New or used at Rs 20,000?

New buys a warranty and a clean history; a used phone from a year or two ago can give you a better screen and chipset if it checks out.

Is 4 GB of RAM enough?

For calls, chat, maps and some video, yes. If you keep many apps open or game, stretch to 6 GB where the budget allows.

Which brands are safest at this price?

The ones with real service presence in Pakistan. The live list shows what is available now; pick a model whose brand you can get repaired locally.

What Rs 20,000 buys you

At Rs 20,000 the right move is to buy boring on purpose: a phone that lasts all day, updates for a while, and does not pretend to be a flagship. Spend on reliability, not on numbers that sound impressive and change nothing.

Spend on these

Battery — a 5,000 mAh cell is the floor, and it matters more here than anywhere. A dependable brand with service centres in Pakistan, so a repair is possible. Clean, lightly skinned software that still gets security updates.

A 90Hz screen if you can get it is a nicer upgrade than any camera number at this price.

Don’t overpay for these

Headline camera megapixels, "AI" labels, and curved or foldable designs that are fragile and expensive to fix at this budget. Four rear lenses where only one is any good. A flat, well-built phone with one decent camera beats all of it.

See the current models, then check the unit

Prices move weekly, so Mobilo keeps the live list rather than a frozen one — the link is below. If you buy used to stretch the budget, run the IMEI through Mobilo and do the seven-point check first.

Common questions

New or used at Rs 20,000?: New buys a warranty and a clean history; a used phone from a year or two ago can give you a better screen and chipset if it checks out.
Is 4 GB of RAM enough?: For calls, chat, maps and some video, yes. If you keep many apps open or game, stretch to 6 GB where the budget allows.
Which brands are safest at this price?: The ones with real service presence in Pakistan. The live list shows what is available now; pick a model whose brand you can get repaired locally.