If you'll indulge me, think back to a period not so long ago. There was a time before Samsung's Galaxy A series was as popular as it is now. There was a time before Google found out how to condense the Pixel experience into a cost-effective box. An period when low-cost phones weren't worth considering. Take your pick of issues: they were pricey, underpowered, loaded with superfluous programmes, and rarely updated. We now live in a different era, a golden age of low-cost phones.
Sure, there will be limitations. In the camera department, a sub-$500 smartphone will not give a $1,000 flagship a run for its money. However, we're getting a lot more bang for our buck, and all I have to say is that it's about time.
When hardware and software collide
In addition to the improvements we've seen in flagship devices, we've also seen them abandon fan-favorite features. Instead, you'll have to look at one of the many inexpensive phones to get amenities like the headphone port that were formerly standard. It's still available on the Samsung Galaxy A32, as well as the Google Pixel 5a, but not on the Galaxy S22 or Pixel 6, which are the higher-end alternatives. The identical Galaxy A32 has a built-in microSD card slot, which is once again missing from Samsung's gleaming flagships.
Of course, discussing new hardware on inexpensive phones entails more than simply listing the features that flagships lack. Instead, think about the features that have made their way down from the top of the smartphone design food chain. Hadlee Simons, one of our writers, recently spent time with the Poco X4 Pro, a bargain phone with a 120Hz OLED display and a 108MP main camera. Both features were first seen on flagship phones, but you can get them for €300 or less. Without breaking the wallet, you may even enjoy blazing 67W wired charging.
It's easy to understand what we're talking about if you look at the Pixel 5a or even the Pixel 4a 5G. Both models provide the same high-end camera experience as Google's flagships, but at a fraction of the price. The Pixel 5a's availability may be hit-or-miss, but the IP67 rating, large (for a Pixel) battery, and good build quality should make you think twice before picking up a flagship. Even the Pixel 4a 5G has a more current design, especially when contrasted to the iPhone SE (2022), which is still housed in an iPhone 8 body.
For around $450, budget phones aren't only picking up where flagships left off; they're also adding previously unachievable capabilities.
Budget phones have also taken use of software upgrades found in flagship phones. The version of One UI seen on the Galaxy S22 is the same software used on the Galaxy A13, albeit it may not receive upgrades as frequently. Google's Material You initiative in Android 12 didn't end with the Pixel 6. The Pixel 5a received its software update in time with the other of Google's devices, and it will continue to do so for some time.
As we've seen with the Poco F3, a close association can lead to a sub-brand recycling its parent company's designs at lower costs. It's a global market version of the Xiaomi Mi 11i, which is itself a global market version of the Redmi K40. Not many inexpensive phones have yet learnt to stand on their own, but Poco's split from Xiaomi could be a sign of things to come.
Some distance left to cover
New hats in the ring and improved hardware for inexpensive phones can only go so far. Budget phones continue to be a stumbling hurdle, often because the in-hand experience does not match the on-paper offer. Despite its 108MP main camera, Dhruv Bhutani described the Realme 8 Pro as "a stride behind the competition." It wasn't enough to compensate for the display's 60Hz refresh rate or the in-display fingerprint reader's poor performance (even though the latter is a popular flagship feature these days).
Dhruv's other problem, unfortunately, is one that persists in some of the most popular budget Android skins. While Google and Samsung have improved their software, Realme, Poco, and others have continued to release ad-filled software that is still in need of improvement. Samsung has reinvented itself from TouchWiz to One UI, so there's no reason to believe the newest smartphone players can't as well.
Samsung's TouchWiz has matured into One UI, and other cheap OEMs would be wise to follow suit.
Furthermore, firms like Poco have a habit of putting their update policies on hold. You'll almost certainly get the two main updates, but there's no assurance about how quickly they'll arrive on your phone. We have yet to see a full version upgrade for the Poco X4 Pro, which launched with Android 11 more than six months after the release of Android 12.
The most pressing concern is how long that software revolution will take, and if inexpensive phones with the best technology will be left behind.
Putting aside our reservations about other companies, there's no doubting that Samsung and Google have lifted the bar for the budget and mid-range smartphone market, ushering in a golden era where saving money doesn't have to mean sacrificing quality or user experience. The Pixel A and Galaxy A series both provide more reliable options at more inexpensive pricing, and users benefit as a result.
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