Anyone suggest a decent budget smartphone?

[tlf67482]

Can anyone suggest a decent budget smartphone?

Ear piercing loud ringer
Great battery life
Decent reception/aerial
4G, VoLTE, WiFi Calling
All very light calls, SMS and Gmail usage
No bloatware

Model suggestions appreciated (very confusing with all similar model numbers with little difference across multiple manufacturers)?

What price in a sale should you be aiming for for this type of phone?

Thanks

[BullDog]

I have a previous version of this -

https://www.oneplus.com/uk/oneplus-nord-ce-3-lite-5g

Can't fault it. At all. Beats me why some folks think nothing of spending over a thousand pounds on a mobile phone.

[DrFfybes]

I have a previous version of this -

https://www.oneplus.com/uk/oneplus-nord-ce-3-lite-5g

Can't fault it. At all. Beats me why some folks think nothing of spending over a thousand pounds on a mobile phone.

Wow - over £200 on a phone?

You can get a nice last gen Samsung from CEX for that

[Dicky99]

If your needs are undemanding Motorola have a reputation for good budget offerings. I can't suggest a particular model because I currently have a Samsung on contract but my previous 2 phones were Motorola sim only phones and both were passed others when I changed. If my Samsung expires anytime soon I may well go back to Motorola.
Looking on Argos website there are a few options either side of £100.

https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/technolo ... :motorola/

[mutantpoodle]

i ws torn between motorola and a Samsung
but was advised that Samsung keep better updates..........(dont ask me, I make phone calls!!)

samsung A04s cost about £90
good battery life....usually about a week for me
am on O2 and signal everywhere..........so far!

[Gerry557]

You might be worth googling that. There are websites that do articles, Tech Radar for instance.

You might need to define what you mean as "budget" Half the price of the latest iphone? Under £200? etc

Ear piercing loud ringer - You should be able to select your own.
Great battery life - Non have that really but depending on lighter use you might get a couple or a few days
Decent reception/aerial - probably more to do with your service provider
4G, VoLTE, WiFi Calling - Check on GSM arena website, they do reviews too
All very light calls, SMS and Gmail usage
No bloatware - most have some and the closer to pure android the less they have. Iphone isnt what I call budget

You can buy cheaper from China but delivery time and warranty issues would be expected.

Would a nokia brick type phone work for you? long battery life and very budget

Honor for around £200 lesser bloat than some
Pixel 7a £400 not much bloat ok battery for smart might not be budget

[mc2fool]

I got myself a no-SIM Moto g31 from Argos for around £100 a couple of years back and I'd say it'd be a good fit for your specification, aside from it being a 2021 phone and so I'd expect you can get as good and better from a more recent Motorola in the same price bracket.

So, really this post is just to reinforce the earlier comment about Motorola having good budget offerings, IME at least.

One thing about WiFi calling though, it's not only up to the capability of the phone but also -- as I found out in googling why I couldn't enable WiFi calling on my Moto g31 despite the phone having the capability -- it's also up to whether the network provider supports it on that specific model.

In my case I'm with Lebara, which uses the Vodafone network, and while they support the g32 and a bunch of other Motos for WiFi calling they don't support the g31. https://deviceguides.vodafone.co.uk/motorola/?type=phone&topic=turn-wi-fi-calling-on-or-off

So, if WiFi calling is important to you check not only that the phone has the capability but also that your network supports it for that specific model.

[Infrasonic]

...So, if WiFi calling is important to you check not only that the phone has the capability but also that your network supports it for that specific model.

Likewise with things like eSIM, it's network and model dependent, even if the phone has eSIM capability - which can make roaming abroad a complete lottery.

If higher tier model capabilities are a requirement then buying a better phone as a 1-2 year old refurb can work out economically.

[XFool]

Would a nokia brick type phone work for you? long battery life and very budget

As a long term owner and user of a Nokia 1100 "brick" phone, this terminology (which has become normalised) really irritates me!

Originally, the term "brick phone" was sensibly applied to the Motorola analogue mobiles (That's not me!)

Which looked really nice but was comparable in size to a brick. This is definitely not the case now with the phones commonly referred to as "brick phones" (i.e. simple, original, non-smart phones and, presumably now, 'feature phones').

To illustrate: A week or so ago, with others in a pub, I whipped out my trusty Nokia 1100 and a women beside me exclaimed: "That's a very small one!"

The typical smart mobile phone is now actually larger than these kinds of old phones. Though many have yet to notice...

[Infrasonic]

... Beats me why some folks think nothing of spending over a thousand pounds on a mobile phone.

Having bought a new £1K phone for the first time in my life (admittedly because they threw in a £400 smartwatch for free) there are features that you just don't get with cheaper phones.

My Pixel 8 Pro has fingerprint and facial recognition biometrics. Having previously run into issues with washing my hands and being unable to access my banking apps for a while with fingerprint access, that addition of FR is a requirement for me.

Better WiFi ( latest v7 with an additional 6GHz band). As I use my 5G phones WiFi hotspots constantly then futureproofing with 6E or 7 (6GHz) in congested city centres is valuable to me to reduce latency issues.

7 year Android OS and apps support + hardware spares guaranteed for 7 years.

I had a screen freeze issue sorted out at the local iSmash store under Google warranty - turned around in one hour. Literally walked into the store and left the phone with them, went back an hour later.
I subsequently got them to do a heavily discounted battery swap on my old Pixel 3a (kept as a working spare). No 'geniuses' were required...

Quite a few less important (to me) features that are unique to the 8 Pro - overall I'm glad I bought it even though my inner scrooge was very resistant.

[Hallucigenia]

It used to be the Motorolas were way ahead of the budget pack, particularly the "power" models with the extra big battery pack. Having once been owned by Google (but now Lenovo although still based in Chicago) they run a relatively "stock" version of Android without too much bloatware - something that Samsung has a bad reputation for but I don't know how justified it is at present.

However, the other Chinese brands are catching up, so it's no longer quite the no-brainer it was. But you won't go too far wrong with a Motorola.

Just in response to some of the points raised - my ~2019 Motorola can do face recognition, but both the camera and Wifi performance are noticeably worse than the ~2022 model I had to get because whilst the 2019 one had a double SIM slot, it couldn't cope with modern US SIMs. But it's hard to find anything majorly wrong with the 2022 one.

[Howard]

A Motorola works fine for me. Good fingerprint recognition and easy to use.

regards

Howard

[ReformedCharacter]

Last year I bought a Samsung M13 from Amazon, now available for £148.96. It does wifi calling and has dual sims if needed. It's a well made item but is slightly on the large side. I can vouch for the fact that it works well as a hotspot since that is how I've been using it for the last few days since the parish council's contractor cut not only the hedges but the fibre optic cable as well

RC

[Sobraon]

A suggestion - My 3 Camels alert on the "Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G" says this has just dropped to £200 on Amazon (its unlocked). I have had an earlier version since 2019 and just considering upgrading to increase storage and screen visibility in the sun. Only thing missing is wireless charging (but it does support fast charging).

[Stompa]

I've had a Xiaomi Redmi 9 (bought new for ~£30!) for the last 3 years and it's worked just fine and does everything I could possibly need. It's certainly a brand I'd consider again, though sadly I'm rather unlikely to find quite such a cheap offering next time.

[kempiejon]

Nokia C02 I hear is good for security updates, batteries and is cheap, 2 SIMs, wifi calling, I have considered it when I have to retire me old Nokia

[Gerry557]

XFool

Didn't mean to upset you and happy to call it something other that a brick. I use the term emergency backup.

If your out and about cycling or sailing you might not have access to a charger or just run out of juice on the smart phone. It's nice to know that the, whatever you call it, will save your bacon.

Hope the OP has found some options to consider.

[UncleEbenezer]

If your needs are undemanding Motorola have a reputation for good budget offerings. I can't suggest a particular model because I currently have a Samsung on contract but my previous 2 phones were Motorola sim only phones and both were passed others when I changed. If my Samsung expires anytime soon I may well go back to Motorola.
Looking on Argos website there are a few options either side of £100.

https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/technolo ... :motorola/

I don't know if they still do it, but I vowed never to touch another Motorola when they crippled VOIP. Worked nicely on my first Moto G, so its replacement (in 2019) was a second (later) Moto G, where none of the VOIP apps work. Researching the subject, it turns out that by 2019, Android included VOIP as standard, and that Motorola had removed that as well as crippling the apps that had worked fine on the earlier phone.

[tlf67482]

Thanks everyone for suggestions. It is all still very confusing with "hundreds" of models to choose from and difficult to distinguish between!

A bit more information and clarification.

It will hardly be used so closer to £100 would be better. Half the problem is though you can spend £25 more and you may end up with something twice as good probably by design to get you to spend more!

The loud ringer is important I am not sure how changing the ringtone makes the speaker in the phone louder? Some of the reviews give the maximum decibels the speaker can emit. For example, I would rather have a phone with a decent speaker rather than a better camera.

The reception/aerial comment is along the similar lines - good hardware design of the aerial so if the signal is weak it has more chance to pick up the signal. I prefer this over a bigger screen screen for example.

[Infrasonic]

Ringtones do make a difference to perceived volume - I eventually settled on a fairly traditional landline phone ring tone which I can hear anywhere in my flat if I don't have the phones on me.

Conversely I want minimal audible intrusion from non urgent alerts so chose softer tones for those - if I'm on my laptop or desktop PC those alerts will come up as a silent on screen text alert in the bottom right corner anyway.