SIX OF THE BEST
BUDGET SMARTPHONES
VODAFONE SMART 6 PRIME 5.0” 4G READY SMARTPHONE ON PAYG WITH CASE £70, qvcuk.com
EASE of use is the name of the game with this phone. It’s simple to operate, comes with a good solid case, and the phone itself has great functions. The 5” screen is crystal clear, and it comes with an 8mp camera and HD video recording. There’s 1GB storage and you can pop a microSD (up to 64GB) for extra room. It does come with a sim card, but if you already have a Vodafone one, you can just use that instead.
SIM FREE BUSH SPIRA E2X MOBILE PHONE – BLACK £129.95 down from £149.95, argos.co.uk
IT’S all about speed with this phone – it has 2GB of Ram and really does keep things moving – whether you’re swapping between apps or connecting to the internet. On top of that, it’s got 16GB of internal memory and you can add to this with a 32GB SD card. The screen even comes with gorilla glass so is less likely to smash.
HTC DESIRE 530 £119.99, htc.com
THE Desire 530 with its speckled exterior, really is a thing of beauty. When you turn it on, the phone will take you through the setup, so within minutes, you’ll have it just how you like it. What’s particularly impressive with this model is its sound – even the most bass-heavy of tunes won’t be tinny or distorted with the HTC BoomSound Dolby Audio Profile. Finally, it’s nice and lightweight.
SAMSUNG GALAXY J5 £149, carphonewarehouse.com
IT’S no secret that Samsung make great smartphones and this model offers up a solid 18 hours of talk time, the colours are lovely and deep and, as such, the 5” screen offers really good clarity. It takes 13mp photos and comes with 8GB of storage. The 8GB of RAM makes the phone very efficient and its got a Super AMOLED screen to help keep it scratch free. The gold colour is exclusive to Carphone Warehouse.
MICROSOFT LUMIA 650 £125.99, mobiles.co.uk
AS THIS is a Microsoft model, you can sync files on your phone with your Windows 10 PC (you can also pay for a subscription for Microsoft Office). A good option if you’re looking for a phone that will also work as your personal assistant. It has an internal memory of 16GB and allows you to store another 200GB via micro SD.
OBI WORLDPHONE MV1 2GB RAM 16GB INTERNAL STORAGE UK SIM-FREE SMARTPHONE – WHITE £119, amazon.co.uk
THIS sturdy bit of kit is the work of ex-Apple CEO, John Sculley, and designer of Beats by Dre headphones, Robert Brunner. At £119 it impresses with both its tech and price tag. This phone has been carefully considered, from the sunlight display that sees the screen brightness automatically adjust depending on the ambient light, to the rich audio it produces. Its major selling point is the camera – the 8mp photos really do reflect the colours and tones of what you’re snapping.