Best Cheap Phones 2024: Eight fantastically affordable handsets

The Motorola Edge 40 Neo is not only an impressive all-rounder at a very tempting price of just £299, but it’s also one of the more compact budget options around in 2024.

It measures in at just 7.76mm thick and 172g, which makes it a delight to hold and use, and that’s further improved by IP68 dust and water resistance, a vegan leather finish and a slew of Pantone-certified finishes that make it stand out in a busy budget market.

The 6.5-inch screen isn’t to be sniffed at either, with a curved OLED panel delivering vibrant colours and deep blacks with great contrast. It can also reach a rapid 144Hz, beating the 120Hz panels of others in our list, allowing for a buttery-smooth experience that’s also well suited to gaming.

That’s backed up by a surprisingly capable camera system comprised of an OIS-enabled 50MP main snapper and a 13MP ultrawide on the rear, along with a 32MP selfie camera. The main sensor, in particular, is capable both in well-lit scenarios and low-light environments, bringing it close to what the Pixel 6a can achieve in a more attractive package.

Performance is also surprisingly good considering its budget price tag, with the Dimensity 7030 and ample 12GB of RAM able to compete with mid-range phones that cost £200 more. It’s still not powerful enough for high-end AAA gaming, but for all but dedicated mobile gamers, it should more than suffice.

And, despite its more compact dimensions than rivals, it still packs in a large 5000mAh battery that doesn’t struggle to last a full day without needing a top-up, though it can’t quite make it through a second day. The good news is that 68W fast charge tech can provide a 50% charge in just 17 minutes, among the fastest you’ll find at the budget end of the market.

So, if you’re looking for a solid all-rounder that doesn’t break the bank, look no further than the Motorola Edge 40 Neo.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter

Full review: Motorola Edge 40 Neo

It might’ve been replaced by the newer Pixel 7a, but that means the Pixel 6a is cheaper than ever, and rather impressively, still holds the title for best budget camera a year after use. Make no mistake, the Pixel 7a is a better phone with improved cameras, a faster processor and a 90Hz display, but doing so has raised its RRP past budget levels. Besides, at a discounted price, the Pixel 6a still offers incredibly good value for money.

You’ll find two very good snappers within the Pixel 6a, which are bolstered by handy tricks such as Magic Eraser and Night Sight in order to remove unwanted objects or improve your lowlight shooting, respectively. There’s a reason why Pixel phones are widely renowned for their camera tech, after all.

One area where the Pixel 6a really does excel over its affordable rivals is in the processor, which is the very same Tensor chip that you’ll find in the Pixel 6 Pro. It might not be an absolute beast in performance terms, nor even the latest Tensor chip, but it helps to deliver the great software, post-processing, 5G connectivity, and enhanced security that makes this phone a great all-round package.

Though the screen is colourful and punchy, it suffers a bit from not having a refresh rate enhanced beyond the standard 60Hz, so it may not seem as smooth as its competitors. Nonetheless, this device is well worth the price when all is taken into consideration.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full review: Google Pixel 6a

Probably the most eye-catching handset on this list, the Nothing Phone (1)‘s look stands out from the crowd due to its transparent back covering and flashing LED arrangement, which indicates incoming notifications or the charging level in a unique way. Fortunately there’s far more to it than just this quirk.

We particularly liked the lush 120Hz display, which is one of the best around at this price point. With HDR support and high levels of brightness, this screen is a joy to use for gaming and more. There are two rear cameras on board, wide and ultrawide, and they both do a pretty good job. Although some snaps can end up looking over-exposed, most of the photos that we took in complimentary lighting conditions turned out very well, while its night shooting was a particular highlight.

The 4500mAh battery was plenty big enough to get us through the day, and it’s great to see the wireless charging feature at this price point as well. However, one of the few negatives about this handset was performance issues, likely down to sub-par software optimisation, which caused some stuttering from time to time.

The newer Nothing Phone (2) may take the experience up a notch with a flagship-level Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, improved cameras and better Glyph lighting, but the price has also gone up by quite a bit as a result. With Nothing leaving the Nothing Phone (1) on sale at its much cheaper price tag, it remains a tempting option for design-focused consumers a year after its initial release.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full review: Nothing Phone 1

If you’re looking for a reasonably priced smartphone that’s packed full of features, has a sleek design and is robust enough to survive a few drops and spills, then the Magic 6 Lite is the perfect smartphone for you. 

The Magic 6 Lite looks much more high-end than its price reflects. Thanks to its curved sides, polished finish and minimal camera bump, you’ll barely notice the phone in your pocket, which is quite a change from chunkier smartphones on the market. 

The Magic 6 Lite has features an IP53 rating for dust and water resistance, which wasn’t found on its predecessor. Although this doesn’t mean the phone is totally waterproof, it’s robust enough that the odd spill or rain shower shouldn’t cause any problems with the handset. 

The Magic 6 Lite runs on Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, which isn’t the most recent version of Qualcomm’s chipsets, but it’s still a decent platform and is an upgrade from its predecessor. In our review, we concluded that you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the Magic 6 Lite and a higher-end flagship model, as apps always opened quickly, animations were smooth and multitasking was seamless. 

The handset also comes with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, which is still pretty rare for a smartphone of this price range. 

Housing a mammoth 5300mAh battery, it’s unsurprising that Honor states it can provide over two days on a single charge, which our reviewer found to be the case. In our benchmark tests, we found 60-minutes of Netflix drained the Magic 6 Lite’s battery by just 4%, compared to similar phones, like the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, where a higher 11% battery discharge was seen.

The Magic 6 Lite also allows for up to 35W fast charging, and although this isn’t the fastest, our benchmark tests found that 15-minute charge topped the battery by 18%. Of course, there’s faster charging on higher-end smartphones, but this still beats the likes of the Google Pixel 7a.

Reviewer: Luke Baker

Full review: Honor Magic 6 Lite

We are bending our rules slightly to include a phone that breaks our price limit, but if you’re deadset on getting yourself a new iPhone, then this is your cheapest option – and it’s still a belter.

You may have to forgive the depressingly dated design and its associated small screen which measures just 4.7 inches, but if you can get over that then the iPhone SE 2022 does in fact still offer a lot of positives for the price.

First and foremost, it runs on the brilliant A15 Bionic chip, which is one of the very best in the business; it’s actually the very same one that you’ll find on the iPhone 13 Pro, so you won’t be wanting for power. Even better, this phone will be in line for Apple’s unparalleled long-term software support, so we wouldn’t even be surprised to see it getting the latest updates seven years from now.

On top of that, the newest iPhone SE has one of the best cameras that you’ll find for the price, and it particularly delivers on richly detailed images, so that difficult textures like dog fur or woolly jumpers look especially good. That said, it does miss out on a dedicated Night Mode, which is a real shame, so if you’re planning to take a lot of pictures when the sun is down then this might not be the best phone for you. The selfie camera also could do with some work, with it not being to the same standard as the main snapper.

If you’re looking for an iPhone that gives a good camera and strong performance for a cheaper entry price then this is a good bet, but do bear in mind that the screen is small and underwhelming.

Reviewer: Max Parker

Full review: iPhone SE 2022

The Poco X5 Pro 5G, while not hugely different from its predecessor, is a great-value handset with great features across the board, so it’s well worth your consideration if you’re hunting for a handset that’s below $400/£400.

The OLED screen measures a generous 6.67 inches with a 1080p resolution, along with more premium features including a 120Hz refresh rate and support for HDR10+, which is brilliant for the price. It’s not auto-adaptive like premium alternatives, but if you’re prepared to adjust it yourself, you’ll find that supported content is smoother than ever.

Its main 108-megapixel camera is also worth shouting about, as it delivers excellent pictures that are bound to impress for the price. Night Mode does a good job of cleaning up any noise that you might get, however the accompanying ultrawide and macro lens aren’t up to this same standard.

Performance is fine but not exceptional with a Snapdragon 778G at its heart, but it does offer 5G connectivity for the latest mobile data speeds. The battery life is brilliant with a 5000mAh cell, and we reckon that you could even squeeze two days’ life out of it if you use your phone with some restraint.

There aren’t many downsides here, but one would have to be the cheap rear design and feel, and the other would be its bloatware-stuffed software interface. MIUI is far from ideal for day-to-day use.

Reviewer: Connor Jewiss

Full review: Poco X5 Pro 5G

What if you want a decent entry-level phone for less than £200 that simply does the job? The TCL 40R 5G fits the bill.

The budget-focused device offers all the main staples of a solid budget smartphone experience with 5G connectivity, a good-looking design, long battery life from a 5,000mAh cell and decent (though not quite snappy) everyday performance.

There’s a large 6.6-inch LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate great for scrolling and binging, though its sub-1080p resolution can make elements look a little soft. The main 50MP rear camera is capable of delivering surprisingly sharp images for the price, at least.

It might not be able to compete with more premium options on the market, but for the £199 price tag, you won’t find much better in 2024.

Reviewer: Lloyd Coombes

Full review: TCL 40R 5G