Best Budget Phones (Early 2021) Under £400 | Fully Tested & Reviewed

Best Budget Phones (Early 2021) Under £400 | Fully Tested & Reviewed

Reviewing the best budget phones under £400 in early 2021, testing them as my full-time smartphone to see which has the greatest camera tech, gaming performance and specs at an affordable price. From the Google Pixel 4a and OnePlus Nord, which boast 5G smarts, to the Huawei Nova 5T and Sony Xperia 10 ii. These are my favourite mobiles on a budget of £300 to 400 in January 2021.

You can see my full reviews of all of these handsets right here on Tech Spurt, and I’ve also rounded up the best cheap phones under £200 and £300, for more ideas.

The Pixel 4a is still the champion for camera performance at this price point, while it’s also pleasingly compact. The OnePlus Nord is a strong rival however, offering stronger gamer chops for PubG etc, plus 5G built in. Both of these smartphones rock an OLED screen and respectable specs for the cost.

I’m also still a fan of the Moto G 5G Plus, Oppo Find X2 Lite, Huawei Nova 5T and Sony’s Xperia 10 ii. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but the cons are limited and I’d happily use any of these blowers as my full-time phone.

Again, check out my reviews for all you need to know, and let me know if I missed out your own favourite 2021 budget handset!

50 Comments

  1. Sam Ayoubi on July 31, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    Thank you man one of these phones will now be mine thankyou and with other people



  2. Aaron Jed Roldan on July 31, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    where is the redmi note 10 pro



  3. Nimmy on July 31, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    I might have to wait for the Xiaomi Mi 11 Official release in the UK



  4. Rays Through Trees, Summer Breeze on July 31, 2021 at 9:22 pm

    budget is under 200 pounds for me brotha
    Still rocking xiami from 2015
    still more than enough
    Xiami thought me about value per money
    tho my next phone is gonna be dumbphone



  5. IamVenVile on July 31, 2021 at 9:24 pm

    I advise NO ONE to buy the Pixel phones from Google. The 4a and 4a 5G have been having tremendous touch screen issues, since inception, and Google has been doing absolutely NOTHING to fix and correct these issues. If you buy one, accept that you might be one of the unlucky ones, and your phone may experience serious touch screen issues, making it unusable. Be warned!



  6. James A.Ismail on July 31, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    Why didn’t you choose mi 10t or something



  7. sundar naga on July 31, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    I need to buy Sony Xperia 10 ii
    But unfortunately Qatar doesn’t have that.



  8. Cash Roolz on July 31, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    Hi, @6:48, what’s the name of that Asian movie please?



  9. dragon ball torture on July 31, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    Came for the tech stuff, stayed for the deadpan, dark humor



  10. OV3RLORD1751 on July 31, 2021 at 9:33 pm

    lots of heads or serious background action



  11. murali dr on July 31, 2021 at 9:33 pm

    2:45 ➡️ hotgirls.to ⤵️

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    —L—o—V—e—S—e-X———❤️😘

    ..👍

    !💖🖤❤️今後は気をライブ配信の再編ありがとうです!この日のライブ配信は、かならりやばかったですね!1万人を超える人が見ていたもん(笑)やっぱり人参最高!まさかのカメラ切り忘れでやら1かしたのもドキドキでした,.

    💖🖤在整個人類歷史上,強者,富人和具有狡猾特質的人捕食部落,氏族,城鎮,城市和鄉村中的弱者,無`’守和貧窮成員。然而,人類的生存意願迫使那些被拒絕,被剝奪或摧毀的基本需求的人們找到了一種生活方式,並繼續將其DNA融入不斷發展的人類社會。.

    說到食物,不要以為那些被拒絕的人只吃垃圾。相反,他們學會了在被忽視的肉類和蔬菜中尋找營養。他們學會了清潔,切塊,調味和慢燉慢燉的野菜和肉類,在食品市場上被忽略的部分家用蔬菜和肉類,並且學會了使用芳香的木煙(如山核桃,山核桃和豆科灌木 來調味g食物煮的時候 1619336124



  12. aman singh on July 31, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    0:42 picture name?



  13. Keith Citizen on July 31, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    " if you’ve the quid to blow " honest intro – the idea of upgrading from Nokia 6.2 to Nokia 7.1 about my limit to consider , but new battery and replacement and charge port for 6.2 is my plan for next year.



  14. AdamLW71 on July 31, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    budget phone 400? lol ok



  15. yordan enchev on July 31, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    Poco f2 pro is perfect 400 paund



  16. Daniel Jr on July 31, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    Who noticed the first phone he reviewed.. he was watching attack on titan



  17. Nida Shirin on July 31, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    THIS dude messed up the VIDEO!!!!
    All u talk abt sourt is gaming (MOSTLY) and then display
    I love ur videos mahn plss talk more abt camera speaker key features and all!!



  18. Brandon Ramey on July 31, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    Exactly type of video I was looking for. Thanks



  19. Leilf Falkenström on July 31, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    What choices are they if we don’t want to buy Made in China phones? Samsung should have pulled their production of their phones out of China for some years ago and Sony is as far as I could guess not made in China. But what about ASUS, HTC and others?



  20. Ben Heckendorn on July 31, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    Well since you made a recommendation for phones under £300, under £400 the next should be under £500 because I think, people who keep their phones for four or five years, may would spend £500, so it would be awesome if you could do one: best phones under £500



  21. TUKTUK on July 31, 2021 at 9:40 pm

    could you add some text?, names and stuff to the vid? it would be great ::)



  22. Le Chat Roux Sait on July 31, 2021 at 9:41 pm

    Thanks for all your wonferful advices mate!



  23. liam playz on July 31, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    you forgot the oppo reno 4Z 5G £260



  24. R on July 31, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    £400 is "budget"?



  25. Ale cecy on July 31, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    Love the anime bits



  26. CemilModz on July 31, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    Is the a71 a good choice?



  27. namcicle on July 31, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    Just a question, but if you had to choose, would you pick 90hz 1080P LCD or 60hz 1080p Amoled? I like Amoled screens, but I like refresh rate too. What do you think?



  28. ewganhoff on July 31, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    How have you still not heard of the M51? Same spec as the brilliant A71 but with a mahoosive 7000mah battery. The weirdest thing is its cheaper than the A71. Also, it’s only available direct from Samsung in the UK.



  29. Ben Heckendorn on July 31, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    I got a oneplus nord n100, I can recommend them too, sadly at night the photos aren’t that good, but I have it just as my Business phone, personally I use a Huawei p30 pro.



  30. Nikarmotte on July 31, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    It’s a shame the front camera is inside the screen nowadays, I think it’s ruining media consumption…



  31. Maja Isakszon on July 31, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    Got the Nokia x20 nordic blue. And I love it.



  32. jon jay lulu on July 31, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    Remember us when you get to 1 million mate! Cheers 🍻



  33. rafid raffe on July 31, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    thanks



  34. Nikkeh on July 31, 2021 at 9:57 pm

    _sees Pixel 4A_
    Eureka!
    _sees that it costs twice as much here in Poland_
    🙁



  35. David c on July 31, 2021 at 9:57 pm

    Have had the pixel 4a. Found it a little under whelming… Camera was good. But nothing mind blowing. The felt ok …



  36. MDBD on July 31, 2021 at 10:00 pm

    The glass on the google pixel 4A is pony.



  37. ChrisKadaver on July 31, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    Would you say the Xiaomi Mi 10T pro would be a better choice in general than the ones you mention here? With a contract where I live, minus the cost I normally pay for my contract I have today, I’d only pay 264 GBP for that phone.



  38. Ettnoll Bajen on July 31, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    I would probably keep going with huawei,but since the google stuff,I’m switching to Xiaomi



  39. Plamen Purvanov on July 31, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    There is nothing "budget friendly" in tech. Believe me 😀



  40. SteveDavies80 on July 31, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    Please do a round up of older flagships that now sell for under £400. They are always better than todays budgets and usually cheaper.

    I found an amazing deal of Xperia XZ2 premium 2 years ago for £380, and am looking to upgrade, but 2 years later, cant find a phone that comes close for under £400.



  41. MyLucidPills on July 31, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    How does it do after months of use does it sfart slowing down and lagging? This is an issue i keep struggling with android and samsung



  42. Tech Spurt on July 31, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    Just a few of my favourite sub-£400 smartphones you can grab right now, all of which I’ve reviewed here on Tech Spurt. Let me know your own favourites!



  43. Tinii. B on July 31, 2021 at 10:04 pm

    Thank you I needed a phone to choose for my birthday under 400$ and this video helped me a lot



  44. SCORPION GSD on July 31, 2021 at 10:05 pm

    You forgot the Redmi Note 10 pro.



  45. OriginalOwner777 on July 31, 2021 at 10:07 pm

    After seeing your review on the sony xperia 10 ii I got one, going from an iphone xr I was expecting it to seem slugish something that it really isnt. Already prefer my xperia to the iphone 🙂 Just wish Samsung would bring out an A series varient of the note aimed at the upper mid tier market. I think it is something they would dominate with.



  46. Trolled_by_ared ✔ on July 31, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    BUY THE POCO F3 its amazing 🤩🤩



  47. Fredrik Adolvsson on July 31, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    What movie were you watching on the Motorola there?



  48. ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜᴍʙʟᴇ ᴋɪsᴇ on July 31, 2021 at 10:11 pm

    Hi Spurt… can i know how to download that cool anime wallpapers u set up upon the home screen??
    big fan from now on with that vid and keep it up sir!!



  49. Hossain on July 31, 2021 at 10:11 pm

    Why do the first 38 secs feel like 360p?



  50. leos leon on July 31, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    Write the model names down as you tell