The Next 128GB Costs Rs. 500 at vivo and Rs. 11,500 at Apple

Seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees buys 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with a charger in the box, which is worth saying because most phones at this price no longer include one. Sixty-four gigabytes is genuinely tight in 2026 - a year of photographs and a few large apps will fill it - which makes the next rung on this ladder the most interesting Rs. 500 on the page.

• Price: Rs. 7,999 (stated MRP Rs. 14,999)
• Key detail: the cheapest listing in the pull, and the base of a three-rung ladder
• Discount: 47% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 7,000
• Role: The base of the cheapest ladder
• Buying logic: Only buy this rung if the phone is for calls, messages and a handful of apps.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Identical phone, identical colour, identical charger, twice the storage, Rs. 500. That works out to Rs. 7.8 per gigabyte. The same physical upgrade - doubling storage - costs Rs. 11,500 on the Apple iPads further down this page, or Rs. 89.8 per gigabyte, eleven times as much. If you buy one thing from this shelf, buy this rung rather than the one above it; on a phone whose base storage is 64GB, the doubling is the difference between a phone that lasts three years and one that starts asking you to delete things in month eight.

• Price: Rs. 8,499 (stated MRP Rs. 15,999)
• Key detail: +64GB of storage for Rs. 500 - Rs. 7.8 per gigabyte, the cheapest step here
• Discount: 47% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 7,500
• Role: The Rs. 500 upgrade
• Buying logic: The single best-value step on this page. Take it.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for 6GB and 128GB, which is Rs. 1,500 above the 4/128 for two extra gigabytes of RAM. Compare that with the Rs. 500 the previous step charged for sixty-four extra gigabytes of storage and the shape of the ladder becomes clear: on this family, storage is cheap and RAM is not. Two extra gigabytes of RAM does help an Android phone hold more apps open, but it is a comfort upgrade rather than the capacity upgrade below it.

• Price: Rs. 9,999 (stated MRP Rs. 17,499)
• Key detail: +2GB RAM for Rs. 1,500 - three times what the storage doubling cost
• Discount: 43% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 7,500
• Role: The Rs. 1,500 RAM step
• Buying logic: Worth it if you keep many apps open; skip it if the Rs. 1,500 has a better home.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Ten thousand nine hundred and ninety-four rupees for 6GB and 128GB in Jewel Red. On its own it is an ordinary listing in a crowded price band. It matters here because Croma lists the identical phone in the identical colour with 8GB of RAM, and the gap between the two is the widest RAM step on this page by a factor of ten.

• Price: Rs. 10,994 (stated MRP Rs. 16,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 10,994 - the base of the widest RAM step in the pull
• Discount: 35% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 6,005
• Role: The base realme
• Buying logic: The sensible rung of this pair, for reasons the next seat explains.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Fifteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees against Rs. 10,994 for what the listing titles describe as the same phone in the same colour with 2GB more RAM. That is Rs. 5,005, and Redmi charges Rs. 500 for the identical step two seats down. We would treat a gap this large as a sign that something other than memory differs between the two listings - a processor bin, a display panel, a launch-window price that has not moved - but the listings themselves state only the memory difference, and we can only report what the listings say. Read the two together before you buy either.

• Price: Rs. 15,999 (stated MRP Rs. 17,999)
• Key detail: +2GB RAM for Rs. 5,005, against Rs. 500 for the same step on the Redmi Note 14
• Discount: 11% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,000
• Role: The Rs. 5,005 RAM step
• Buying logic: On the listings' own descriptions, this rung is very hard to justify.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Sixteen thousand four hundred and ninety-nine rupees in Phantom Purple, at a 25 per cent badge against a Rs. 21,999 sticker. The reason to look at it is arithmetic rather than colour: the 8GB version of the same phone sits Rs. 500 away, which makes this rung the harder of the two to recommend.

• Price: Rs. 16,499 (stated MRP Rs. 21,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 16,499, and Rs. 500 below the 8GB version of the same phone
• Discount: 25% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,500
• Role: The base Redmi Note 14
• Buying logic: Buy the 8GB version instead unless the colour is the deciding factor.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Sixteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for 8GB and 128GB, exactly Rs. 500 above the 6GB listing. Two gigabytes of RAM for Rs. 500 at Redmi, Rs. 1,500 at vivo, Rs. 5,005 at realme - three prices for the same upgrade on one retailer's shelf on one morning. When a step is this cheap, take it: more RAM is the upgrade that most affects how an Android phone feels in its third year.

• Price: Rs. 16,999 (stated MRP Rs. 22,999)
• Key detail: +2GB RAM for Rs. 500 - a tenth of what realme charges for the same step
• Discount: 26% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 6,000
• Role: The Rs. 500 RAM step
• Buying logic: Take the step. Rs. 500 for 2GB is the cheapest RAM on this page.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Sixteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees buys 4GB and 64GB here. The same money, one seat up, buys a Redmi Note 14 with 8GB and 128GB. We are not going to tell you the two phones are otherwise equivalent, because we have not tested either, but the memory arithmetic is stark and it is the arithmetic Croma is publishing.

• Price: Rs. 16,999 (stated MRP Rs. 27,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 16,999 for 64GB - the same money as a Redmi Note 14 with 128GB
• Discount: 39% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 11,000
• Role: The base vivo Y11
• Buying logic: Compare it against the Redmi at the same price before deciding.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Eighteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for the 128GB version, Rs. 2,000 above the 64GB one. That is the same physical upgrade the vivo Y19s three seats up sells for Rs. 500 - same brand, same shelf, same morning, four times the price. There is no single vivo storage price; there is a price per model, and the only way to know it is to look at both listings before buying either.

• Price: Rs. 18,999 (stated MRP Rs. 30,999)
• Key detail: +64GB for Rs. 2,000, against Rs. 500 for the same step on the Y19s
• Discount: 39% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 12,000
• Role: The Rs. 2,000 storage step
• Buying logic: Still worth taking over 64GB, but know that you are paying four times the going rate.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Thirty thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees in Noble Gold, at a 38 per cent badge off Rs. 49,999. It is the cheaper of the two Y51 Pro configurations Croma lists, and unless you specifically need 256GB it is the one we would take - the seat below explains what the alternative costs.

• Price: Rs. 30,999 (stated MRP Rs. 49,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 30,999, the base of the mid-price ladder
• Discount: 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 19,000
• Role: The base Y51 Pro
• Buying logic: The better-value rung of this pair for most buyers.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Thirty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for the 256GB version, Rs. 3,000 above the 128GB. At Rs. 23 a gigabyte this is three times the rate the Y19s charges and a quarter of the rate Apple charges on the iPads below. If you shoot a lot of video, take it; if you do not, Rs. 3,000 is a pair of decent earphones and 128GB is still a lot of phone.

• Price: Rs. 33,999 (stated MRP Rs. 53,999)
• Key detail: +128GB for Rs. 3,000, or Rs. 23 per gigabyte
• Discount: 37% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 20,000
• Role: The Rs. 3,000 storage step
• Buying logic: Take it only if you know you fill 128GB. Otherwise the money has better uses.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Twenty-seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees at a 15 per cent badge off Rs. 32,999, which by the standards of this shelf is a restrained sticker. The listing name promises battery capacity as the selling point. What we can verify is the ladder: the 256GB version sits Rs. 2,000 away, which is the second-cheapest storage doubling on this page.

• Price: Rs. 27,999 (stated MRP Rs. 32,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 27,999 on a 15% badge - one of the shelf's more restrained stickers
• Discount: 15% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,000
• Role: The base P4 Power
• Buying logic: A reasonable base, with an unusually cheap upgrade available above it.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Twenty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for the 256GB version, Rs. 2,000 above the 128GB one, which is Rs. 15.6 per gigabyte. That is a third of what vivo charges for the same doubling on the Y51 Pro and a sixth of what Apple charges on an iPad. Among the phones on this page priced above Rs. 20,000, this is the storage step we would take without hesitating.

• Price: Rs. 29,999 (stated MRP Rs. 34,999)
• Key detail: +128GB for Rs. 2,000, the cheapest 128GB doubling in the pull
• Discount: 14% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,000
• Role: The Rs. 2,000 storage step
• Buying logic: The best-value upgrade in the upper half of this shelf.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for 4GB and 128GB, on a 10 per cent badge against a Rs. 9,999 sticker - one of the more honest stickers on this shelf. Croma lists this phone in one configuration only, so there is no ladder to read. What it does provide is a reference point: Rs. 8,999 is what 128GB costs at the bottom of this market, which makes the Rs. 11,500 Apple charges to add the same amount to an iPad worth thinking about.

• Price: Rs. 8,999 (stated MRP Rs. 9,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 8,999 for 4GB and 128GB - the cheapest 128GB listing in the pull
• Discount: 10% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 1,000
• Role: The cheapest 128GB here
• Buying logic: The value floor. Buy it if 128GB and a working phone are the whole requirement.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Thirteen thousand four hundred and ninety-nine rupees against a stated Rs. 26,999 is the deepest badge in our 55-listing pull, and it buys 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Two seats up, Rs. 8,999 buys twice that storage with no badge worth mentioning. This is what we mean when we say the percentage is not the price: the biggest number in red on this shelf sits on the configuration with the least memory on this shelf.

• Price: Rs. 13,499 (stated MRP Rs. 26,999)
• Key detail: a 50% badge - the deepest in the pull, on the shelf's smallest memory
• Discount: 50% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 13,500
• Role: Biggest badge on the shelf
• Buying logic: Read the memory before the badge. This is a 64GB phone at Rs. 13,499.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Forty thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees stated, Rs. 39,999 charged. A 2 per cent badge is not a deal and is not pretending to be one, which on a shelf where another listing claims 50 per cent off is worth pausing on. Croma lists this phone in a single configuration, so there is no ladder here either - what there is, is the clearest example on the page of a reference price a retailer could actually charge.

• Price: Rs. 39,999 (stated MRP Rs. 40,999)
• Key detail: a 2% badge - the smallest on the shelf, and the most honest sticker on it
• Discount: 2% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 1,000
• Role: The 2% badge
• Buying logic: No discount to speak of. Buy it because you want the phone, not the badge.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Forty-seven thousand four hundred and ninety rupees for the 11-inch A16 iPad with 128GB, at a 5 per cent badge. Apple's discipline on stickers is visible across all six of its listings here: every one carries 5 per cent or 3 per cent, and none pretends otherwise. The interesting number is what happens when you ask for more storage, which is the next seat.

• Price: Rs. 47,490 (stated MRP Rs. 49,900)
• Key detail: Rs. 47,490 for 128GB - five times what a Redmi A5 charges for the same storage
• Discount: 5% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,410
• Role: The base iPad
• Buying logic: The rung to buy unless you genuinely need 256GB, for the reason stated below.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Fifty-eight thousand nine hundred and ninety rupees against Rs. 47,490 for the same iPad with 128GB more storage. Eleven thousand five hundred rupees, or Rs. 89.8 per gigabyte, against Rs. 7.8 per gigabyte for the identical doubling on the vivo Y19s at the top of this page. To put it another way: the storage upgrade alone costs more than the entire Redmi A5 that ships with 128GB. Apple's memory pricing is well known and not new, but it is rarely visible beside eleven other ladders on one retailer's shelf.

• Price: Rs. 58,990 (stated MRP Rs. 61,900)
• Key detail: +128GB for Rs. 11,500, eleven times vivo's rate for the same doubling
• Discount: 5% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,910
• Role: The Rs. 11,500 storage step
• Buying logic: Buy the 128GB and an external drive unless you edit video on the tablet.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Eighty-five thousand four hundred and ninety rupees for the 11-inch M4 Air with 128GB. The point of seating it is consistency: the step above costs exactly what the step above the cheaper iPad costs, which tells you the memory price is a policy rather than a function of the machine it goes into.

• Price: Rs. 85,490 (stated MRP Rs. 89,900)
• Key detail: Rs. 85,490 for 128GB, on a 5% badge
• Discount: 5% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 4,410
• Role: The base iPad Air
• Buying logic: The rung most Air buyers should take, for the same reason as the A16.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Ninety-six thousand nine hundred and ninety rupees against Rs. 85,490. The gap is Rs. 11,500, exactly as it is between the two A16 iPads that cost roughly half as much. The doubling does not scale with the machine; it is a fixed charge for the same number of gigabytes regardless of what the tablet costs. On the vivo shelf at the top of this page the same doubling ranged from Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,000 depending on the model, which is the opposite behaviour.

• Price: Rs. 96,990 (stated MRP Rs. 101,900)
• Key detail: +128GB for Rs. 11,500 - the identical step price as on the cheaper iPad
• Discount: 5% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 4,910
• Role: The same Rs. 11,500
• Buying logic: Same advice, more money at stake. Take 128GB unless you know you need 256GB.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Thirty-two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for the Wi-Fi model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, on a 35 per cent badge. Read it against the iPad Air two seats up: this tablet ships with the 256GB that costs Rs. 11,500 to add there, at a third of the total price. Whether it is the tablet you want is a separate question we cannot answer from a listing, but the memory arithmetic is not close.

• Price: Rs. 32,999 (stated MRP Rs. 50,999)
• Key detail: Rs. 32,999 for 8GB and 256GB - a third of what an iPad Air with 256GB costs
• Discount: 35% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 18,000
• Role: The Wi-Fi Samsung
• Buying logic: The value option in the tablet chapter, at the memory Apple charges most for.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown

Thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for the same 8GB and 256GB tablet with cellular 5G added. Seven thousand rupees buys you a modem and the ability to use the tablet away from Wi-Fi, and it buys you no additional memory whatsoever. Most people tether a tablet to a phone and never miss the modem; if you are one of them, this is the clearest Rs. 7,000 saving on the page.

• Price: Rs. 39,999 (stated MRP Rs. 57,999)
• Key detail: +5G connectivity for Rs. 7,000 - the only non-memory step in the pull
• Discount: 31% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 18,000
• Role: The Rs. 7,000 5G step
• Buying logic: Skip unless the tablet genuinely lives away from Wi-Fi. Tethering is free.
• Rating: Croma publishes star scores without rating counts, so none is shown