Best cheap phone 2023: the best budget smartphones reviewed

Don’t feel like dropping a fat stack of notes on a fancy flagship phone? Good news: you don’t have to. With solid specs, good design and plenty of features, the best cheap phones offer outstanding value for money. Sure, you might have to accept a couple of compromises with a cheap smartphone – think plastic shells and sub-par secondary cameras. But smartphone quality has improved so much that the best cheap phones today also benefit from brilliant screens, strong battery life and performance to put fear into the flagships.

Not sure how to choose the best blower for your budget? From familiar makes to lesser-known names, the list below features our pick of the top affordable handsets – all for less than $450/£450. So whether you’re shopping for a bona fide mobile bargain or looking for a backup blower that won’t break the bank, you’ll find your ideal budget phone in our buying guide.

If you’re looking for something a little more expensive, then you can check out Stuff’s guide to the best mid-range phones, which are priced between $450/£450 to $650/£650, and best smartphones, with no price limit.

What is the best cheap phone?

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G (buy now) is the best cheap phone you can buy. It has a sharp, punchy screen and a very capable multi-lens camera system. Inside is the Exynos 1380 CPU and 8/12GB of RAM which make for a far smoother experience than the previous generation A series phones.

---

Other cheap phone recommendations

• Best cheap phone for gaming: Poco X5 Pro 5G (buy now)
  Offering plenty of bang for your buck, with an exceptional OLED display, slick 120Hz refresh rate, respectable Snapdragon 778G processor and up to 8GB of RAM for smooth gaming.
• Best cheap phone with premium specs: Redmi Note 12 Pro+ (buy now)
  Positively bursting with impressive hardware that you’d be hard-pressed to find in similarly-priced handsets, you get a pixel-packed 200MP main camera, 120W charging and an all-day battery.
• Best small budget phone: Sony Xperia 10 IV (buy now)
  If you’re a fan of Sony’s unique fuss-free design, more compact screen, and want amazing battery life, the Xperia 10 IV could be the phone for you.

---

How to buy the best cheap phone

Being at the lower end of the market means you’ll have to make some compromises, but as we mentioned in the introduction, affordable smartphones are much better than they used to be (so you won’t be getting an unusable slab).

One of the biggest differences you’ll notice between the best cheap phones and more premium models is the build quality. While you won’t be getting a device crafted from glossy glass and aluminium, we’ve made sure to select phones made from durable materials and with a solid construction.

The display is one of the most important aspects to focus on, as its the thing you’ll be looking at and interacting with the most. Cheaper phones used to have lower-resolution displays, lower brightness levels, or limited color accuracy, but the phones included in our list have OLED panels, high refresh rates and bezel-less displays – it’s very refreshing to see.

If you take lots of pictures with your phone, then the camera is a key feature to look at. Cheap phones often compromise on the camera – you won’t be getting an quadruple camera systems or superzoom lenses here, but you can get a decent main and selfie camera.

You’ll want a smartphone from a manufacturer that provides regular software updates, which can important for security and functionality, as well as a software experience that is relatively unmodified for a better user experience.

We’ve recommended phones with decent enough processor performance and RAM to handle your day-to-day tasks (and even some capable of gaming).

---

How we review the best cheap phones

We have used and reviewed every phone on this list, so you can trust us when it comes to recommending the best cheap smartphone to buy.

We usually spend a week or longer reviewing phones, testing out all of the software features, build quality and performance. Our reviews are very comprehensive, testing every single aspect of a smartphone, including battery life, quality of the display, and camera.

For more information on Stuff’s rating and review process, read our page on how we test products.

---

The best cheap phones you can buy today:

1. Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Want the Samsung prestige without the high-end price tag? Then the A54 5G is a contender worthy of your shortlist. With a price tag well below the lofty heights of the Galaxy S23 range, this is a mid-range handset which sacrifices some flagship style and power, while still providing a solid smartphone experience.

One of its standout features during our review was its sharp, punchy screen, along with its capable multi-lens camera system, with a decent selfie camera to boot. And unlike its A53 predecessor (which massively disappointed on the power front), we’re pleased to report that the A54’s Exynos 1380 CPU and 8/12GB of RAM make for a far smoother experience.

Throw in reasonably fast (though far from groundbreaking) 25W charging, and you’ve got yourself a more affordable Samsung handset that provides the highly coveted Samsung-esque experience, at a far more palatable price.

• Read more: Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review

2. Redmi Note 12 Pro+

In typical Redmi fashion, the Note 12 Pro+ is positively bursting with impressive hardware that you’d be hard-pressed to find in similarly-priced handsets. In this instance, we’ve got a pixel-packed 200MP main camera, which produced detailed shots in bright lighting conditions, during our in-depth review.

Another impressive feature that wipes the floor even with truly high-end flagships like the Apple iPhone 14 and Samsung Galaxy S23, is its charging speed. Namely, a full 120W charging capability that can produce a full charge in under 25 minutes. Impressive stuff.

With a more than adequate all-day battery life and sharp screen included too, there’s very little not to love about Redmi’s effort here, especially at this price. One of the best cheap smartphones you can currently buy, you won’t be disappointed if this is your top pick.

• Read more: Redmi Note 12 Pro+ review

3. Poco X5 Pro 5G

We’re not sure how you’ll feel about the rear plastic panel on the Poco X5 Pro 5G. A diffuse plastic affair that does well with repelling fingerprints, its style and texture weren’t exactly to our reviewer’s taste — but design is subjective.

That aside, it offers plenty of bang for your buck, with an exceptional OLED display, complete with a slick 120Hz refresh rate. While a few of its cameras aren’t really worthing shouting about, the main snapper can proudly stand on its own, with plenty and depth and detail on offer. And while we found the default processing to be a little on the over-saturated side, you can opt for more realistic results in the 108MP mode.

There’s plenty of power for gaming too, thanks to a respectable Snapdragon 778G processor and up to 8GB of RAM, with zippy 67W fast charging included for good measure. If you can get past the design (you may even love it), then this is a very capable handset that should see you in good stead for at least a few years, if not more.

• Read more: Poco X5 Pro 5G review

4. Sony Xperia 10 IV

Can you get cheaper, better-specced handsets than the Xperia 10 IV from the likes of Realme, Poco, Xioami and more? Yes. From screens with higher refresh rates, to faster charging and individual cameras that might perform better overall, there are no shortage of tempting alternatives worth picking up over Sony’s offering.

As with most Sony handsets though, the Xperia 10 IV fills a niche. If you’re a fan of Sony’s unique fuss-free design, more compact screen, and want amazing battery life, the Xperia 10 IV could be the phone for you. Its main camera and zoom capabilities will serve you well, though if night photography and wide-angle shots are more your bag, you’ll want to look elsewhere. If you’re still drawn to its design and positive features after reading our review though, then chances are you won’t be disappointed.

• Read more: Sony Xperia 10 IV review

The Nokia G22 ticks most of the boxes one should look for when trying to find a good quality phone for a low price. A 6.5in, 90Hz HD+, 1,600 x 720 display is bright, while the triple rear camera – 50MP main, 2MP macro and 2MP depth – is powerful enough for detailed snaps, even close up. A 5050mAh battery with 20W fast charging support will keep your phone alive long into the night. The design is a little unremarkable, but at £169 the Nokia G22 is certainly not to be scoffed at.

The Nokia G22 brings something unique to the market, though. Nokia has given you, the customer, the power to replace the display, charging port or battery yourself. It doesn’t require any special equipment. Rather, you can consult the how-to service iFixit for replacement parts, tools and repair guides, and then DIY. Taking the phone apart is a little fiddly, but can be done in around 15 or so minutes. The tools resemble a bomb disposal kit, but the Nokia G22 brings peace of mind knowing that a cracked screen won’t leave you $120/£100 down.

Even so, is the Nokia G22? There’s no point trying to fix an already broken phone, after all. But this isn’t Nokia’s first rodeo, and the G22 packs a lot into its price tag.