Credit: Sony
With the arrival of foldables like the Motorola Razr and Samsung Galaxy Fold, buying a premium smartphone has become more expensive than ever.
However, if you’re willing to wait on premium features like foldable displays or triple-lens cameras, it’s not all that hard to find a budget smartphone that’s capable of doing all the things you want and need a modern smartphone phone to do.
If our round-up of the best Apple and Android smartphones you can find for under $700 and $600 wasn’t good enough for you, here’s our latest list of the top 10 best Android and Apple phones you can find for under $400.
1. Motorola One Vision
The Motorola One Vision is a slimmer, sleeker vision of what the future of Motorola could look like. Like Motorola's G-series devices, the One Vision delivers great battery life and a smooth-as-all-get-out software experience that’s a sneeze away from stock Android.
Where it differentiates itself is its sense of premium design. Standing as a stark contrast to the brand's recent detour into the world of comfortable but conventional designs, the One Vision is a Motorola phone you'll want to show off.
In our review of the One Vision, we said that “The Motorola One Vision is a mid-tier smartphone that swings above its weight when it comes to look and feel. It combines many of Motorola’s more-established strengths with a penchant for aesthetics and design that you might not expect from the brand.”
You can read our full review here.
Pros
Striking design
Clean software
Great battery life
Cons
Camera falls short of the hype
No water resistance
No wireless charging
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Motorola One Vision outright at the following retailers:
The Motorola One Vision isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
2. Huawei P30 Lite
Credit: Huawei The Huawei P30 Lite strips away of the P30 Pro's premium features but it doesn't mess too much with the thing that matters the most: the camera.
In our review of the P30 Lite we said that “The Huawei P30 Lite is a basically competent mid-tier offering with a somewhat-powerful triple-lens camera and above-average battery life.”
“If you’re looking to settle for a pretty cheap phone that can do the basic things you expect a phone to be able to do, it’ll be a good fit.”
You can read our full review of the Huawei P30 Lite here.
Pros
Above average battery life
Versatile camera
Cons
Underwhelming performance
Safe design
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can find the Huawei P30 Pro through the following:
Amazon - AU$398
The Huawei P30 Pro isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
3. Motorola One Macro
Credit: Motorola The Motorola One Macro is a fast, clean and highly-usable phone with a nifty trademark feature and longer-than-average battery life.
Under the hood, it’s powered by MediaTek’s Helio P70 processor, 4GBs of RAM and 64GB of ROM. Like the name suggests, the One Macro distinguishes itself through its incorporation of a macro lens when it comes to the rear camera. However, the real charm of the device can be found in all the things it features that modern flagships don’t.
In our review of the Motorola One Macro, we said that “For all the compromises that have been on the hardware, the cleaner software might just give the Motorola One Macro the edge over the more expensive Motorola G8 Plus.”
You can read our full review here.
Pros
Macro lens
Battery life
Cons
Triple-lens camera disappointing overall
Design not as nice as One Vision
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Motorola One Macro through the following:
The Motorola One Macro isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
4. Nokia 4.2
Credit: Nokia The Nokia 4.2 is a decent budget smartphone when it comes to the essential but it falls off hard if you expect anything more from it.
Still, if $399 is your limit, there’s a lot to like here. The device itself runs on Android One, a Snapdragon 439 processor, 3GBs of RAM and a 3000mAh battery.
In our review, we said that “It’s rare to find a phone this cheap that looks this good, let alone one that ticks so many boxes. On paper, it’s a $299 phone that feels like it could maybe be a $599 phone.”
You can read our full review here.
Pros
Feature packed
Slick design
Cons
Poor camera performance
Underwhelming performance
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Nokia 4.2 through:
The Nokia 4.2 isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
5. Samsung Galaxy A30
Credit: Samsung Despite being perched at the bottom-end of Samsung’s A-series lineup, the Galaxy A30 has more than a few tricks up its sleeve.
It’s got a 6.4-inch FHD display with a teardrop notch, a dual-lens rear camera, an Exynos 7885 processor, a 4000mAh battery, a fingerprint sensor and Samsung’s OneUI Android skin.
It’s leaner and less feature-packed than some of the pricier A-series options to be sure but Samsung have managed to keep the core fundamentals of what makes a good smartphone intact here.
Pros
Infinity-U display
Beefy battery
Cons
Only dual-lens camera
Limited RAM/ROM
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Samsung Galaxy A30 through:
The Samsung Galaxy A30 is also available on postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and others (see below):
6. Moto G7 Plus
Credit: Motorola The Moto G7 Plus is the last hurrah of the pre-One era of Motorola smartphones. The design here isn’t quite cutting edge but it feels much more expensive to hold and handle than the price-tag might lead you to believe.
As with other G-series Motorola smartphones, the Moto G7 Plus is all about nailing the essentials and, for the first time, this actually includes the camera. The back of the device houses a dual-lens camera that combines a 16-megapixel primary lens with a 5-megapixel depth lens.
Under the hood, the G7 Plus is equipped with a Qualcomm 636 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a 3000mAh battery.
In our review of the Moto G7 Plus, we concluded that “For most people, the Moto G7 Plus will do a fine job of handling your day-to-day demands. For those who need it to push a little further, it’ll do that too.”
You can read our full review here.
Pros
Surprisingly good camera
Great battery life
Cons
Limited durability
No wireless charging
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Moto G7 Plus through the following:
The Moto G7 Plus isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
7. Oppo AX7
Credit: Oppo AX7 Unless you’re particularly spurred by the choice to feature a teardrop-style notch and more-powerful front-facing camera over the traditional wedge found in the AX5, there’s not a huge number of reasons to opt for this device over its predecessor.
Still, for the sub-$400 asking price, you do get a lot of bang for your buck here. The Oppo AX7 is equipped with a Snapdragon 450 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 4230mAh battery plus a dual-lens rear camera.
In our review of the Oppo AX7, we said that “Like the Oppo AX5, Oppo’s latest is a solid budget buy that provides a ton of value.”
You can read our full review here.
Pros
Clean design
Great battery life
Cons
“OK” camera
Inconsistent performance
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Oppo AX7 through
The Oppo AX7 isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
8. Oppo A9
Credit: Oppo A9 Launched late last year, likely in response to the arrival of RealMe in Australia, the Oppo A9 features a a 6.5-inch HD+ display, a Snapdragon 665 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of on-board storage and a quad-lens camera.
It’s not too different from the slightly-cheaper Oppo A5 but it does come with a beefier camera kit and more memory. Both devices run on the latest version of Oppo’s ColorOS Android skin.
Pros
Quad-lens camera
128GB storage
Cons
No wireless charging
No water resistance
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Oppo A9 through:
The Oppo A9 is also available on a postpaid mobile plans through Woolworths. Check the widget below for more.
9. RealMe 5 Pro
Credit: RealMe The RealMe 5 Pro isn’t RealMe’s best 2019 handset but it’s not far off the bar set by the RealMe XT either.
The RealMe 5 Pro touts a Snapdragon 712, a 6.3-inch FHD+ display, 4035mAh battery plus 8G of RAM. It also features support for the same VOOC 3.0 charging found in Oppo's premium devices. Of course, the quad-lens camera on the back of the RealMe 5 Pro is the big drawcard.
The RealMe 5 Pro also rocks an upgraded 16-megapixel front-facing camera and a 4035mAh battery.
Pros
Quad-lens camera
Fast charging and big battery
Cons
Samey-design
No wireless charging
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the RealMe 5 Pro through:
The RealMe 5 Pro isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
10. Nokia 6.2
Credit: Nokia With a Snapdragon 636 processor and 4GB of RAM powering its 6.3-inch FHD+ screen, the Nokia 6.2 packs in a 3500 mAh battery to try and reach their battery benchmark of two days.
64GB of internal storage is included (expandable up to 512GB via microSD), with the rear camera combining a 16MP (f/1.8) main, 5MP depth and 8MP (f/2.2) wide-angle lenses.
There’s also a Pixelworks dedicated visual processor powering real-time HDR video upscaling and their PureDisplay technology - For more on PureDisplay, check out this article.
Pros
PureDisplay
Triple-lens camera
Cons
Plain design
No wireless charging
Where to buy?
In Australia, you can buy the Nokia 6.2 through:
The Nokia 6.2 isn’t available on any postpaid mobile plans via Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but you can always pair the device up with a SIM-only plan (see below).
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