The best phones in Kenya under 15K are in the budget phones category. Although their features, specifications and price cannot be compared one on one with the midrange and flagship phones, the following ones stand out and are among the best in this class.
Xiaomi Redmi 9C
The front of Xiaomi Redmi 9C has a 6.53 inches 720 X 1600px 269 PPI HD+ IPS LCD dot drop display. Although the display is not as good as AMOLED, Its colors are accurate and look natural.
The phone SIM tray has dual micro SIM card slots and one Micro SD card.
This phone’s back panel is curved and feels comfortable to hold. It has a contoured and matte finish that does not allow fingerprints to stick. On the back also is a square camera bump containing 3 cameras and a flashlight. There is also a reliable and responsive fingerprint at the back of the phone. The phone comes in blue, orange or black colors.
The phone has a single bottom speaker that has good sound quality.
Xiaomi Redmi 9C is powered by MediaTek Helio G35 chipset and PowerVR GE8320 GPU. It comes with 2GB or 3GB RAM and 32GB or 64 GB of inbuilt storage. The interface is MIUI 12.0.1 based on android 10.
It has a large 5000mAh battery which can last two days of light use. It supports 10 watts charging.
Unlocking the phone can be done through facial recognition and an in display fingerprint scanner.
Xiaomi Redmi 9C Camera Features:
This phone has a triple camera set up on the back and one front selfie camera
Although the resolution of the camera is not as good as the ones in the overall best phones, photos taken have rich colors, appear sharp and have a nice contrast.
For this caliber of phones, the 5MP front facing selfie camera also shoots nice photos in good light conditions.
Xiaomi Redmi 9C can shoot great colour videos up to to 1080P at 30fps.
PRICE : KES 14,499
Ulefone Note 13P
Ulefone Note 13P is one of the best phones in Kenya under 15K. The front of this phone is made of corning gorilla glass and has a 6.5 inches 405 PPI full HD IPS LCD display, a 16MP punch hole camera and an ear speaker. This display has nice and vibrant colors.
The back of the phone is made of glossy plastic and has a module housing the two rear cameras.
The side of this phone is also made of plastic. On the right side you will find a sound volume adjustment button and a responsive fingerprint sensor which is also a power or wake on button. On the left side there is a SIM card tray that has three slots, two for the Nano SIM cards and one for the microSD card. On this side still there is a shortcut button for easier opening of certain apps and can be customized to open any app of choice present on the phone.
The top side has a traditional jack port for plugging in the headphones while the main microphone, loudspeaker and USB-C port are located at the bottom side of the phone.
This phone has both the face unlock and fingerprint scanner features.
Ulefone Note 13P has the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset and an octa core processor. It comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage that can be added up to 1TB. It runs on android 11. The phone supports NFC and can be used to make payments e.g. via google pay.
The battery size is 5180mAh. It has been known to last two days of average use. The phone comes with a USB-C charger and supports fast charging up to 10 watts
Ulefone note 13P has a dual artificial intelligence camera system on the back. The main camera is 20MP and has a Sony IMX 350 sensor. The second one is a 2MP macro lens. The front camera is 16MP and has Sony IMX 481 sensor. The camera is able to record 1080P videos at 30fps.
PRICE : KES 14,299
Samsung Galaxy A11
The front of Samsung Galaxy A11 has a big 6.4 inches 1720 X 1560px 268 PPI PLS TFT infinity O LCD display with a cut out hole selfie camera located at the top left. It has a nice color saturation and a satisfactory sharpness .
The back and the sides of this phone are made of high quality and durable plastic with a glossy finish. There is a fast and responsive physical rear mounted fingerprint sensor that is easy to use especially for securely unlocking the phone among other tasks. Additionally, the phone has a fast and convenient face unlock biometric feature.
The SIM carrier has two slots for micro SIMs and one for MicroSD
Samsung galaxy A11 is powered by an octa core 1.8GHz Processor. Its chipset is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450. It has 2GB or 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage expandable via microSD card. It runs Android 10 with Samsung’s One UI 2
This phone has a long lasting 4000mAh battery which is charged via USB-C. It has a 15 watts fast charging capability.
Samsung Galaxy A11 has a 13MP main camera, a 5MP ultra wide camera and a 2MP depth sensor at the back. The camera takes nice sharp photos with good dynamic range. The front selfie hole punch camera is 8MP. This phone shoots 1080p videos at 30fps.
PRICE : KES 14,299
Samsung Galaxy A03
Samsung A03 is one of Samsung’s best budget phones. The front of this phone has a 6.5 inches 720 X 1600px 270 PPI PLS TFT LCD display with a water drop notch for the selfie camera. The bottom bezel of this phone is notably thick.
The back of the phone has a square bump housing two cameras and a flashlight. The back panel is textured and does not easily catch finger prints.
The phone’s software is Android 11 on One UI 3.1. It is powered by 1.6Ghz octa core Unisoc T606 processor and MALI G57 GPU. It comes with 2GB or 3GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB onboard storage that can be extended via microSD card.
The phone does not have a fingerprint scanner but it has a fast, accurate and responsive face unlock feature.
The speaker located at the bottom of the phone is loud enough and its sound quality is good.
This phone’s battery size is 5000mAh. The battery is changed by a traditional USB charger and does not support USB-C charging
Samsung Galaxy A03 has two rear cameras, a 48 MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor which assist in taking portrait shots. These cameras produce sharp and good looking photos. The front facing camera for selfies is 5MP. The phone lacks ultra wide and macro cameras. The rear and front cameras can record decent 1080P videos at 30fps
PRICE : KES 10,999
Realme C11
Realme has one of the best phones in Kenya under 15K. Realme C11 is one of these phones. Its front is made of a 6.5 inches 720 X 1560px LCD display.
The back of the phone is made of plastic and has a nice island at the top that houses the two rear cameras and the flashlight.
This phone has a fast and reliable face ID unlock but lacks a fingerprint sensor.
Realme C11 processor is MediaTek Helio G35. The phone has 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage and is powered by android 10 via Realme UI.
This smartphone has a huge battery rated 5000 mAh. Full charge can last the whole day.
Ream C11 has two cameras at the back of the phone, a 13MP primary camera and a 2Mp depth sensor. The front camera is 5MP. The camera takes sharp and detailed photos. The dynamic range is good and the highlights and shadows are well developed. The front and back cameras can shoot 1080P videos at 30fps.
PRICE : KES 10,399
Realme C21Y
Realme C21Y is among the new best phones in Kenya under 15K. it has a 6.5 inches 720 X 1600 270PPI IPS LCD display with a gorilla glass protection. It has a refresh rate of 60Hz.
The fingerprint sensor for biometrics authentication is located at the back panel
The phone is powered by Unisoc T610 processor and Mali G52 GPU. It has 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage expandable up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot. The interface is Realme UI on android 10.
This phone’s battery is huge. It has 5000mAh storage capacity. It supports reverse charging
Realme C21Y has a triple camera set up at the back which includes a 13MP primary camera, 2MP macro camera and 2 MP black and white sensor. The front has a 5MP selfie camera under the water drop notch in the top center part of the display. 1080P videos can be shot at 30fps using front and rear cameras.
PRICE : KES 14,499
Nokia G10
The front of Nokia G10 smartphone has a 6.52 inches 720 X 1600px 269PPI HD+ IPS LCD panel V notch display, 8MP selfie camera and a speaker for making calls. The bezels are thin although the bottom one is relatively thick. The display has good colours and has no problem at all when viewed at extreme angles.
The body of this phone is made of plastic with a matte texture finish that does not attract fingerprint smudges. The back has a nice looking circular camera island housing 3 cameras and a flashlight.
On the right side of this phone, there is a sound volume adjustment button and a power button which is also a fingerprint scanner. On the other side you will find a card tray that has two Nano SIM card slots and one microSD card slot. A google assistant button is also found on this side. The top has a 3.5mm port for audio and a secondary microphone while bottom contains the main microphone, USB type C port and grills for the speaker.
Nokia G10 has both a face recognition feature and a fingerprint sensor.
The audio is good in terms of loudness and quality. It can be improved by use of headphones with the audio port provided.
Nokia G10 is powered by MediaTek Helio G25 chipset and an octa core CPU. Its GPU is PowerVR GE8320. It comes with 4GB RAM although an option of 3GB RAM is available. Its onboard storage is 64GB. The phone’s software interface is Android 11.
The phone has a massive 5050mAh battery that can last the whole day. It is charged by a 10 watts charger.
Nokia G10 has a triple rear camera setup packed in a circular camera island. It consists of a 13MP main camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. The front camera is 8MP. The cameras produce clear photos with nice colors that can be considered quality for this phone class. The night mode feature assists in low light conditions. Nice 1080P resolution videos can be shot at 30 fps.
PRICE : KES 14,499
Nokia C30
The front of Nokia C30 has a big 6.82 inches 720 X 1600px IPS LCD HD+ 257 PPI 60Hz display
The phone is made of plastic and the back panel has a camera module containing two cameras. On the back also is an LED flashlight, a fingerprint scanner and speaker grills located at the bottom. On the sides there is a card tray that has two slots for Micro SIM cards and one for MicroSD.
Nokia C30 has a 6000mAh Li-Po non removable battery. It supports 10 watts of fast charging.
This phone’s chipset is Unisoc SC9863A and the CPU is 2.0Ghz octa core cortex A55 while the GPU is IMG8322. It is available with 2GB or 3GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB inbuilt storage that can be extended using a microSD card. It runs on Android 11 go edition.
The rear camera system comprises a 13MP wide camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The selfie camera is 5MP. Both front and back cameras are capable of taking 1080P videos at 30fps.
PRICE : KES 14,990
Vivo Y15S
Vivo Y15s has a 6.5 inches 720 X 1600px 270 PPI HD+ IPS LCD display. The display has a gorilla glass protection. It has a refresh rate of 60Hz.
The back panel and the frame are made of plastic. The fingerprint sensor is side mounted while the microphone and headphone slots are located at the bottom of the phone. The phone is protected from water drops and has a splash proof water resistant rating.
The battery has a storage capacity of 5000mAh which lasts a long time, more than a day of average use. It supports 10 watts of charging.
The phone is powered by MediaTek MT6765 Helio P35 chipset. It has a 2.35GHz octa core cortex A53 CPU and PowerVR GE8320 GPU. It is available with 3GB RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage. The storage capacity can be added through a microSD card. The phone is powered by Funtouch UI 11.1 running on android 11.
Vivo Y15S has two rear cameras, a 13 MP wide primary camera capable of taking detailed videos and photos at 4X optical zoom and a 2MP macro camera for taking close up shots. The selfie camera on this phone is 8MP which takes decent detailed photos. These cameras shoot up to 1080P resolution videos at 30fps.
PRICE : KES 14,999
Oppo A16k
Oppo A16K features as the last but not the least best phones in Kenya under 15K. This phone has a 6.5 inches 720 X 1600 HD+ IPS LCD capacitive touch display with a 60Hz refresh rate.
It features dual Nano SIM card slots and MicroSD card slot on a single tray located on the side of the phone. It however lacks a fingerprint scanner.
The phone’s battery capacity is 4230 mAh. It supports 10W charging speed.
Oppo A16K has MediaTek Helio G35 chipset, 2.3 GHz octa core processor and PowerVR GE8320 GPU. It is equipped with 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM or 4GB and 64GB ROM that is expandable up to 256 GB via a dedicated microSD card slot. Its software interface is colorOS 11.1 lite on top of android 11.
Oppo A16K has Single 13MP wide rear camera and a single 5MP camera located at the top center of the display in the water drop notch. Both cameras shoot up to 1080P videos at 30 fps.
PRICE : KES 13,999