Best Budget Android Phones 2021

Having a smartphone is basically expected these days but not everyone wants to or can shell out for the flagship models. Thankfully there are plenty of budget options to choose from, some of which offer a number of premium features.

Choosing a single phone from the huge array of budget Android phones can be difficult so we’ve drawn up our list of the best budget Android phones in 2021, to help make your search a little easier.

The Samsung Galaxy A52 is the peak of its second-tier A line-up, it comes with a 1080×2400 6.5-inch screen that has a 120Hz refresh rate. It features four rear cameras and a 32MP selfie camera. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 750G processor and has a 4500mAh battery.

The A52 5G comes with up to 256GB of storage and Android 11. One of the cost-saving measures is the lack of a wireless charging option. The cameras are generally good quality, but the colours tend to default towards being washed out, so you may want to adjust the saturation settings.

The Google Pixel 4a is a somewhat basic phone that lacks a number of features that many users will take for granted and expect, such as wireless charging, but if you can look past those it’s a decent phone. Google’s implementation of Android is generally lightweight and easy to use, with this phone using the latest version, Android 11. The 5.81-inch screen has a resolution of 1080×2341 and can reach 680 nits in brightness. The phone itself is powered by a Snapdragon 730G processor.

The phone only comes with 128GB of storage and does not feature a microSD card slot. The 3140mAh battery supports fast charging at 18W. The cameras are somewhat underwhelming with a single 12.2MP wide-angle rear camera and a single 8MP selfie camera that both tend to wash out the colours a little. There is a 5G model, but that is a fair bit more expensive as it includes more features and has a bigger screen.

The 2021 model of the Motorola Moto G Power features a low-resolution 6.6-inch screen of just 720×1600 pixels that lacks “always on” capabilities because it’s an LCD screen. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 662 processor and comes with 32 or 64GB of expandable storage. The battery is the main selling point, as you might be able to guess from the name; it’s 5000mAh and is intended to allow multiple days between charges on normal usage.

The 15W fast charging is decent but not particularly fast, especially with such a large battery. Wireless charging is notably missing from the phone. While the main camera has a great 48MP resolution, the macro camera and depth sensor only have a 2MP resolution each, and the selfie cam has an 8MP resolution.

The Motorola One 5G Ace is an upgraded version of the Moto G Power above. It features a 1080×2400 6.7-inch screen that unfortunately still lacks always-on functionality because it is an LCD panel. The phone’s available with up to 128GB of storage and can be expanded with microSD cards of up to 1TB. The large 5000mAh battery offers multiple days of normal usage between charges, although it’s still limited to 15W fast charging and doesn’t support wireless charging.

The Snapdragon 750G processor is pretty powerful, enabling a more responsive user experience better performance in games. 5G support is included for fast mobile connections where networks support it. The main 48MP camera is backed up by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro camera as well as a 16MP selfie cam. While some people may prefer the rear fingerprint reader, it does mean that you can’t unlock the device while it’s on a surface.

The Samsung A51 is an older and cheaper version of the A52 at the top of this list. It features a 6.5-inch AMOLED screen with a 1080×2400 resolution and an in-screen fingerprint reader. It comes in capacities up to 256GB and offers a dedicated microSD slot. The phone is powered by an Exynos 9611 processor, runs Android 10 and has a 4000mAh battery with 15W fast charging capability.

The A51 comes with a quad rear camera featuring a 48MP wide-angle camera, a 12MP ultrawide, a 5MP macro, and a 5MP depth sensor, while the selfie camera has 32MP. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging support. A version with 5G support is available, although that is more expensive.

That was our roundup of the best budget Android phones in 2021. Have you recently bought a budget Android phone? Which model did you go for and what was it that sold you on it?