13 best inexpensive smartphones according to customer reviews

A good smartphone is not necessarily expensive. Many devices related to the average or even the budget price range are characterized by wide functionality and practicality.

Rating best cheap smartphones

nomination	a place	Name of product	price
Best affordable smartphones - screen less than 5 inches	1	BlackBerry Z10 STL100-2	7990 rub.
	2	Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016) SM-J120F / DS	5750 RUB.
The best low-cost smartphones - 5-inch screen	1	Xiaomi Redmi 4X 32GB	8300 RUB.
	2	Meizu M5 32GB	11900 RUB.
	3	LG K8 (2017) X240	8100 RUB.
	4	Huawei Honor 6C	9900 RUB.
The best inexpensive smartphones with a screen of 5.5 inches	1	LG X Power 2 (M320)	13700 RUB.
	2	Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X 4 / 64GB	10700 RUB.
	3	Meizu MX6 3 / 32GB	15700 RUB.
	4	Huawei Y6 II	10600 RUB.
Best budget big screen smartphones	1	Meizu M3 Max 64GB	13900 RUB.
	2	Sony Xperia T2 Ultra	10900 RUB.
	3	Lenovo Phab2	14100 RUB.

How to choose a good inexpensive smartphone - what to look for?

The main criteria when choosing a budget smartphone:

1. CPU. The "fresher" the chip, the better. And it is necessary to give preference to devices on Qualcomm Snapdragon or MediaTek Helio;

2. The amount of RAM. Again, the more - the better. For modern smartphones, the minimum “viable” volume is 1.5 GB. It is desirable, of course, more - 2 or even 3 GB;

3. The amount of permanent memory. The bigger, the better. The internal storage contains the operating system itself, applications, and even user data like photos or downloaded files. The minimum “viable” volume is 16 GB. If the smartphone has little internal memory (for example, 16 GB), it is desirable that it be equipped with a microSD card slot;

4. Battery capacity. The higher this parameter, the longer the smartphone will last. For example, a device with a 2000 mAh battery will have to be charged at least once a day, but a model with a 4000 mAh battery can “live” in mixed use mode for two days or even more.

5. These are the main criteria. But depending on the intended use, you can pay attention to other parameters, such as the number of slots for SIM-cards, the resolution of the rear or front camera, screen resolution, supported mobile communication standards, body material, etc.

Best affordable smartphones - screen less than 5 inches

BlackBerry Z10 STL100-2

Rating 4.7

Z10 is one of the rare inexpensive touchscreen smartphones from the Canadian company BlackBerry. The physical QWERTY-keyboard, which is usually installed in devices from this manufacturer, has been successfully replaced with a software one that is accurate, accurate, and quickly corrects most typos and errors.

In addition, it runs on the proprietary BlackBerry OS operating system with its own app store. Programs written for Android may not run on it, although limited compatibility is indicated. But the BlackBerry OS is a protected mobile operating system (it’s not for nothing that even the presidents of the United States recommended using smartphones from this manufacturer).

The BlackBerry Z10 is primarily a business smartphone. It works well with e-mail, copes with SMS and calls. Protected. But the games and social networks on it work with grief in half.

In addition, it has a very durable case that easily survives falls, drowning, deformation and so on.

The technical characteristics here, however, everything is pretty average. Qualcomm MSM8960 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 8 megapixel main camera and 1600 mAh battery, which is still enough for two days of mixed use due to the fact that non-Android is installed on the smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016) SM-J120F / DS

Rating 4.7

Samsung, besides the top line S and the middle class A, also has an ultrabudgetary series - J. And the J1 is the most inexpensive smartphone out of it.

Samsung Galaxy J1 is cheap and nothing special. This is quite a nice smartphone with a 4.5-inch display "like the old iPhone"; Samsung's Exynos 3475 quad-core processor, which has enough power for everyday applications like social networks, but obviously not enough for top games or editors like Snapseed; 1 GB of RAM and a removable 2050 mAh battery.

In fact, this is a smartphone for very undemanding users. Its capacity will be enough for calls, messages, communication in instant messengers and social networks. But it is easy to use and inexpensive, which makes it a good solution for elderly relatives or young children.

The best low-cost smartphones - 5-inch screen

Xiaomi Redmi 4X 32GB Smartphone

Rating 4.8

Redmi 4X is one of the most popular inexpensive smartphones from the Chinese company Xiaomi. Despite the low price, it offers very good specifications - a smart Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 13 MP camera and a fingerprint scanner. But the main advantage of a smartphone is, of course, the battery. Its capacity is 4100 mAh, which is enough for 2 days of mixed use with a mobile Internet connection, for example.

Like the rest of the Xiaomi smartphones, it runs under the operating system MIUI, which is a heavily reworked version of Android. Therefore, the user experience at first may seem unusual.

The disadvantage of the smartphone is only one - low screen strength. Therefore, in addition, you should definitely buy a bumper or a special protective glass. However, they are inexpensive.

Meizu M5 32GB

Rating 4.7

Meizu M5 is an inexpensive smartphone with an attractive design, a beautiful, rich screen, a good camera and a fairly high performance. One of its most important strengths is that it literally attracts attention. It seems to be quite standard, but still very interesting.

Another interesting feature of the smartphone is a proprietary operating system Flyme OS based on Android. Here everything is tied to gesture control. The button is only one - when tapped, it works like “Back”, when clicked like “Home”. To switch between applications, use the swipe from the edge of the screen. This may seem unusual, but checking becomes very convenient. In addition, the entire screen is involved - and this is an important advantage in comparison with devices with virtual navigation keys.

With the specifications here as well, everything is in order. A smart and energy-efficient MediaTek MT6750 processor (Helio series), 3 GB of RAM, and a 3070 mAh battery are used.The main camera is a 13-megapixel f / 2.2 aperture (with good lighting, beautiful pictures are obtained).

But the main advantage of the smartphone is the screen. Clear, beautiful, rich. However, this is typical of all new Meizu machines.

LG K8 (2017) X240

Rating: 4.6

Inexpensive, but very good smartphone from the Korean company LG. K8 (2017) X240 is equipped with an energy-efficient (albeit not too nimble) MediaTek MT6737 processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, a 13 MP camera and a 2500 mAh battery, which provides up to 10 hours of mixed use.

This smartphone has two advantages over the others. First, an excellent front camera, which is well suited for selfies. In addition to photographic qualities, a virtual front flash turns on when shooting - the screen lights up with bright white light. It allows you to get beautiful selfies even in the dark.

The second advantage is the screen. Despite the fact that it is made using the IPS technology, as well as almost all the matrixes in smartphones of the middle and budget price segments, it provides a deep and realistic black color. And the small convexity of the display (the so-called 2.5D technology) makes it visually appealing - and the smartphone itself is very pleasant to the touch.

The smartphone uses a proprietary shell LG Emotion UI with pastel shades of the interface. It is very easy to use, almost all settings are located in intuitive places.

Huawei Honor 6C

Rating: 4.5

Honor 6C is both an inexpensive and productive smartphone from Huawei. For the speed of the device "answer" smart processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 and immediately 3 GB of RAM. Thanks to this, the smartphone copes with demanding tasks and quickly switches between applications. In addition, it is equipped with a 13-megapixel main camera, a 3020 mAh battery, which lasts 2 days of mixed use, and a fingerprint scanner.

Among other things, the Huawei Honor 6C is made in a metal case with a matte soft-touch color for a comfortable and reliable grip; and complemented by 2.5D-display, which looks beautiful, and it feels nice.

The screen, albeit not very high resolution for such a diagonal HD (720 × 1280 pixels), has a good color reproduction and a wide range of brightness.

The best inexpensive smartphones with a screen of 5.5 inches

LG X Power 2 (M320)

Rating: 4.8

The word "Power" is included in the name of this smartphone is not in vain. It is equipped with a 4500 mAh battery, which is enough for several days of mixed use. At the same time, the processor installed in the smartphone is economical - this is MediaTek MT6750. The chip is supplemented with 2 GB of RAM, so the delays when switching between applications are minimal.

Another advantage of the smartphone - LED front flash. Selfies on the front 5-megapixel camera are of high quality, even in low light. The resolution of the rear camera is 13 MP and it is also complemented by a flash.

The smartphone supports the technology of fast charging Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 (even despite the installed MediaTek processor), so half an hour "at the outlet" is enough for several hours of active use of the device.

Smartphone firmware is also optimized for maximum autonomy.Therefore, LG X Power 2 (M320) is able to live longer than analogs without charging.

And the “cherry on the cake” is a separate slot for MicroSD memory cards - and not combined with a slot for a second SIM card, like most modern smartphones.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X 4 / 64GB

Rating: 4.7

Another inexpensive representative Xiaomi, which combines the advantages of the best models of the Redmi line (good performance, low price) with a screen diagonal of 5.5 inches and a resolution of Full HD 1080 × 1920 pixels. For the speed of the answer 10-core processor MediaTek Helio X20 and immediately 4 GB of RAM. The internal storage of 64 GB, which is enough to store 50-60 hours of video footage in the maximum resolution. By the way, the resolution of the rear camera is 13 MP.

Like other smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi Note 4X is running the proprietary operating system MIUI. It will require a habit, however functional and practical.

Meizu MX6 3 / 32GB

Rating: 4.6

This smartphone is worth taking just for the sake of the screen. Like other devices Meizu, it is equipped with a matrix with high color saturation, but with natural shades and good brightness. At the same time, the screen diagonal is 5.5 inches, and the resolution is Full HD, which creates a beautiful and visually pleasing “picture”.

Other technical specifications include a 10-core MediaTek Helio X20 processor, which is complemented by 3 GB of RAM; 32 GB on the internal drive; 3060 mAh battery; 12 megapixel main camera; fingerprint scanner and metal case.

In addition, it has an attractive design and simply high usability.

Huawei Y6 II

Rating: 4.6

An inexpensive 5.5-inch smartphone from the company Huawei. It features optimal performance - it is equipped with a proprietary HiSilicon Kirin 620 processor with 8 cores and a clock frequency of 1200 MHz, which is complemented by 2 GB of RAM. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. And, thanks to the relatively small screen resolution of 720 × 1280 pixels (HD), it provides up to 2 days of battery life. The main camera is 13 megapixel. Internal storage capacity - 16 GB.

The main advantage of the smartphone is a very attractive design. Especially for the ultra budget price segment. Despite the fact that the appearance of the smartphone can be called "restrained", the curvature of the front and back sides make it very attractive.

Ranking of the best budget smartphones with a large screen

Meizu M3 Max 64GB

Rating: 4.8

A budget 6-inch phablet with very good performance and a good (same Meizu!) Screen. Responsible for the speed of the processor MediaTek Helio P10 with 8 cores, which is complemented by 3 GB of RAM.

In addition, the phablet has a 4160 mAh battery, which will last for a couple of days of battery life in mixed use mode; 13 megapixel main camera; fingerprint scanner - and all this in a metal case. The amount of internal storage - 64 GB.

Phablet is equipped with 2.5D-glass, so it looks beautiful.The front camera quality, suitable for selfie. The main one also shoots well, because it is based on the Sony IMX258 high-performance sensor.

Sony Xperia T2 Ultra

Rating: 4.7

Ultra budget phablet with 6-inch HD-screen. Performance may seem rather low due to the old Qualcomm MSM8928 processor and 1 GB of RAM, but this is more than offset by the low price of the smartphone. In addition, the amount of internal storage is also small - it is only 8 GB. However, there is a slot for memory cards that are supported by MicroSD with a capacity of up to 32 GB inclusive.

The smartphone is equipped with a 3000 mAh battery, which - thanks to the low-resolution screen and not very productive processor - lasts for 2-3 days of autonomous use.

The smartphone uses a proprietary XPERIA shell for the Android operating system, which is easy to navigate. Therefore, it is also suitable for children or the elderly.

Lenovo Phab2

Rating: 4.6

This inexpensive phablet was designed to watch videos and movies. The huge 6.4-inch HD-screen, Dolby Surround surround sound and support for augmented reality technology turn it into a portable multimedia center. In addition, the device is also very productive for its price segment - the MediaTek MT8735 processor has a clock frequency of 1.3 GHz and is complemented by 3 GB of RAM to quickly switch between applications in multitasking mode.

In addition, this phablet is just a pleasure to shoot a video. Three microphones record surround sound using Dolby Audio Capture 5.1 technology with a clearly visible stage. The camera has a physical resolution of 13.1 megapixels, and the maximum resolution of the recorded video is Full HD.

"Cherry on the cake" - a 4050 mAh battery, which lasts for a couple of days of use in mixed mode.

What budget smartphone to buy

1. If you want the most cheap smartphone, but which at the same time will not slow down and freeze when switching between applications, then you should pay attention to the products from Xiaomi. Meizu is not as productive, but more beautiful. In the budget segment, Huawei smartphones are also interesting - they use a less deeply modified operating system than the previous manufacturers.

2. BlackBerry Z10 - an unusual smartphone, which is characterized by maximum security, albeit to the detriment of functionality. Models from LG provide the greatest autonomy and are very easy to use.

3. Other devices have some unique features. For example, Samsung Galaxy J1 is very simple, Sony Xperia T2 is equipped with an extreme power saving mode, and Lenovo Phab2 has Dolby surround sound technology and augmented reality (AR) support.

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Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.