for under 200 quid in 2023 you can snuffle yourself a variety of fantastic budget smartphones from Motorola, Nokia, Oppo, xiaomi, Poco, all kinds of Manufacturers Boston whopping grid HD screens 5G support proper game and Grunt and ridiculous battery life plus features you won’t even find on those super premium crazy expensive blowers like a bit of micro SD memory card support and some hot headphone jack action now I’ve personally tested and reviewed bugger loads of budget blowers that won’t skin you and here’s my pick of the very best ones that will cost you under 200 pounds here in the UK so if you’re on a tight budget no worries.
Motorola Moto G53
Is certainly one of the most prolific manufacturers when it comes to budget smartphones with several handsets costing under the 200 pound price points here in blighty and many of them do have very similar designs and specs as well so they do seem to be almost clones of one another until you dive into to the surface dig a little bit deeper one of its latest launches is this here Motorola mortal g53 like other Mortals at this price this serves up a simple stock version of Android in this case fresh and tasty Android 13. although you do get a selection of excellent Motorola extras packed on there like the Banas choppy torch effort it’s great that you do get that latest version of Android but Motorola isn’t exactly known for its super Speedy timely updates and it doesn’t tend to support its budget handsets as long as someone like Nokia for instance the swallow g53 will probably get an Android 14 update at some point I wouldn’t expect any more beyond that still this 6.5 inch handset handles everyday life just fine with its Snapdragon 480 plus chipset while games that onto demanding such as Call of Duty mobile play with a pleasingly fluid frame rate battery life is absolutely cracking courtesy of the 5 000 milliamp hour capacity cell and also that energy efficient chipset well connectivity is also top-notch with full 5 5G support the Moto g53 spots a simple 50 meg camera which is fine for your basic family picks as long as there’s not much movement involved and as is often the case at this sort of budget price point that is backed by a basic macro camera shooter which is pretty much pointless sadly the display is a basic HD Plus LCD panel although it’s fine for a bit of YouTube or Netflix streaming on the Fly while the refresh for it hits 120 hertz on supported apps and you’ve also got stereo speakers and a headphone jack hazar and yes you do have full memory card support as well so you can boost the onboard storage an alternative option to the g53 especially.
Motorola Moto G23
if you see it on a discount is the Moto G23 which launched at the same time and like the g53 they’re sure in anything special as far as looks go it’s another Splash resistant plastic blower although there is a choice of three colors which is nice you once again have the latest freshest Android 13 right out of the box but unfortunately you don’t get all of those bonus mortal extras such as for instance the gaming mode the Moto g23s 6.5 inch IPS screen is unfortunately once again a 720p res effort so not exactly supremely crisp but those visuals are reasonably Punchy and the panel maxes out at 90hz refresh while those visuals are once again backed by a pretty decent stereo speaker setup and yes you got that headphone jack mediatek’s Helio g85 chipset can handle games like Call of Duty mobile although there’s no support for higher graphic settings and this mobile is definitely built more for simple everyday stuff like messaging and endless Doom scrolling and sadly no there’s bugger all 5G support here for that you will need to upgrade to the g53 still the 5000 milliamp hour battery will again keep you going all day long no worries even with bugger loads of screen on time and the camera Tech is actually pretty decent even in low light scenarios as long as your subject can remain reasonably still now at 50 meg primary sensor captures impressive detail and accurate colors in low light although the video mode does top off at full HD resolution and you get all the other features you would hope for even at this sort of budget price the likes of NSC for your contactless payments and a bit of my crusty memory card support to expand that storage now another smartphone manufacturer who offers a similar straightly stock Android experience.
Nokia G22
This sort of budget price point is Nokia except this time with the added benefit of timely and reliable OS and security updates and one of its latest the Nokia G22 is a decent package that’s designed to last you years this 6.5 inch blower looks a wee bit slicker than the Motorola’s with its smart matte design although once again it’s got a plaque back and that Moody blue model is rather fetching in an emo style I’m gonna murder my parents in their sleep kind of way when I reviewed it the Nokia G22 was still sadly languishing on Android 12 but it is guaranteed an update to Android 13 and then Android 14 beyond that with three years of security updates for an extra bit of peace of mind and if you do bust the screen or the battery goes all screwy then the good news is you can actually replace these components yourself even with bugger all skills or knowledge as I proved myself right here in this unboxing video with only moderate cursing and blood Latin however it’s certainly not recommended if your hands aren’t steady and your eyes are a bit crap you’ve got NFC support here in the UK and a dual SIM setup plus a separate micro SD slot to expand the storage meanwhile that IPS screen is a mere 720p panel but it is fine again for streaming YouTube browsing the internet or whatever power and proceedings is the unisoc T6 or 6 chipset same as the previous gen and once again this is fine for everyday stuff but I wouldn’t recommend gaming on it beyond the occasional Johns on Call of Duty in fact I’d really like to see Nokia implement this DIY fix it up yourself ethos into a more Flagship premium device because it’s really the performance that’s going to be the limiting factor here still the 5000 milliamp hour battery is practically impossible to drain in a single day and it should keep most people going a couple of days between charges and last up the Nokia g22’s 50 megapixel rear shooter is absolutely fine for your everyday picks although that Focus does struggle to latch on its subjects in a timely fashion and moving subjects pretty much always pose a problem.
Nokia G11
Even cheaper is the Nokia G11 which also serves up seemingly never ending battery life and I actually found it less frustrating for gaming than the g21 it’s a solid one for media stream and two although once again that camera.
Nokia G55
The Nokia G50 which upgrades the connectivity to a tasty but a 5G for proper future proofing this 5G support comes courtesy of qualcomm’s Snapdragon 480 chipset not the fastest platform around so the performance can feel a little bit sluggish at times kind of like the Nokia G50 just walk from a horrific bender on the blue wickeds but it can still handle everyday Shenanigans like messenger in web browser media stream and stuff like that no worries and to be fair even a light bit of gaming is fine with online murder Thorns like Call of Duty mobile and pubg playing with a respectable enough frame rate that epic sized 6.8 inch screen is an IPS panel that offers you a clear view of the action despite the basic HD resolution while the 5000 milliamp hour battery means all day streaming no worries NFC for your contactless payments check you got a headphone jack you’ve got micro SD support for expanding that storage all present and all doing their job very nicely and then once again there’s that lovely stock version of Android with years of guaranteed OS and security updates and I wasn’t expecting too much admittedly from the 48 Meg main camera sensor but it’s not bad at all for family picks as long as that lighting isn’t too dim you can also shoot all kirish looking full HD video and snap your mug with the 8 megapixel selfie camera.
Poco M5
Under 200 gbps you can also snuffle yourself a Poco M5 which will suit most users down to the ground that camera sensor is yet another 50 meg more for shock horror and while low light shots often come out Grinny as hell the night mode does do something to temper this and my test photo shot in kinda light looks pretty good with plenty of detail packed in as well as nice poppy colors the Poco m5’s 6.58 inch IPS screen is a full HD Plus 90 Hertz effort which holds its own during any downtime when you want to slump on the sofa with some Netflix or Disney Plus or whatever and there’s even a headphone jack to get plugged in mediatek’s Helio g99 chipset can cope with some light gaming on the side while the 5000 milliamp hour capacity battery meant it wasn’t scrambling around desperately looking for a power cable in the early evenings a full charge in the morning we’ll see you through to bedtime no worries you got micro SD memory card supporter and all the other features you would expect and overall I’ve got no qualms at all recommending the Poco M5 of course not everyone is guaranteed to get on with the eversource slightly quirky MIUI launcher which sits on top of Android and xiaomi and Poco tend to be not quite as reliable as the likes of Nokia when it comes to those OS and security updates as long as that’s not a deal breaker where you’ll struggle to find better Hardware at this sort of price point.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 (& Pro)
xiaomi is yet another manufacturer offering a decent range of smartphones with respectable specs of this sort of budget price point one of the best ones you can get right now in 2022 is this here redmi note 11. this 6.43 inch smartphone sticks with the same MIUI experience as the Poco phones and likewise delivers some decent hardware for not much cash the Snapdragon 680 SRC is once again on board and can handle light gaming without exploding while the 5000mah battery won’t run dry unless you’re seriously punishing this thing with 33 watt fast charging on top you got up to 128 gigs of storage crammed in here expandable via micro SD like most of its budget-friendly arrivals and also that camera Tech may be rather basic but it’s actually pretty decent for your everyday snaps yes the 50 meg primary camera sensor does struggle in less than an ideal lighting but otherwise it’s good for your everyday shareable shots you’ve also got a Punchy AMOLED display which hits 90 Hertz refresh and pumps out Punchy visuals with a crisp full HD Plus resolution and while the stereo speaker Arrangement isn’t exactly mind blown but this low price is a solid bit of Kit and also bear in mind that the xiaomi redmi note 11 pro model occasionally dips down to around the 200 pound price point in the various sales on xiaomi’s website and with that sort of asking price it’s a bargain because you’ve got better performance courtesy of the Snapdragon 695 chipset the display refresh rate is boosted to 120 hertz and you’ve got a few other upgrades here and there as well so definitely keep an eye on that website and hopefully bag yourself a bargain and before I bugger right off I’d like to throw a little bit of love at real me as well who is offering a grand selection of decent budget-friendly handsets.
Realme 8 5G ,Realme C31 & C35
Under 200 pounds including the likes of the realme 85g this once again boasts 5G support as the name heavily suggests and while it’s not as fully featured as the Nifty realme 8 Pro the mediatek demand density 700 chipset makes for respectable performance you got a 90 Hertz IPS screen which is slick and sharp and the long lasting battery life means zero stress when you’re out and about and also consider the realme c31 and c35 which cost under 150 quid there’s only 20 pounds between them but I was more impressed with the c35 which bosts a better screen more storage faster charging and quite a few other improvements I thought the camera has the nasty habit of saturating any shots that you take outdoors and that right there my lovelies.