The great thing about the advancement of technology in smartphones is that you don’t have to buy the most expensive ones to get excellent performance. Most mid-level phones come with features that once upon a time, were reserved for only the flagship level phones. So what are the cheapest phones that you can buy if you’re on a budget? Here are our picks for the best cheap Android phone, best budget gaming phone and more.
Navigation
Best Cheap Phones Comparison Chart
| Model | Price | Category | |
| Google Pixel 4a |  | Check Price at Amazon | Best cheap phone Android |
| Apple iPhone SE (2020) |  | Check Price at Amazon | Best cheap iPhone |
| Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro |  | Check Price at Amazon | Best cheap phone for gaming |
| OnePlus Nord N200 5G |  | Check Price at Amazon | Best cheap phone with 5G |
| Samsung Galaxy A32 5G |  | Check Price at Amazon | Best cheap Galaxy phone |
Google Pixel 4a
The best cheap Android phone.
The Google Pixel 4a is one of the best budget Android phones that you can get. While it doesn’t have the best hardware and some mid-range phones from Chinese brands outperform it, it does have a major advantage, which is stock Android. Pixel phones don’t come with bloat that other Android phones have. As a result, it performs very well due to not having to allocate resources to these bloatware.
Equipped with a Snapdragon 730G chipset, the Pixel 4a is still a very capable phone to this day. It comes with a 12.2MP rear camera that can take excellent images with the help of Google software. Also, it has a bright OLED screen with HDR support that makes content consumption a very enjoyable experience. While it doesn’t have a microSD card expansion slot, it does have 128GB of storage, which is plentiful enough for most users.
Apple iPhone SE 2020
The best cheap iPhone.
Comparable to the iPhone 11 in terms of performance, the Apple iPhone SE 2020 is still a great phone to this day. The Apple A13 Bionic chipset was miles ahead of the competition when it was released, and today, it still an excellent chipset that can give you flagship level performance. At its current price, the Apple iPhone SE 2020 offers one of the best price to performance ratio on a smartphone.
Having a 4.7-inch screen is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s not the best for content consumption due to its small screen, even though it is bright and colorful, and the lack of screen real estate can be a hindrance for a lot of apps. That said, it is very easy to use with just one hand and it’s so compact that you can fit it even inside shallow pockets without problems.
It comes in three configurations—64GB 3GB RAM, 128GB 3GB RAM and 256GB 3GB RAM and while the camera is definitely a downgrade when compared to the iPhone 11, it’s still better than a lot of Android phones in the same price range.
Xiaomi POCO X3 Pro
The best cheap phone for gaming.
For the best budget gaming phone, our pick is the Xiaomi POCO X3 Pro. Known for their budget phones with flagship-level specs, Xiaomi delivers an excellent gaming phone in the POCO X3 Pro. It’s equipped with a Snapdragon 860 chipset with the Adreno 640 GPU that boasts strong graphics capability and very good gaming performance.
Aside from having an excellent chipset for gaming, the POCO X3 Pro also has a 6.7-inch 120Hz display with HDR10 support, so you’ll be able to enjoy high refresh rate gaming for those that support it. The camera is just decent, but you’re not getting this phone for that, the phone is designed for gamers first, so that’s understandable.
If you want an even better gaming phone, you can also check out the Xiaomi POCO F3, which is about $50 more than the POCO X3 Pro. It’s equipped with the faster Snapdragon 870 and it has an upgraded AMOLED screen.
OnePlus Nord N200 5G
Best cheap phone with 5G.
The OnePlus Nord N200 provides excellent value for the money. Equipped with a Snapdragon 480 5G chipset, a 6.49-inch 90Hz screen and a decently sized battery, the OnePlus Nord N200 is our top pick for the best cheap phone with 5G.
You won’t be getting the best camera or even a fast processor, but if your main concern is getting a budget phone with 5G capability, the OnePlus Nord N200 5G is a very good option. The Snapdragon 480 5G chipset is not really designed for heavier tasks, but it gets the job done for basic and daily user tasks such as browsing, checking social media, very light gaming and content consumption.
Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
The cheapest quality Galaxy phone.
If you must have a Galaxy phone but you are on a budget, the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G is your best option. It has a massive 5,000 mAh battery and it can last a long time between charges. The screen is nothing special as its just a plain old TFT LCD display, but it’s quite big at 6.5-inches, so it’s still good for media consumption.
Equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 720 5G chipset, the phone has 5G, so that’s a bonus if you also need a budget phone with 5G connectivity. The chipset is certainly not the best, but at its price, it’s good enough. You can do all regular tasks without issues, such as browsing, watching videos, social media and so on.
Verdict
There are plenty of excellent phones for those on a budget.
Most cheap phones today are not comparable to the cheap phones from the past. Today’s phones—entry and mid-level—provide excellent performance and some of them even come with features that you can only find in flagship level phones back in the day. The Google Pixel 4a is the best cheap Android phone simply for its stock Android OS. The Apple iPhone SE 2020 is still a performance monster with its Bionic A13 chipset if you prefer iOS to Android.
For gamers, the Xiaomi POCO X3 Pro and the POCO F3 are excellent choices since these come with highly capable chipsets that excel in gaming. Meanwhile, for those looking for a cheap 5G phone, the OnePlus Nord N200 5G offers great value for money. The Samsung Galaxy A32 5G is a decent option if you are invested in the Samsung ecosystem and you need a cheap Galaxy phone.
FAQs
The OnePlus Nord N200 5G is one of the best cheap phones that you can get if you absolutely need 5G connectivity.
You can go with the Apple iPhone SE 2020 or the Google Pixel 4a.
Our pick for the best cheap Galaxy phone is the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G. It does have some shortcoming—such as an unimpressive display—but it also comes with some redeeming features such as a decent camera and a high battery capacity.
The Xiaomi POCO X3 Pro is hard to beat when it comes to cheap phones for gaming.