If you’re thinking of purchasing a budget phone, you’ll be happy to know that there are great choices available. The thing is, there are so many options to choose from that you’d be overwhelmed. With a couple of things in mind, you’ll be able to pick a phone that doesn’t break the bank and still performs great. We ran through 7 of them below.
RAM
Budget phones have less RAM than their more expensive counterparts. You don’t have to be a tech enthusiast to know that this isn’t good. The more RAM it has, the more tasks it’ll be able to run. People think that a phone’s processor does this when it determines how fast each task would be. There used to be a time where budget devices came with 1 GB of RAM – apps running in the background would automatically close, and it would lag.
These days, cheaper handsets come with 2-3 GB. Xiaomi is especially a fan of doing this. You’ll see less mainstream names like Oppo and Vivo doing so too.
Storage Space
Along with RAM, storage space decides a phone’s memory. You can get devices up to 1 TB of space. This is impressive as you can store whatever you want inside. But cheaper devices don’t come with this luxury. You’ll usually see them with either 8 or 16 GB of capacity. We think you should avoid phones that offer anything below 16, it’s just enough for you to download and store files without having to delete things too often.
At the end of the day, 16 gigs may still not be enough for you. If this is the case, the handset you’re looking at should have a microSD card. It’d possibly expand its storage up to 256 gigs.
If you’re willing to splurge and go for a more mid-range handset, you’d easily be able to snag 32 GB. We think this is worth looking into.
Screen
Some budget phones come with 720-p screens. They would barely be sharp. You can easily find affordable phones with 1080 P displays, so don’t settle. The thing about 1080 P screens is that they’re really good. You need a trained eye to notice pixelation between them and more expensive counterparts.
Not only would your front be sharper, but they’d make things easier for your eyes. If you live in a tropical country, reading a 720 P phone in daylight is a task you don’t want to try.
This doesn’t have anything to do with quality, but oleophobic screens are great. They don’t collect oil, and fingerprints that much. A myriad of cheaper phones come with the feature.
Build
One of the ways budget units are as cheap as they are has to do with the build they come with. You’re going to be seeing a lot of plastic. Some cheaper ones rock aluminum frames, which is nice, but their rears will always be plastic.
The best, most affordable devices come with backs that dupe metal or glass – by being super glossy. Having a bit of weight would make them feel more expensive too.
There’s no way you’ll get Gorilla Glass on a budget device. You’ll have to look for one that comes with good quality strengthened glass. Just know that brands like Huawei include tempered glass with their products.
As premium builds can’t be placed due to price, manufacturers tend to make budget phones more eye-catching. They have sharp gradients and effects – some even are holographic. With one look at Xiaomi phones, you’ll notice this.
Battery
As they don’t have the most powerful processors or the sharpest screens, their batteries don’t get taxed. It’s not uncommon to see massive batteries in cheaper handsets. Many of them boast of 5000 mAh units that can last up to 3 days. Similar to RAM, the brands that aren’t the most mainstream tend to provide the largest batteries.
A major reason manufacturers place large units in cheaper phones is because they don’t have to worry about them looking slim – thin phones are associated with more premium devices that large batteries greatly prevent.
Moving on, make note of how long your phone takes to charge. Cheaper ones don’t come with fast charging. They usually take over 2 hours to go from 0-100%, so you’re best off checking reviews to see how long the handset you’re interested in will take.
Android
Just because it’s affordable doesn’t mean it should run an old version of Android– running Android 10 is not a luxury. Affordable devices released this year will likely run Android 10 or 9.
If you have your eyes set on a device released a few years ago, it probably won’t get the latest Android update. It’s not worth the manufacturer’s time issuing it.
If your phone doesn’t have the most RAM, it’ll likely run the GO version of the OS. It’s stripped down to help it handle it better – it’s seen in many Nokia phones.
Camera
When it comes to cameras, cheaper phones can be good. Some of them come with optical stabilization while others rock dual-camera set-ups. A good example of a budget phone with a dual set-up is the Moto X4. We’re huge fans of it.
The megapixel count doesn’t influence how great a camera is. However, going for anything below 12 MP probably won’t be good.
Final Thoughts
If you’re thinking of picking up an affordable phone, you’re making the right move. Gone are the days where cheaper devices resulted in horrible user experience. However, to make sure you get the best possible device, you have to keep a few things in mind. One of the most notable things is RAM. If it’s bad, you won’t be able to multitask – your device would lag too. Other than this, you have to make note of how sharp its screen is.
Manufacturers can’t build them as well as they want, so they tend to compensate with cool designs. They also add larger batteries as they don’t have to worry about the phones being slim.