Best Budget Phone 2018
Buying a cheap smartphone no longer means losing out on all of the latest features and performance. We review and rank the best budget phones you can buy right now.
What is the best phone >
- Xiaomi Mi A2
- Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
- Honor 9 Lite
- UMIDIGI One Pro
- Motorola Moto E5
- Moto G6 Play
- Nokia 5.1
- HTC Desire 12+
- Motorola Moto E5 plus
- Moto G5
1. Xiaomi Mi A2
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 9 November 2018
- RRP: $229.49
The inclusion of Android One makes Xiaomi phones so much more easily accessible to UK- and US users - and that's a very good thing, finally allowing those outside China and India (and more recently Spain, France and Italy) a taste of what else is out there on the market. The Mi A2 (also available running MIUI as the Mi 6X) merely whets our appetite for what's coming our way when Xiaomi
A fantastic budget phone, the Mi A2 is just £199 and easily obtainable from Amazon. It combines decent build quality with a nice display, good all-round performance and a well-specced trio of cameras. It out-specs and out-performs every other phone in our budget smartphone chart.
2. Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 16 November 2018
- RRP: Price TBC
Budget Android phones don't come better than this. The Mi A2 Lite has a premium design with 19:9 notch display, dual rear cameras and decent performance. Storage is generous, and we like the fact you can bolster the 64GB internal space with microSD cards up to 256GB in capacity without sacrificing dual-SIM support. A great budget buy.
3.Honor 9 Lite
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 15 November 2018
- RRP: Price TBC
- Buy from Honor
It's been around for a while now but the Honor 9 Lite is still one of the best budget phones you can buy, even at it's RRP of £199.
You can get it for much less now making it even more of a bargain. It's got an attractive design, decent specs including four cameras and good performance too. What more could you want?'
4. UMIDIGI One Pro
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 12 October 2018
- RRP: $169.99
- Buy from UMIDIGI
On paper the UMIDIGI One Pro's spec seems too good to be true. Fast wireless charging, NFC, 19:9 IPS displays, dual-cameras, side-mounted fingerprint sensors and an attractive design aren't things you have any right to expect at this price. But this is a budget phone, and as such some corners have naturally been cut. The display is just HD in resolution, the fingerprint sensor can be temperamental and the cameras can leave something to be desired. Overall, though, a great budget buy - and one people will have no idea was so cheap.
5. Motorola Moto E5
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 2 August 2018
- RRP: Price TBC
The Moto E5 is one of the best budget phones around. Of course, you can spend a bit more and get something better but if you're looking for the cheapest phone around that won't make you want to throw it in the bin after a few days then this is it.
We're very impressed by the design and build quality along with a number of features including the screen, camera, fingerprint scanner and battery life.
Just bear in mind that you don't get some of the features available from more expensive alternatives.
6. Moto G6 Play
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 16 November 2018
- RRP: Price TBC
The Moto G6 Play is a great little surprise of a phone. It holds its own next to the other two G6 phones and has better battery life (and a cooler fingerprint sensor).
The 18:9 display and premium (but plastic) design means it feels just as well-made as phones double the price but doesn’t compromise on performance to do so.
With a headphone jack as a plus, a minus is micro-USB but we’ll forgive that on its strengths and can recommend the G6 Play as one of the best budget phones of 2018.
7. Nokia 5.1
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 24 September 2018
- RRP: £189.99
The Nokia 5.1 certainly doesn’t look like a phone that costs less than £200, sporting a gorgeous Series 6000 Aluminium body, fine detailing on the buttons and camera and an FHD+ 18:9 5.5in display.
But while it looks the part, the budget internals mean that performance isn’t flawless, and it can’t handle more advanced mobile games. But for general tweeting, snapping and texting, the Nokia 5.1 is certainly a tempting budget option.
8. HTC Desire 12+
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 5 July 2018
- RRP: TBC
- Buy from HTC
The Desire 12+ is a decent effort at a budget phone and there's a number of things we like about it. Namely the lightweight and comfortable design and generally good performance.
However, it falls down in a little in some key areas such as the screen which isn't as crisp as we'd like and the cameras which under-perform.
When you consider that the Honor 9 Lite is the same price and improves on these areas, it's a bit of a no brainer.
9. Motorola Moto E5 Plus
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 1 October 2018
- RRP: $179
You should spend a little more on the E5 Plus if you want the larger screen and bigger battery. It easily the best budget phone when it comes to combining size and stamina.
However, we think the cheaper Moto E5 is a better choice for most people with much of the specs the same and the addition of NFC.
The main thing putting us off here is slightly laggy performance and the G6 Play isn't far off in price, so jump to this if you can It also has a better front camera, Turbo Charging and more software features.
10. Moto G5
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 12 September 2017
- RRP: $200
There’s plenty of competition in Android’s budget market, but the Moto G5 is still one of the best. The build quality alone feels like it belongs on a much more expensive phone, while the fingerprint gesture controls genuinely improve the Android experience.
The benchmarks and battery hold it back, but they're not unreasonable given the price. You'll find better specs in Chinese phones, but if you don't need a dual-SIM phone and you want the peace of mind of a proper UK warranty, it's a solid choice.
It's a steal, but the Moto G6 Play is better and newer for not much more.