Best cheap phone 2022: the best budget smartphones reviewed

The best cheap phones are the ones that give you the most bang for your buck. You want a phone that packs all of the features and benefits without breaking your bank account. It's a pretty tall order to get everything you want from a device, but it's not impossible. We've rounded up some of our favorite smartphones under $300 all with big screens, great cameras, and plenty of storage space for music and movies.

Moto G7 Power

The Moto G7 Power is a great bargain phone that packs an impressive amount of power for its price.

The G7 Power has a 6.2-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It runs Android 9 Pie out of the box, which is an upgrade from last year's Android 8 Oreo. You'll also get a Snapdragon 632 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage along with microSD expansion support up to 512GB (but you can only add 256GB).

In terms of camera performance, the phone has 12MP + 5MP dual rear cameras and an 8MP selfie camera for selfies or video calls over Instagram Live. The 4000mAh battery provides all day battery life so you can game away on PUBG Mobile without needing to worry about running out of juice before bedtime.

Google Pixel 3a

The Google Pixel 3a is the best phone for people who want a cheap phone and don't care about having the latest and greatest features. It has an excellent camera and screen, a headphone jack, good battery life and USB-C port.

The Pixel 3a starts at $399 (for the 32GB model) but can be knocked down to just $349 with some discounts. That's still not cheap by any means but it's quite reasonable considering what you're getting here: a great camera paired with Android Pie that works well as both your workhorse device or something you use casually when you're out and about or at home on the couch watching TV with friends.

Moto G7 Play

This is the best cheap phone for anyone who wants a reliable device that won’t break the bank. The Moto G7 Play has a great battery life and a decent camera, plus it's affordable, comes in multiple colors and has a headphone jack.

It's no slouch when it comes to performance either: the Snapdragon 632 processor runs the show here and ensures smooth sailing for all of your apps even demanding ones like Asphalt 9: Legends or PUBG Mobile.

Nokia 6.1

The Nokia 6.1 comes in at an affordable price of $230 and offers a solid set of hardware for the price. The phone has a 5.84-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display, with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage space available to hold your favorite apps and media.

The Snapdragon 636 processor is paired with Adreno 509 graphics, which should be enough power to handle most games and other apps without issue. The 16MP + 5MP rear cameras can take some decent pictures, but you'll want to bring along a selfie stick if you plan on taking group photos or videos because there's only an 8MP front camera on this device. In terms of battery life, the 3000mAh battery will keep your 6 hours longer than most smartphones these days.

LG K40

LG K40 is a budget phone and has a 5.7-inch screen with 720 x 1,280 pixels resolution. It has a 13 MP camera on the rear and an 8 MP camera on the front for selfies.

The LG K40 comes with 32 GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 256 GB using microSD card slot. The battery life of this phone is 2200 mAh so it will last for almost 1 day if you use your smartphone moderately without any heavy usage like gaming or watching videos on YouTube continuously for hours together.

The best cheap phones for every budget

At the end of the day, all we want is a phone that gets the job done without breaking the bank. In this article, I've highlighted some of my favorite phones from each price range.

• Best cheap phones under $250: Moto G6 and Honor 7X
• Best cheap phones under $500: Moto X4 and Honor View 10
• Best cheap phones under $1000: Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) or Huawei Mate 10 Pro

Conclusion

We hope that these options have helped you find the perfect cheap phone for your needs. We know how frustrating it can be to try and find one when you're on a budget, but hopefully this guide has at least given you some more ideas of what's out there.