Best budget phones

Buying a cheap smartphone no longer means losing out on all the latest features or performance. ANDROID ADVISOR STAFF report

Flagship phones are more expensive than ever, but as the top-end gets better so do more affordable models. It’s possible to buy a mobile phone on a budget of under £200 and still get a handset capable of everything you throw at it. The best budget devices are also more attractive in the long-term thanks to cheaper contract prices, though you might prefer to buy these outright and then pay only for your minutes, texts and data.

In our experience, the ideal way to get a cheap phone is to buy it SIM-free then grab a great-value SIM-only deal. You won’t be paying £50 per month for a phone for the next two years, and you can swap it for a newer model whenever you fancy it.

Over the following pages we rank the best budget phones on sale right now.

1. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Price: £199 from fave.co/2KGtORV

Following a Chinese launch in January, the Redmi Note 7 officially is now on sale in the UK, charging straight into the top spot in both our UK and Chinese budget phone charts, knocking the Mi A2 Lite off its perch. It’s the first phone from newly spun-off Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi, and as such it marks a huge departure from Redmi as you know it.

Headlining is a 48Mp dual-lens camera, and Redmi Note 7 was actually the first Xiaomi phone to pack such a high megapixel count – though Mi 9 then came along and did it better. There are some similarities between this budget phone and Xiaomi’s flagship, but Redmi Note 7 is much more closely aligned in specs and performance with the Oppo F11 Pro, another Chinese phone that has not yet gone on sale in the UK (and may not ever do so).

It’s also got a large 6.3in Full-HD+ screen and promises all day runtime from a 4,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 4 support. Plus some users will be very happy to see the inclusion of a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack.