The best cheap phones in Australia don’t necessarily hog the headlines or get the most coverage on social media as the very best phones, but they often are the ideal phones for most consumers.
Budget phones not only offer excellent value for money and nail the basics, but they also shine in specific areas that make them competitive to their flagship counterparts – or even from other brands.
Of course, if you’re willing to spend more for the best phones out there, then one of the best Android phones, best iPhones, or best camera phones might be a more suitable fit.
The best cheap phones in Australia 2026
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below you’ll find overviews of each of the best budget phones in Australia, along with links to full reviews written by TechRadar’s team of smartphone experts.
The best overall cheap phone
✅ You don't want a cheap version of an Apple or Samsung phone
The CMF Phone 2 Pro is a truly unique phone that doesn’t look like the cheap version of a more expensive one. If you want something different, it’s worth considering, especially at its price point.
✅ You have a 3D printer and want to make accessories
This handset can be customised physically with accessories sold separately, or if you’re so inclined, you can even print some yourself through a growing online community sharing designs.
❌ You want to take a lot of great photos to share
More megapixels doesn’t necessarily mean great photos, with the CMF Phone 2 Pro snaps not looking the best.
❌ You plan on dropping this phone, maybe into water
The CMF Phone 2 Pro is durable, but it's not water resistant, so if you’re going to beat up on a phone, get something else with an IP rating.
A phone under AU$450 can sometimes feel like a watered-down version of the device you actually want. The CMF Phone 2 Pro, however, is in a class of its own with a quirky design and a stylish Android skin. The handset carves out its own category as a cheap but unique option.
What makes the CMF Phone 2 Pro stand out is its design. It’s not just for looks, it also lets you be creative with its modularity and expandability. Nothing sells optional accessories that can be tacked on the phone, but you can also 3D print your own accessories to make the phone uniquely yours.
Another thing to make this phone unique is NothingOS. Our reviewer found that using the CMF Phone 2 Pro daily was “genuinely refreshing”, thanks to a stylish, minimalist and distraction-free interface. Instead of loud, colourful icons, NothingOS features a clean, monochromatic aesthetic and matching widgets that calm the entire experience.
It's certainly not a high-end gaming machine, but CMF Phone 2 Pro performs well enough for most people’s daily tasks, even benchmarking better than other phones in its price range. What’s even better, though, is the excellent battery life. In our tests, The Phone 2 Pro lasted over 16 hours on a full charge – easily powering through the reviewer’s full day and deep into the next. This reliability and personality helped earn the CMF Phone 2 Pro’s spot as our top cheap phone.
Read our full CMF Phone 2 Pro review
The best cheap Samsung phone
✅ You want a large display without spending top dollar
The Samsung Galaxy A56 has a huge 6.7-inch display that rivals the Galaxy S25, producing a vibrant, immersive experience.
✅ You want a jack of all trades phone
The A56 does everything well enough for its price range, with a great design, stellar display, solid cameras and long battery life. It's a great option for reliability and versatility.
❌ You're a serious mobile gamer
The Galaxy A56 can handle most games, but you may have to look elsewhere for heavy sessions and high frame rates.
❌ You want the best AI tools
This handset has Samsung's basic AI features, but most of the cutting-edge AI is reserved for the Galaxy S25 series.
Samsung's Galaxy A-series smartphones have consistently been some of the South Korean company’s best in its wide-ranging lineup – delivering well-rounded and great-looking handsets that offer excellent value. The Samsung Galaxy A56 is no exception.
Bigger, thinner, lighter and just overall better than its predecessor, the Galaxy A56 is a premium-looking and feeling phone but without the premium price.
While the A56 offers great value in other regions, it's an even better deal for Australians. It costs AU$699 (and often gets discounts too), whereas the Pixel 9a and the iPhone 16e are more expensive at AU$849 and AU$999, respectively. In the US and the UK, the A56 costs the same as the Pixel 9a (US$499 / £499).
The A56’s glass and metal design gives it a premium build, and even has an IP67 rating. The handset also features a bright 6.7-inch AMOLED display and a long-lasting 5,000mAh battery.
It does not have the best camera phone around, with the likes of Nothing's Phone (3a) Pro and the Motorola Edge 50 Pro offering more at the same price range. Nevertheless, it still bears a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide lens and 5MP macro camera, which is more than what the Pixel 9a and the iPhone 16e have.
Our biggest gripe with the Galaxy A56 is its Exynos 1580 chipset. While it can easily handle regular activities like streaming, scrolling and texting, the handset unfortunately would just not be able to handle graphically demanding mobile games.
We believe the Samsung Galaxy A56 will be suitable to a wider net of users compared to our choice for best overall above, the CMF Phone 2 Pro, thanks to its long-lasting battery and expansive feature set that still feels like a premium device. The Phone 2 Pro just edges it for us because of the cheaper price point and unique aesthetics.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy A56 review
The best cheap Google Pixel
✅ You want a solid phone for long-term use
The Pixel 9a is not just physically durable, but also has seven years of Android and security updates on the way. This budget handset will keep you sorted for a while.
✅ You want a great bargain camera for close-ups
There's no optical zoom, but Google’s bargain Pixel takes some of the best macro shots on a smartphone.
❌ You want a pretty phone to show your friends
The Pixel 9a doesn’t look as good as the Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 phones, but thankfully it’s always easy to get a case for it.
❌ You don’t want AI image tools that produce stereotypes
Pixel Studio creates images that might reinforce bigotry. That's not acceptable in any way, but you can easily ignore it.
In the budget phone space, Google’s Pixel 'a' series have been known for having great cameras for its price range and oftentimes the same processor with slightly lower specs from the base main line Pixel phone – for a lower price.
The Google Pixel 9a is no different, offering a bright display, versatile camera array and helpful Google AI features packed into a premium-feeling chassis that comes in several colours. It has, however, gotten rid of Google's iconic camera bar design, with the cameras just barely poking out like how phone cameras used to be.
Our reviewer was not a fan of that decision from Google, stating that the Pixel 9a would have been the perfect bargain phone “if it wasn’t so dang ugly". The aesthetics are completely subjective, though, so maybe the design works better for you.
In every other department the Pixel 9a is hard to beat – especially compared to other cheap phones.
The Pixel 9a boasts the cleanest version of Android to date, complete with plenty of useful software features like call screening and AI transcription. The 6.3-inch Actua display is very bright with a maximum peak brightness of 2,700 nits, and the 5,100mAh battery lasts all day.
Like previous A-series Pixels, our favourite feature of the Pixel 9a is its camera array, which is one of the best you'll find in this price range. While the lack of a telephoto lens means zooming in isn’t great, this budget Pixel is a macro photography champion.
Unsurprisingly, Google's Tensor G4 chipset lags behind faster chips from Apple and Qualcomm. But even then, the Pixel 9a handles everyday tasks effortlessly, as long as you don’t expect high frame rates in more demanding games.
Read our full Google Pixel 9a review
The best cheap iPhone
✅ You want the cheapest iPhone
Unlike the iPhone 5c and the past iPhone SE models, the iPhone 16e feels like a true addition to the iPhone 16 family.
✅ You want the blue bubble
A lot of Apple features only work between iPhones, including the iMessage blue bubbles, and new SharePlay and NameDrop sharing features.
❌ You want MagSafe and better cameras
The iPhone 16e only has a single 48MP rear camera, and while it supports wireless charging, not all MagSafe accessories will work.
❌ You want to save a lot more
At AU$999, you'd have to look for a used or renewed iPhone if you don’t want to spend that much. If you want to save even more, you might have to leave Apple's walled garden.
The iPhone 16e is a good-looking phone that performs well enough to make it feel like a true addition to the iPhone 16 family, unlike the iPhone 5c or previous SE models that sat adjacent to the main series of iPhones.
It's a very good phone, but it's hard to call it great when Apple brought back the iPhone 14's notch and only gave the 16e a single 48MP rear camera. The Android phones in this list offer much more bang for buck in comparison, like larger displays and multiple rear cameras.
What still ultimately saves the 16e is that it has iOS, and that counts for something. Apple has dedicated customers that love the seamless integration offered between Apple devices and don't feel comfortable making the switch to an Android phone – even if it makes more financial sense.
With that being said, any brand new iPhone at a less-than-premium price is a welcome addition for Apple users who often wait a year to grab the new iPhone once it has started to see discounts.
The iPhone 16e rocks a bright and vibrant display that's almost as good as what you’d see on the 17 family, with only the notch and slightly larger bezels separating it from its flagship siblings.
The main 48MP Fusion camera is also very good and shoots high-quality stills and videos, but its “2x zoom” isn’t actually a proper zoom, but rather a 12MP crop in the middle of the 48MP sensor.
A new addition that came along with the iPhone 16e is the C1 chip, which Apple claimed at the time was the most efficient cellular modem the company has put in an iPhone. Apple says the modem helps the 16e’s performance, which promises 26 hours of video playback. Our tests so far have proven this to be true.
We liked everything about this phone, except maybe for the lack of colourways (it only comes in black and white). The iPhone 16e looks good, feels better than previous budget iPhones, runs well and it's currently the cheapest avenue into a top-tier iPhone.
Read our full iPhone 16e review
The best alternative cheap phone
✅ You want a cool and unique-looking phone
The Nothing Phone 3a Pro is a true one of a kind in the design department, with a semi-transparent rear panel adorned with light-up glyphs that can serve several functions.
✅ You want a better notification system
If you tend to ignore buzzing and vibration, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro will light up to tell you there's a call or message you need to see.
❌ You want fast performance
You can find phones in this price range with much faster processors inside. The Nothing Phone 3a Pro is about style, not speed.
❌ You're photo-focused
The cameras on the Nothing Phone 3a Pro are fine, but they lack detail and features compared to others in this price bracket.
The Nothing Phone 3a Pro is a standout option for bargain hunters, offering a distinctly unique smartphone experience for AU$849 – directly competing with the Google Pixel 9a.
Nothing is looking to win budget-minded (or otherwise) users over with its transparent back and functional Glyph LED lights, offering an alternative to the safe, although uninspiring, designs of many cheap phones.
The Phone 3a Pro punches above its weight class when it comes to its arsenal of features. You get a large 6.77-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display with either 8GB or 12GB RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage that beats much of what rivals offer.
This handset also possesses a versatile camera system, including a 3x optical zoom lens that is rare for this price range, allowing for more photographic flexibility than the setups on other budget handsets. The results, however, may not please the discerning artist.
NothingOS also offers the same clean and unique look offered by its physical design, delivering an experience that feels different from any other smartphone.
The phone's mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset is capable enough for daily tasks and casual gaming, but any more than that can lead to noticeable lag and stuttering.
Another sticking point is the Phone 3a Pro’s IP64 rating, which only makes it splash resistant. Other budget phones tend to have at least IP67 water- and dust-resistance rating.
Overall, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro offers great value with its combination of a truly unique design, a versatile camera setup for the price, excellent battery life and generous memory/storage configurations.
Read our full Nothing Phone (3a) Pro Review
The best cheap camera phone
✅ You want some great cameras for a budget phone
This handset features a 50MP main sensor and 13MP ultrawide on the rear, plus a 32MP front camera – delivering detailed images in most conditions.
✅ You want great battery life
With a large 5,200mAh battery, you won't need a charger until the end of the day, and when you do, the speedy 68W wired charging will get the phone filled up in a flash.
❌ You want a more durable phone
The curved screen design looks pretty, but it also means it's more prone to damage than flat-screen phones.
❌ You want great AI tools
Moto AI's features like notification summaries, AI generated playlists and AI image generation tools are borderline useless.
Cheaper than the Google Pixel 9a and the iPhone 16e, this budget offering from Lenovo-owned Motorola is a worthy alternative that you may not have initially considered.
Available for AU$699 (the same price as the Samsung A56), the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion makes a strong impression with its 6.7-inch quad-curved pOLED display. It is also powered by a respectable MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, providing ample power for day-to-day browsing, social media and streaming.
The curved screen design gives the handset an immersive look and that provides a unique viewing experience, but that also means it's almost certainly more damage-prone than flat-screened rivals. The display, however, boasts a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and a sharp Super HD (2712 x 1220) resolution.
The camera system features a 50MP main sensor and a 13MP ultrawide on the rear, plus a 32MP front camera. This array delivers detailed results in most conditions, although our tester found the quality dips when zooming in, something even premium handsets can suffer from.
Where the Edge 60 Fusion falters is its software. It only comes with a promise of three years of OS upgrades, compared to the seven that’s become expected from competitors like Samsung and Google. We also didn't love the built-in Moto AI features like notification summaries and AI playlist creation, which did not really add much to the user experience.
That said, the large 5,200mAh battery and speedy 68W wired charging will keep you going for a while. At this price point, it’s difficult to fault the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion too much, making it a strong recommendation for anyone on a budget who values screen design over raw power or software polish.
Read our full Motorola Edge 60 Fusion review
FAQ
How to choose the best cheap phone for you
It's no secret that the best cheap phones don't have it all, as their low price means there are almost always compromises to be made. The first step to choosing a phone is deciding which aspects of the phone are most important to you, and what you can live without.
Do you need excellent battery life? A bright and vivid screen? Or a well-performing camera? A high refresh rate, even?
Another consideration, which isn't specifically price related, is the screen size – a smaller screen makes it easier to use with one hand, and easier to fit in small pockets, while a bigger screen can make apps, games and videos more pleasant to watch and interact with.
Whatever the case, once you've decided what you do and don't need, you can read through the entries above to find a phone that fits. Whatever balance you ultimately decide on there's likely to be an ideal option above, and we've tested all of these phones extensively, so you can be sure they're good.
What is the best 5G phone under AU$400?
If you're strictly looking for the best phone under AU$400, your options are going to be limited as not many phones retail at that price. Still, there are some devices worth snagging at this price like the Oppo A5 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A17 and Motorola moto G57. Our best overall pick above, the CMF Phone 2 Pro, is just a little bit over at AU$449. You can also go for an older, refurbished device like the 2022 model iPhone SE or iPhone 12.
On the other hand, if you're happy to wait for discounts, something with an RRP closer to AU$500-AU$700 can get down to this price range, with many more attractive choices. The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion is regularly available for less than AU$500, while its premium sibling – the Motorola Edge 60 Pro – can be snagged for just over AU$600. More 5G-enabled handsets to look for when discounted are the Samsung Galaxy A56, Samsung Galaxy A36 and the Google Pixel 9a.
What are the cheapest phone plans?
You can have a look at our guides for the best phone plans and best SIM-only plans. It’s worth noting, however, that the major telcos – Optus, Telstra and Vodafone – are rarely going to be offering competitively affordable plans, and certainly won't be offering the cheapest. If you really want the best deals, you'll want to stick with MVNOs like iiNet, TPG, Spintel and Yomojo.
What is the best budget phone?
The best cheap smartphone regularly changes and is somewhat subjective, but our pick for the best cheap option is whatever's currently the best overall option in the list above. At the time of publishing, we’ve decided the AU$449 CMF Phone 2 Pro brings the best value for money with its features, aesthetics and low price just edging over the likes of the Samsung Galaxy A56, Google Pixel 9a and Apple iPhone 16e.
What is the cheapest new iPhone
While we've gotten used to iPhone SE models accounting for iPhone fans with tighter budgets – and before that the iPhone 5c – the newest cheap iPhone is the iPhone 16e. While it's not exactly cheap – coming in at AU$999 and just AU$300 less than the iPhone 17 – the iPhone 16e cuts costs in small ways like opting for the notch rather than the Dynamic Island, a 2-in-1 fusion camera, slightly lower quality display and Camera Control button. And now rumours suggest that we might even get an iPhone 17e in 2026.
What is the world's cheapest phone?
The cheapest phone that we have used is the Mara X1, however it's not available in Australia. If all you need is calls and texts, you can get a cheap flip phone for under AU$50. However, in terms of smartphones that are still recommendable and super cheap, there are various phones under AU$200 like the Motorola Moto g04s and Samsung Galaxy A06.
How we tested
We only include a handset on this best cheap phones list once we've fully reviewed it, so you can be assured that every entry has been tested in full.
Our testing process involves using the phone as our main handset for days or even weeks, and testing all the key factors, from the power to the battery life, the cameras, the screen, and beyond.
That means we know exactly how each of these performs in reality - not just on paper, and we use that knowledge to rank them, while factoring in the all important price and value.
- Check out how these cheaper models compare to our overall top smartphone picks
