Looking out for a brand new telephone in 2024 that doesn’t break the financial institution? You’re definitely not the one one. Flagship telephones have come alongside leaps and bounds in recent times, however their costs have risen alongside them.
10 years in the past, a top-end smartphone could have solely value round £500/$500, however the world has modified considerably since then, and now you might be charged double that if you happen to go for a top-spec mannequin.
Nevertheless, whereas the flagship market has grow to be dearer, the price range finish of the market has vastly improved in contrast to some years in the past. Options thought of solely high-end only a 12 months or two in the past have now made their strategy to the sub-$400/£400 part of the market, that means that reasonably priced telephones are extra tempting than ever.
These days, if the place to look, you will get vastly improved pictures, sturdy development high quality, wi-fi charging, and extremely dependable efficiency from telephones at this worth. In fact, there are nonetheless loads of units which will allow you to down with sub-par battery life and bloated software program, however none of these have made it to our prestigious listing.
The purpose of this information is that will help you avoid the array of underwhelming telephones that promise an excessive amount of and ship too little and present you the true gems that provide improbable worth for cash. All the beneath units have been bodily examined by one in every of our reviewers to reliably gauge their efficiency in key areas, together with digital camera efficiency, construct high quality and battery life, so you could rely on our purchasing recommendation.
Our definition of “reasonably priced” means any handset retailing for lower than £400/$400, but when we do occur to go over this quantity, we’ll make our reasoning clear as to why we’ve made an exception.
We additionally produce other greatest lists for these after one thing somewhat extra particular. Our greatest digital camera telephone round-up focuses on a tool’s photographic and videography abilities, whereas our greatest mid-range telephone listing focuses on barely pricier units.
Greatest low cost telephones at a look
How we take a look at
Each telephone we overview goes by way of a sequence of uniform checks designed to gauge key issues together with construct high quality, display accuracy, battery life, efficiency and digital camera prowess.
These embrace formal artificial benchmarks and scripted checks, plus a sequence of real-world checks, similar to how a lot battery it loses per hour streaming video.
We additionally make certain to make use of each telephone we overview as our main handset for a minimum of 4 days to make sure our overview is as correct as attainable. You may see a extra detailed breakdown of our testing methodology in our how we take a look at telephones information.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo
Greatest price range telephone
Execs
Skinny, light-weight designAll-day battery lifePremium {hardware} regardless of the value
Cons
Mushy, inaccurate vibration motorSome pre-installed bloatware
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo just isn’t solely a formidable all-rounder at a really tempting worth of simply £299, however it’s additionally one of many extra compact price range choices round in 2024.
It measures in at simply 7.76mm thick and 172g, which makes it a delight to carry and use, and that’s additional improved by IP68 mud and water resistance, a vegan leather-based end and a slew of Pantone-certified finishes that make it stand out in a busy price range market.
The 6.5-inch display isn’t to be sniffed at both, with a curved OLED panel delivering vibrant colors and deep blacks with nice distinction. It may well additionally attain a speedy 144Hz, beating the 120Hz panels of others in our listing, 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 primary snapper and a 13MP ultrawide on the rear, together with a 32MP selfie digital camera. The primary sensor, particularly, is succesful each in well-lit situations and low-light environments, bringing it near what the Pixel 6a can obtain in a extra enticing package deal.
Efficiency can also be surprisingly good contemplating its price range price ticket, with the Dimensity 7030 and ample 12GB of RAM in a position to compete with mid-range telephones that value £200 extra. It’s nonetheless not highly effective sufficient for high-end AAA gaming, 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 while not having a top-up, although it might’t fairly make it by way of a second day. The excellent news is that 68W quick cost tech can present a 50% cost in simply 17 minutes, among the many quickest you’ll discover on the price range finish of the market.
So, if you happen to’re in search of a stable all-rounder that doesn’t break the financial institution, look no additional than the Motorola Edge 40 Neo.
Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full overview: Motorola Edge 40 Neo
Nothing Telephone (2a)
Greatest price range digital camera
Execs
Design and UI each trendy and solidSmooth performanceStrong battery life
Cons
Nothing OS 2.5 UI elaborations might run deeperNo wi-fi chargingGlyph system considerably stripped again
The Nothing Telephone (2a) is the primary really budget-focused telephone from the UK startup, and regardless of its tempting £319 price ticket, the Telephone (2a) not solely retains the enduring Nothing design DNA however loads of tech from the full-fat Nothing Telephone (2).
In the event you’re in search of a unique-looking telephone on a price range, the Nothing Telephone (2a) suits the invoice after which some with its iconic clear design, providing you with take 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 standard 11, however it nonetheless works in the identical manner.
Nonetheless, it’s the tech that’s a very powerful facet of the Telephone (2a), and Nothing has excelled as soon as once more. The 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED display is vibrant 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 an identical to these on the Telephone (2), they do an incredible job capturing images in each well-lit and low-light situations, even when the latter suffers from somewhat an excessive amount of synthetic brightness at occasions.
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 crucial stylised approaches to Android 14 round.
Reviewer: Jon Mundy
Full overview: Nothing Telephone (2a)
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
Greatest construct high quality
Execs
Strong construct qualityDecent primary cameraStrong battery life
Cons
Display not the brightestSecondary cameras not greatDesign slightly cumbersome
In the event you’re in search of a stable all-rounder that’ll simply carry on going, Samsung’s Galaxy A35 5G is a tempting possibility. Our reviewer discovered that, even on busy days with almost 8 hours of screen-on time, the telephone nonetheless had sufficient juice to final ’until bedtime and, on much less busy days, it might simply make it to the top of a second day.
In fact, battery longevity isn’t the one cause to go for the Galaxy A35 5G over different choices in our listing. The Galaxy A35 5G has design staples not often 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 appear and feel much more like a Galaxy S24 at a less expensive worth.
That 6.6-inch 120Hz AMOLED show is a spotlight of the reasonably priced telephone. It would match final 12 months’s panel, however the AMOLED nature signifies that blacks are deep and colors are significantly vibrant, and at 1000nits peak brightness, it’s simple 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 12 months’s Galaxy A54 5G isn’t essentially a foul factor, providing a lift in efficiency in comparison with final 12 months’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’d like an inexpensive telephone that’ll carry on going, the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G stays a tempting alternative.
Reviewer: Jon Mundy
Full overview: Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
Honor Magic 6 Lite
Greatest construct high quality
Execs
Loverly premium designBrilliant show with 1920Hz PWM dimmingLong battery life
Cons
Slower charging than the Magic 5 LiteVideo stabilisation is awfulShips with Android 13, slightly than 14
In the event you’re in search of a fairly priced smartphone that’s packed filled with options, has a modern design and is powerful sufficient to outlive a number of drops and spills, then the Magic 6 Lite is the right smartphone for you.
The Magic 6 Lite seems to be rather more high-end than its worth displays. Because of its curved sides, polished end and minimal digital camera bump, you’ll barely discover the telephone in your pocket, which is kind of a change from chunkier smartphones available on the market.
The Magic 6 Lite has options an IP53 score for mud and water resistance, which wasn’t discovered on its predecessor. Though this doesn’t imply the telephone is completely waterproof, it’s sturdy 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, however it’s nonetheless an honest platform and is an improve from its predecessor. In our overview, we concluded that you simply’d be hard-pressed to inform the distinction between the Magic 6 Lite and a higher-end flagship mannequin, as apps at all times opened shortly, animations have 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 might present over two days on a single cost, which our reviewer discovered to be the case. In our benchmark checks, we discovered 60-minutes of Netflix drained the Magic 6 Lite’s battery by simply 4%, in comparison with related telephones, just like the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, the place a better 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 checks 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 overview: Honor Magic 6 Lite
iPhone SE 2022
Greatest for Apple followers on a price range
Execs
The quickest telephone at this worth (by a ways)Takes nice daylight picturesIP score and wi-fi chargingiOS and all the advantages that include it
Cons
Small display is cramped and restrictiveTired designNo night time mode within the digital camera
We’re bending our guidelines barely to incorporate a telephone that breaks our worth restrict, however if you happen to’re deadset on getting your self a brand new iPhone, then that is your most cost-effective possibility – and it’s nonetheless a belter.
You could have to forgive the depressingly dated design and its related small display which measures simply 4.7 inches, but when you will get over that then the iPhone SE 2022 does actually nonetheless supply quite a lot of positives for the value.
At the start, it runs on the good A15 Bionic chip, which is without doubt one of the highest within the enterprise; it’s really the exact same one that you simply’ll discover on the iPhone 13 Professional, so that you received’t be wanting for energy. Even higher, this telephone might be in line for Apple’s unparalleled long-term software program help, so we wouldn’t even be stunned to see it getting the newest updates seven years from now.
On prime of that, the latest iPhone SE has top-of-the-line cameras that you simply’ll discover for the value, and it significantly delivers on richly detailed photographs, in order that tough 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 if you happen to’re planning to take quite a lot of photos when the solar is down then this won’t be the perfect telephone for you. The selfie digital camera additionally might do with some work, with it not being to the identical commonplace as the primary snapper.
In the event you’re in search of an iPhone that provides digital camera and robust efficiency for a less expensive entry worth then it is a good wager, however do keep in mind that the display is small and underwhelming.
Reviewer: Max Parker
Full overview: iPhone SE 2022
Poco X6 Professional
Greatest price range gaming telephone
Execs
Highly effective MediaTek processorBright 120Hz OLED displayGreat primary and selfie cameras
Cons
BloatwareAdvertisements in some system appsWeak ultrawide and macro cameras
The Poco X6 Professional delivers a real flagship smartphone expertise at a fraction of the standard flagship value.
Because of its adaptable refresh price of between 60-120Hz and its 480Hz contact sampling price, the Poco X6 Professional is a perfect smartphone for gaming. The truth is, the contact sampling price may even be boosted to a formidable 2160HZ, utilizing the telephone’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 also be one of many first telephones which have shipped with Xiamoi’s new working system, however if you happen to’ve just lately used a Xiaomi or Poco machine then you definately 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 checks 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 also be fast-charge succesful, as much as a formidable 67W. Our benchmark checks confirmed {that a} 30-minute fast cost can get you as much as 78%, which is good for a fast top-up in between gaming.
Reviewer: Luke Baker
Full overview: Poco X6 Professional
TCL 40R 5G
Greatest entry-level telephone
Execs
An attention-grabbing designAll-day battery lifeJust about highly effective sufficient to sport on
Cons
720p resolution2MP macro lens isn’t greatPlenty of pre-installed bloatware
What if you’d like an honest entry-level telephone for lower than £200 that merely does the job? The TCL 40R 5G suits the invoice.
The budget-focused machine provides all the primary staples of a stable price range smartphone expertise with 5G connectivity, a handsome design, lengthy battery life from a 5,000mAh cell and first rate (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 components look somewhat comfortable. The primary 50MP rear digital camera is able to delivering surprisingly sharp photographs for the value, a minimum of.
It won’t have the ability to compete with extra premium choices available on the market, however for the £199 price ticket, you received’t discover a lot better in 2024.
Reviewer: Lloyd Coombes
Full overview: TCL 40R 5G
FAQs
Our favorite low cost telephone for the digital camera is the Nothing Telephone (2a), although the Motorola Edge 40 Neo isn’t too far behind.
Sure, the entire telephones within the above listing supply 5G connectivity so that you’ll have the ability to get these information speeds so long as you might have community protection and a suitable SIM card.
Comparability Specs
UK RRP
USA RRP
EU RRP
CA RRP
AUD RRP
Producer
Display Measurement
Storage Capability
Rear Digital camera
Entrance Digital camera
Video Recording
IP score
Battery
Wi-fi charging
Quick Charging
Measurement (Dimensions)
Weight
ASIN
Working System
Launch Date
First Reviewed Date
Decision
HDR
Refresh Fee
Ports
Chipset
RAM
Colors
Acknowledged Energy
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Trusted Evaluations take a look at information
Geekbench 5 single core
Geekbench 5 multi core
Geekbench 6 single core
Geekbench 6 multi core
sRGB
Adobe RGB
DCI-P3
Max brightness
1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR)
30 minute gaming (intensive)
30 minute gaming (mild)
1 hour music streaming (on-line)
1 hour music streaming (offline)
Time from 0-100% cost
Time from 0-50% cost
30-min recharge (included charger)
15-min recharge (included charger)
30-min recharge (no charger included)
15-min recharge (no charger included)
3D Mark – Wild Life
GFXBench – Aztec Ruins
GFXBench – Automobile Chase
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