If you’re looking for the best cheap mobile phone, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to T3’s line-up of the very best cheap smartphones available.
We think the Honor View 10 is the best cheap smartphone you can buy. It carries all the prestige and premium build quality of a flagship but without the massive price tag.
Of course, the Honor View 10 may not be right for you, especially if you want something super cheap, or have an affinity with another maker, so we’ve collected nine other excellent budget phones for you to choose from too.
How to choose the best cheap smartphone for you
Flagship smartphones are great, they’re lightning fast, well designed, and offer a ton of extra features. But they come at a cost, and that cost is a lot of money.
If you’re looking for an alternative to one of those expensive handsets or the best smartphone for kids, for example – we’ve got you covered.
While the phones in this list are all more affordable — we’ve only selected the very best phones which don’t scrimp on hardware, design, or features. We’re only recommending the cheap smartphones we’d be happy to use.
We think just because you’re paying less, doesn’t mean you should have a phone that feels cheap.
You should also look out for premium features from more expensive smartphones, such as a fingerprint sensor, waterproofing, or an excellent camera.
The very best cheap smartphones you can buy today
Honor View 10
The Honor View 10, essentially, is the very well reviewed Huawei Mate 10 Pro, which almost costs twice as much. You’ve got essentially the same display, chipset, software, and camera setup. The only thing that’s really changed is the body – which is now aluminium rather than glass. It really is fantastic value, and only pipped by the OnePlus 5T’s more stylish design aesthetically, which itself is trumped by the the gorgeous new Honor 10 flagship.
OnePlus 5T
OnePlus are renowned for combining the latest specs with a price you can’t argue with, but their first two phones were pretty hit or miss, the OnePlus 5T is difficult to beat at this price. Budget smartphones always claim they can compete with the likes of Google, Samsung and LG, but few ever come close to the mark, the OnePlus 5T gives all three a run for their money by delivering a phone with a Snapdragon 835 processor and 6GB of RAM…6GB!
It’s not just the specs that make this phone, it’s the all aluminium chassis that gives the phone a premium look and feel, and the bezel-less 6-inch display. It isn’t as good as the OnePlus 6, but at this price point it is still one of the best phones in the world.
Sony Xperia XA1
The Sony Xperia XA1 is a good budget buy with a superb camera sensor (23MP!). It’s a shame the camera software is a little too enthusiastic, though, with some quite over the top image processing taking place at times. Design-wise the phone looks great despite sporting a plastic back plate and the phone looks significantly more mature and premium than a lot of other similarly priced rival devices. Battery life is standard, as too is its 3GB of RAM, however performance is smooth and 720p screen perfectly matched.
Apple SE
Although a successor is almost certainly on the way, Apple’s original SE, which dates back to 2016, is the only budget iPhone right now. Stuffing the internals of an iPhone 6S into the compact case of an iPhone 5S, it’s an old-school look and a tiny phone – though some will be pleased they can still get one this size. Some tech, like cameras, are a little behind the others here, but strong nevertheless. iOS is slick, and the battery has some serious staying power. Note, though, that opting for the cheapest 16GB model would be madness.
Samsung Galaxy A8
Theoretically around £400, but often available for under £300, the A8 could tempt those who’ve resisted the S8 so far. There are no curved edges, and even with its glass back it feels significantly cheaper in the hand, but it does some awesome things. Its camera package, both front and back, is stellar, and the rounded-corner Super-AMOLED screen, coupled with a strong eight-core processor and 4GB RAM, is lurid and quick to respond. Cost savings come in terms of battery and storage, at 3,000mAh and 32GB respectively.
Moto G6
We’re not sure why the hefty chin here couldn’t house hardware buttons as well as a fingerprint sensor. Other than that, this is a phone that does far more than its price point suggests. The 12MP camera is strong, the phone itself is plenty responsive, it’s clad front and back in glass, and the 1080×2160 screen is punchy and colourful. Storage is a low 32GB, as you’d expect for the price, and the Snapdragon 450 CPU struggles when pushed, so invest an extra few quid in the Amazon-exclusive 64GB/4GB RAM model: you won’t regret it.
Nokia 8
The 5.8-inch QHD Nokia 8 handset didn’t start in this price bracket. At launch it was £500, and decent with it. Now available for a little under £300, it’s a remarkable phone for the price. Slim and reassuringly weighty, it’s also super-quick thanks to the Snapdragon 835 doing the driving, and comes equipped with 64GB storage and a 13MP dual-sensor rear camera that pulls its weight, plus a 13MP front camera that’s no slouch. Forgive the fact it’s a step behind aesthetically: this is flagship quality made fully affordable.
Honor 9
Even if your metric of beauty is based on screen size, the Honor 9’s shimmering metallic colour scheme and smooth, premium feel will go some way to making up for its larger top and bottom bezels. The internals don’t hurt, either: 64GB storage, a hefty 4GB RAM (or 6GB, if you can find it) along with near-flagship performance from the Kirin 960 CPU and a camera that wouldn’t feel out of place on a £900 phone. It’s almost a year old, but keeping up with its competitors, and its newly reduced price makes the Honor 9 a real bargain.
Huawei Y9 (2018)
The Huawei Y9 (2018) is expected to arrive in the UK at about £249, putting it near the bottom end of Huawei’s range – but you wouldn’t really know it to look at it. The 18:9 screen is bright and lively, it’s only a hair thicker than the Honor 9, which it shares a lot of tech with, and its dual-sensor rear camera and face-unlocking front pair are perfectly acceptable. Even with 3GB RAM and Huawei’s middling Kirin 659 chipset, the Y9 is responsive, and its 4,000mAh battery lasts an absolute age.
Alcatel 3V
Despite being the cheapest phone on our list, the 3V from stylish French maker Alcatel packs in a very impressive set of features for a phone that costs just a fiver over a ton.
You get a 6-inch, 18:9 screen with 2K resolution, a quad-core CPU, a dual rear camera system (12MP + 2MP), 5MP front selfie camera, and a Face Key facial unlock function. The 3V also comes running Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.
Yes, you only get 16GB of storage space, and only 2GB of RAM, too, but aside from that there is very little to dislike about this glossy 2.5D glass-packing device. It looks bang on trend for 2018, feels solid in the hand, and that price makes buying it outright and freeing yourself for a sweet SIM only deal very, very easy.
If you want to spend around £100 on a new smartphone then the Alcatel 3V is a great choice.
Provided by – T3
