Major e-commerce sites have already started the refurbished goods marketplace for frugal customers who wish to own a second hand but certified working device/product at significantly lower prices.

In this article, we have carefully gone through the best-refurbished smartphones under Rs.15,000 available online and compiled the best five products that we feel is bang for the buck deal at present.

Without any further ado, let’s get started!

Note: The price shown are the once when we reviewed the products. However, as the promotional offers changes on the given E-commerce sites, the price may vary. Bettershark is supported by it’s readers and when you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

1. OnePlus 5

Overall Best Pick

• Powerful Processor
• Excellent camera output quality
• Type C charging/data syncing port

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OnePlus is a Chinese smartphone brand popular for its affordable flagships that often beat the big players in the market such as Samsung and Apple in providing the most value for money offering to the consumers.

OnePlus 5 was one of their flagship smartphones released way back in June 2017 with a slew of exciting new features onboard.

Design and Build Quality

Design-wise, OnePlus 6 isn’t something that looks disruptive in the smartphone market.

The phone features a wedge-shaped design that makes it easy to hold in the hand. The aluminium back feels premium as well.

The fingerprint sensor located on front below the display bezel and doubles up as a home button.

Processor and Performance

Inside this device, what powers the show is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor combined with 6GB of high-speed RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

The device performs as fast as any mid-range smartphones out there in the market at present.

You can multitask and play resource-intensive games and can have an experience similar to what you might get on a modern-day device.

Display

The OnePlus 5 has a 5.5-inch Optic-AMOLED display with 16:9 aspect ratio. This full HD panel looks fantastic with true to life colour reproduction and excellent contrast levels.

This is by far the best looking 1080p AMOLED panel in any smartphones in the market.

The blacks are deep and the colours look vivid. The display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 to save you from minor scratches as well.

Camera

This device comes with a dual 16+20MP dual-camera at the rear and a 16MP front camera. The 16MP sensor on the rear features Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) for steady smooth shots.

Electronic Image stabilisation is also present as well. The pictures taken by the camera is rich in details and exhibit great dynamic range.

Both the front and rear cameras perform great in good lighting conditions but the same can’t be said about front cameras.

Battery Life

The Oxygen OS on top of this device is based on Android 7 Nougat with very few modifications.

This makes the operations smooth and fast, also aids in achieving better battery life.

3300mAh battery on this device provides an impressive screen time of about 7 hours. With the DASH fast charging feature, charging is quicker than ever before.

Verdict

The refurbished OnePlus 5 still holds its might among other modern smartphones priced around Rs.15,000.

The near-stock Android experience, stunning display and excellent developer support increase the life of the device beyond the official updates from the company.

2. POCO F1

Value for Money Deal

• Top of the line processor
• 128GB internal storage
• Liquid cooling technology

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As you might have already known, Pocofone is a new subsidiary of Xiaomi that was recently unveiled in the country.

The company’s first launch in the market, the Poco F1 is already the new talk of the town even before the device is being released to the hands of the public.

Build Quality and Design

The Poco F1 with all the loaded features had to cut some corners to meet its low price tag promise. The build quality is average but decent enough not to be termed as shabby.

The curved edges help this comparatively large device easy to hold and operate with a single hand.

The Poco F1 looks similar to many of the expensive flagships in the market with a vertical dual camera set up at the back and a notched display upfront.

What makes this device stand out from the pack is the inclusion of a liquid cooling technology that will avoid the device from getting hot while gaming or any other intense resource-hungry operations.

Processor and Performance

Most of the mid-range smartphones today feature perfectly capable, but not necessarily high-end processors.

The last greatest SoC to be used in a premium budget smartphone was the Snapdragon 660 which is powerful and efficient.

The absolute beasts like Sandragon 845 were only reserved for the elite flagship smartphones that cost a fortune. But not anymore.

The Poco F1 comes with the top of the line Snapdragon 845 processor.

This beast is supported by a fast LPDDRX 6GB RAM to chew through whatever apps or games you throw at it.

This device also comes with a 128GB storage and gives the option to increase the storage capacity by a hybrid SIM slot.

Display

The Poco F1 features a large 6.18-inch full HD+ display that reproduces stunning lifelike images with true to life colours.

This IPS display has excellent viewing angles and gives a sharp and crisp output, thanks to the 403 ppi pixel density even with this large size.

The display has a notch up top, which is fairly big.

If you don’t like the intrusion of a notch, you can technically turn it off in the settings but with a slight reduction in screen real estate.

Camera

The Poco F1 comes loaded with a rear dual camera setup that has a 12MP+5MP setup of which a second lens is a depth-sensing unit.

Along with the physical depth calculations, the AI integration that the company has built-in will give you possibly one of the best image output in the segment.

The front camera is a 20MP shooter assisted with infrared sensors to give clear selfies even in low-light environments.

The only gripe we had with the camera department is that there is no Optical Image Stabilization available.

OIS houses a physical motor unit on top of which the camera sensor is mounted. This tiny motor moves in three or more axis to counteract the shakes arising from the movement of your hands while filming and aids in a perfectly balanced smooth frame.

Battery Life

The Poco F1 has 4000mAh Li-ion battery inside which will easily last over a day even with heavy use.

Xiaomi is already known for including higher capacity batteries on their certain models such as the Redmi Note 5 Pro.

This time the company has even bundled a Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 certified fast charger that will let you charge the device even faster.

Verdict

The absolute beast of a performer, the Snapdragon 845 inside the Poco F1 is the centrepiece of all attractions and definitely won’t fail your expectations – be it multitasking or gaming.

With the slightly modified, less cartoony MIUI interface, you are going to get a plethora of customization options as well.

The Huawei Honor 8 Pro, when it was launched back in mid-2017 gave the popular One Plus 5 a run for its money and even out-muscled it in certain aspects.

The refurbished version of the same device with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is on sale for just under Rs.13,000.

Processor and Performance

The Honor 8 Pro is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 960 Octa-core processor and Mali-G71 GPU.

This chipset is comparable to the Snapdragon 821 in terms of raw performance.

The Honor 8 Pro has 128GB of internal storage and 6GB of RAM.

This smartphone comes with Android Nougat based EMUI 8.0 out of the box and can be upgraded to Oreo.

Moving to the performance of Honor 8 Pro, it can run heavy games that require high processing power, RAM and GPU with ease.

Build Quality and Display

The Honor 8 Pro has a well-built aluminium unibody with 5.7-inch Quad HD LCD.

It has a hybrid SIM slot with dual nano-SIM support. The fingerprint scanner and the dual rear camera is mounted at the back.

Continuous usage for a longer duration, you can expect the body to become slightly warm but in normal use, this is not a problem.

The audio output via headphone jack was one of the best you can get from any smartphone.

Thanks to this high resolution (1440*2560 pixels, 515 ppi) the pictures are sharp and the screen quality is impeccable.

The viewing angles are also amazing. The display has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

Camera and Battery Life

The 8 Pro sports a dual 12MP Rear camera that can click beautiful pictures with details in daylight conditions.

Unlike smartphones that have a telephoto lens on the second camera, these two are used as independent RGB and monochrome sensors.

The monochrome sensor can absorb more light which results in better details.

To leverage the hardware, Honor has built its camera app that offers multiple modes to choose from.

The 8MP front camera is also pretty good but it smoothens the selfies a bit resulting in a lack of originality.

There is no LED flash at the front. The 8 Pro can record 4K videos but there is no Optical Image Stabilization to rectify shakiness in videos.

It has a 4000mAh battery that can last a long duration even under heavy use.

The presence of IR blaster and USB Type C port are an added incentive to go with this model.

Verdict

The Huawei Honor 8 Pro offers you a rare combination of looks and efficiency.

This device has that elegant design which can rival many of the flagship smartphones out there.

The large battery combined with a powerful processor will satiate your needs for long-lasting powerful computing on the go.

4. Mi Mix 2

Best Build Quality

• Designed to perfection
• Impressive screen to body ratio
• Ceramic back

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Even though Sharp started the bezel-less trend with Aquos range, it was Xiaomi who met success with this experiment on their Mi MIX phones.

At the time, Xiaomi was praised industry-wide for such innovation and they are repeating the success with the Mi MIX 2 as well.

Design and Build Quality

On the design front, Mi MIX 2 is a show stopper. Mi MIX 2 features a pretty high screen to body ratio with it’s 5.99″ full HD+ display.

With a minimal bezel, this phone looks gorgeous from the front.

The awesome design will turn anyone’s head in awe and that gorgeous display is destined to get praises from the crowd.

The device features a ceramic back that is an industry first. Ceramic is very tough and will resist scratches much better than Corning gorilla glass.

Those who throw their devices around carelessly can calm your nerves.

Xiaomi, following other manufacturers, has decided to let the headphone jack to disappear on this phone.

Processor and Performance

Mi MIX 2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 that is currently the next best
flagship offering from Qualcomm.

It comes with a 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage that will let you pack your stuff without bothering about the free space for a long time.

Snapdragon 835 coupled with 6 GB RAM ensures your apps and games will run like butter spread on the bread.

Multitasking and those memory-intensive games you have been longing to play will not even bother to test the phone’s capability.

Xiaomi experimented with the design but it seems that they spared the camera from that test.

Camera

Mi MIX 2 features a single 12MP rear camera with some advanced modes that will take no time to master.

The phone is equipped with 4 axes Optical Image stabilization to keep your videos look like they are shot in a gimbal.

The 5MP front camera is nothing much to talk about and does it’s job fine although the awkward placement on the lower chin may raise many eyebrows for sure.

Battery Life

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 comes with a 3400mAh battery that will let you catch up with your favourite shows on the phone or gaming without the fear of a dying battery a no-frills experience.

It is highly customized skin on top of Android by Xiaomi and although it brings its goodies in the bag, some may find the bloated experience less appealing.

Verdict

The Mi Mix 2 from Xiaomi is an excellent smartphone that comes with all goodies loaded and then some.

The ceramic back and the overall construction feels solid and durable, making it one of the phones with the best build quality in this list of refurbished smartphones priced under Rs.15,000.

5. Oppo F9 Pro

Best Selfie Camera Smartphone

• Powerful mid-range processor
• Excellent display
• Dedicated SD card slot

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The Oppo F9 Pro is a premium budget mid-range handset priced just under Rs.25,000 following the new design strategy and has respectable internals that makes it one of the best in the business.

Design and Build Quality

Oppo stunned the smartphone world with the release of the Oppo Find X which featured an industry first motorized sliding camera. The company is again at it with a new design ideology dubbed as the waterdrop notch.

The Oppo F9 Pro has a very eye catchy design that looks amazing at the first look.

The back panel is made of polycarbonate. It has a gradient glossy colour design with a diamond-cut texture which looks similar to those in the budget Realme devices.

The back is susceptible to scratches so do remember to use a transparent case if you want to conserve the style and that pristine look on your smartphone.

The waterdrop notch is very stylish and masks the ugliness of the traditional notch to an extent in our opinion.

Display

The Oppo F9 Pro features a tall 6.3-inch TFT LTPS display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. This amounts to a pixel density of 409 ppi.

The visuals and texts appear sharp and detailed on this display and it offers great contrast levels and deep blacks. The colours are much more natural and vivid as well.

Since the display is of 19:9 aspect ratio, the phone doesn’t feel oversized to use with a single hand.

This panel also gets sufficiently bright up to 530 nits which are enough for good sunlight legibility.

The waterdrop notch can’t be hidden via software and there isn’t a need for that as well.

Processor and Performance

The Oppo F9 Pro is powered by the powerful midrange SoC, MediaTek Helio P60.

This chipset performs similar or even better than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 found on the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 and the Redmi Note 5 Pro.

With the 6GB of RAM, multitasking is great and the device breaks no sweat processing multiple resource-intensive apps sides by side.

The device comes with 64GB of inbuilt memory and has a dedicated SD card slot that can be expanded up to 256GB in case you yearn for more space to store your photos and files.

Camera

In the rear, the Oppo F9 Pro features a 16MP + 2MP dual-camera setup of which the 2MP is a depth sensor.

The pictures taken using this rear camera comes out nice in daylight and has very good details and less noise.

The front camera is a 25MP shooter which can take portrait selfies and the edge detection works just fine.

Standard features such as portrait mode and AI-assisted scene detection is present and accounted for.

Battery Life

The Oppo F9 Pro has a 3500mAh Li-ion battery inside which delivers excellent battery life.

Under heavy usage, this phone will last over a day comfortably with enough juice to spare for a couple of hours.

Not only that, Oppo supplies a fast charger with the box, certified to be VOOC enabled, which is the companies answer to Oneplus’s Dash charge feature.

This charger charges the battery up to 56% in just under 30 minutes.

Verdict

The Oppo F9 Pro is a mid-range smartphone with capable internal hardware.

What makes this device stand out from the rest is the design. The phone is a stunner when it comes to the looks and is sure to turn some heads in the crowd.

Value-added features such as bundling the fast charger with the device make this a much more compelling option worth purchasing.

6. Nokia 7 Plus

Honourable Mention

• Great build quality
• Android One device from Nokia
• Excellent battery life

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Nokia 7 plus is one of the most exciting launches this year from HMD Global.

It ticks all the right boxes and adding a cherry on top, this refurbished Android smartphone comes with the Android One program that runs a true stock Android version straight from Google.

Design and Build Quality

Carved out of a single block of Series 6000 Aluminum, Nokia 7 Plus is as strong as it could get.

The design looks fresh and the accent colours give a flair of modernity to the device.

Nokia still hasn’t left out the 3.5mm headphone jack as some of the other manufacturers are doing.

A type C charging port is one of the most needed but ignored features on phones under the Rs.25,000 price segment.

Fortunately, this device features one.

Overall, the build quality of this device is amazing – just like the other Nokia devices out there.

Processor and Performance

The Nokia 7 Plus comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset inside, which is the most powerful member of the Snapdragon 6xx series.

Apps and games run perfectly fine with no lags whatsoever.

This device comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM along with an inbuilt storage size of 64GB which can be further expanded to 256GB via an SD card slot.

This phone comes with a hybrid SIM slot meaning either you have to use two SIM’s without having the option to increase the storage size or just one SIM with an SD card.

Display

This device features a 6-inch full HD+ IPS LCD with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels at an 18:9 aspect ratio.

The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 which is both polarized as well as laminated to reduce the gap between the glass and the digitizer.

The colours look stunning and brightness levels are good. The texts appear sharper on the screen with no pixelation even when zoomed into closely.

Camera

Nokia had a partnership with Zeiss optics in their glory times and has decided to continue the bond.

The Nokia 7 Plus has a dual-camera setup with primary 12MP sensor along with a 13MP telephoto shooter than can zoom into the subjects up to 2x without any loss in details.

The images from the rear camera unit look great with detailed subjects and accurate colour reproduction.

In the front, a 16MP sensor is present that works well even in low light environments.

Battery Life

Nokia is used to skimp on battery capacity when compared to its competitors but with the 7 Plus.

But, it seems that they have decided to travel the road less taken with a 3800mAh Li-ion battery that is expected to give around a day and a half worth of juice even with heavy usage.

Verdict

Nokia 7 Plus is probably the best smartphone HMD Global had made till now.

This refurbished Nokia smartphone has a fantastic build quality that resembles those Nokia phones back in its glory days.

The Android One program will make sure that the device will stay up to date up to two years with the latest software updates directly from Google.

If you like a future-proof device with assured updates, the Nokia 7 Plus is the best bet, at least for now.

Our list for the best refurbished Android smartphones concludes here. If you haven’t yet found your choice, be sure to check out our site for more refurbished devices under various price categories.

Thanks for your time and have a great day ahead!

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