Best Budget Phone 2023: 10 Top Cheap Smartphones

The cons of the Moto G62 are much the same as all cheap phones, because they are cheap! You save money by sacrificing performance, camera quality, and faster charging. What you gain with the Moto though is a solid plastic built quality that surpasses other phones at this price, a clean version of Android 12 with changes only made where Moto can improve, not add things for the sake of it.

This is one of the best budget phones you can get.

There’s a superb always-on display, despite having an LCD rather than OLED panel, that lets you quickly view and open notifications that no other phone brand has. If the performance occasionally stutters you will be able to forgive it for how attractive the software of this phone looks, and it’s a great alternative to Xiaomi’s cluttered UI, despite the strength of that brands budget phones.

Triple cameras on the back of the Moto G62 exist, but it’s a push to call them all good – thankfully the 50Mp main sensor is very solid and will give you excellent daytime shots. Pair that with great battery life from the 5000mAh cell that we sometimes found reached the end of the day at 50% and you have a great cheap phone option.

The Moto G23 is another great choice from Moto that can regularly be found for less than it’s already decent £199.99 RRP. Unfortunately it’s not available in the US, though there are many solid Moto phones sold there in the same price range.

The G23 looks and feels more expensive than it is and delivers where it matters. The screen is bright, it’s main camera will do the job fine, it has loud clear dual stereo speakers, and it charges at 30W with the included charger.

It has a dual SIM slot and storage is expandable via microSD, though the built in 128GB storage is very generous for the price.

The ultrawide and macro cameras aren’t much cop, there’s no 5G support, and the processor is only fast enough to play quite basic mobile games – you won’t want to fire up Fortnite on this phone. But if you want an affordable smartphone that nails the basics and is running a nice plain version of Android 13, this is it.

It’s great to see the Nokia brand (the phones are actually made by Finnish company HMD) represent good value phones once more. The Nokia G60 is an excellent budget phone choice at £200 (it’s not officially on sale in the US but you can get it via Amazon).

With 5G, a large screen, great battery life and a perfectly capable main camera, the G60 ticks all our top boxes for a phone that doesn’t cost too much, considering. Three years of software support is also above average for this price segment. It’s good to see, and means you can use your phone knowing its Android security is up to date.

You can buy the phone outright or you can get it from £12.50 per month with Nokia’s Circular subscription plan, which lets you upgrade when you want, or lets you accumulate points the longer you hold onto the same phone to encourage less e-waste. You can then spend those points on eco-minded causes.

At this price it’s hard to fault the G60, though it does charge very slowly.

Thhe folks at Realme pulled it out of the bag with the design of the C35, a sub-£150 phone that looks like it costs a lot more.

With flat sides taken straight from the latest iPhone playbook and a smart looking camera module akin to the more expensive OnePlus Nord phones, the C35 also packs in a great 1080p display for the incredibly cheap price.

You can even pay £20 extra to get 128GB storage instead of 64GB, and all models have a microSD slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The processor is nothing to write home about, but the 50Mp main camera lens is pretty good on a phone that outperforms its asking price.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro is essentially an upgraded Poco X3 NFC, with a nicer display and better camera.

The 6.67in 120Hz panel boasts AMOLED tech, meaning superb contrast and vibrant colours. The 108Mp lead camera, meanwhile, excels and comes accompanied by a pair of secondary snappers that exceed expectation.

Fun extras like 33W fast charging, a headphone jack and even an IR blaster elevate the Redmi Note 10 Pro from a good to a great budget offering, considering what Xiaomi’s incorporated here.

Not to be confused with last year’s Poco M4 Pro 5G, this device shrugs off 5G in exchange for some notable upgrades in other areas.

The Poco M4 is the first M series device in Poco history to pack in an AMOLED display (which also happens to support a 90Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution), the 64Mp is an impressive improvement for the series and battery life (as well as fast charging) is decent too.

The design is a little divisive and MIUI 13 for POCO won’t be to everyone’s tastes but in terms of value for money, this is an exceptional option, right now.

The updated Poco M4 Pro 5G offers a little more than its predecessor from the same year, without changing the overall balance struck, all that much.

This like-minded Xiaomi handset has a run-of-the-mill Dimensity 810 5G chipset but also delivers a high 90Hz refresh rate viewing experience.

Beyond that, a large 5000mAh battery with upgraded 33W fast charging delivers superb battery life and some eye-catching finishes make this a compelling fit for those after a touch more fluidity in their user experience.

The Redmi Note 11 paints a similar picture to the Poco M4 Pro (4G) with a slightly hardware setup at play and a whole family and variants to move up through, should its humble hardware not cut the mustard.

In its own right though, the Redmi Note 11 offers great value for money, with a 90Hz Full HD+ AMOLED display, respectable performance from its Snapdragon 680 chipset and superb battery (with decent 33W fast charging).

Camera performance is the obvious weak point here but you’re still getting a lot for your money.

If you like the idea of repairing your phone rather than replacing it every few years, the Nokia G22 could be the phone for you. If you can cope with the fact this is quite a slow phone – perhaps you only need one for basic functions like calls and messages and Google Maps – then it’s a good buy.

iFixit sells several official repair kits for the G22 including for screen cracks and new battery. It means you can grab a smartphone for £150 and be safe in the knowledge you can easily repair it yourself. It’s liberating, and Tech Advisor’s Hannah tried it out in our full review.

One thing to note is this phone will only have software support for two years, which somewhat contradicts the idea this is a product you should keep for far longer and replace its failing parts. That aside, this is an interesting concept and a budget phone you should consider if you don’t need a powerful device.