Since the beginning of 2022, we have seen quite a number of smartphones launched in Kenya. They do vary in price range from entry-level phones all the way to flagship devices.
With the many smartphones available in Kenya, this post will highlight some of the top smartphones above Ksh 50,000 launched in Kenya in 2022. You can get these phones in retail stores across the country but I have also included links to buy them online if available.
If you have been planning to get a new phone within this price range, these phones are worth checking out as they are the latest and offer the most recent hardware and software components.
Summary List of Best smartphones in Kenya for Ksh 50,000 and above (March 2022)
| Smartphone | Prices |
|---|---|
| Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G | Ksh 51,000 |
| Samsung Galaxy S21 FE | Ksh 75,000 |
| Huawei nova 9 | Ksh 65,999 |
| VIVO v23 5g | Ksh 60,000 |
| Samsung Galaxy S22 | From Ksh 99,0000 |
Xiaomi 11T Pro
+ 120W fast charging
The Xiaomi 11T Pro is a worthy upgrade over its successor and comes with quite a number of features that makes it a good recommendation. It comes with a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.
For the cameras, it does have a 108MP primary camera supported with 8MP and 5MP sensors. As for the selfie camera, it is a 16MP camera. The camera performance is quite good as you get very detailed shots with the main camera. The back camera can record 8K videos at 3fps.
The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor which is powerful and efficient enough for heavy apps and gaming. A 5,000 mAh battery is backed by 120W fast charging which ensures you have enough power throughout the day.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
+ Powerful processor
This is one of the premium devices from Samsung to launch in Kenya in 2022. This phone should have been unveiled sometime last year but delays pushed the launch to 2022.
It is powered by the Exynos 2100 processor which offers some decent performance. It does come with Android 12 with One UI 4.0 out of the box. The slow charging (25W) is a pain as Samsung could have done better in this department considering the price of the phone.
The camera setup is reliable with a 12MP triple setup. Besides this, you get IP68 rating, quite a good design and reliable processor. The phone also has 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED display which should offer quite a smooth viewing experience.
Read: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Specifications and Price in Kenya
Huawei nova 9
Even though Huawei is not very active in the smartphone market, the company still has some devices on the market and keeps unveiling new ones every so often. One of the latest from the company is the Huawei nova 9 that you can get in Kenya for around Ksh 65,999.
The nova 9 comes with a 6.57-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the Snapdragon 778G which will not disappoint when it comes to performance. We are still not getting Google services with this phone as has been the case with Huawei smartphones for a few years now.
The phone has a quad-camera setup made up of a 50MP main sensor at the back. A 32MP selfie camera is housed at the front.
A 4,300 mAh battery provides all the power that can keep the phone on for an entire workday.
Vivo V23 5G
The vivo V23 5G was launched in Kenya in February and one of its stand-out features is its colour changing back.
The vivo V23 5G offers 44W fast charging that should save you some time when charging the 4,200 mAh battery. You get 8GB of RAM with either 128 or 256GB of storage. Powering this phone is the MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor which is still a capable processor. This is the only phone on this list powered by a MediaTek processor.
The V23 5G has a 6.44-inch AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. Again, this is the only phone on this list with 90Hz refresh rate as the others have 120Hz refresh rate.
For optics, the V23 5G has a 64MP triple camera setup at the back with a 50MP dual front-facing camera.
Samsung Galaxy S22
+ Powerful processor
The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is the most recent one to make its way in Kenya. The phone series is available in Kenya starting from Ksh 99,999 depending on the variant and configuration you select.
The Galaxy S22 series is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 chipset depending on where you buy it. The Kenyan model will be powered by the Exynos processor as has always been the case.
The Galaxy S22 series comes with Android 12 with One UI 4.1 out of the box. This is not the most impressive thing as Samsung has promised that these phones will get four major Android updates. This is not that common and even HMD Global promises 3 major Android updates.
