Best Cheap Phones 2026: Great displays, cameras and more on a budget

The Honor 400 is one of those phones that provides such great value for money that it elevates the budget market as a whole. Anyone who’s been following our coverage will already know that Honor makes some of the best affordable and mid-range handsets out there, but the Honor 400 kicks things up a notch in quite a few areas to the point where it becomes an immediate must-buy over all of its predecessors.

The one feature to know about the phone, above all, is that it has an absolutely stunning display. The 6.55-inch AMOLED panel can reach a peak brightness of 5000 nits which makes even some flagship phones look dim by comparison. Everything from social media apps to Netflix pop with next-level intensity, and you’ll never have any issues with using the phone outdoors against direct sunlight.

Compared to previous Honor phones, your money will go further too as the brand now promises six years of software and security updates from the time of launch for this device. That’s quite a rarity down this end of the market, but it means that you can safely use the Honor 400 for quite a few years to come without ever worrying about needing to upgrade. There’s also 256GB storage built-in as standard, so you’ll have plenty of room for all your apps.

The Honor 200 series brought some great camera upgrades into the mix and now the Honor 400 has just doubled down on it all. The new 200MP main sensor packs plenty of detail, so if you need to crop a shot for social media, you won’t have to worry about losing the picture’s integrity in the process. When it comes to portrait photography, the included Harcourt filters make it feel like you have a professional studio with you at all times.

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset provides respectable performance for the price, and we even managed to get a handful of 3D games working just fine on the Honor 400, so that’s good news for gamers on a budget. The large 5300mAh cell can also get you through a day and a half or use, so you’ll never have to worry about reaching 0% on a particularly busy day.

For any mobile games who don’t have a ton of cash to spend on their next upgrade, the Poco F7 fills the gap of being a high performing smartphone that still somehow carries a budget price tag. At just £389, the Poco F7 carries a handful of features that you’d expect to see on phones almost double the cost, the most important of which is its performance.

Thanks to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor housed within the phone, the Poco F7 provides some of the best gaming performance we’ve ever seen on a budget handset. As a point of comparison, the Poco F7 steamroller over the Pixel 9a and the Samsung Galaxy A56 in multi-core tests, and even wasn’t that far off from the Poco F7 Pro when running the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme test.

What ties the experience together is the massive 6.83-inch AMOLED display which provides phenomenally vibrant colours while the 120Hz refresh rate ensures that any action happening on screen is fast paced and engaging. It’s just as good for sitting back and enjoying a bit of streaming, as it is for gaming.

Of course, if you do plan on using the Poco F7 as something of an entertainment hub on the go, then you’re going to need a solid battery to back it up and thankfully that isn’t an issue here. The gigantic 6500mAh cell allowed us to reach two days of use under the right circumstances, so you definitely won’t have anything to worry about over the course of a single day.

The inclusion of 90W fast charging means you won’t be waiting around for long either, as we managed to charge the phone from 0% to 100% in only 40 minutes. As a final flourish, the Poco F7 still carries a premium build boasting full IP68 dust and water resistance. If you’re the type of person who’s run into durability issues with affordable phones in the past then the F7 should be a major step up.

All you need to know about the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion is that if you don’t have much of a budget to work with but you value a phone’s aesthetic above all, then this is easily the one you should consider buying first. There are three Pantone infused colourways available: Slipstream, Amazonite and Mykonos, and they all look great. Plus, all that style doesn’t come at the expense of durability thanks to an official IP69 rating.

Stop staring at the phone’s gorgeous backing and you’ll notice that it has a similarly eye-catching 6.67-inch pOLED display. The screen does have a cascading effect at the sides which, depending on how you feel about these types of screens, might be a boon or a turn-off. If you want a flat display then you might want to consider giving the Honor 400 a look.

Despite what the camera bump would have you believe, there are actually two cameras on the rear of the Edge 60 Fusion, a 50MP sensor and a 13MP ultra-wide. The latter of these two sensors isn’t too much to write home about, but that main wide-angle lens snapper can do the trick with wonderfully vibrant shots on a sunny day.

Even though it feels incredibly light in the hand, weighing just 178g, the Edge 60 Fusion boasts a large 5200mAh battery which, from our testing, only dropped 6% after an hour of streaming Netflix. Pair that with super fast 68W charging and it’s hard to imagine you’ll have any complaints in the battery department.

Unfortunately, the one area where the Edge 60 Fusion really trips up is the feature that Motorola seems to be pushing the most right now: Moto AI. There’s a dedicated button to quickly summon Motorola’s take on artificial intelligence, but it just isn’t anywhere near as useful as Google Gemini, so it would have been nice to see Motorola focus its efforts elsewhere.

The Nothing Phone 3a is the follow-up to the hugely popular budget-focused Nothing Phone 2a from 2024, and just like its predecessor, there’s a lot to love. It not only retains the iconic Nothing design DNA but new features that help it truly stand out from the competition.

If you’re looking for a unique-looking phone on a budget, the Nothing Phone 3a fits the bill and then some with its iconic transparent design, which gives you a good look at the internals on the rear panel. Like the others in the collection, it also sports the Glyph interface that flashes in time to ringtones and texts and doubles up as a handy camera timer.

Still, the most important aspect of the Phone 3a is the tech, and Nothing has excelled once again. The 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen is bright and accurate, with a whopping 3000nits peak brightness when watching HDR10+ content and an impressive 1300nits in regular high-brightness mode.

That’s flanked by a triple camera setup comprised of a 50MP wide, 8MP ultrawide and, rather surprisingly, a 50MP 2x telephoto lens.

The latter is still rare at the price point, and while it can’t quite compete with the periscope lens of the more premium Nothing Phone 3a Pro, it delivers excellent results in daylight. The 50MP main is similarly capable, though it performs way better in low-light scenarios. The ultrawide has taken a hit, dropping down from 50MP on the previous generation and it’s easily the weakest of the trio as a result, but it’ll still take a decent wide-angle shot.

That’s backed up by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 which allows it to outperform the competition in tests, and a 5000mAh battery delivers all-day battery life. There’s also the dot-matrix-inspired Nothing OS to appreciate, complete with Nothing’s new Essential Space, essentially its own spin on AI with some pretty handy features.

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At under £400, the Motorola Edge 60 Neo is a brilliant budget-friendly Android that should suit most everyday uses. 

With a 6.36-inch pOLED display, paired with a faux-leather finish on the back, the Edge 60 Neo can easily be used with just one hand. Plus, don’t worry about accidentally dropping or even spilling water on your handset, as it’s equipped with flagship standard IP68 and IP69 ratings too. 

Speaking of the display, it’s packed with surprisingly premium screen technologies for its price tag. Not only does it sport a 120Hz refresh rate, something which was missing from the entry-level iPhone until the new iPhone 17, but it also offers a 3000 nits peak brightness and supports HDR10+ content too.

Where the Edge 60 Neo really impresses, however, is with its photography ability. We should disclaim that this might not be one of the best camera phones, but it’s still a solid shooter for most conditions. 

The star of the show is, unsurprisingly, the 50MP Sony main sensor which churns out detailed and vibrant shots during the day. Even at night, the main camera is able to brighten shots up while maintaining sharpness too.

This is supported by a decent enough 13MP ultrawide and a 10MP 3x camera, which is a rare addition for phones at this price range. It’s not the best, especially when you attempt to surpass 3x zoom, but generally it’s able to capture decent shots. 

Otherwise, powering the Edge 60 Neo is a mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7400 chip which runs casual apps and the odd spot of gaming without much stutter. Motorola also promises up to five years of major Android upgrades too, making this a solid budget investment too. 

Finally, with support for 68W charging speed, and 15W wireless too, the Edge 60 Neo even surpasses the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for battery prowess too – for over half the cost.

The Poco X7 Pro delivers proper flagship-level performance that’s perfect for gaming without the associated price tag. That’s down to the use of the Dimensity 8400-Ultra, which sits just under MediaTek’s flagship 9000 series chips, complete with either 8- or 12GB of RAM.

Combined, the phone is slick and fast in daily use, and it can also handle demanding 3D games like CoD Mobile for extended periods with a large liquid cooling system under the hood. Gaming-specific software features allow access to common settings from within games to boost that experience further.

That’s paired with a bright, vivid 6.67-inch AMOLED display that’s more than large enough to game on, and the super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate helps things feel more responsive still. It’s also fairly high-res at 1.5K, and the screen is completely flat.

The phone’s gaming focus is completed by a massive 6000mAh battery that easily lasts a day, if not two days, depending on what you’re up to. Considering 30 minutes of gaming used just 5%, you’ll be able to game to your heart’s content. And, with 90W fast charge support, it’ll get a full recharge in under an hour.

There are weak points, of course; the dual 50MP main and 8MP ultrawide lenses are nothing to get excited about, and Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2 is both full of bloatware and about as far from stock Android as you can get. However, if you care about performance above all else, it’s the ideal cheap option.

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The CMF Phone 2 Pro is a follow-up to the Nothing sub-brand’s original CMF Phone, and it fixed most of our complaints about the original modular phone.

With a modular design, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is one of the more unique offerings in the budget smartphone market. Though you can no longer easily replace the back panel, the Accessory Point returns, allowing you to attach lanyards, kickstands and more.

You can also add new macro and fisheye lenses to the new triple camera setup, transforming the look and feel of your photos.

Modular design aside, the CMF Phone 2 Pro offers a surprisingly rounded experience.

The 6.67-inch AMOLED display has a 120Hz refresh rate and a boosted 3000 nits of peak brightness. Arguably more importantly, the screen can now display over a billion colours with 10-bit colour support, reducing banding and providing more accurate colours overall.

The single 50MP camera was arguably the weakest area of the original CMF Phone, but with a combination of 50MP main, 50MP 3x telephoto and 8MP ultrawide lenses, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is wholly more capable. Don’t expect flagship-level performance, but there is a notable jump.

Throw in a boosted Dimensity 7300 Pro processor, a 5000mAh battery with enough juice to last two days, and Nothing’s charming Nothing OS 3.2, and you’ve got a stand-out budget smartphone.

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At under £200, the Moto G86 is a fantastic choice for anyone who doesn’t want to splurge on a fancy phone, who needs a reliable second phone for work or who wants a decent Android for their child. 

In a world where most premium smartphones look pretty similar to one another, the Moto G86 boasts a more unique design, thanks to the woven texture at its rear. That’s paired with a chrome rim around the bezels which catches the light and helps the handset look more premium than its price tag would suggest. 

Perhaps most surprising about the Moto G86 is how brilliant its display is. The 6.67-inch pOLED panel sports a 120Hz refresh rate and a tight 89.2% screen-to-body ratio which means the bezels are nearly invisible and helps to maximise bright colours and dark blacks. Because of this, we found that streaming HDR content feels like using a much more expensive handset. 

Powering the Moto G86 is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip, which although certainly doesn’t achieve particularly high benchmarking scores, offers superb everyday performance. Sure, gamers will undoubtedly be better off with one of the best gaming phones, but for casual mobile games and social media scrolling, the Moto G86 does the job.

Flip the handset over and you’ll find its 50MP main and 8MP ultrawide lenses, alongside the depth sensor and flash. All in all, the camera is pretty decent and can manage confidently in good lighting conditions. 

Otherwise, the Moto G86 sports an average-sized 5200mAh battery which although isn’t particularly impressive, can still ensure the phone comfortably sees the day through.

At its core, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro is a great phone. Working in the phone’s favour is an excellent 6.67-inch OLED display. With Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, not to mention a peak brightness of 3000nits that makes the phone easy to use outdoors, it’s quite amazing that Xiaomi has managed to cram all of this screen tech in at the budget end of the market.

The main 200MP sensor is also nothing to be sniffed at, delivering wonderfully detailed shots in the daytime, and still managing to hold its own after the sun goes down. Because of that high megapixel count, you do have some leeway when it comes to cropping in, and zooming in up to 3x still delivers decent shots, but you won’t want to go any further than that.

One thing we genuinely didn’t expect was an official IP68 rating, given that the grading was previously held back for last year’s Pro Plus model, but it’s still great to see it trickle down here. This means that you can use the phone around the sink and you won’t have to worry if takes a tumble in with the soaking dishes.