With 8 out of 10 English people equipped with smartphones, they are now more than just technical gadgets. Defined by their functions and performance, they are indispensable in everyday life: for business or pleasure. No need to break the piggy bank thanks to a competitive and diversified offer. To learn more, follow this buying guide on the best cheap smartphones of the moment.
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Our selection
"Discover a cheap smartphone with great value for money with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10. This is a 4G smartphone equipped with a Qualcomm processor,…"
"For less than €100, enjoy a high-performance 4G smartphone with a 6.5-inch HD display running Android 11 with a 5380 Mah long-life battery. The Blackview…"
"With its 6.5-inch display, the Oppo A54 is a powerful 5G with its octacore Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. The most,…"
"Check out an affordable and uncompromising smartphone from the Galaxy A lineup with the Samsung Galaxy A12. This cheap smartphone features a 6.5-inch IPS display,…"
Discover a cheap smartphone with great value for money with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10. This is a 4G smartphone equipped with a Qualcomm processor, a 48MP camera, and powered by a 5,000 Mah battery.
218 £ on AmazonThis model impresses with its octacore Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 processor with a clock speed of up to 2.2 GHz. This is coupled with a 4GB RAM with 128GB storage space to cover great performance and ensure better fluidity even for heavier activities. The device is powered by a 5,000 mAh battery for up to 48 hours of autonomy with a recharge time of about 75 min and a 33 W wire charge.
At its display, the smartphone includes a 6.43-inch Amoled 60 Hz Full HD panel in 20:9 format for a brightness rate of 2.1 at 754 nits. On the camera side, the phone is made up of four sensors including a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, a 2MP macro sensor as well as a 2MP depth sensor. To its connectivity, it has NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C and Infrared. For 178.8 g, the smartphone takes a depth of 8.3 mm with a length of 16 cm for a width of 7.45 cm.
For less than €100, enjoy a high-performance 4G smartphone with a 6.5-inch HD display running Android 11 with a 5380 Mah long-life battery. The Blackview smartphone is equipped with an Octacore processor of 1.6 G. Hz.
75,99 £ on AmazonFor less than €100, the Blackview is a smartphone in the 4G family. The device runs on a Unisoc SC9863A Octacore processor with a base frequency of 1.6 GHz coupled with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB storage expandable up to 256 GB. It has an Android 11 operating system for better fluidity and flexibility when using it. The Blackview smartphone is powered by a 5380 Mah battery for up to 22 hours of battery life.
It features a 6.5-inch Waterdrop display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 in HD with an IPS panel and a 20:9 ratio. Its screen allows a vivid display of colors with a great quality of textures. Readable in sunlight, it has the ability to reduce chromatic aberration. As for security, the Blackview A70 has two unlocking methods: facial recognition and fingerprint. It has a triple rear camera of 13 Mp with flash and a front camera of 5 Mp.
With its 6.5-inch display, the Oppo A54 is a powerful 5G with its octacore Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. The most, its four rear cameras, main sensor of 48 MP, have the AI function.
191 £ on BoulangerThe Oppo A54 5G comes with a 6.5-inch Full HD, 2400 x 1080 pixels LCD display in 20:9 aspect ratio with 90 Hz refresh rate. For its performance, the cheap smartphone is equipped with a 2 GHz octacore Snapdragon 480 processor from Qualcomm. This is boosted by 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage space expandable up to 256GB. The smartphone has a 5000 mAh battery for up to 40 hours of battery life.
This Oppo branded smartphone has a quad camera with artificial intelligence with scene enhancer 2.0. At this level, it consists of 4 photo sensors, the main one with 48 MP, seconded by an 8 MP wide angle lens, a 2 MP macro sensor and finally a 2 MP monochrome lens. On the front side, it includes a 16MP camera. For its connections, the device is supported by Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. As for the connectivity, it consists of a female USB Type-C and a 3.5 mm jack output.
Check out an affordable and uncompromising smartphone from the Galaxy A lineup with the Samsung Galaxy A12. This cheap smartphone features a 6.5-inch IPS display, a 48MP camera sensor and powered by a 5000Mah battery.
151 £ on AmazonAny specific needs?
The best cheap smartphone in 2021
The best smartphone under 100 euros
The best cheap smartphone under 300 euros
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| TOP OF THE TOP | CHEAP | TOP OF THE LINE | EXCELLENT | |
In accordance with our commitment, this buying guide does not contain any sponsored products. |
9/10 |
8/10 |
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| OUR SELECTION |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
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Blackview A70 Smartphone
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Oppo A54 Black 5G
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Samsung Galaxy A12
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Discover a cheap smartphone with great value for money with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10. This is a 4G smartphone equipped with a Qualcomm processor, a 48MP camera, and powered by a 5,000 Mah battery.
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For less than €100, enjoy a high-performance 4G smartphone with a 6.5-inch HD display running Android 11 with a 5380 Mah long-life battery. The Blackview smartphone is equipped with an Octacore processor of 1.6 G. Hz.
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With its 6.5-inch display, the Oppo A54 is a powerful 5G with its octacore Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. The most, its four rear cameras, main sensor of 48 MP, have the AI function.
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Check out an affordable and uncompromising smartphone from the Galaxy A lineup with the Samsung Galaxy A12. This cheap smartphone features a 6.5-inch IPS display, a 48MP camera sensor and powered by a 5000Mah battery.
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Screen size
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6.5 inch
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6.517 inches
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6.5 inch
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6.5 inch
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Processor
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Octacore 2.2 GHz
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Octacore 1.6 GHz
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Otacore 2 GHz
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Octacore 2.3 GHz
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RAM & Storage
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4 GB & 128 GB
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3 GB & 32 GB
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4 GB & 64 GB
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4 GB & 64 GB
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Main Sensor
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48 MPX
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13 Mpx
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48 Mpx
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48 Mpx
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Battery
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5,000 mAh
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5380 mAh
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5000 mAh
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5000 mAh
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Start by identifying your needs so you don't end up with a smartphone that is too complicated or too limited. You don't need a high-end phone to play Candy Crush, use social networks or check email. However, get a device with at least 3 GB of RAM and 64 or 128 GB of internal memory.
Note that a cheap smartphone will struggle to run resource-intensive 3D games like Fortnite or Call Of Duty. Andif you like to take high quality photos, you'll have to go upmarket for more powerful models, with a good sensor and a big battery life.
All ranges taken together, smartphone manufacturers are offering increasingly fast processors that consume more and more energy. Add to this the Wifi and the apps with notifications on standby to see how much the battery is not spared.
The solution is to choose a smartphone with a high capacity battery, capable of lasting 2 days in normal conditions. 3,000, 4,500, 5,000 mAh, or even more if you find interesting promotions. This way, you will not have to recharge at the end of the day. Besides, optimizing the phone helps to increase its autonomy.
The surge in the consumption of web and video content on smartphone was accompanied by an enlargement of the screens. Now you'll be hard pressed to find a smartphone with a screen smaller than 5.5 inches, which is 14 cm diagonally.
Users, increasingly demanding and knowledgeable, are fueling this race to the ever larger and better defined screen, with ever thinner borders.
But don't kid yourself. There is no OLED panel under 200 euros and Full HD screens are rare.
Brands often make the effort to offer a beautiful design for their smartphones, including entry and mid-range. On the other hand, the materials used are a reminder that the mobile costs less than 200 euros. There is a lot of plastic, sometimes a little aluminum, very rarely glass. And forget about the little extras like waterproofing and wireless charging.
This is where manufacturers are making margins when it comes to cheap smartphones. Despite notable improvements in recent years, the photo quality remains behind the mobiles sold over 300 euros.
And beware, the number of pixels is not enough to define the quality of a photo sensor. If you take the time to look around and watch out for special offers, you'll find a cheap smartphone with large photosites, optical stabilization and good telephoto or ultra-wide angle modules.
Those who take a lot of pictures will have to choose a mobile with a large internal memory.
There is little chance that this year's best cheap smartphone will be the same as last year's, let alone next year's! The plebiscite of buyers can change quickly.
The appearance of a newer model or a significant drop in price of a higher-end model justifies this. That said, the best cheap smartphone brands don't really change from year to year.
In the list of various comparisons on the subject, we often find Chinese manufacturers (Xiaomi, Huawei, Realme, Oppo, Honor) but also the Korean Samsung and the French Wiko.
After 6 months, most entry and mid-range smartphones start to suffer from latency and lack of responsiveness. Here are some tips to increase and preserve the speed of your mobile. If your smartphone is still slowing down, it might be time to replace it!
The more apps you install and browse the Internet on your smartphone, the more temporary files it will accumulate hidden in its system memory. These cache files unnecessarily occupy the available memory space, which slows down the phone. That's why you need to clean the memory.
Unfortunately, the cache is not the only factor that slows down a smartphone! To regain fluidity and speed, delete unused applications. Indeed, they tend to launch automatically in the background. This increases the slowdown of the smartphone.
There are rather light application launchers, for example Aviate, Z Laucher and Nova Launcher. They can very well replace the basic interfaces like TouchWiz, Sense or others. The latter are indeed memory-intensive, which ends up slowing down the operation of the smartphone. Even more if it is a cheap smartphone.
In addition, widget-intensive users should change their habits. Instead of accumulating shortcuts on the screen, agree to lose a few seconds to fetch the application. A widget is convenient, but it consumes a lot of battery and resources.
Not only does the animated wallpaper consume a lot of battery, but it also takes up a few megabytes of RAM. On a high-end smartphone, this is nothing. But the memory of a cheap smartphone is still very limited. Sticking to the static wallpaper will free up memory, which will be allocated to something more useful.
Manufacturers offer software updates to optimize the performance of their mobiles. If your smartphone continues to slow down despite this, consider a full reset. In other words, reset the device to factory settings. Rest assured, any updates already installed will not be lost.
Good to know, make a backup of all your data before resetting the phone. On an Android smartphone, the "Reset to default settings" option is usually found in the "Backup and reset" category in the settings.
Like resource-intensive games, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Messenger top the list of the most power-hungry apps. This is because their features such as notification and location remain active in the background.
To preserve your battery life, go to the settings and prevent these apps from using your mobile data in the background. And if you can't do without social networks, use an external power bank. It will come in handy when you're on the road or on vacation.
Finally, the applications that promise to preserve battery life and boost memory are often the ones that consume the most energy! This is because they run in the background to close other applications. Optimize your cheap smartphone as explained instead of asking an app to do it for you.
In our opinion, the best brands of cheap smartphones in 2022 are :
It is the best brand of cheap smartphone. With its Mi, Mi Note, Mi Mix, Mi A ranges and its Redmi and Poco subsidiaries, the "Chinese Apple" as it is nicknamed has managed in just 10 years to reach the fourth position in the world. When it comes to value for money, Xiaomi is unbeatable.
Owned by the multinational BBK Electronics, the Chinese manufacturer offers its brand new Oppo A9 for less than 200 euros. Oppo also owns the OnePlus and Vivo brands, and Realme. The latter was notably founded by a former vice president of Oppo Electronics.
While struggling with U.S. sanctions and the rollout of the 5G network, the telecom giant is trying to stay the course. Huawei also owns the Honor brand, which benefits from its parent company's technological advances. If you have 200 euros, consider the Chinese brand.
Samsung is to South Korea what Sony is to Japan: a must-have brand. Televisions, large appliances, smartphones, the manufacturer knows how to do everything. Samsung has been battling with Apple for years for the world's number one smartphone position.
Wiko likes to present itself as a subsidiary of Tinno, the fourth largest Chinese manufacturer behind Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo. The French-founded brand produces entry-level and mid-range smartphones. Its View3 and Wiew4 are good values at less than 200 euros.
Answer a call via SMS if you can't pick up.
Everyone has received a call in a meeting, at work, in class or while driving. Enabling SMS smart replies helps you deal with these situations and explain to the recipient that you are busy. In Android, swipe up when you receive a call. You will then see different unavailability messages.
Take out an external battery.
The
unconditional photo, internet and social network users may quickly exhaust their battery. To cope with intensive use, buy an external power bank battery as an extra. That way, you won't run out of battery power no matter where you are.
Disable bloatware and stop idle apps.
This
anglicism refers to an application that uses an excessive amount of system resources or an application with a large amount of disparate features. Don't hesitate to disable or uninstall bloatware. Also, most smartphones have pre-installed applications, which are not necessarily useful to you. Even if you close them, they can run in the background. Go into the settings and force their shutdown if necessary.
Learn how to locate a lost phone.
We'
ve all experienced the anguish of a phone that can't be found, forgotten in another room or hidden under a cushion. Next time, don't waste time looking for it if it's on silent mode. Instead, install Google's location tool and determine the location of your phone via another mobile device or from your computer. And if it's stolen, this tool can remotely wipe the phone to protect your data.
Manage your mobile data usage.
To
avoid wasting your mobile data, go to the data usage menu in the system settings. There, you can set your rate plan reset date, create a warning threshold, and automatically disable data if you're about to go over. Or, install Google's Datally app.
In our opinion, the best cheap smartphone for most people is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S. At less than 100 euros, the Xiaomi Redmi 7A is the best choice. If you have a few extra euros, we recommend the Samsung Galaxy A40. Finally, the Oppo A9 version 2020 is for those who are looking for a new model.
First of all
, don't be too demanding. Once you understand that, look at the technical configuration, battery life, screen, camera and brand. If you have a few extra bucks, feel free to aim for a little more.
You
can delete unnecessary apps and clean up memory, change your app launcher, not install animated wallpaper, perform a phone reset, or prevent social network apps from using mobile data in the background
.
Prices start at just under 100 euros and top out at 200 euros, or even a little more.
Xiaomi
, Huawei, Oppo, Samsung and Wiko remain the best brands of cheap smartphones. Note that these brands own other brands like Honor, OnePlus, Realme, Redmi and Poco.
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