The best cheap smartphones in Australia

Have you got a spare $2K in your smartphone-upgrade piggy bank? That’s how much it could cost you to own an iPhone 14 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. A ‘budget' or 'cheap' phone in comparison to that top-dollar smartphone tier can go quite high. Still, for us, we reach as far as $700 for the 2023 definition of a budget smartphone.

But $700 still ain’t cheap, which is why we also have options for less than our greenest cash note. That’s the bottom end of the budget scale, with $100 increments to better features. Regardless of how far your wallet can reach, you're certain to find something here to pair with one of Australia's best cheap mobile plans.

So, without further ado, here are our top picks for the best cheap smartphones in 2023.

The original Google Pixel 3a changed the game for budget-friendly smartphone shoppers. While the new Google Pixel 6a isn't quite as revelatory or influential, it's still pound-for-pound the best budget phone you'll find for the price.

The Google Pixel 6a sports a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate. The front of the device is punctuated by a teardrop-shaped 8MP front-facing camera, while the back is armed with a dual-lens camera that combines a 12.2MP wide angle lens with a 12MP ultrawide one. Powering it all is the same Google Tensor processor found in last year's flagship Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, complemented by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of on-board storage.

If you've got your heart set on an iPhone but don't want to spend the $1,200+ price tag that often comes with flagship models, the iPhone SE (2022) is a solid option. Don't let its iPhone 8-esque appearance fool you - on the inside, the SE has more in common with the much more recent iPhone 13.

It comes with a gorgeous 4.7-inch Retina HD full-screen display, a decent 64GB of internal storage, and a speedy processor. The camera offers decent results, even if it struggles with lowlight photography, and there’s baked-in software-support longevity thanks to its beefy innards.

Here's how much it'll set you back on a plan.

While last year's OPPO Find X3 Lite held onto our recommendation for the best cheap phone under $600 for a surprisingly long time, we've since retired it in favor of the newer OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G.

An asking price of $599 here gets you an Android smartphone with a slick AMOLED display, sharp looks, snappy processor and a standout multi-lens rear camera with a 64MP main sensor. Premium perks like wireless charging aren't included, but budget buyers will still find plenty to like about the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G.

Even if it's far from compact and loses some marks for iffy camera hardware, Motorola's Edge 20 Fusion packs in an enormous amount of bang for buck. The device makes the most of its larger form-factor, combining 5G connectivity, crisp 90Hz OLED display and all-day battery life to great effect.

If none of the above picks take your fancy, then this device might be worth a look. The Moto G62 5G comes with a 6.5-inch 1080p+ display and a surprisingly powerful rear camera, helping you to make the most of the faster 5G speeds supported by the device. It’s a entry-level devices go, it's a contender for the best 5G Android device around if you simply must have the fastest data speeds available, though it does come at a cost to battery life.

If you're in the market for a decent smartphone under $400, the Moto G62 5G should be a shoe-in for your shortlist.

The OPPO A54s plays to the brand's usual strengths, combining snappy hardware, smart software and a solid price-point. It's not going to reinvent the wheel, but it will certainly fit the bill for budget buyers.

Those who can afford to spend more will find that doing so is worth it, but those who cannot should be able to do more than just live with what the OPPO A54s delivers.

If you're unwilling to stretch past the $200 mark when it comes to buying your next smartphones, then this device is definitely one to consider. The Motorola Moto E7 Power packs in a surprising amount of features for a budget handset.

Although the Moto E7's 720p IPS display isn't much to look at, the 5000mAh battery powering the device ensures that it'll be visible for long time before you need to recharge. At $199, there are always going to be compromises. Thankfully, the Motorola Moto E7 does a decent job of making the right ones.

Smartphones under the $100 mark tend to be pretty dicey, so we'd recommend one of HMD Global's Nokia feature phones as a natural alternative.

The new Nokia 225 is a more than worthy headliner here. The device's physical buttons are great for first-time phone users, while the 2.4-inch polarised screen is both the right size and designed to be easy to read in sunlight.

Unlike the smartphones on this page, the Nokia 225 is close to a dumbphone. It can still use apps like Twitter and Facebook, but that's about it.

Other than that, there’s some light entertainment in the form of reimagined Snake, an FM radio, an MP3 player, and a 0.3MP camera for taking basic snaps. While this limited featureset can't compete with the latest iPhone, the battery life blows it out of the water at up to 19 hours of talk time.

Where the best phones in 2023 tend to operate around an expectation of minimal compromises, the same can't be said for sub-$700 devices.

At this and other budget-friendly pricepoints, consumers will rarely get everything they want. However, doing your research can be key to making sure that you choose a device with the right compromises.

Manufacturers of sub-$500 Android devices are typically less likely to invest in the research and development than they would be with more expensive smartphones due to the smaller margins involved. For that reason, budget smartphones often boil down to the specs and little else. 

The devil is in the details here. So when it came time to decide our picks for the best mobile phones under $700, we kept a few factors in mind. These included:

• Display quality and size: Resolution isn't the only thing that matters.
• 5G connectivity: Faster speeds are good, but long battery life is better.
• Build quality and design: Just because a phone is cheap doesn't mean it has to feel cheap.
• Software pedigree: Invariably, the more budget-friendly a smartphone is, the more bloatware is typically involved. We try to recommend devices that veer in the opposite direction.