The best phones under £500 in the UK

There are a lot of great phones on UK store shelves today, but many either cost £800 or more to buy outright or are tied to expensive two-year contracts. That might be a way to get hold of the latest and greatest, but it’s certainly not for everyone. These days, you don’t have to spend a fortune to pick up a great handset. Here are the best phones under £500 in the UK!

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The best phones under £500:

Editor’s note: We’ll be updating this list of the best phones under £500 regularly as new mid-range devices launch.

OnePlus Nord CE 2

OnePlus is back in the affordable smartphone game with its Nord CE 2. At £299 MSRP, this device is significantly cheaper than the brand’s flagships and brings OxygenOS to mid-range hardware. This is among the latest devices from OnePlus to feature a mid-range chip, and it’s gone with the MediaTek Dimensity 900. Not only does this give the phone good performance, but also 5G capabilities.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 comes with a silky smooth 6.43-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, a total of four cameras, up to 8GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, a 4,500mAh battery, and 65W Warp Charging.

The cameras aren’t perfect, but the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is a great competitor in the ever-fierce mid-range space and can keep a headphone jack around for another year, along with true dual-SIM support and a microSD slot.

OnePlus Nord CE 2 specs:

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

While the Galaxy S21 FE wasn’t the smash hit that its predecessor was, it’s still a good phone. It carries a Snapdragon 888 chipset, which means you can tap into 5G speeds. With 6 or 8GB of RAM, it doesn’t pack the same power as the Galaxy S21, S22, or the newer S23, though you should still be able to work through most tasks. Samsung tapped a trio of rear cameras, topped off with 12MP wide and 12MP ultrawide options.

Another great reason to check out the Galaxy S21 FE is Samsung’s One UI. The days of TouchWiz are long gone, and One UI is one of our favorite Android skins — flaws and all. Right now, you can pick up the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE for just under £500 in the UK.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE specs:

Apple iPhone SE (2022)

This is an Android-focused website, but save your pitchforks for a bit and open your mind. If you’re looking for a mid-tier smartphone at a good price under £500 in the UK, the 2022 version of the iPhone SE should definitely be on your list of options.

The design may be a bit outdated, following the iPhone 8 look, but this is still a great phone for most casual users, especially those who happen to like iPhones. And despite being the cheapest modern iOS handset, it comes with a surprising amount of power.

For starters, it comes with an Apple A15 Bionic, which is the same chip you’ll find in the iPhone 13 series and the non-Pro versions of the iPhone 14. Other specs include 4GB of RAM, at least 128GB of storage, and a smaller 4.7-inch Retina display. It only has a single camera, but it’s a pretty good one. Overall, it’s the best iPhone you can get at a lower price.

iPhone SE (2022) specs:

POCO X5 Pro

POCO is all about providing the most bang per buck, so it’s not surprising to see one of its handsets make it to this list of the best phones under £500 in the UK. Our favorite pick is the POCO X5 Pro.

In our POCO X5 Pro review we mention a few downsides, like poor secondary cameras, an abundance of bloatware, and the fact that it only comes with Android 12 out of the box. Despite these complains, there is plenty to like here. Aesthetics are very nice, featuring a slim and light body. The main camera is also pretty good, and you get a lot of battery life thanks to the 5,000mAh battery.

Other things that make it stand out are the nice 6.67-inch 120HZ display and a good Snapdragon 778G processor. These are plenty good for what you’re paying, and we’re sure many of you will enjoy this device.

POCO X5 Pro specs:

Realme GT3

Realme’s latest launch, the GT3 is still hot off the presses. So hot that you can’t get it in all markets yet. However, we’re expecting the device, which costs around $650, to come in at just under £500 in the UK.

It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset and offers several configurations that reach as high as 16GB of RAM — though you won’t get that type of memory for under £500. You’ll also get a solid 4,600mAh battery with blistering 240W wired charging and updated Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity standards.

There’s always a chance that the Realme GT3 will arrive and bust our budget, in which case we’ll swap it out and hope for a price drop in the future.

Realme GT3 specs:

Google Pixel 6a

Google’s Pixel A series has long been among the best affordable phones, and it’s getting a solid boost this time around. The Pixel 6a inches closer to true flagship power, and it’s easily one of the best phones under £500 in the UK. Sure, it cuts a few corners to keep the price down, but there’s not much missing from the total package.

The Pixel 6a sports a 6.1-inch Full HD+ display that’s vibrant as ever, and it pairs nicely with the Sage, Chalk, or Charcoal back panels. Under the hood, you’ll find 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and Google’s own Tensor chip for the first time at this price point. It adds some punch to the image processing capabilities, as well as boosts the overall power beyond the previous Snapdragon offerings.

On the back, you’ll find a camera bar design topped off by a familiar duo. The 12.2MP primary camera is the same one that Pixel fans have known and loved since the Pixel 3, and the 12MP ultrawide is in the mix for good measure. You can always read more about the phone in our Pixel 6a full review, but we can tell you right now that it’s close to the best you can get at a lower price.

Google Pixel 6a specs:

Samsung Galaxy A53

Samsung brings up the rear of our list with its Galaxy A53 5G. There’s a lot to like about the phone. Along with a quad-camera array, a 6.5-inch AMOLED display, and a sizable 5,000mAh battery is 5G connectivity, 25W fast charging, and microSD expansion. Samsung’s OneUI 4 makes an appearance on this phone, running on top of Android 12.

If aesthetics are your thing, the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G doesn’t disappoint. It has thin bezels all around and a centered punch hole at the top. It also comes in a myriad of “Awesome” colors: Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Blue, and Awesome Peach.

The Galaxy A53 5G is a solid option if you want a cool-looking, 5G-capable smartphone for under £500 in the UK. It offers an in-house Exynos 1280 processor and 128GB of storage right out of the box.

Samsung Galaxy A53 specs:

Nothing Phone (1)

You’ve probably heard more than a little bit about Nothing by now. The company, started by former OnePlus mastermind Carl Pei, has branched out from its first set of wireless headphones and now offers a well-priced mid-range smartphone, the Phone (1). Nothing’s design is somewhat reminiscent of the iPhone 13 or 14, with flat sides and two corner-mounted cameras, but the light-up back panel sets it apart. This is called the Glyph, and it can push different patterns and shapes for different notifications like calls and texts.

Under the hood, you’ll find a decent set of components to back up the sharp 6.55-inch display. It’s a Full HD+ OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, so it should leave little to be desired for the price. The Phone (1) runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G+ chipset with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage to back it up.

We mentioned there are only two rear cameras, but they offer 50MP apiece. The wide and ultrawide lenses are built on the idea that it’s better to have two good lenses than four mediocre ones, and it’s tough to argue. All told, this is one of the best value phones to buy, coming in at well under £500 in the UK.

Nothing Phone (1) specs:

Are you trying to find more options? We also have a list of the best overall phones, as well as the best budget phones. Check out those lists for more alternatives.