Best cheap phones: 10 low-cost options

Smartphones just seem to get more and more expensive, the latest iPhone 11 and Galaxy S20 Ultra will set you back around £1000, but don’t worry! There are alternatives. Here is our round-up of the best cheap phones you can lay your hands on right now. 

Mobile technology is advancing at a tremendous speed at the moment, as companies compete to come up with the latest and greatest in handheld tech. That means that it’s easy enough to pick up one or two bargain handsets that feature slightly older tech.

As a result, you can grab a top notch phone that’s easily good enough to meet most people’s needs for less than £300.

On the market right now there are great value affordable phones from numerous companies, ranging from established affordable heavyweight Motorola, to emerging brands, like Oppo. This year even Apple joined the party, sort of, with its new iPhone SE 2, which is the firm’s most affordable release since the iPhone 5C.

What’s more, thanks to the release of Qualcomm’s new affordable 5G chips, the lower end of the market is set to get a key upgrade that’ll let buyers on a budget enjoy gigabit-per-second data speeds.

While the increased number of affordable phones is great for consumer choice, it’s also a two edged sword that makes knowing the exact right handset for your needs and budget a little tricky. This is especially true in today’s world where there are vast differences between each phones’ software, feature set and hardware.

Here to help make sure you don’t accidentally pick up a lemon, we’ve created this guide detailing the best affordable phones we’ve reviewed that are still on the market.

1. Best cheap phone: Moto G8
2. Best for iOS: iPhone SE 2
3. Best for £300: Moto G Pro
4. Best for flagship quality: Xiaomi Mi 9
5. Best for battery life: Oppo A5 2020
6. Best for battery life (option 2): Moto G8 Power
7. Best for under £200: Honor 10 Lite
8. Best cheap phone: Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
9. Best for £100: Motorola Moto E6 Plus
10. Good for quality: Xiaomi Mi A2

As manufacturers have tried to stretch pricing at the top end (Pixel 4 and iPhone 11, we’re looking at you), it’s opened up opportunities further down and the Chinese companies in particular have been happy to oblige with some really well-engineered, well=priced handsets.

With a few special exceptions, all the phones on the following list cost between £100- £350 although we’ve snuck in one higher priced one as it’s particularly great value for its spec.

Note the Huawei is also an older model and so isn’t affected by the US Government’s current restrictions on Google-enabled services.

Related: Best iPhone Deals

How do we select the best budget smartphones?

We selected this list based on the price and the performance of the phones rated in our full reviews (we link to each full review below so you can find out more).

• When we test a phone, we transfer all of our data across, then use each of the smartphones for a week as our main handset.
• We also benchmark each phone using industry standard software, which enables us to test the accuracy of the maker’s performance claims, and we use specialised hardware to check the performance and colour reproduction of the screen. This also enables us to make fair comparisons between brands.
• Dedicating so much time to each model in this way means we can get an accurate picture of how the phones perform in the real world. We’re able to get a solid reading of how long they last on a single charge, how much strain you can put on the processor before it starts to break a sweat, and how well the camera performs in a range of conditions and set-ups.
• You can find out more about how we test phones here or click on each review link below for the full performance details of each one.

It’s not uncommon these days for cheap phones to include everything from wireless charging all the way up to advanced dual-sensor camera set-ups. These undeniably awesome developments do, however, make it a little trickier to work out which cheap phone will best meet your specific needs. We’ve also answered some of your most common cheap phone buying questions at the end of the article, so scroll down to see the full picture.

Related: Best Android phones • Best mid-range phone

1. Moto G8

A capable and affordable phone

Pros:

• Good camera
• Big battery
• Great Motorola software

Cons:

• The screen is far from the best

It might have got back into the flagship space, but Motorola’s finest phones remain its budget options – at least in our eyes. The Motorola Moto G8 ticks many of the boxes we look for in an easy to recommend cheap phone.

It has a good main 16-megapixel camera, paired with an 8-megapixel ultrawide and we were impressed with both its performance and battery life. In terms of specifics, you’re looking at a Snapdragon 665 with 4GB RAM and a 4000mAh battery

Our only real qualm is the screen, which lacks the high-resolution of some of the other Moto G8 entries.

• Read our full Motorola Moto G8 review

2. iPhone SE 2

iPhone 11 performance for a lot less

Pros:

• Fantastic performance
• Great camerra
• iOS update
• Good value for an iPhone

Cons:

• Dated design

Apple’s latest phone isn’t flashy, yet it manages to offer a lot of flagship features for a price that makes it hard to ignore.

Instead of mirroring the old iPhone SE, the iPhone SE 2 looks identical to the no-longer sold iPhone 8. Curved sides, glass back, chunky bezel and a circular Touch ID sensor give it a familiar feel, even if to some it might feel a little dull.

Below the surface though this is a great phone. The 12-megapixel camera performs admirably in daylight and captures excellent 4K60fps video, though we do wish low-light performance was a bit better.

You’ll find the same A13 Bionic chip as the iPhone 11 Pro, a sharp 4.7-inch display with fantastic colour reproduction and handy extras like Qi wireless charging and an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance.

• Read our full iPhone SE  2 review

Moto G Pro

Pros:

• Great value
• Decent design
• Futureproof software
• Main camera is good for the money

Cons:

• Poor palm detection
• Back up cameras are pretty pointless

Selling for around £300, the Motorola Moto G Pro isn’t the cheapest phone on this list. But it’s also the only one with an included stylus.

The stylus works like the S Pens seen on Samsung’s Galaxy Note line of phones and sits neatly in a dock on the Moto G Pro’s bottom right side. This sounds small, but thanks to clever work by Motorola it makes the G Pro a great productivity aid and work phone for jotting handwritten notes on.

If that wasn’t enough to tempt you it’s also part of Google’s Android one initiative. This means it’s one of the only affordable phone’s around with a completely clean Android install and guarantee to be updated to the next version of the OS.

These two features plus it’s, for the money, excellent specs sheet and main camera easily earn it a place as one of the best phones you’ll find at this price.

• Read our Moto G Pro review

4. Xiaomi Mi 9

A true flagship model at half the price

Pros:

• Fantastic performance
• Excellent screen
• Versatile camera
• Stunning value

Cons:

• No IP rating

This list is usually made up of phones under £350. We feel that’s a fair price and a value proposition we’re happy to call ‘budget’. The Xiaomi Mi 9 is the exception however, and we simply had to include it here as it’s such good value for money even though it does push our price envelope a bit.

Priced at a heftier £499, the phone is equivalent to a model that costs double this. It includes the latest Snapdragon 855 chipset, a 6.4-inch OLED display, three cameras – including a 48-megapixel main sensor – and fast wireless charging. You won’t find those kinds of specs offered in any other phone at this price.

Granted, there’s no water resistance and it’s packing in a flat screen, but the next-best devices cost at least £150 more. That’s why it’s here.

• Read our Xiaomi Mi 9 review

 

5. Oppo A5 2020

Big screen and huge battery

Pros:

• Big screen
• Big battery
• Sensible price
• Smart looks

Cons:

• 720p screen
• Plastic back

At £179, the Oppo A5 2020 is a great buy if you’re after a budget phone that can comfortably go the distance. This is one of the phones with the best battery life we’ve tested and it also ticks the box for those looking for a bit screen – even if the resolution is fairly low.

There is good performance from the Snapdragon 665 chipset, 64 GB of storage and 3GB RAM. Certainly nothing to sniff at when you take the price into consideration. Four cameras sit on the back, with another around the front. These include two 2MP sensors, a main 12MP and an 8MP. We were impressed by the photo quality here, even if those dual 2MP sensors are disappointing.

• Read our Oppo A5 2020 review

6. Moto G8 Power

Battery life for days

Pros:

• Massive battery
• Reasonable price
• Good camera

Cons:

• Unremarkable design
• Long charging time

The battery is the headline-grabbing spec from the Motorola G8 Power, and in our testing, it lived up to the hype. Its impressive endurance will last you easily through the day and into the next one. Fortunately, this phone has more to offer than the battery alone.

The camera is pretty good and versatile for the price, including a total of four different snappers to suit a variety of shots, and the screen also does everything you need. It’s crisp and clear, and at 6.4-inch, it’s a good size for watching content or playing games.

Drawbacks include its conservative, uninspired design, which isn’t anything to write home about – however that’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker for many consumers. Secondly, it doesn’t offer the speedy charging times that other phones do; you’ll probably have to leave this plugged in overnight for full recharging, but fortunately, its big battery means that this isn’t a compromising factor either.

• Read our Moto G8 Power review

7. Honor 10 Lite

A lot of phone for under £200

Pros:

• Feature rich
• Decent battery life
• Attractive design for the price
• Case is included

Cons:

• Plastic build
• Heavy-skinned software missing key features
• Prone to fingerprints

If you’re looking for a capable phone that’s outside of the Motorola range, our first port of call would be Honor’s handsets. The Honor 10 2018 flagship is a superb phone in its own right and you can pick one up for under £400, although the Honor 10 Lite, available at half the price, is also worth considering.

The 10 Lite boasts the latest version of Android Pie, topped with Honor’s own Emotion UI 9 overlay. It also offers a feature-packed user experience, offering tons in the way of customisation, as well as AI-enhanced premium features like integrated retail image search through the phone’s HiVision tool. There’s even a headphone jack, which helps grant the phone FM radio functionality.

In terms of the rear cameras, the dual 13/2-megapixel pairing takes usable shots in most conditions, with built-in AI scene recognition for automated settings adjustment. There’s also a dedicated portrait mode, an impressive night mode and a rich suite of beauty tools for selfie-lovers who make use of the impressively crisp 24-megapixel front-facing camera.

• Read our Honor 10 Lite review

8. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7

A big camera at a small price

Pros:

• Long-lasting battery
• Impressive performance
• Great screen

Cons:

• No NFC
• Mono speaker
• Busy interface

This relatively new Chinese brand is not one of the better known models but it’s top of our list. And that’s because if you’re looking for a killer camera but you’re on a particularly tight budget, the Redmi Note 7 offers astounding value for money. Xiaomi’s own MIUI 10 software does weigh the phone down slightly, but, other than that, this phone is impressively well-rounded.

The blockbusting 48-megapixel primary camera (which is supported by a 5-megapixel depth module) is a real highlight. The sensor is the same as you’d find in everything from the Motorola One Vision to the OnePlus 7 Pro and, while there’s no optical image stabilisation (OIS) to speak of here, as on more expensive handsets, it’s a superb snapper set-up all the same.

The Redmi’s extended Full HD+ IPS screen is equally impressive, offering great colour reproduction, good viewing angles and decent legibility outdoors – not always a certainty with more budget-friendly phones. Check out more below.

• Read our Redmi Note 7 review

9. Motorola Moto E6 Plus

The best phone you’ll find for £100

Pros:

• Excellent value
• Good quality, sharp-enough screen
• Impressive selfie camera
• Includes a case

Cons:

• Slow to charge
• Apps and games a little slow to load
• No NFC

For under £100 you’re going to struggle to find a better phone than the Moto E6 Plus. It offers excellent value and is an ideal choice if you’re not fussed about fancy features, want a phone for your child or just something to use as back up.

It packs a 6.1-inch HD+ display which is surprisingly ok, a basic 13-megapixel rear camera with a secondary 2-megapixel sensor for depth tracking and a design that doesn’t look like it costs £99.

• Read our Motorola Moto E6 Plus review

 

10. Xiaomi Mi A2

Good performer but hard to find

Pros: 

• Strong performance, especially for the price
• Dual cameras
• Pure Android

Cons:

• Limited availability
• Missing NFC

One of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi’s latest budget handsets, the Xiaomi Mi A2 features a 5.99-inch IPS screen, Snapdragon 660 CPU and 4GB of RAM, in addition to a 12-megapixel/20-megapixel dual-camera set-up and 64GB of expandable (once again, via microSD) internal storage.

The software is great too, as it’s got a very clean version of Android with very few added extras in the form of Android One.

• Read our Xiaomi Mi A2 review

How do I choose the right budget mobile?

1. Can I trust brands that I don’t recognise?

There has been an recent influx of new manufacturers entering the UK phone market, including Chinese giants Xiaomi and Oppo. That’s because most phones, whichever the brand, are actually manufactured in China, so there’s a huge amount of technical expertise there, as well as a huge local market.

Given that, even if you aren’t familiar with all the featured brands, you don’t need to worry, because each handset in this round-up has been put through our full review process, so if it’s in this list, we’ve judged it to be a worthwhile purchase, based on the expertise of our experienced mobile team.

2. What’s the problem with Huawei and Honor phones?

Due to the recent retraction of Huawei’s Google Play Services license, due to the US/China trade dispute, new Huawei and Honor phones (those announced from this autumn) won’t be able to access Google Play Services and, as a result, key Google Android apps, including YouTube and Gmail, won’t work.

Huawei is attempting to redress this by using its own operating systems and software, but it will be an issue for most phone buyers given the ubiquitousness of Google’s apps. However any Huawei and Honor phones mentioned on this list, because they pre-date the dispute, will retain access to updates for the time being.

3. Is it better to buy phones from carriers/networks or elsewhere?

The answer to this completely depends on what you’re looking for. Typically, there is the opportunity to pair your phone with a competitive contract when buying from carriers. It’s always safest to buy direct from the company or a certified retailer if you’re looking to buy a handset SIM-free.

4. Do any of these phones support 5G?

The quick answer is no. With 5G in its infancy, the technology so far remains reserved for specialised top-tier models, such as the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. At the time of writing, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G is the most affordable phone right now to boast 5G. That phone is a Vodafone UK exclusive and is priced at £49 upfront, plus £54 a month for 24 months.

5G won’t trickle down to the affordable smartphone market until the technology gains mainstream adoption and appeal, so don’t expect anything 5G at budget prices anytime soon.

Still not sure what to buy?

Anyone who’s still unsure should check out the following Trusted Reviews guides:

• Best phone
• Best phablet / big phone
• Best camera phone
• Best phone deals
• Best Apple iPhone
• Best Samsung phone

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