Best cheap phones: 9 of the best affordable smartphones for value

The new iPhone 16e is the most affordable iPhone right now with the latest features, although it comes at a slightly increased price of £599. That’s quite a price jump when you compare it to the £429 cost of the now-discounted iPhone SE, but it packs in several upgrades for users.

This iPhone is, unsurprisingly, also more expensive than Android rivals on our list, but it’s a top choice if your family and friends communicate via iMessage and FaceTime. Getting the entry-level iPhone is the most practical way to stay in touch with other iOS users, and this one has all the essential features, including a 48-megapixel camera, a speedy modern processor, long battery life and a sleek design with a bright and detailed OLED display.

With its 6.1-inch screen, it isn’t quite as compact as the SE used to be, but we didn’t have trouble using it one-handed. It is a shame that it has just one camera on the back, but it’s fairly versatile in use, as it offers a 2x zoom into the sensor, which gives you enough zoom in most scenarios.

The standout feature is the battery life. The 16e packs in the best battery of any iPhone at this size (as opposed to the larger Plus or Pro Max models), and we found it’ll easily get you around two days of light use. Even with heavier use, you’ll get to the end of the day with about 40% of the capacity left!

Read our Apple iPhone 16e review

CMF is the even more affordable sub-brand within Nothing, the British tech company known for its distinctive designs and minimalist operating system. The best things about the new Phone 2 Pro are its low price, impressive hardware, and simple and intuitive take on Android, Nothing OS. You’ll find this in the rest of the Nothing range and there’s no annoying bloatware or adverts all over the interface.

At its most basic configuration for 128GB of storage, this handset will set you back only £219 (RRP), making it one of the cheapest phones we’ve ever tried.

On test, we’ve enjoyed zippy performance and impressive battery life. It also has the same “Essential Space” AI features as the latest Nothing phones. There’s a triple camera setup, a big and bright display and the promise of three years of Android updates and six years of security patches.

The Phone 2 Pro delivers above its price when it comes to cameras. Three rear cameras is rare at this price, and it features a sharp 50MP main lens, a 2x telephoto for zoom, and an 8MP ultra-wide. Shots in good lighting impressed us, though low-light photos can look soft due to the lack of image stabilisation.

Build-wise, it comes in bold colours and has a “modular” design with visible screws and a customisable back. The plastic body is lightweight, and it’s got basic splash and dust protection. You can snap on accessories like magnetic wallets or extra lenses, too, adding a bit of extra functionality.

Overall, the Phone 2 Pro is excellent value. It offers style, solid features, great software, and versatility that’s rare at this price. Yes, it’s a budget phone, but it doesn’t feel like one.

The Google Pixel 9a is a fantastic budget-friendly smartphone, offering many of the high-end features and specs found in its flagship counterpart, all for under £500. The most compelling features include the capable camera performance, upgraded battery life, unique design, AI smarts, and the crisp and smooth 120Hz display.

Photography enthusiasts will be pleased with the Pixel 9a's camera, which, despite having a slightly smaller sensor than the flagship model (and its predecessor, the Pixel 8a), still produces detailed and clear shots that are better than anything else in this price tier. The absence of a telephoto lens is mitigated by the impressive performance, the inclusion of macro close-up photography (for the first time in the A-series) and the ability to zoom in to the 48-megapixel sensor with a 2x crop zoom.

Under the hood, the Pixel 9a houses a flagship chipset that matches the performance of the pricier Pixels. It also has an increased battery capacity and has no trouble lasting for a full day and sometimes into the next.

One of the most appealing aspects of the Pixel 9a is Google's promise of seven years of software updates, which should keep the device secure and up-to-date. Overall, this makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking for a durable, feature-packed phone without spending over £500.

Read our Google Pixel 9a review

Phones are all starting to look identical, and you need to turn to a newer company like Nothing if you want something different. The Phone (3a) is the affordable model of the London-based brand's latest releases, and it delivers features that rival flagship models. The design is a head-turner. It's distinctive, with its transparent casing and the unique “Glyph” lighting system on the back. This adds a sci-fi touch and can be handy for priority notifications and timers.

It's no slouch when it comes to performance, too. It has a powerful processor and a vibrant 6.77-inch display with high brightness and a high refresh rate. It also has a large 5,000mAh battery that gave us impressive battery life during our testing.

One of the most impressive upgrades from its predecessor, the Phone (2a), is the addition of a 50-megapixel 2x optical zoom camera. This upgrades the phone’s versatility, allowing for better close-up shots and pictures of distant subjects. It also has an 8-megapixel ultra-wide and a 50-megapixel main lens, producing crisp and detailed images with fun custom preset looks.

Running on Nothing OS 3.0, the phone offers a minimalist Android experience with a focus on simplicity and personalisation. It's clean, intuitive, and free from unnecessary clutter.

While the ultra-wide lens performance could be better and the phone lacks wireless charging, these downsides are minor. Overall, the Phone (3a) is ideal for anyone after a unique design, minimalist functionality, powerful performance, and advanced camera capabilities. It's great value for money, and we love that it comes in striking white, black or blue shades.

Read our Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro review

Samsung makes a lot of smartphones, and we know that it can be hard to work out which one suits you.

If you’ve already got a Samsung and know that you like the hardware, features and interface, it makes sense to pick a model from the brand for your next phone, but do you need the high-end Galaxy S25 Ultra? The Flip? Or the FE/Fan Edition?

If you’re sticking to affordable handsets, you’ll want to go with the Galaxy A56. It offers loads of value at £499, and impresses with a premium style, aluminium frame, large 6.7-inch display, and IP67 water resistance. The one we tested has a glossy reflective “graphite” finish – it looks smart, although it does pick up fingerprints easily.

The cameras perform better than they did on the Galaxy A55 model this replaces, too. They’re detailed, colourful and well-balanced, and it feels less likely to over-process images compared to its predecessor.

While the Galaxy A-series phones aren’t designed to be powerhouse performers, they don’t disappoint for most tasks and will only struggle for extended, high-demand tasks, like mobile gaming. The battery is also high-capacity and quick to charge, so it’ll get you through the day without needing refuelling.

We’re impressed by the user-friendly software (although it is full of irritating pre-downloaded apps) and the included AI features to help you take your best photos and videos. It has extras like “Auto Trim” to create highlight reels by editing together videos, and ways to make your own photo filters. Overall, it’s a strong contender in the mid-range market if you’re set on a Samsung handset.

It’s quite rare to find a proper telephoto zoom lens on an affordable phone. In fact, they can be rare to see on mid-range models. That’s why it’s so impressive that both the Nothing Phone (3a) and this handset, the Phone (3a) Pro, have third lenses. This zoom is the longer of the two, making it potentially even more versatile for photographers.

Overall, the phone makes a compelling case for itself as one of the best budget smartphones you can buy, with its striking and unique design, plus a handful of upgrades over the Phone (3a).

It has a crisp 6.7-inch screen for smooth performance and vibrant colours, making it ideal for scrolling social media, gaming, or watching videos. It also has a great Snapdragon processor, so it will deliver a snappy performance and better multitasking capabilities.

Its combination of a useful ultra-wide, high-resolution wide and telephoto cameras, and a 50-megapixel selfie camera, makes it the most capable Nothing phone camera yet. We found the results and colours impressive, and the phone holds a lot of appeal for photo and video creators at this price. We still think many people will prefer the natural tones of a Google Pixel, but this is a great option for pictures with a more contrast-filled and subdued style.

There aren’t as many differences between the latest Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 models as you might assume, but there is a big price difference – you can save £100 by going for the A36! It has a bit of a pearlescent gradient, and more of a plasticky feel because it lacks an aluminium frame, but there are otherwise a lot of similarities to the A56.

The phones both have the same 6.7-inch OLED display with high-brightness and high refresh rate, the same IP67 water resistance, similar cameras, the same storage capacities, the same battery sizes, and the same charging speeds. They’re about the same size, and we didn’t notice the minor weight difference too: the A56 is 198g, while the A36 is 195g.

One difference is that the A56 has a better ultra-wide camera compared to the A36, but you may not notice this if you don’t use that perspective often, and neither is as good as the Pixel 9a in this area. The A36 also has a less powerful chip, but it’s still capable enough for the basics like browsing the web or social media, and its battery will last you through the day with ease.

To complicate things further, it’s worth noting that Samsung makes an even more affordable Galaxy A26 model. It has the same plastic frame, display and battery and some small design, camera and processor differences – but it is fantastic value at £299. Essentially, if you’re looking for solid performance, cameras and displays, you’ll find there’s a lot to like in each of the models from Samsung’s budget range.

A rather unique option in the world of budget smartphones, this big-screen handset has a “Nxtpaper” switch on its right side that transforms the 50 Pro’s screen to make it look “ebook-like” for an improved experience when you're reading.

The screen itself also has a matte treatment that effectively limits glare and already makes it easy to read, while the Nxtpaper control allows you to go into a “Colour Paper Mode”, “Ink Paper Mode” or “Max Ink Mode” – the first two reduce saturation in either a colour or monochrome mode, while Max Ink turns off notifications and increases battery life.

As it’s still an LCD, a proper ereader like a Kindle will still give you more of a paper-like experience with a front-lit E Ink screen. But, for many, this will feel like the best of both worlds. Beyond its reading features, it has a big battery, a lot of storage, and a useful port for wired headphones.

Its camera system hasn’t impressed us, though, as it doesn’t take pleasing images or videos from any of the multiple cameras on the rear, and its front-facing sensor doesn’t produce satisfactory results either. However, if your focus is more on reading, battery life and reliable performance than photography, the 50 Pro Nxtpaper delivers a lot of useful features for under £300.

Like the sound of the Doro phones from our best dumb phones roundup, but would rather have a smartphone? The 8100 is a capable handset designed with older users in mind. It guides you through the setup in an accessible way and uses an adjusted version of Android that makes navigation straightforward.

We like how you’re greeted with three large icons on the home screen: “call”, “view” and “send”. From there, you access options like “call a contact” or “send a message or video” without having to dive into apps.

It has a big screen, a decent camera system, and the useful Doro “response” button, which is an upgraded version of the brand’s assistance feature that shares the phone’s location with pre-approved contacts.