There are a lot of people who don’t need a high-end or an elitist smartphone with the most upgraded features and the best camera. The category consists of the middle-class or lower-middle-class, who needs an affordable smartphone that provides them what it needs to keep up with the world because the smartphone has become more of a necessity than a luxury these days that suffices the basic needs to connect with friends and family through social media platform for which they don’t think that they need to go over the board and spend a £1000 on a smartphone that is just for casual use and nothing extra. After reviewing a certain range of phones, these are the following we have highlighted as the most budget-friendly phones in the year 2021
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro.
Screen: 6.67-inch 2400 x 1080
Processor: Snapdragon 732G
Battery: 5,020mAh
Camera: 108MP/8MP wide/2MP depth/5MP macro
OS: Android 11/MIUI 12
Weight: 193g
Charging: 33W
The Xiaomi Redmi Note Ten Pro (£272) offers a handful of 800 pounds plus flagship options at such a budget friendly value while still being able to maintain a healthy competition. It offers all the convenience that a buyer is looking for, without charging an arm and a leg. With advantages, there comes a few drawbacks too.
Pros: large battery, high end camera, 120Hz AMOLED display, good stereo output
Cons: No 5G, adverts MIUI
Realme X50
Screen: 6.57-inch 2400 x 1080
Processor: Snapdragon 765G
Battery: 4,200mAh
Camera: 48MP/8MP wide/2MP depth/2MP macro
OS: Android 10/RealmeUI
Weight: 194g
Charging: 30W fast charging
The Realme X50 5G (£260) is the best value 5G smartphone you will be able to get for a price as low as £300 and below especially with its %G feature which is mostly found in the priciest phones out there. It also has one of the best gaming features, the G part in 765G means it has been especially built for gaming.
Pros: Supports 5G, good battery, powerful processor, good camera.
Cons: No headphone jack.
Samsung Galaxy M31
Screen: 6.4-inch 2340 x 1080
Processor: Exynos 9611
Battery: 6,000mAh
Camera: 64MP/8MP wide/5MP depth/5MP macro
OS: Android 10/One UI
Weight: 191g
Charging: 15W fast charging
Another one of the most budget-friendly phone that cost around £230. The two of its best elements are its battery and the display. It has a 6,000 MAH battery with 6.4 inches Super AMOLED, richer contrast of colors and corning Gorilla glass 3. There are some drawbacks too, i.e, it doesn’t support HDR but that doesn’t make a huge difference for a casual use. So much for a phone in such prices.
Pros: OLED screen, 6,000 mah battery,
Cons: It does not support HDR
Moto G30
Screen: 6.5-inch 1600 x 720
Processor: Snapdragon 662
Battery: 5,000mAh
Camera: 64MP/8MP wide/2MP depth/2MP macro
OS: Android 11
| Weight: 197g
Charging: 15W
It offers one of the best smartphone experiences, with a smooth operating system for a rough and daily use along with a decent camera at the price of £160. It is offered in a couple of fun colors – pastel sky and dark pearl and it also shimmers in different colors when lights hits the phone in different angles, so, by the look it definitely doesn’t feel like a phone which would cost less than a £1000.
Pros: Decent camera, huge battery, durable, rear finger print scanner.
Cons: low quality speakers.
Oppo A72
Screen: 6.5-inch 2400 x 1080
Processor: Snapdragon 665
Battery: 5,000mAh
Camera: 48MP/8MP wide/2MP macro/2MP depth
OS: Android 10/Color OS
| Weight: 192g
Charging: 18W fast charging
This smartphone just costs around £140, it has a few features that out stands it from the rest of the brand names, one of which is that, it is the only phone with a side fingerprint scanner, along with a 5,000 MAH battery! What else can one ask for?
Pros: Processor performance, good battery life, stereo speakers.
Cons: Color OS.
Motorola Moto G Pro
Screen: 6.4-inch 2300 x 1080
Processor: Snapdragon 665
Battery: 4,000mAh
Camera: 48MP/16MP wide/2MP macro
OS: Android 10/Android One
Weight: 192g
Charging: 15W fast charging
If you see in general, Motorola has a lot of budget-friendly, easy on the pocket smartphones, this Moto G Pro also comes with a stylus like the Galaxy note smartphones but in a much more pocket-friendly price (£160). It has an amazingly stabilized action video camera which also lets you capture widescreen videos. You get all this in the most economical rates along with the most powerful speaker with high volume and stereo output.
Pros: Stylus, powerful stability videos.
Cons: Small battery.
TCL 10 Lite
Screen: 6.53-inch 2340 x 1080
Processor: Snapdragon 665
Battery: 4,000mAh
Camera: 48MP/8MP wide/2MP depth/2MP macro
OS: Android 10/TCL UI
Weight: 180g
| Charging: 10W
TCL smartphones weren’t expected to perform as well as the other renowned brands but it surprised us with the quality of phones in their first attempt as a brand. With an easy on the pocket prices (£110), it tends to deliver a decent quality for a casual use with its Snapdragon 665 processor, which is also used by a lot of renowned competitors. It also supports HDR. It has an amazing camera, almost as good as the other high-end brands with 48 megapixels wide and 8-megapixel ultrawide along with 2 low-resolution cameras.
Pros: Good screen, Good performance.
Cons: low camera image processing
With that said, there are a lot of options for affordable good phones but along with that some are pretty bad too. One needs to do some good research before deciding what to buy and what not to buy, hence we have highlighted a few picks along with their pros and cons for a better understanding and to make it easier for you to choose what is best for you and doesn’t charge you an arm and leg.