in India and even manages to do well online. The showstopper for Vivo is V9, V9 Youth, V9 Pro, and the V11 Pro.
8. Asus – Asus doesn’t show up in the above market share data. However, the brand is doing great in the online sales with the launch of Zenfone Max Pro M1 and the Zenfone 5Z.
Asus has done a partnership with Flipkart and is one of the best seller partners for the e-commerce company.
9. Realme – They are the new kid on the block and in the last 5 months of operation the brand has sold more than 3 Million devices. The brand is becoming a threat to the market leader Xiaomi and is focusing on 8k to 15k price segment.
Also, Realme was one of the top-selling brands online during the festive season in India.
Most popular phones from Realme are – Realme 1, Realme 2 Pro and the Realme C1.
10. Huawei – Huawei has struggled in the Indian market for years but finally is able to gain some traction. Notably, Huawei overtook Apple recently in the global market to become number 2.
The Huawei Honor 9N, Honor 7s, Honor 8X and the Honor Play are some of the new phones that are top sellers for the brand. Huawei is even planning to get into retail sales with the launch of 200 company stores.
11. OnePlus – Last but not the least, BBK electronics brand OnePlus is a superb performer in the premium segment. In the last quarter (Q3 2018) they were able to sell more phones than Samsung in the high-end segment.
In a recent sale on Amazon Oneplus sold more than 400 crores of inventory of Oneplus 6 and OnePlus 6T.
So these are some of the best sellers and most popular mobiles that are currently available. So what do you think is the best phone of 2018, Share in Comments.
Summary – Top 20 Best Smartphones and Top Mobile Companies in India 2018 (Best Selling)
| SR. No. | Company | Mobile | Price Rs. |
| 1 | Xiaomi | Redmi 6A | 5,999 |
| 2 | Xiaomi | Redmi Note 5 Pro | 12,999 |
| 3 | Xiaomi | POCO F1 | 20,990 |
| 4 | Samsung | Galaxy J6 | 12,999 |
| 5 | Samsung | Galaxy J8 | 15,999 |
| 6 | Samsung | S9 | 57,900 |
| 7 | Samsung | S9+ | 64,900 |
| 8 | Oppo | A71K | 9,999 |
| 9 | Oppo | F9 | 18,990 |
| 10 | Vivo | V9 Pro | 15,990 |
| 11 | Vivo | V11 PRO | 25,990 |
| 12 | Asus | Max Pro M1 | 14,999 |
| 13 | Asus | Zenfone 5Z | 29,999 |
| 14 | Realme | Realme 1 | 10,999 |
| 15 | Realme | Realme C1 | 7,999 |
| 16 | Realme | Realme 2 Pro | 13,999 |
| 17 | Huawei | Honor 9N | 9,999 |
| 18 | Huawei | Honor 8X | 15,999 |
| 19 | Huawei | Honor Play | 19,999 |
| 20 | OnePlus | OnePlus 6T | 37,999 |
Check Out – Popular Mobiles in sub 10K Price range or sub 15K Price currently.
