Looking for a new mobile but want value for money? These smartphones offer a lot of bang for your buck.
While handsets like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, iPhone 11 and the Google Pixel 4 are stealing attention around the globe, there’s a lot of intriguing (and cheap) stuff going on in the world of budget phones.
Sadly smartphone innovation isn’t cheap – and most of it is reserved for high-end contract handsets. There is however such a thing as a good cheap smartphone, and ever so gently all those amazing features from the flagship devices are slowly trickling down to the budget phones.
That’s why we have sorted through hundreds of inexpensive smartphones in order to rank the best options that you can buy unlocked without monthly fees and, importantly, without a two-year contract.
No, these aren’t the best smartphones available in Australia, so you won’t find the newly-announced Galaxy S20 Ultra among them. However, it is a selection of our favourite budget and mid-range smartphones. If you’re looking to pick up a decent handset for not much cash, these are the top cheap phones your money can buy – even on a budget.
Weight: 183g| Dimensions: 158.7 x 75.2 x 8.6mm| OS: Android 9.0 (update to Android 10)| Screen size: 5.4-inch| Resolution: 1080 x 2340| CPU: Snapdragon 712 (10 nm)| RAM: 8GB| Storage: 128GB| Battery: 4,000mAh| Rear camera: 64MP + 8MP + 8MP + 2MP| Front camera: 16MP
UPDATE: The Realme 6 has been added to our list of the best cheap phones in Australia – read on to find out more about it and where it placed on our list!
With its surprise arrival in Australia last year, Realme shook up the local budget smartphone scene by offering high quality handsets at prices that seemed too good to be true. Though it originated as a subsidiary of Chinese phone-maker Oppo, the company has since gone (mostly) independent, managing to garner a reputation for exceptional value in little-to-no time.
Realme XT is currently the company’s flagship phone in Australia, and it’s so good that it may cause you to completely rethink the importance of premium handsets. For less than AU$500, the Realme XT offers a Super AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a decent Snapdragon 710 chipset and a quad-camera on its rear that boasts a 64MP main sensor.
Add to this a pair of gorgeous colour-shifting gradient finishes, a large 4,000mAh battery with fast charging capability, the option to update to Android 10 and the inclusion of a headphone jack, and it’s hard to fault the Realme XT. Granted, ColorOS is far from our favourite smartphone interface, and some water resistance would’ve been nice, but at this price point the Realme XT is very easy to recommend.
See the best Realme XT outright deals here
Weight: 166g| Dimensions: 158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7mm| CPU: Exynos 9610 (10nm)| RAM: 4GB RAM| Storage: 64GB (microSD)| Battery: 4,000mAh| Rear camera: 25MP + 8MP + 5MP| Front camera: 25MP
Bringing Samsung’s penchant for beautiful design to the budget phone arena, the Galaxy A50 definitely has a premium look and feel despite its AU$499 RRP. Offering a gorgeous 6.4-inch AMOLED display, the Galaxy A50 immediately appears impressive upon first sight.
Running Samsung’s updated One UI interface over the Android 9 OS, the Galaxy A50 admittedly feels a little sluggish in comparison to the company’s flagship handsets, which we suppose is expected given that it’s powered by a mid-range Exynos 9610 (10nm) chipset.
Still, we love that this budget phone can boast a triple camera setup that includes a fantastic ultra-wide lens, though admittedly you do have to put a little work into getting good shots with it.
