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Top 5 phones under £400
5 minute read
There’s nothing quite like unwrapping a snazzy new phone. And guess what? You don’t need to break the bank to do it.
One of our wondrous members, wsjudd, is here to tell you all about his thoughts on the top 5 phones you could snap up for under £400. Get in.
wsjudd: Top 5 phones under £400
Today we’re taking a look at some of the best affordable phones under £400 - a price that, to me, says that you can have basically any look or feature you want, without all of the fuss and circumstance and selling-a-kidney of quadruple-digit flagship phones.
All of these phones come direct from the giffgaff mobile phone marketplace, where you can find even cheaper (and more expensive!) models if you prefer. With that said, let’s get started!
5. Samsung Galaxy A33 5G - £319
Samsung is a near-constant presence in my best-value smartphone lists, and it’s not down to brand recognition. In my view, they make some genuinely great handsets.
One of the best at the sub-£400 mark is the Galaxy A33 5G, which delivers a modern design and some healthy specs. Most importantly, a 5nm Exynos processor backed with 128GB of expandable storage and 6GB of RAM.
Other features impress too, with a 48-megapixel rear camera producing strong results, especially in good light, while the 5000mAh battery and 25W fast charging ensure you’re not stressed about battery life. Finally, note the 6.4-inch 90Hz screen - high refresh rates and big screens are very much par for the course in this segment of the market, but not all phones fit the bill, for worse and for better!
(https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/samsung/samsung-galaxy-a33-5g/new)
4. iPhone 12 Mini 5G Refurbished - £339
The iPhone 12 Mini, a powerful smartphone that is also compact and comfortable to use, is an exceedingly rare breed. The 5.4-inch display allows even those with smaller hands to reach items near the top of the screen comfortably, while the 5nm A14 Bionic chipset and Apple’s legendary endurance allow the phone’s 2227mAh battery to last for a surprisingly long time.
This all adds up to a small and light handset that ticks all of the boxes, and at £339 for a refurbished unit, it’s even good value, in my opinion.
(https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/apple/iphone-12-mini-5g/refurbished)
3. Google Pixel 6 Refurbished - £349
Next up is my very own smartphone at the time of writing, Google’s Pixel 6 (so how could I not include it?). The Pixel 6 is legitimately one of my favourite smartphones of all time, and two years after its release, it continues to amaze me.
Its AI language features, from answering telemarketing calls to effortlessly transcribing meetings or translating speech in real-time, differentiate it from other Android phones, while the stellar 50-megapixel dual-pixel camera system routinely places amongst the best-rated in the world.
Android updates have continued apace since its launch, with version 13 hitting immediately on its release. The 90Hz OLED screen remains fluid and I’ve not felt the phone get bogged down over time.
The only downsides? The fingerprint reader can be a little finicky, especially with wet hands, and the camera module juts out a fair bit from the back of the phone, necessitating a thicker case. Still, this is the phone I’d probably still order if I was in the market today, and a refurbished model for £349 is one heck of a bargain.
(https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/google/google-pixel-6/refurbished)
2. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G - £399
We return momentarily to Samsung smartphones with the A53 5G, a phone that is 20 times better than the A33 we looked at initially.
Weak jokes aside, the two phones do appear very similar in design, but the differences are apparent if you look closer: a 120Hz versus 90Hz screen, a 64-megapixel rather than 48-megapixel rear primary camera and a 32-megapixel versus 13-megapixel selfie camera are the major differences.
Are those worth the extra £80? I’d say no, especially given we have the same screen resolution, design, battery and chipset, but it’s good to have the option for a higher spec if you want it.
(https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/samsung/samsung-galaxy-a53-5g/new)
1. Google Pixel 6A - £399
If you like the sound of the Pixel 6 but would prefer a new rather than refurbished option, the 6A at £399 could be the perfect shout. The 6A is a newer model, having been released about nine months after the 6, and makes some clever cutbacks to save money.
You lose the 90Hz screen, for example, and the RAM allocation is reduced to 6GB, charging is 18W instead of 30W and the camera is a 12-megapixel unit instead of a 50-megapixel shooter binning to 12 megapixels. However, the fundamental DNA of the phone, including its Google Tensor 5nm system-of-chip, remains fully intact - and the 6A boasts an improved fingerprint sensor and less-bumpy rear camera.
So in many ways, although it is a cheaper and less feature-rich Pixel 6, it’s also a refinement of the formula and a great value at under £400.
(https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/google/google-pixel-6a/new)
Wrapping up
I hope you’ll find this article useful, and be sure to let me know if you have your own suggestions for the category - you can reach me via Twitter @wsjudd. Thanks for checking out the article and I’ll see you next time!
For more recommendations, check out the rest of wsjudd’s series linked below:
Thumbnail image credit: Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels
