The 10 Best Budget Phones in 2026

Key Points:

• The best budget smartphones are commonly available between £100 and £400 from reputable brands such as Samsung, Motorola, Google, and Nothing.
• It's entirely possible to get a 5G-enabled smartphone for under the £100 mark that features a good battery life and camera system, with the caveats usually pertaining to horsepower and build quality.
• Some ultra-cheap smartphones, like the Xiamo Redmi A5 and Motorola Moto G06, are available with all the functionality you need out of a modern phone in 2026, albeit without 5G.

It's not all about the latest flagship handsets or even the mid-range market when it comes to getting the most out of your Talkmobile SIM Only plan. Sometimes, less is more. A straightforward approach that fully lends into giving you a solid experience backed by a respectable battery life, a decent screen, and enough processing power for your everyday. We're going through the 10 best budget phones on the market and what you can expect from them in 2026.

We've made our choices for the best budget phones based on a combination of factors, chiefly, value for money, longevity, and what they provide as a day-to-day driver. After all, not everyone has over a thousand pounds to spend on a flagship, and with these handsets, you won't have to.

There's a lot to love with the Samsung Galaxy A26, which has proven itself to be something of a wallet-friendly champion in the year or so since its launch. Available new for £339 (but frequently on-sale unlocked for just £289), you're getting a ton of value for your money here. It features a huge 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, a staggering triple camera setup (50MP / 8MP / 2MP) with a respectable 13 MP front camera, Galaxy AI functionality, and a healthy all-day battery life, thanks to its 5,000 mAh cell inside. All told, there's little more you could want at the budget end of the scale.

One of the greatest comeback stories in all of hardware, Motorola has been serving the entry-level and mid-range market for years now, and the G56 5G is a testament to that fact. You can pick up the 256GB varaitn of this durable, premium-feeling smartphone for only £160 brand-new and unlocked from trusted retailers. It has a 6.7-inch Full HD display, a staggering rear-camera setup, 8GB RAM, and is powered by a surprising nippy MediaTek 7060 processor. This is such a great value all for well under the £200 mark, proving you can have a big phone without an equally large price tag to boot.

It's a little older than some other smartphones on our list, but the Nothing Phone (2a) remains a bulletproof performer in 2026. This handset delivers a no-frills, but no compromise, as-stock Android experience, with a unique, premium design, 45W fast-charging battery, sleek Nothing OS 2.5, and a vivid 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz as standard. The camera system is particularly strong here as well (50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, and a 32MP front camera) all for the low price of just £233 in new condition for the 128GB variant, backed with 8GB RAM.

Sometimes with Android, it's best to go straight to the source. Google has been leading the charge with its own phones for years and the Pixel 9 continues to be a crowdpleaser. You can pick this model up in 128GB capacity for £399, giving you a 6.3-inch Full HD OLED display, Android 14 as standard, Google Gemini insider, and the power of a Tensor G4 processor, outclassing many mobile APUs of a similar SKU. What's more, it has a powerful dual-camera system (50 MP / 48 MP) with a respectable 10.5 MP front shooter, too.

There's nothing wrong with all the bells and whistles, but what about a stripped-back, user-first experience? That's the promise of Nothing's CMF Phone 1, with its Super AMOLED 6.7-inch display, powerful 50MP Sony lens-backed rear camera setup, and respectable 5,000 mAh battery inside all for the £160 mark in new condition. Depending on the retailer, you may even find it cheaper, too. It's ideal for anyone who wants powerful performance without spending over £200.

5G capability for under £100? Yes, that's right. Available for only £99.99, the G35 doesn't skimp on the features even if the quality is a little on the cheaper side. Given the sticker price, this is a more than understandable trade-off, all things considered. You're getting a 6.7-inch 1080p display, 5G functionality, a decent dual-camera system, and even the ability to record 4K video, which is a feature not often seen in mobile phones at this price point. For the asking price, you can't really do much better than this.

It may lack the name brand recognition of Google, Motorola, Samsung, and Nothing, but the Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 more than punches above its weight. Available new for between £150-180, this 6.7-inch smartphone features a massive 6,000 mAH battery and an incredible 108MP "Super Clear" rear camera, all powered by the MediaTek Helio G100-Ultra processor. It's also one of the fastest charging handsets on the market for its price, able to juice up to 50% in only 25 minutes, and can even function as a power bank, too.

Who doesn't love gaming on the go? That's the ethos of the performance-focused POCO X7 Pro. It's available for just £239 in new condition with a 256GB storage capacity and 8GB RAM. At the heart of the experience is the super powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultra processor, powering the 1.5K 120Hz AMOLED display. Fast-charging gets even better here, with the huge 6,000 MaH battery, but also 90W HyperCharge tech, going from flat to 100% in around 45 minutes.

How cheap can name-brand budget smartphones really get in 2026? Ask the Motorola Moto G06 which retails currently for only £89 brand new. You get 64GB of onboard storage, a 6.8-inch HD display backed with a 50MP dual-camera system, Google Gemini inside, and a respectable MediaTek Helop G81 processor at the heart. There is a caveat; however, and that's the fact that you won't have 5G support here, just 4G as standard, so if hyper connectivity is important to you then you may want to consider the similarly priced Motorola G35 instead.

It won't blow you away with its performance power, but the Xiamo Redmi A5 is a budget champion given the fact it's available for only £69-79 brand new, depending on retailer. YOu're getting a 6.5-inch HD screen, a 5,000 mAh battery, dual-SIM capability, and 64GB of internal storage here. It's not the fastest phone, with just 3GB of RAM as standard, but given the asking price, this handset is more than enough for calls, texts, web browsing and video playback, and it really doesn't break the bank either.