Which has been the best value smartphone of the last year?

Which has been the best value smartphone of the last year?

It's now only a week until the TechRadar Phone Awards kick off in London and every day in the run up to the ceremony we're sharing the shortlist for one of our six awards.

Today is the chance to see who we nominated the best value smartphone on the market. Many were tested but we selected our six favourite handsets from the last year – the only criteria is it has to be under the £250 mark.

We then asked a panel of expert judges to rank them in order of best to worst, threw all the results in a big pot and saw what came out. To find out the winner you'll have to head back to the site for the TechRadar Phone Awards on July 23.

In the meantime be sure to check out the TechRadar Phone Week though – there's lots of interesting stuff coming up.

Moto E (2015)

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Moto E (2015)

The first of Motorola's entries on the list was released back in March this year with some pretty impressive improvements upon the original version. The Moto E (2015) offers up 4G for the first time and also brought about the long-awaited introduction of a front-facing camera.

EE Harrier

EE Harrier

EE isn't just a network anymore, it also produces smartphones, tablets, accessories and even an action camera. The EE Harrier boasts a 5.2-inch Full HD display, 4G, Android Lollipop and an impressive octa-core processor, all for under £200.

Microsoft Lumia 640

Microsoft Lumia 640

Microsoft's first Lumia designed smartphone brings a lot of the design language directly from the days of Nokia and plants it into the little phone worth £130. The Microsoft Lumia 640 includes a 5-inch 720p display and offers the best that Windows Phone has to offer.

Moto G (2014)

Moto G (2014)

Motorola came back with a bang last year showing off its second iteration of the Moto G. The phone boasts a much improved camera, a 720p 5-inch display and a quad-core Snapdragon 400 chipset. Plus you can now pick it up for under £160, bargain!

Acer Liquid Jade S

Acer Liquid Jade S

Perhaps the least known phone on the list is a fan favourite within the TechRadar office – the Acer Liquid Jade S. It comes with 4G connectivity, a light design and a low price point at £130 for the 8GB model.

Sony Xperia M2 Aqua

Sony Xperia M2 Aqua

One of Sony's key premium features made its way onto cheaper handsets last year – the Xperia M2 Aqua is waterproof. It also boasts the iconic Sony smartphone design, good battery life and 4G connectivity.

  • This article is part of Phone Week, celebrating the best bits about brilliant smartphones and tablets as part of the lead up to the TechRadar Phone Awards. To find out what the iPhone 7 could look like, how a phone could survive in space or how to buy the perfect smartphone for you, bookmark TechRadar's Phone Week hub and check out all the great new features coming throughout the week!
James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.