Greatest Low-cost Telephones 2024: Seven fantastically inexpensive handsets

The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion will not be solely a powerful all-rounder at a really tempting worth of simply £349, nevertheless it’s additionally one of many extra compact price range choices round in 2024.

It measures in at simply 7.9mm thick and 175g, which makes it a delight to carry and use, and that’s additional improved by IP68 mud and water resistance, and the choice of both vegan leather-based or frosted plastic relying on the color you go for. There isn’t the Pantone color certification we noticed with final yr’s Edge 40 Neo, however that was actually only a nice-to-have.

The 6.7-inch display screen, up from 6.5 inches on the 40 Neo, isn’t to be sniffed at both. It sports activities a curved OLED panel delivering vibrant colors and deep blacks with nice distinction. It could additionally attain a speedy 144Hz, beating the 120Hz panels of others in our record, permitting for a buttery-smooth expertise that’s additionally nicely suited to gaming.

That’s backed up by a surprisingly succesful digital camera system comprised of an OIS-enabled 50MP principal snapper and a 13MP ultrawide on the rear, together with a 32MP selfie digital camera. The principle sensor, specifically, is succesful in well-lit and low-light environments, particularly when in comparison with the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G and Poco X6 Professional, with auto-enhance AI serving to to spice up the color and element from the auxiliary lenses.

Efficiency can be surprisingly good contemplating its price range price ticket, with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 and a wholesome 12GB of RAM in a position to compete with mid-range telephones that price £200 extra. It’s nonetheless not highly effective sufficient for high-end AAA gaming, and received’t have the ability to compete with the likes of the Poco X6 Professional, however for all however devoted cell players, it ought to greater than suffice.

And, regardless of its extra compact dimensions than rivals, it nonetheless packs in a big 5000mAh battery that doesn’t battle to final a full day without having a top-up, although it may well’t fairly make it by way of a second day. The excellent news is that 68W quick cost tech can present a full cost in simply 47 minutes, among the many quickest you’ll discover on the price range finish of the market.

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

Full evaluate: Motorola Edge 50 Fusion

The Nothing Telephone (2a) is the primary really budget-focused cellphone from the UK startup, and regardless of its tempting £319 price ticket, the Telephone (2a) not solely retains the long-lasting Nothing design DNA however loads of tech from the full-fat Nothing Telephone (2).

Should you’re in search of a unique-looking cellphone on a price range, the Nothing Telephone (2a) suits the invoice after which some with its iconic clear design, providing you with a superb have a look at the internals on the rear panel. Just like the others within the assortment, it additionally sports activities the Glyph interface that’ll flash in time to ringtones and texts, and it’ll additionally double up as a useful digital camera timer. It’s not fairly as superior as ordinary, with solely three LEDs in comparison with the same old 11, nevertheless it nonetheless works in the identical method.

Nonetheless, it’s the tech that’s crucial side of the Telephone (2a), and Nothing has excelled as soon as once more. The 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED display screen is brilliant and correct with a 1300nit peak brightness when watching HDR10+ content material, together with a correct in-display fingerprint reader that works nicely.

That’s flanked by a twin 50MP digital camera setup comprised of a large and ultrawide. Though the sensors powering the expertise aren’t equivalent to these on the Telephone (2), they do an incredible job capturing pictures in each well-lit and low-light situations, even when the latter suffers from a little bit an excessive amount of synthetic brightness at instances.

That’s backed up by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Professional which permits it to compete with the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, and a 5000mAh battery delivers all-day battery life. There’s additionally the dot-matrix-inspired Nothing OS 2.5 to understand, providing one of the vital stylised approaches to Android 14 round.

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

Full evaluate: Nothing Telephone (2a)

Should you’re in search of a stable all-rounder that’ll simply carry on going, Samsung’s Galaxy A35 5G is a tempting choice. Our reviewer discovered that, even on busy days with almost 8 hours of screen-on time, the cellphone nonetheless had sufficient juice to final ’until bedtime and, on much less busy days, it may simply make it to the tip of a second day.

In fact, battery longevity isn’t the one motive to go for the Galaxy A35 5G over different choices in our record. The Galaxy A35 5G has design staples hardly ever seen on the worth level together with an aluminium body, glass rear, IP67 mud and water resistance and even Gorilla Glass Victus+ safety for the 6.6-inch show that helps it feel and appear much more like a Galaxy S24 at a less expensive worth.

That 6.6-inch 120Hz AMOLED show is a spotlight of the inexpensive cellphone. It’d match final yr’s panel, however the AMOLED nature implies that blacks are deep and colors are notably vibrant, and at 1000nits peak brightness, it’s straightforward sufficient to make use of outside.

If there’s one space the place the Galaxy A35 5G’s price range nature really shines by way of, it’s within the chipset division. Utilizing the identical Exynos 1380 chipset as final yr’s Galaxy A54 5G isn’t essentially a foul factor, providing a lift in efficiency in comparison with final yr’s A34 5G, there are alternatives just like the Poco X6 Professional that’ll ship quicker on a regular basis efficiency, and at an analogous worth too.

Nonetheless, if you would like an affordable cellphone that’ll carry on going, the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G stays a tempting selection.

Reviewer: Jon Mundy

Full evaluate: Samsung Galaxy A35 5G

Should you’re in search of a fairly priced smartphone that’s packed filled with options, has a glossy design and is strong sufficient to outlive a couple of drops and spills, then the Magic 6 Lite is the proper smartphone for you. 

The Magic 6 Lite seems to be far more high-end than its worth displays. Due to its curved sides, polished end and minimal digital camera bump, you’ll barely discover the cellphone in your pocket, which is sort of a change from chunkier smartphones in the marketplace. 

The Magic 6 Lite has options an IP53 ranking for mud and water resistance, which wasn’t discovered on its predecessor. Though this doesn’t imply the cellphone is completely waterproof, it’s strong sufficient that the odd spill or rain bathe shouldn’t trigger any issues with the handset. 

The Magic 6 Lite runs on Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, which isn’t the latest model of Qualcomm’s chipsets, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an honest platform and is an improve from its predecessor. In our evaluate, we concluded that you just’d be hard-pressed to inform the distinction between the Magic 6 Lite and a higher-end flagship mannequin, as apps all the time opened shortly, animations had been {smooth} and multitasking was seamless. 

The handset additionally comes with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, which continues to be fairly uncommon for a smartphone of this worth vary. 

Housing a mammoth 5300mAh battery, it’s unsurprising that Honor states it may well present over two days on a single cost, which our reviewer discovered to be the case. In our benchmark assessments, we discovered 60-minutes of Netflix drained the Magic 6 Lite’s battery by simply 4%, in comparison with comparable telephones, just like the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, the place the next 11% battery discharge was seen.

The Magic 6 Lite additionally permits for as much as 35W quick charging, and though this isn’t the quickest, our benchmark assessments discovered that 15-minute cost topped the battery by 18%. In fact, there’s quicker charging on higher-end smartphones, however this nonetheless beats the likes of the Google Pixel 7a.

Reviewer: Luke Baker

Full evaluate: Honor Magic 6 Lite

We’re bending our guidelines barely to incorporate a cellphone that breaks our worth restrict, however for those who’re deadset on getting your self a brand new iPhone, then that is your least expensive choice – and it’s nonetheless a belter.

You will have to forgive the depressingly dated design and its related small display screen which measures simply 4.7 inches, but when you may get over that then the iPhone SE 2022 does the truth is nonetheless supply a variety of positives for the value.

Firstly, it runs on the good A15 Bionic chip, which is likely one of the perfect within the enterprise; it’s truly the exact same one that you just’ll discover on the iPhone 13 Professional, so that you received’t be wanting for energy. Even higher, this cellphone will likely be in line for Apple’s unparalleled long-term software program help, so we wouldn’t even be shocked to see it getting the newest updates seven years from now.

On high of that, the most recent iPhone SE has top-of-the-line cameras that you just’ll discover for the value, and it notably delivers on richly detailed photographs, in order that troublesome textures like canine fur or woolly jumpers look particularly good. That mentioned, it does miss out on a devoted Evening Mode, which is an actual disgrace, so for those who’re planning to take a variety of photos when the solar is down then this won’t be the perfect cellphone for you. The selfie digital camera additionally may do with some work, with it not being to the identical customary as the principle snapper.

Should you’re in search of an iPhone that offers a superb digital camera and robust efficiency for a less expensive entry worth then it is a good guess, however do keep in mind that the display screen is small and underwhelming.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full evaluate: iPhone SE 2022

The Poco X6 Professional delivers a real flagship smartphone expertise at a fraction of the same old flagship price. 

Due to its adaptable refresh price of between 60-120Hz and its 480Hz contact sampling price, the Poco X6 Professional is a perfect smartphone for gaming. In truth, the contact sampling price may even be boosted to a powerful 2160HZ, utilizing the cellphone’s built-in Sport Turbo mode.

Regardless of its RRP being simply £369, the Poco X6 Professional is powered by the mighty MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Extremely chip, which is a premium processor. Though not the highest-end chip provided by MediaTek, the 8300-Extremely nonetheless permits for highly effective efficiency and, when in comparison with equally priced rivals, the X6 Professional’s efficiency is a transparent winner.

The X6 Professional can be one of many first telephones which have shipped with Xiamoi’s new working system, however for those who’ve just lately used a Xiaomi or Poco gadget you then shouldn’t anticipate an excessive amount of of a change. 

Boasting a 5000mAh battery, the X6 Professional doesn’t drain the battery too simply. Our benchmark assessments confirmed that 60-minutes of Netflix resulted in 8% battery drain, in comparison with Motorola Edge 40 Neo’s 11% drain.

The X6 Professional can be fast-charge succesful, as much as a powerful 67W. Our benchmark assessments confirmed {that a} 30-minute fast cost can get you as much as 78%, which is right for a fast top-up in between gaming. 

Reviewer: Luke Baker

Full evaluate: Poco X6 Professional 

What if you would like an honest entry-level cellphone for lower than £200 that merely does the job? The TCL 40R 5G suits the invoice.

The budget-focused gadget presents all the principle staples of a stable price range smartphone expertise with 5G connectivity, a handsome design, lengthy battery life from a 5,000mAh cell and respectable (although not fairly snappy) on a regular basis efficiency.

There’s a big 6.6-inch LCD show with a 90Hz refresh price nice for scrolling and binging, although its sub-1080p decision could make parts look a little bit comfortable. The principle 50MP rear digital camera is able to delivering surprisingly sharp photographs for the value, no less than.

It won’t have the ability to compete with extra premium choices in the marketplace, however for the £199 price ticket, you received’t discover a lot better in 2024.

Reviewer: Lloyd Coombes

Full evaluate: TCL 40R 5G