Best budget smartphones
Buying a cheap smartphone no longer means losing out on all of the latest features and performance.
Flagship phones are more expensive than ever, but as the high-end gets better, so too do more affordable models. It’s now possible to buy a new handset under £250 and still get a phone capable of handling everything you throw at it.
The best budget phones are also more attractive in the long-term thanks to cheaper contract prices, though you might prefer to buy these handsets outright and then pay only for your minutes, texts and data.
1. XIAOMI POCO X3 NFC
Price: £199 from fave.co/3mU6qjp Budget phones come with compromises – that’s inevitable. What matters is picking the right compromises, and with the Poco X3 Xiaomi has done exactly that. By dropping 5G and building a little extra bulk onto the frame, Xiaomi
has managed to squeeze strong specs, a 120Hz display, a solid camera, stereo speakers and an absolutely enormous battery into the Poco X3 while still somehow keeping the starting price below £200. I’m really not sure how Xiaomi is making money selling these things, and frankly I don’t want to know.
Design
Alright, let’s get the bad out of the way early. The Poco X3 – or Poco X3 NFC to give the phone its clunky full name – isn’t an ugly phone, but it isn’t exactly a looker.
Available in blue or grey, the first thing you’ll notice either way is the giant ‘POCO’ logo printed across the phone’s rear (see opposite). It’s inlaid in a striking finish that catch’s the light in rainbow patterns, but this really only serves to draw more attention to a logo I simply wish wasn’t there. I don’t know why some phone brands have started plastering text across device’s rears, but I really want them to stop.
The rest of the rear is decorated with a grid of diagonal lines leading up to the unusually shaped camera module. I’ll admit that I don’t love how it looks, but it is at least something a little different. The Poco X3 looks like nothing else on the market, and there is something to be said for that, even if it isn’t to my taste.
The back is understandably finished in plastic, but the phone’s frame is aluminium and the big 6.67in screen is encased in Gorilla Glass 5. That large display makes the whole phone tall, but more than that it’s thick (9.4mm) and heavy (215g). That’s a trade-off for the battery, among other features, but either way you can’t avoid the fact that this is a big, heavy phone.
An IP53 rating guarantees decent dust-resistance and some waterproofing – a rarity in a phone at this price, especially with a headphone jack in there too. Staying on audio, stereo speakers are another unexpected find in the budget space – I just reviewed a £700 phone that didn’t include stereo sound, so finding it on a £200 device is a welcome surprise.
Finally, along with the volume rocker you’ll find a recessed power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner on the righthand side. This is another minor irritation – it too easily registers failed fingerprint attempts when you grab the phone the wrong way, and on the flip side frequently didn’t recognise my fingerprint when I did want to open the phone.
Display
Okay, so the Poco X3 is a mixed bag on build. But that’s only half of how a phone looks, and Xiaomi has absolutely nailed
the other half. The display may be giant at 6.67in, but the specs are hard to resist. It’s a 120Hz LCD with an FHD+ resolution (2,400x1,080) and HDR10 support.
Colours are bright and punchy, and the high refresh rate panel is an absolute steal at this price point – it’s hard to go back to a regular phone once you’ve tried one. Because it’s LCD the viewing angles and contrast suffer a little, but you won’t find an OLED anywhere else at this price, and certainly not at 120Hz.
The bezels are a touch chunky, especially below the screen, with an overall screento-body ratio of 84.6 per cent. You’ll stop noticing this quickly enough though, and the central punchhole selfie camera is small enough that it doesn’t detract either.
I’ll put it simply: right now this is the best phone screen you will find anywhere near this price point.
Performance
When it comes to the Poco X3’s internals, Xiaomi has made an interesting decision. It’s adopted Qualcomm’s new
Snapdragon 732G chipset, one of the few new chips for 2020 that doesn’t support 5G connections.
That is, in a sense, an obvious downside: if you want 5G it just isn’t here. But 5G isn’t that great yet, and accessibility is limited in many countries and cities, so why pay extra for it if you’re unlikely to see the benefit?
By making the choice to ditch 5G Xiaomi is instead able to deliver stronger performance for the price. Paired with 6GB of RAM, the Poco X3 runs smoothly in almost everything you throw at it. It even just about keeps up with phones like the OnePlus Nord running the more expensive 765G processor in our benchmarks, and beating the Pixel 4a, which uses the slightly slower (but also non-5G) Snapdragon 730G.
Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 1,764 TCL 10 5G: 1,897 OnePlus Nord: 1,963 Realme 6: 1,677 Google Pixel 4a: 1,640 Redmi Note 9S: 1,770
GFX Manhattan 3.1
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 27fps TCL 10 5G: 35fps OnePlus Nord: 34fps Realme 6: 27fps Google Pixel 4a: 27fps Redmi Note 9S: 27fps
If that all sounds like a mess of specs and jargon, then the long and short of it is this: the Poco X3 punches above its weight in raw processing power, making it a great choice for gamers on a budget or anyone trying to buy a phone that won’t slow to a crawl two years from now.
It comes with a choice of 64GB or 128GB storage. Normally I’d say that you should opt for the extra storage, but since the X3 also has a microSD slot you’re better off saving money with the 64GB model and buying the cheaper expandable storage – though note that this will fill the second SIM card slot, so dual-SIM users should grab the 128GB version.
In terms of networking you obviously don’t get 5G, but there is Bluetooth 5.1, an IR blaster, and – in case the name didn’t give it away – NFC support for contactless payments.
Photography
Xiaomi has fit a quad camera set-up onto the back of the Poco X3, though the main lens is the clear star of the show.
This 64Mp, f/1.9 camera is an unexpectedly capable shooter for a phone of this price, delivering decent detail and vibrant colour. I won’t pretend
that you can’t tell the difference between this camera and that of a flagship, but honestly the quality gap – in good lighting at least – is small enough that you likely won’t care.
Lowlight performance is definitely where the hardware shows its limits, and in dark settings detail and colour range drop dramatically. A decent night mode helps matters though, delivering genuinely excellent colour and dynamic range in night-time shots, though at the cost of introducing a fair amount of noise.
A 13Mp, f/2.2 ultra-wide backs the main lens up, and while it’s less impressive it’s certainly still decent. It helps that Xiaomi has nailed the colour tuning here to deliver consistent results between the two lenses. The other two lenses are 2Mp a piece, with a depth sensor to help with portrait mode and a macro lens that, like the macros in most cheap phones, is best ignored entirely.
On the front you’ll find a 20Mp, f/2.2 selfie camera which also delivers much better results than most competitors at the same price. Despite only having a single lens it also offers portrait mode shots at similar quality to the rear cameras – both had a tendency to blur parts of my hair, but that’s nitpicking.
As for video, the rear cameras can shoot HD at 60fps or 4K at 30fps, while the front camera is limited to HD at 30. There’s no OIS, but the electronic image stabilization does a decent job at keeping video steady if you need it to.
Ultimately, the camera is another microcosm of the phone as a whole: undeniably imperfect, but for the most part better than it has any right to be for this price.
Battery life
Remember how I said the Poco X3 is a bulky device? Well, here’s the main reason why: it’s packing a giant 5,160mAh battery – which jumps up to a silly 6,000mAh in the Indian release, which ditches NFC instead.
Even with ‘just’ 5,160mAh the Poco X3 makes it through two days of use with juice to spare, so even if the battery life degrades over time it’s likely that this will always be capable of lasting a full day and then some. In our battery life benchmark it delivered the best result we’ve seen from any phone in months, which doesn’t surprise me at all from my experience using the phone for a couple of weeks.
Battery life
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 14 minutes, 24 minutes TCL 10 5G: 12 minutes, 39 minutes OnePlus Nord: 11 minutes, 26 minutes
Fast charge in 30 minutes
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 59% TCL 10 5G: 39% OnePlus Nord: 68% Realme 6: 68% Google Pixel 4a: 51% Redmi Note 9S: 36%
Unsurprisingly, you don’t get wireless charging at this price, but the 33-watt wired charging topped up 59 per cent in just 30 minutes, which is comfortably more than a day’s usage.
Software
Let’s come full circle. After starting on the Poco X3’s one hardware flaw – its design – let’s end with its second issue: the software.
I’ll preface this with the disclaimer that more than any other part of the phone, software really comes down to taste, but I’m really not a fan of MIUI, Xiaomi’s Android skin.
It’s certainly not the worst offender in this space, but MIUI 12 – which runs on top of Android 10 – is far from my preferred Android experience. For one, it skews much closer to iOS in core design, with touches like swiping down on one side of the screen for notifications and the other for the control centre shortcuts clearly cribbed from Apple’s notes.
If you’re coming from an iPhone this might well lessen the learning curve, but other Android users will find the design confusing. I suspect anyone will find the settings menu obtuse, while there’s no defence for the sheer amount of bloatware – a mix of games, social networks, and Xiaomi’s own apps. These are at least almost all uninstallable, though there are a few hangers-on.
I may find MIUI 12 clunky, but it is at least stable and smooth, so once
you get the hang of its oddities there’s probably not too much to complain about really.
Verdict
The Poco X3 isn’t perfect. The big battery makes it bulky, I don’t love the aesthetic, and to my taste MIUI 12 leaves much to be desired.
For the most part these are small complaints though, especially when stacked up against the X3’s myriad strengths: strong specs, an excellent camera, a beautiful display, and absolutely fantastic battery life.
The fact that you can get all of that for just £199 is almost unbelievable, and makes the Poco X3 a shoo-in for the best budget phone. Dominic Preston
Specifications
• 6.67in (2,400x1,080; 395ppi) IPS LCD, 120Hz, HDR10 display
• Android 10, MIUI 12
• Qualcomm SM7150-AC Snapdragon 732G (8nm) processor
• Octa-core (2x 2.3GHz Kryo 470 Gold, 6x 1.8GHz Kryo 470 Silver) CPU
• Adreno 618 GPU
• 6GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB storage
• Four rear-facing cameras: 64Mp, f/1.9, (wide), 1/1.73in, 0.8μm, PDAF; 13Mp, f/2.2, 119-degree (ultra-wide), 1.0μm; 2Mp, f/2.4, (macro); 2Mp, f/2.4, (depth)
• Selfie camera: 20Mp, f/2.2, (wide), 1/3.4in, 0.8μm
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
• NFC
• USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go
• Fingerprint scanner (side mounted)
• Non-removable 5,160mAh lithiumpolymer battery
• Fast charging 33 watts
• 165.3x76.8x9.4mm
• 215g
2. REALME 7 Price: £179 from fave.co/3mUfYLs
Realme hasn’t been in the UK market for long, but it’s moved aggressively in that time. The Realme 6 series only launched in spring 2020, but the company is back already with its successor: the Realme 7.
The Realme 6 quickly became one of our favourite budget phones, but since then it’s been usurped by Xiaomi’s Poco X3 (see page 44), which packs in almost absurd specs for just £199.
Starting from £179, the Realme 7 undercuts the Poco X3, and while it can’t quite compete on pure performance or camera chops, with a more attractive design and simpler software the Realme will appeal more to some. And if you
need a bit more power, there’s always the Realme 7 Pro, launched alongside it.
Design
Considering the price, the Realme 7 is an attractive bit of kit. It has a 6.5in display, which is big but not uncomfortably so – I can still use it one-handed, though smaller hands may struggle.
Gorilla Glass 3 coats the display – far from the latest version, but still protective enough – while the back is plastic, which is typical at this price. That has the benefit of a softer, grippier finish than glass, and Realme has made the most of the material visually too.
The Realme 7’s rear is split by a line that runs down behind the cornermounted camera module, creating contrasting light reflections on either side of the line – an effect the company says was inspired by mirrors. That explains the naming at least – with Mirror White (pictured) and Mirror Blue finishes both available in the UK.
At 9.4mm the 7 is a little thick – curiously partly thanks to a raised black border around the edges of the display, which slightly ruins the feel of the curves – but it weighs just under 200g, which still feels lightweight and comfortable.
The speakers are only mono, but you do at least get a headphone jack. That’s joined by a USB-C port for charging and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner built into the power button, which has proved quick and impressively reliable so far.
I’m a big fan of the Realme 7’s design, considering the price. It’s smaller, lighter, and subtler than its main rival, the Poco X3, with a finish that feels a little flash without ever crossing the line into garish.
Display
I’ve already mentioned that at 6.5in the display is fairly big, and it has a Full HD resolution of 2,400x1,080. It’s fast too though, with a 90Hz refresh rate
– which basically means it looks and feels smoother to use and is capable of hitting higher frame rates if you’re big on gaming. It’s an effect that’s hard to put into words until you’ve used it, but trust me: using a 90Hz phone feels better, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it, and that alone will make this an upgrade for many.
It’s an IPS LCD rather than the OLED you’ll find in more expensive phones (including the 7 Pro), which means the viewing angles and contrast aren’t up there with the best displays on the market. I imagine most people will find that the colours are punchy enough, though it’s not the brightest LCD I’ve used, which means it will struggle a little in bright, direct sunlight.
There’s a 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, which basically means slim borders around the display’s edges – admittedly with a bit of a chunky chin right at the bottom. There’s also a punch-hole selfie camera in the top-left corner – my preferred spot, as it keeps it nicely out of the way.
Performance
If you happen to care about phone processors, the Realme 7 is actually an interesting phone, as it’s the first to be powered by the MediaTek Helio G95, a new 12nm chip that’s designed to bring high-level performance to budget devices, especially for gaming.
I was a little sceptical, but the results speak for themselves. Performance is broadly on a par with the Realme 6 – so there’s no great leap forward here – but it also keeps up with the 7 Pro, which uses the more expensive Snapdragon 720G, and isn’t far behind the Poco X3 and its Snapdragon 732G.
Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
Realme 7: 1,622 Realme 7 Pro: 1,783
Realme 6: 1,677 Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 1,764 OnePlus Nord: 1,963 Google Pixel 4a: 1,640
GFX Manhattan 3.1
Realme 7: 26fps Realme 7 Pro: 25fps Realme 6: 27fps Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 27fps OnePlus Nord: 34fps Google Pixel 4a: 27fps
Benchmarks are only one side of the story of course, and in usage I found the Realme 7 perfectly snappy and responsive. I didn’t put it through its paces in any intense mobile gaming, but it handled everything else I threw at it very capably.
It’s worth noting though, that I’ve been testing the phone’s top spec, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage. That costs £239, and the entry-level £179 model has half the RAM and storage, while a mid-tier set-up offers 6GB RAM.
The storage might be a frustration, but is easily resolved with a microSD card – especially since this comes with a triple card slot, allowing for two SIM cards and a microSD card simultaneously. The RAM is the real issue – I would expect the 4GB version of the phone to be noticeably slower, and would recommend anyone grab the 6GB model at a minimum.
There’s no 5G support to be found here, or Wi-Fi 6, but you do get regular Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0. The phone also includes NFC support for contactless payments – not always guaranteed in budget phones.
Photography
So far things have all been pretty good, but if there’s a weak link to the Realme 7 it’s really the camera. On paper it looks promising enough: a 48Mp, f/1.8 main lens, backed up by an 8Mp ultra-wide and portrait and macro sensors.
In practice, things are slightly less encouraging. Thanks to the 48Mp sensor detail is decent so long as the lighting is good, and most of my shots have been crisp and sharp. Colour reproduction is less impressive though, with consistently warm tones that never quite feel trueto-life, with the effect getting more pronounced in lower light.
The portrait mode is worse, with slightly ropey edge detection – you can see in the sample shots on page 61 that it kept the table behind me in focus, rather than blurring it with the rest of the background.
Night mode is better though. There’s a touch of image softening thanks to the long focus, but nothing too bad, and colour reproduction is actually good here. Importantly, the photos still look like they were taken at night – something many other phones get wrong, brightening dark photos until they look like daylight.
The other lenses have less to offer. The ultra-wide is distinctly fuzzy and undetailed, so will only do in a pinch. As for the macro, like on most budget phones this lens is really only there to pad the numbers – even up close you’ll get better shots out of the main camera than the macro lens.
The 16Mp selfie camera isn’t bad at all though. Colours are still a little warm, but selfies are sharp, and in my test shots it handled the portrait mode better than the rear camera set-up, even without a dedicated portrait photography lens.
As for video, you can film up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps from the rear cameras, with electronic image stabilization to keep footage steady. You can also shoot slo-mo at up to 240fps if you fancy.
Overall the Realme 7’s camera isn’t awful, and honestly for this price it’s pretty good, but you can feel the limits of the hardware here. It’s especially frustrating coming just after the Xiaomi Poco X3, which delivers a much stronger camera set-up for the same price – if I hadn’t just come off using that phone, I’d likely be more impressed with what the Realme offers.
Battery life
Realme has included a large 5,000mAh battery in this phone, which in my experience has basically translated to two days of use on a single charge, though heavy users may find it doesn’t last quite that long. Either way it should comfortably make it through a day with plenty of power to spare.
If you want to save battery further you can always drop the display down to 60Hz, which should eke out a few extra hours. It’s also worth flagging that
the phone seemed to under-perform in our battery benchmarks, but in realworld usage it’s more impressive. Curiously the Realme 6 did the same thing, so don’t put too much stock in the battery benchmark score above.
When it’s time to top up, the included 30-watt charger recovered 58 per cent of the battery capacity in just half an hour in my test. That’s basically enough power to last the day from just half an hour on the charger, which isn’t bad at all.
Battery life
Realme 7: 9 hours, 2 minutes Realme 7 Pro: 12 hours, 5 minutes Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 14 hours, 24 minutes OnePlus Nord: 11 hours, 26 minutes
Fast charge in 30 minutes
Realme 7: 58% Realme 7 Pro: 92% Realme 6: 68% Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC: 59% OnePlus Nord: 68% Google Pixel 4a: 51%
Software
The Realme 7 runs on Realme UI, which itself sits on top of Android 10. I’d be lying if I said Realme’s was my favourite take on Android, but it’s also far from the worst out there, and these days is pretty middle of the road.
I find the design language a little colourful and cutesy to my taste, but it’s more restrained than it used to be – and unlike some rivals there’s minimal unwanted software pre-installed.
There are small annoyances dotted about – a recurring visual glitch in Instagram messages; the fact that tapping a grouped notification (such as
for all my emails in the morning) simply ungroups them rather than opening the app; or that setting notifications to wake the screen interacts in some weird way with Spotify that leaves my screen turning on and off incessantly.
Buying a phone from Motorola or Nokia would avoid many of these small irritations, but neither can compete with Realme on hardware at this price. As for that big rival, the Poco X3? Well, Xiaomi’s MIUI is even worse, so I’d take the Realme software any day.
Verdict
The competition is too fierce for the Realme 7 to claim the best budget phone crown that its predecessor wore for so long. But don’t hold that against it too much. This still offers phenomenal value for money, with strong performance and all-round specifications packed into an attractive design at an affordable price.
I’m a little disappointed by the camera, and wouldn’t recommend anyone buy the base model with 4GB RAM, but beyond that there’s not much to complain about here. Dominic Preston
Specifications
• 6.5in (2,400x1,080; 405ppi) IPS LCD, 90Hz display • Android 10, Realme UI
• Mediatek Helio G95 (12nm) processor • Octa-core (2x 2.05GHz Cortex-A76, 6x 2GHz Cortex-A55) CPU
• Mali-G76 MC4 GPU • 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM • 64GB/128GB storage • Four rear-facing cameras: 48Mp, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/2.0in, 0.8μm, PDAF; 8Mp, f/2.3, 119-degree, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/4.0in, 1.12μm; 2Mp, f/2.4, (macro); 2Mp, f/2.4, (depth) • Selfie camera: 16Mp, f/2.1, 26mm (wide), 1/3.1in, 1.0μm • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot • Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS • NFC • USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go • Fingerprint scanner (side mounted) • Non-removable 5,000mAh lithiumpolymer battery • Fast charging 30 watts • 162.3x75.4x9.4mm • 197g
3. REALME 6 Price: £219 from fave.co/3mURhOP
Realme is starting to make a name for itself and the Realme 6 is one of the best budget handsets you can get. It’s also one of the cheapest you can buy (at the time of writing) with a 90Hz screen and it also has five cameras.
Display
At the time of writing, phones with a 90Hz screen were almost exclusively available at the flagship end of the market. We were, therefore, surprised to see one on such a cheap handset.
That refresh rate is the main headline here, but the screen is decent in other ways too. It’s 6.5 inches in size, has a Full HD+ resolution and uses IPS LCD tech. Okay, it’s not OLED but it still offers a pleasant balance of colour, brightness and sharpness. The 90Hz refresh rate is the wow factor here though.
Photography
It’s common for budget smartphones to have dual or sometimes even triple rear cameras, but Realme offers a quad rear camera array on the 6. That’s more than many flagship phones that are three or even four times the price.
Here’s a rundown of what you get:
64Mp Main: f/1.8, PDAF 8Mp Ultra-wide: f/2.3, 13mm 2Mp Macro: f/2.4, 22mm 2Mp Portrait lens: f/2.4, black&white 16Mp Selfie: f/2.0
Starting with the main camera, since you’ll use this most of the time, it actually shoots in 16Mp by combining four pixels into one. However, you can select ‘64M’ from the camera app to shoot in full resolution if you like.
You can try it, but overall there’s little to gain and you’ll have to store images over 20MB in size if you do, so only use it in order to zoom/crop in. In the regular 16Mp mode, images have plenty of detail, are nicely accurate colour and have very little noise.
Give the Chroma Boost mode a try for more pop, but I prefer the results from regular shooting. The weakness here is low light, but the night mode improves images so they are usable. They are some of the best night shots I’ve seen from a budget phone.
I’m also impressed with the portrait mode, which uses the main sensor in conjunction with the 2Mp Portrait lens. Realme says this also enhances the contrast on top of depth sensing.
Onto the ultra-wide angle option and this too is pretty decent, with lively colour and excellent contrast. It doesn’t give the best results I’ve ever seen, but the set-up has been causing me to forget this is a budget phone.
The macro option is the weak link here and although it means you can get really close into subjects, the sensor is only 2Mp and there’s not much detail. It’s also just quite tricky, as I’ve found with other macro lenses, to hold the phone at the right distance. Most of the time, you’ll be better off just using the main camera from slightly further back.
For selfies, you’ve got a 16Mp embedded in the screen and it includes HDR, a night mode and beauty enhancements if you want them. Selfies are pretty good and although it has a portrait mode, results here are mixed.
To touch on video, the Realme 6 can shoot in up to 4K at 30fps or you can get 60fps at 1080p. Results vary and although colours are good, I expected more detail. There’s also no optical image stabilization and you only get electronic stabilization when shooting at 1080p and 30fps.
Photography is an area where you might want to opt for the Realme 6 Pro. It’s got a telephoto lens at the back and a second ultra-wide camera at the front.
Performance
You might think the Realme 6 is going to suffer in this area compared to its Pro big brother, but the Mediatek Helio G90T processor here is perfectly good. In our benchmarks there’s effectively no difference between it and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G found in the 6 Pro. In fact, the MediaTek scored better in some tests.
Geekbench 4 (multi-core)
Realme 6: 7,730 Realme 6 Pro: 7,132 Huawei P40 Lite: 7,846 Motorola Moto G8 Power: 5,495 Google Pixel 3a: 5,194
GFX Manhattan 3.1
Realme 6: 27fps Realme 6 Pro: 26fps Huawei P40 Lite: 30fps Motorola Moto G8 Power: 12fps Google Pixel 3a: 19fps
Battery life
The Realme 6 might be a little chunky, but at least this is partly down to a decent sized battery. It’s well above
average at 4,300mAh capacity. It lasted a middling seven hours and 15 minutes in our battery life test, but real-world usage proved to be good. How long it will last you, as usual, will depend on your personal usage and whether you use 90Hz all the time.
I was using the phone with the display set to 90Hz and with light usage (I’m on a laptop most of the day with little need to rinse a phone) it can get through a day with no problem and often a second. Overall, I’d describe battery life as solid.
It’s also impressive that Realme offers speedy 30-watt ‘Flash Charge’ charging here and the matching charger comes in the box. No wireless charging, of course, but when you can get the phone from dead to a whopping 68 per cent in 30 minutes over USB-C it doesn’t really matter too much.
Design
Smartphone design has hit something of a ceiling these days and if it’s not a folding phone, the whole market pretty much looks the same. Maybe I have something of a skewed opinion on that dealing with so many phones on a regular basis. Regardless, the Realme 6 is a pretty stylish device with the look and feel of a device typically double the price.
It certainly looks the part at the front with its front camera embedded into a punch-hole notch, curved corners on the display and a decent screen-to-body ratio – although I’m not convinced by the touted 90.5 per cent when you look at the chin below the screen.
At the back, the Realme 6 has a striking look, with a pattern that comes to life as you move the phone around. It’s a ‘V’ shape which I think looks better than the stripes of the 6i and lightning bolt of the 6 Pro.
This model is available in Comet White and Comet Blue.
I really can’t complain much at this price, but the device is a little on the chunky side of things so weighs a hefty
191g and isn’t particularly thin either (even without the camera bump).
Still it does include a headphone jack, construction feels solid and I love having the fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button on the side. It’s a particularly speedy scanner, too. Note that it’s only splash resistant so don’t go dunking it in the bath or similar.
Software
A common theme when reviewing phones from brands like Realme is that software is a huge let down and a big reason to get a rival.
While I’m not a huge fan of the Realme UI here (based on Android 10), it’s nowhere near as bad as some of the interfaces I’ve seen in my time. It’s close to stock and keeps things clean and simple. Sure, some of the icons look a bit overly colourful and therefore childish, there are some preinstalled apps such as Opera I don’t want and I didn’t find myself using the Smart Assistant to the left of the home screen but these are minor points.
Out of the box, the likes of Motorola and Nokia have better software, but at the end of the day you can easily install a different launcher if you like.
Verdict
When you’ve been reviewing smartphones for almost 10 years, being gobsmacked is pretty rare. However,
Realme has pulled it off with the 6. This is an insane amount of phone for the money and it’s frankly quite ridiculous that you can get a 90Hz screen, four rear cameras, 30-watt fast charging and more for just over £200.
Sure, there’s the odd niggle here and there, but these are largely balanced out such as the large battery being the reason behind the hefty weight.
I also found myself comparing it to various flagship phones while testing simply due to the specs on offer, forgetting about the price.
The bottom line is that this is an outstandingly good value phone and easily one of the best in the budget market right now. Chris Martin
Specifications
• 6.5in (2,400x1,080; 405ppi) IPS LCD, 90Hz display • Android 10, Realme UI • Mediatek MT6785 Helio G90T (12nm) processor • Octa-core (2x 2.05GHz Cortex-A76, 6x 2GHz Cortex-A55) CPU • Mali-G76 MC4 GPU • 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM • 128GB storage • Four rear-facing cameras: 64Mp, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.72in, 0.8μm, PDAF; 8Mp, f/2.3, 13mm (ultra-wide), 1/4.0in, 1.12μm; 2Mp, f/2.4, (macro); 2Mp B/W, f/2.4, (depth) • Selfie camera: 16Mp, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/3.06in, 1.0μm • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot • Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS • NFC • USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go • Fingerprint scanner (side mounted) • Non-removable 4,300mAh lithiumpolymer battery • Fast charging 30 watts • 162.1x74.8x8.9mm • 191g
4. XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 9S Price: £199 from fave.co/2VLO0p8
Xiaomi’s Redmi line has always been synonymous with astonishing value, and the new Redmi Note 9S is yet another blinder from the Chinese firm.
This smartphone packs a 5,020mAh battery that promises up to two-day life, along with some decent core hardware and photography smarts that would be more at home in the mid-range.
Following on from the class-leading Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 8T before it, the Note 9S is another contender that will fly high in our best budget phone rankings – but, in 2020, it faces stiff competition from the Realme 6 Pro and Xiaomi’s own Redmi Note 8T.
Design
Each new Redmi phone comes with a still very Xiaomi but slightly refined design. Here, with Redmi Note 9S, we’ve moved away from the screen notch we’ve seen in previous generations to a new ‘Dot Drop’ display. This involves a tiny cutout at the top for the selfie camera, while the speaker is easy to miss at the very top of the display tucked into the frame, leaving all else free for screen, screen and more screen.
And what a lot of screen there is. At 6.67in, you know why Xiaomi refers to this Redmi phone as a ‘Note’ model. But while it’s on the large side, the phone itself is not unwieldy. With an impressive 91 per cent screen-to-body ratio and a tall 20:9 aspect, the Note 9S is comfortable to hold in one hand, if a little difficult to reach your thumb right across the screen and operate without resorting to two hands.
It’s also on the heavy side at 209g, which is thanks to a generous battery inside, but a reasonably slim 8.8mm chassis and rounded edges at the rear help keep things manageable.
A large body combined with a slippery surface might mean it is more likely to fall from your grip, but protective Gorilla Glass 5 goes a long way to shielding it from damage. A clear silicone case is also supplied in the box, which will help stave off some of the fingerprints that the mirror-finish body attracts.
There’s a slightly odd contrast between the high-gloss rear panel and the matte plastic frame. We’re not sure if we like or dislike it. It’s interesting. The screen itself is difficult to fault, plenty bright under even direct sunlight, with Xiaomi claiming a rating of 450 nits. Colours are realistic, viewing angles are good, and the FullHD+ resolution is pinsharp. But we do miss the vibrance and deep blacks of OLED that you see higher up Xiaomi’s range, with this model instead using an IPS panel.
Do note that this is a 60Hz panel, whereas the Realme 6 is the currently the cheapest phone to support a faster refresh rate of 90Hz. Many of today’s flagships are now specifying 120Hz.
The design on the whole is pleasing, and we particularly like the Aurora Blue finish of our review sample. Redmi Note 9S is also available in Glacier White and Interstellar Grey.
There are a few nice extra touches, which are becoming increasingly rare on more expensive phones, from the IR blaster at the top to the dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom, which means if you want something more personal than blasting out audio from the phone’s mono speaker you can simultaneously charge the Redmi and listen to music without having to fiddle around with adaptors.
The slotloading SIM tray at top left also deserves a special mention, not only able to accommodate both a microSD card (up to 512GB) and two nano-SIMs, without forcing you to make a choice between extra storage and a second phone number, but both those SIM slots support 4G.
On that, the Redmi Note 9S does not support 5G networks, and NFC for making mobile payments is also sorely missing, but all other connectivity bases are covered with dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi with 2x2 MIMO, GPS and Bluetooth 5.0. If you do want NFC you might want to instead consider the Realme 6 or Redmi Note 8T, which are two very close competitors.
While in-display fingerprint sensors are all the range for smartphones higher up the food chain, and are increasingly creeping into cheaper models, Redmi Note 9S instead has a sensor built into its power button on the side – something we first saw in the Sony Xperia line.
We actually really like this positioning, arguably more so than when it appears in the display, because it’s just such a natural action to pick up your phone and press the power button to wake the screen, and without even realising it you’re unlocking it and ready to go. Easy.
But for all we love about the design, there is one element that is difficult to overlook, and that’s the chunky square quad-lens camera module jutting out at the rear. Perhaps if the phone was also black it might jar less, but in our opinion it really detracts from the overall design.
That it is centrally sited is a good thing for stability when using the phone on a flat surface such as a desk, but we much prefer the look of the vertical assembly at top left on both Realme 6 and Redmi Note 8T.
Battery life
The key selling point of this phone is arguably its battery. This is a massive 5,020mAh cell and, given the budget- to mid-range hardware inside this phone, it could easily last you up to two days, depending on your usage. If you are someone who is always picking up your phone, it at least ensures a full day’s life, from the moment you wake to the time you close your eyes at night, without you ever having to reach for a power bank.
The Redmi Note 9S actually recorded the longest battery life we’ve ever seen in the Geekbench 4 battery test, with a score of 15 hours and 3 minutes. It’s a synthetic benchmark rather than real-world testing, but that score is incredible.
But this is a budget phone, so it does lack the wireless-, reverse wireless-, and super-speedy wired charging of some more premium models. Whereas the Realme 6 can support up to 30-watt wired charging, this Redmi Note 9S maxes out at 18 watts – which, to be fair, is still plenty fast.
In the box you get a faster 22.5-watt charger, which feels as though it should be a good thing, but in reality it’s only going to impress if you have another gadget capable of accepting that faster input. Using the supplied charger we managed to get to 36 per cent charge in 30 minutes, which is significant when you consider the high capacity of the battery. However, do not that in the box came a European two-pin plug, so we needed to use a three-pin adaptor with it for testing.
Performance
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 9S might be a budget phone, but its performance is decidedly mid-range – faster than the likes of the Google Pixel 3a and Samsung Galaxy A70, if falling short of the Galaxy S10 Lite.
Its on-paper specifications suggest it should sit somewhere in between the Realme 6 and Realme 6 Pro, with the same 4GB allocation of memory as the standard model (at least in our review sample – it’s also available with 6GB), but the 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor of the Pro.
Weirdly, in the Geekbench 5 processing performance test, it outperformed both models, but not by enough that you might actually perceive a difference in the real world. Yet it performed less well in the older Geekbench 4 test, so it’s really swings and roundabouts, and just goes to show how much you should rely on synthetic benchmarks.
Geekbench 4 (multi-core)
Redmi Note 9S: 7,132 Realme 6: 7,730 Realme 6 Pro: 7,132 Motorola Moto G8 Power: 5,495
Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
Redmi Note 9S: 1,770 Realme 6: 1,667 Realme 6 Pro: 1,681 Motorola Moto G8 Power: 1,225
GFX Manhattan 3.1
Redmi Note 9S: 27fps Realme 6: 27fps Realme 6 Pro: 26fps Motorola Moto G8 Power: 12fps
In our real-world testing performance was flawless, and though this is some way off top-end models that cost four or five times the price, casual users won’t feel they are sacrificing anything.
As you’re navigating your way around the phone you may spot that Xiaomi has also upgraded the haptic feedback (vibration) engine, which makes it feel more responsive.
Photography
Xiaomi is buying into the idea that customers are easily swayed by both the number of camera lenses and the number of megapixels offered. This budget phone has a 16Mp selfie camera on the front, and becomes a fully paid up member of the Quad Squad with its four rear camera lenses.
Headlining here is a 48Mp lens, but don’t presume all four are so highly rated. There’s also an 8Mp ultra-wide lens, a 5Mp Macro camera and a 2Mp depth sensor. So it’s basically the same camera as on the Redmi Note 8T, but with an upgraded Macro lens.
As with many of its high-megapixel phones, Xiaomi uses pixel binning to combine the information from four individual pixels into one super pixel, so the resulting shots are actually 12Mp. Unless you’re planning on sticking them up on a billboard, this will be plenty. If you really want massive photos, there is a 48Mp shooting mode, but expect lower-quality results.
As you can see from our test photos, images shot on a nice bright, sunny day turn out pretty well at first glance. Colours are generally realistic, if a touch over-saturated, but it’s only when you zoom right in you notice that images
are actually rather grainy, and not sharp right to the edges.
The camera app is generally easy to use, and you can swap between standard Photo, the aforementioned 48Mp, Portrait, Night, Panorama and Pro modes, but this being an AI camera the general idea is to point and shoot. If you’re a keen photographer you won’t love this phone camera, but for most people it will easily suffice.
The camera can also shoot 4K video at 30fps, and supports image stabilization. There are both Slow Motion and Short Video shooting modes, in addition to the default Video mode.
Software
As a long-time Xiaomi user, the MIUI interface has become so familiar to me that I barely blink an eye to its differences when compared to standard Android. Fact is, MIUI is Android, but with a custom interface that we’ve come to prefer. The Redmi Note 9S runs the latest MIUI 11 OS, which is based on Android 10.
It’s fair to say the two have come much closer together in recent years, but still one of the first things you’ll notice on MIUI is that there is no app tray, with all shortcuts sprawled out on the home screen. The latest version of MIUI 11 is said to include an option for an app drawer, but it was not available on this review sample, running MIUI 11.0.6.
Most Android custom interfaces seem to take this approach, and if you’ve ever used an iPhone you might even prefer it. The set-up certainly makes it less likely that you wind up with hundreds of apps you installed and forgot about buried somewhere deep in the app tray.
There are also some differences in the layout of the Settings menu (a search bar makes it easy to find what you need), but really the main difference is in the pre-installed apps and the extra functionality offered by MIUI.
You’ll find Xiaomi’s own apps for things such as Themes, Security, Cleaner, Music, Mi Video, Notes, Weather, Mi Store, Mi Community and more. This isn’t bloatware, but you might decide they’re not for you. And that’s okay, just don’t use them. Stick them all in a folder so they don’t get in your way. You don’t really need to worry about the storage space they consume, with 64GB as standard and 128GB as an option.
The MIUI Global ROM supports full Google services, including Google Play out of the box, so it’s easy to install any apps you wish to use. We had no issues with compatibility, and actually find MIUI easier to use for managing such things as App Permissions. The Google Discover panel, a swipe in from
the left of the home screen, can also be toggled on and off.
MIUI really comes into its own when you come to things such as Dual Apps and Second Space, allowing you to run two separate instances of any app installed on the phone (very handy if you’re using two SIMs), or to cordon off a section of the phone for tucking away out of sight apps and media.
If you are struggling with the size of the display you can also access Onehanded mode or Quick Ball, both longterm components of MIUI. The former shrinks down the tappable area of the display to put everything in easy reach of your thumb, and the latter gives easy access to frequent functions.
But if you really want to celebrate the sheer size of this screen, you can also hide away the on-screen navigational buttons and find your way through the operating system using gestures alone.
Redmi Note 9S also benefits from a system-wide Dark Mode under MIUI 11, and you can switch on Quick Replies that allow you to directly respond to messages within the notification drop-down. Something that is missing here in this budget model is the Always-on Display functionality, however.
Verdict
The Redmi Note 9S might have had its thunder stolen by the equally awesome Realme 6 Pro, but it remains one of the best budget phones we’ve seen. This is a fantastic phone for less than £200, a real all-rounder with decent performance and cameras, as well as mind-blowing battery life. The Redmi recorded the longest time in the Geekbench 5 battery life test we’ve seen to date.
We are not fans of the rear camera module, and the lack of NFC is an unexpected shame, but those niggles aside it ticks all our boxes at this price
point. In the next update we’d love to see waterproofing (the Redmi Note 9S is merely splashproof) and wireless – or at least faster wired – charging, which are gradually creeping into cheaper phones. To truly take on Realme it also needs a 90Hz display. But, for now, this is a fine example of not a lot of money very well spent. Marie Black
Specifications
• 6.67in Full-HD+ (2,400x1,080; 395ppi) IPS LCD display
• Android 10; MIUI 11.0.6
• Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G (8nm) processor
• Octa-core (2x 2.3GHz Kryo 465 Gold, 6x 1.8GHz Kryo 465 Silver) CPU
• Adreno 618 GPU
• 4GB/6GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB storage with up to 512GB microSD support
• Four rear-facing cameras: 48Mp, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/2.0in, 0.8μm, PDAF; 8Mp, f/2.2, 13mm (ultra-wide), 1/4.0in, 1.12μm; 5Mp, f/2.4, (macro), 1.12μm; 2Mp, f/2.4, (depth)
• Selfie camera: 16Mp, f/2.5, (wide), 1.0μm
• 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi dual-band
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
• GPS with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
• USB 2.0, Type-C 1.0
• Fingerprint scanner (side mounted)
• Non-removable 5,020mAh lithiumpolymer battery
• Fast charge 18 watts
• 165.8x76.7x8.8mm
• 209g
5. OPPO A9 2020 Price: £219 from fave.co/3qDF83h
For just over £200, you may expect to make some serious compromises on a smartphone, but the Oppo A9 2020 says otherwise. The camera has some serious high-end capabilities – especially with the night mode – and the battery is extremely impressive both on paper and in actual use.
It’s not completely perfect but the downsides cannot outweigh the performance that this phone delivers for such a reasonable price. If you’d like to know what else you can get for a similar price, then take a look at our list of the best budget smartphones.
Design
Oppo has become synonymous with the ombre colour effect found on its phones and the A9 is no different, with a glossy back that blends sapphire blue and violet together seamlessly. The back of the phone looks like glass but is in fact plastic. Whilst this does seem like a shame, the phone still looks and feels
high-end, so it’s not a huge compromise. However, because it’s so reflective, it falls victim to picking up lots of fingerprints.
As stated, we tested out the blue/ purple variant but you can also get the A9 2020 in a green colourway, where the gradient is slightly more subtle.
It has curved edges, plus metal volume and lock screen/power keys. I found the latter to be a little frustrating; taking unwanted screenshots or just generally struggling to turn the phone off quickly. You can unlock the phone using either the rear fingerprint scanner, facial recognition or standard password unlock.
The phone comes fitted with a screen protector, which is added so well that it’s barely noticeable and will save you a few pennies on buying your own. The bargain price does mean that this phone is not water-resistant but this is typically something normally only seen on higher-end phones, anyway. There’s also no wireless charging.
Measuring 163.6x75.6x9.1mm, this is quite a large phone, although those
familiar with Oppo will know that such a trait is characteristic of the brand. The A9 won’t fit in smaller pockets and I personally can’t use it one-handed easily, however, it’s a great phone for watching videos on. At 195g, it’s not too heavy in comparison to some other larger phones on the market too.
The Oppo A9 has a Micro-USB port, dualSIM support, a 3.5mm headphone jack and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos sound. The latter works well when listening to audio out loud; bringing depth to the sound quality and not having that ‘tinny’ feel that lots of other mobile speakers suffer from.
Performance
Running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor, the Oppo A9 is swift to everyday tasks and seldom encounters issues with apps crashing or being slow. It runs on Android 9 (Pie) with a layered ColorOS 6.1 interface on top. As Android skins go, this is a clean and smooth user experience with no major hiccups. If the phone does get an update to Android 10 (which is already available on other devices), it’ll likely have to wait in line behind the company’s flagships.
If the traditional home page layout isn’t doing it for you, you can turn on ‘Smart Assistant’, which means you have a homepage with wider widgets on display, plus the ability to pick your favourite ones and customize the layout. This is useful if you have specific information you’d like to see – like your step count, for example.
It also comes with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage – enough to keep a wide bank of photos, apps and games. Of course, if you need more, there’s a microSD slot, which can
handle up to 256GB of extra storage. For connectivity, the Oppo A9 comes complete with Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
For playing games, there’s a Game Space app which is designed to optimize performance when playing heavy-duty titles. I personally found it hard to see the difference when turning this feature on – I still had a wait for what felt like the same amount of time for games to load, whether the feature was on or off. The same was also true of battery drain and gameplay fluidity.
Looking at our internal benchmark testing, the A9 2020 sits with the likes of the Huawei P30 Lite and the Pixel 3a, performing reasonably well.
Geekbench 4 (multi-core)
Oppo A9 2020: 5,625 Huawei P30 Lite: 5,435 Google Pixel 3a: 5,194 Motorola Moto G7 Plus: 4,925 Honor Play: 6,545 Xiaomi Pocophone F1: 9,052
GFX Manhattan 3.1
Oppo A9 2020: 25fps Huawei P30 Lite: 13fps Google Pixel 3a: 19fps Motorola Moto G7 Plus: 10fps Honor Play: 38fps Xiaomi Pocophone F1: 55fps
Display
If you’re after an uninterrupted display, then the Oppo A9 will not be suitable to your needs, as the screen features a waterdrop notch. However, I would argue that this is hardly an intrusion on the viewing-experience, as there’s still an 82.5 per cent screen-to-body ratio.
The phone comes with dynamic pixel adjustment, which claims to be able to allow the user to read text even under strong sunlight. Personally, I only found this to be true when I whacked up the brightness to full, myself. In low light, the display was easy to view, even on the lowest setting. You can also opt for a warmer screen that cancels out blue light for less eye-strain, both permanently or on a timer.
The A9 has a resolution of 1,600x720 pixels – which isn’t the best, as lots of rivals offer 1080p Full HD panels.
Photography
Though the quad-camera is the marketed highlight of the A9, not all of the sensors at play are particularly useful. The 48Mp module is the star of the show, bringing in the crisp, detailed images. Like most smartphone cameras it performs best under natural daylight; capturing colour depth and contrast really well.
Night mode is pushed as one of the phone’s biggest talking points and it’s
easy to see why. Everything is lifted into clear detail and the phone manages to keep the image sharp (even with my shaky hands) too. The shooting time is slightly longer than normal but it’s worth it for the crisp outcome of the images.
As there’s no optical or hybrid zoom system at play details becomes extremely blurred and fuzzy the more you crop in, though. Of course, zoom isn’t a primary feature on the A9, but don’t expect that just because it’s got a high-quality main camera that its talents apply to all areas of photography. You can choose to turn on optional modes like Dazzle Color and HDR but I found the former overexposes colours a lot, giving some photos an unnatural look.
You can also choose from a number of pre-made filters, as well as a separate black-and-white creative option. Personally, I find these all to be a bit gimmicky and would just prefer to edit photos in post-production but that does come down to user preference.
Meanwhile, the 8Mp camera is the wide-angle option, with generous room for fitting in what you may want in bigger scenes. It is easy to see the drop in quality that this lens has in comparison to
that main sensor, but for big travel-style shots, it’ll certainly come in handy when needed. You can still use HDR mode on wide-angle, although there’s no major difference in the resultant images.
The camera set-up experience does prove slightly confusing. Some options are menu-accessible, others are swipeable, and the rest are clickable at the top of the viewfinder. It’ll likely take a while for most users to get used to this layout, and personally I prefer having everything in one place for easy access.
The other two cameras are both 2Mp offerings and they’re allegedly meant to help with portrait and black-and-white shooting, respectively. Personally, it was hard to tell exactly what they were both adding, and seemed almost like Oppo wanted a quad-camera for the sake of saying that it had one.
The front-facing 16Mp snapper performs competently enough in daylight, still managing to capture textures well. That said, some details can become blown out under direct sunlight and the portrait mode comes off a little too strong on the blurriness side, making it seem like you’re standing in front of a green screen. It’s also not
great in low light, which is a shame considering the powerful night mode on the main camera.
Capturing video is extremely impressive on the A9, offering 4K Ultra HD recording. Considering that some rivals only offer up to 1080p capture – and cost more money – that’s a really powerful selling point.
Battery life
The Oppo A9 2020 benefits from a whopping 5,000mAh battery. Under our controlled battery testing, it achieved 12 hours and 53 minutes from full charge to flat, sitting on the higher end of the spectrum. In real-time, I can go nearly two days using this phone – browsing social media, messaging, watching the odd video – all in between working hours. Even when it gets down to below 10%, it’s not quick to die. If you’re looking for a cheaper phone with a battery that will last, the Oppo A9 2020 should be near the top of your list.
Cheaper phones have to compromise somewhere, and the lack of fast charging is the A9’s kryptonite. It takes a few hours to go from flat to full – and plugging it in for just a few minutes won’t result in a
major difference (it made it to 23% after 30 minutes charge time). However, the longevity and durability of the battery eases this sore point quite a lot.
You’re also able to use reverse charging on the A9 for other devices, though this is not applicable to all smartphones as does require an OTG cable – which isn’t included in the box.
Software
You can use facial recognition to unlock your phone but in all honesty, it’s not the most reliable biometric solution out there. Depending on how I was dressed or what angle I held the phone at affected the likelihood of a successful unlock. This unreliability isn’t a dealbreaker but just something to keep in mind. There are a few pre-installed apps that seem unnecessary, but nowhere near as many as brands like Honor have – making it much easier to customize your home screen to have exactly what you want.
Verdict
It’s hard to find a lot of things wrong with the Oppo A9 2020. The design is classy, the camera has flagship features, the battery is humongous and the display showcases videos and apps wonderfully. All in all, you’d find it hard to believe that this is a phone that’s going for just over £200. Combing through the details, there are a few issues in terms of everyday use. Fast charging would have been a nice feature and the set-up of the camera really needs refining to be simpler and clearer for the user. Some of the premade filters and modes could also be toned down slightly for less of an unrealistic final effect.
That said, in comparison to something like the Oppo Reno Z – which has an AMOLED display and a better selfie camera, the A9 2020 wins out in other areas, like its battery and greater affordability.
All in all, if you’re in the market for a cheaper phone that will take a good photo, will last for a while without a charger and performs all the everyday tasks you need it to, then we’d highly recommend the Oppo A9 2020. Hannah Cowton
Specifications
• 6.5in (1,600x720; 270ppi) IPS LCD display
• Android 9.0 (Pie), upgradable to Android 10, ColorOS 7.1
• Qualcomm SDM665 Snapdragon 665 (11nm) processor
• Octa-core (4x 2GHz Kryo 260 Gold, 4x 1.8GHz Kryo 260 Silver) CPU
• Adreno 610 GPU
• 4GB/8GB RAM
• 128GB storage
• Four rear-facing cameras: 48Mp, f/1.8, (wide), 1/2.25in, 0.8μm, PDAF; 8Mp, f/2.3, 119-degree (ultra-wide), 1/4.0in, 1.12μm, AF; 2Mp, f/2.4, 1/5.0in, 1.75μm; 2Mp, f/2.4, (depth)
• Selfie camera: 16Mp, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/3.06in, 1.0μm
• 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi dual-band
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
• USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go
• Fingerprint scanner (rear mounted)
• Non-removable 5,000mAh lithiumpolymer battery
• Fast charge 10 watts
• 163.6x75.6x9.1mm
• 195g