Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED]
Nowadays we use our smartphones all over. The most important use of them is for gaming. This can be where the important potential of the phone is tested. Nowadays almost any mid-range or budget device will run the majority of the games smoothly. In this post, I have listed the best budget gaming phone which is reasonable.
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 1 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BEST-BUDGET-Gaming-Phone.webp)
They are wonderful value for your hard-earned money. 2022 has been a transformative year for the best budget gaming phone. With not only traditional affordable staples from companies like Huawei on the table. But new more aggressive propositions from the likes of Honor and newcomer Pocophone. That means there are loads of great ones to treat yourself, or somebody else, to this gala season.
When frame rates extremely matter, not all devices perform well. The device must have a strong SoC with enough RAM. There should be lots of storage space and a giant battery, as games drain the battery terribly fast. Also, the technology of the phone, display size, and sensors additionally influence your performance within the game. Therefore considering all the factors that a gamer would like in his/her smartphone we have compiled this list of best budget gaming phones.
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Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Smartphones
Where our smartphones are getting very expensive and we are not able to afford them. The top-of-the-line flagships that can cost $800 – $900 even $1500 cough new iPhone XS Max anyone. The good thing is with a bit of research and willpower. We are able to dig through the massive amounts of ads for the Google Pixel – and Samsung Galaxy S9.
Related Article, Best Samsung Phone for Gaming,
They were able to find the best budget gaming phone that defies this idea that better has to equal more expensive. I’m here to tell you that there are phones out there in this world that are under $400 some even under $300 that can perform pretty close to phones double or even triple their price in this article. I’m going to make things a little more convenient for you all in an effort to explain the best budget gaming phone. So you can play games like PUBG Mobile or anything else for a fraction of the price.
I hope this article explaining the top 10 best budget gaming phones will aid you in choosing the best phone to play PUBG mobile. It’s quite hard to give a definitive ranking to some phones. So just keep in mind you could interchange numbers 5 & 3 pretty easily. One is not necessarily better than the other but the final two’re definitely worthy of second in the first place. If you learn something new today I’d appreciate it a ton. If you left a comment below for more PUBG mobile content do more articles like this.
1. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S
This is one of the best Xiaomi phone dates and guess what it’s still very inexpensive. A phone with a 5.99-inch display boasting the Snapdragon 835. Which by the way is still an incredibly fast processor alongside 6 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of internal storage.
They are not messing around with this phone. If you remember the 1 + 5 t and how that phone was one of the best of its kind about a year ago. It’s nearly identical to that best budget gaming phone at a much lower price.
Design: One of the most unique things about me mix which is running Android 8.0 is its design it’s almost a bezel is phone only the bottom part has a bit of a bezel. This is where the front-facing camera is located but this still amounts to a beautiful design. You are going to catch people’s attention when you’re using this thing referring to the design.
This phone doesn’t have curved edges as we see with the Samsung galaxy s9. For example which amounts to a much more comfortable gameplay experience. You won’t accidentally touch the edges of your screen and mess up PUBG mobile gameplay when using this best budget gaming phone.
Related Article, Best Samsung Phone for Gaming,
Display and Battery: This phone has a great display where you cannot see individual pixels. Which is certainly very crucial when playing games like PUBG mobile. You want the game to look good and the Mi Mix 2 delivers exactly that.
The only real downside to using this best budget gaming phone is the 3400 milliamp-hour battery which by no means is bad. But it might be a little small and the fact that the phone doesn’t have a headphone jack.
However, for the best budget gaming phone with a current price tag on Amazon in my personal opinion, it’s not too big of a deal still an incredible phone for an incredible price.
PROS
- Speedy performance
- Decent battery life
- Classy design
- Dual camera
- Great value
CONS
- Software stability issues
- Camera poor in low light
- Average display
2. Nokia 7.1
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 3 Nokia 7.1](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Nokia207.1-1024x480.webp)
I’m honestly very happy Nokia made this list. This is the only best budget gaming phone on this list that is not fully released yet. But all specs have been made public and from what is shown and from the people who have done early reviews on it.
Thus far it looks super promising. I could almost recommend two phones in this number for the position the Nokia 6.1 the predecessor to the 7.1 is another best budget gaming phone and that’s only on Amazon.
That phone is a little outdated and you’re definitely only going to be able to play PUBG mobile in low settings. So that’s why I’d recommend the newer Nokia 7.1.
Design and Display: This is a 5.8 4-inch phone with a 19 to 9 aspect ratio making it a little narrow but as a result a phone that fits better in your hands. The screen also supports HDR 10 which means you will be getting the same dynamic colors on your screen as some flagship smartphones like the Samsung galaxy s9.
Storage: This is sometimes up to three times the price the phone is running the Snapdragon 636 processor. A new processor and can house up to 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. If you want more storage don’t worry there’s a microSD slot as well.
This phone will soon run the newest Android 9.0 OS and best of all comes with stock Android. The Nokia 7.1 is best budget gaming phone bang for your buck don’t discredit it because it’s a Nokia you should definitely consider.
PROS
- Autofocus is very fast and accurate with good tracking
- Stabilization is fairly effective
- Well-controlled noise in outdoor conditions
- Colors bright and vivid in most conditions
CONS
- Slight exposure and white balance inconsistencies noticeable
- Differences in sharpness between frames strongly visible
- Difficult to find in the US
3. ZTE Nubia Z11
The Nubia Z11 may be a phone you haven’t heard of before. I am sure we have all heard of the upcoming Asus ROG Phone. The latest and greatest-best budget gaming phone that has an unfortunate price of around $500 now that phone looks cool right. I mean it even has an RGB back for the true patriotic gamer. One-third of that of the Asus ROG Phone. You can with the Nubia Red Magic.
Design: Nubia is a branch of Chinese phone companies ZTE and their phone looks awesome. It has an RGB back with an amazing design looking better than most phones in the market today. They are not messing around with the specs either.
Storage: You can get the phone on Android 6.0.1 with 6 GB of RAM and either 64 GB of internal storage. It’s running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor just aside from notes that ever-popular Razor phone. It also has the Snapdragon 820 and 6 GB of RAM. So you’re getting what the almighty Razor Phone 2 is capable of at nearly half the price.
Battery: This best budget gaming phone has an incredible 3000 milliamp-hour battery allowing you to play for many hours at a time without worrying about charging an awesome feature. About this phone is a button that toggles something called to compete for the mode. You press that thing the RGB on the backlights up and the phone boosts performance similar to a process. We’re expecting on the Asus ROG Phone another bonus a headphone jack Thank You, Nubia.
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The only downsides with this phone are the fact that the user interface isn’t that great and the brightness could be a bit better. Other than that though it’s a fantastic phone and there are only a couple of phones out there better than this at its price.
PROS
- Gorgeous design
- Long battery life
- Build Quality
- Cool gesture controls using the bezel-less screen
CONS
- Usability issues
- Availability
4. Huawei Honor 7X
The Huawei Honor 7X as Digital Trends said in their review of this phone. Don’t ask how honor made a phone this fantastic. I had to include the best budget gaming phone for 2019 in this list. I could have also listed the Honor Play a newer Huawei phone that just got released though a bit more expensive.
If you can spend an extra $100 though that’s probably the way to go right now though. It’s everything the Redmi Note 5 has but better in most aspects first off.
Display: The phone is a bezel is on its sides and a 5.93-inch screen. It just looks like it was meant for 2018 it feels fantastic in your hands with an 18.9 aspect ratio and it has an extremely fast fingerprint sensor to seal the deal.
Storage and Camera: The phone also has a pretty good camera as well. So you can use it for more than just gaming. The phone can also have up to 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of ROM. It runs on Kieran’s 659 processor and has the ability to add a micro SD card to expand storage space.
Now for the price this best budget gaming phone is offered at it won’t be your ultimate gaming phone. You can’t really compare it to something like the Razer Phone 2. Which is three times the price but you will be able to run PUBG Mobile. Maybe even high settings at certain points without any frame drops. Ultra is unlikely so if you are wanting a true Ultra HD gameplay quality.
You’ll have to spend about $100 to get one of the top phones. I mentioned earlier or the phone in the number one position. I do not have a single complaint about it the Honor 7X is far better than any other device in its price range.
PROS
- Premium design
- Feature-packed cameras
- Great, 18:9 aspect ratio screen
- Comfortable to hold
- Battery life
CONS
- Micro USB
- Occasional stutter
5. Pocophone F1
You guys probably expected it’s the Pocophone F1. This phone arguably has more hype around it is than the Asus ROG Phone and that’s saying something made by Xiaomi. This is the only phone on this list that’s running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor the latest and greatest in the smartphone.
The phone has some top and bottom bezels so that move was sort of pointless on shammies part. We have to note the phone is a little dark in terms of brightness. You’re still getting the best budget gaming phone for a super low price want to know something incredible.
Storage: You can get this best budget gaming phone with up to 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage that’s awesome now. This phone does feel less premium let’s be clear as it has a plastic back but then again that also means it will do better than most glass phones. If it’s dropped it’s got a notch on the phone though it’s not really that useful.
Battery: This phone beats the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Google Pixel 2 in terms of performance. It’s even got a liquid cooling system that helps with any potential overheating of the device. It’s got a 4000 milliamp-hour battery and will soon have Android 9.0 OS.
Display: When released and the only big downsides are the brightness as I said and the camera quality. Even the speakers are for the most part pretty good in the end. The Pocophone F1 is doing everything rights for a fraction of the price.
PROS
- Excellent performance
- Fantastic battery life
- Good camera
- Great value for the price
- Thin, light, high-quality build
CONS
- No NFC, no waterproofing or dust resistance
- Thick bezels
- Plastic build
6. Honor 9 lite
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 7 Honor 9 lite](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Honor20920lite-1024x480.webp)
You are going to do the gaming performance test on the Honor 9 lite. So the Honor 9 lite comes up with really good specifications. This is yet another mid-range phone from Honor and the best budget gaming phone for 2019.
Display: This device comes up in a 5.65 inch Full HD + resolution display it’s an 18 issue 9 aspect ratio display quite similar to the above Honor 7X. The Honor 9 but has a smaller display now this device is powered by the high silicon Kirin 659 octa-core chipset. We have four cores cortex a53 crop the 2.3 gigahertz and four-course cortex a53 dropped at one point 70 Hertz.
Memory and Storage: This is coupled with my APA 30 MP – GPU and the way in which we have has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage. So there will be also a variant of 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage.
Gaming Experience: Now let’s get started in the gaming test so we will play three games as follow about Modern Combat 5 and NOVA 3. See how good the gaming experiences will also see the temperature rise on this device. After playing against for almost close to 20 to 25 minutes with these three games so before starting the gaming test.
Battery: Let’s have a look at the battery right now so you can see the battery is at 95%. Now we also test out the temperature right now. So let’s see the temperature on the rear panel so it’s around 35 degrees so closer to 36 degrees on the rear panel.
So that’s the temperature and on the display again it’s almost like 35 degrees. Let us start the gaming test and see how much of the temperature rise happens and how far the battery drain also happens on this device so let’s start off with a small day.
PROS
- Stunning design
- Excellent display
- Good battery life
- Good selfie cameras
CONS
- Low-light camera performance could be better
7. UMIDIGI Z2 PRO
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 8 UMIDIGI Z2 PRO](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/UMIDIGI20Z220PRO-1024x480.webp)
This is the UMIDIGI Z2 Pro phone with a large notch display nice design and great specs for the price as always stay tuned to learn all the pros and cons of this device.
The phone ships with a charger USB cable SIM ejector pin. It has a jack adapter any pretty standard soft TPU case design-wise. The UMIDIGI Z2 Pro packs all the trends of 2018 in one package.
Display: You get a display with a notch that I found to be a pretty nice and sharp glass backplate that makes the phone a bit slippery. A metal trims any dual-camera system on the back. The phone is well made and I found it to be really comfortable to hold in the hand due to the rounded edges on the back.
Camera: However, I found that the buttons rattle a little bit other key features included a dual-camera system on the front. Any hybrid dual SIM card tray face unlock feature works surprisingly well much better than on most of the best budget gaming phones.
PROS
- All their recent phones are already on Android 8.1
- UMiDigi phones offer fantastic specifications at low prices.
- The strong community behind them and listen to their customers.
- UMiDigi phones use quality materials and have excellent build quality.
- UMiDigi stock their phones directly in Amazon stores meaning you can benefit from fast delivery and an excellent returns policy.
CONS
- Accessories, Phone Covers & Spare batteries are harder to find.
- If you import your smartphone from overseas, claiming a warranty can be more difficult.
- You won’t get as many security and Android updates as you will from larger companies like Samsung, OnePlus, LG & Huawei.
8. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
The gaming performance of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5. I will be playing some graphics-intensive games like Asphalt 8 and NOVA 3. I will also see if it lags or has framerate drops and also be keeping my eye on the battery consumption memory management and temperatures.
For the first test I use the game called implosion which is pretty graphically intensive lags. This best budget gaming phone can handle Asphalt 8 with ease after ten minutes of continuous gaming the temperatures rose from idle 32 degrees to 37.7 which is pretty bearable and not too hot.
I also played Mortal Kombat which is graphically intensive. Mortal Kombat performed as expected with a little framerate drops here. It performed great now to check memory management.
Display: It is on the maximum setting here so the Mele T 880 can handle it. This fine because it’s only 1080p so it’s just a quick glimpse at that. So their end result will be 54 53 frames per second isn’t as high as some devices but it’s still. If you have for example a Quad HD screen that we even run in Quad HD.
Memory: It doesn’t bear considering this is only 160 us my spec at least which has 4 GB of RAM now the 3 GB version could be a little bit faster there.
PROS
- Brilliant Performance, Super Affordable, Loved the sturdy build quality, Great power management, Competent cameras
- Plenty of CPU and GPU power for the money, good call quality, long battery life, bright and high contrast display, Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11 ac WiFi, reasonable surface temperatures under load, a current version of Android, no throttling
- Solid build quality, Bezel-less display, Smooth performance, Attractive pricing
CONS
- No Quick Charge, Lack of USBC Type port
- Relatively high power consumption, strong blue tint to the display, the microphone is frequently too sensitive, the OS is sometimes restrictive for apps
9. Nubia Z11
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 10 Nubia Z11](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Nubia20Z11-1024x480.webp)
Nubia is the CTE spin-off company that has been making phones for quite some time now. I have been using that Mortal Kombat for the past couple of weeks.
I think it’s a solid budget phone that easily challenges the likes of Xiaomi and other top affordable smartphone makers. Mortal Kombat is the best budget gaming phone for 2019 and I think it brings a lot of value in the box. You get all the usual stuff including a fast charger.
We can play most of the 3d games on this best budget gaming phone without any issues lag no stutter. Whatsoever well you may see a few skipped frames but it’s just nitpicking. This is a budget phone after all finally the phone does not have any overheating issues.
Design: We don’t have a full-screen design here but the Nubia Z11 is just gorgeous to look at. It’s all-metal it has a really nice combination of black color with gold accents and nicely chamfered edges. The buttons are really nice too and the phone is really thin and comfortable to hold in the hand. The display is easily one of the best in this price range the AMOLED panel has deep black punchy colors and good contrast.
Camera: There are a lot of camera modes including a slow shutter slow motion and a pro mode that allows you to adjust quite a few image settings. I’m tired of saying the same thing all the time but since it’s wintertime. I could only test the camera on a cloudy and dark day. Still the overall daylight image quality is one of the best in this price range as the pictures are detailed and even the dynamic range is usually adjusted properly.
Battery: Nubia Z11 is compatible with VR headsets and 360 content battery life is just superb thanks. The combination of power-efficient chipset relatively large battery pack an AMOLED display. Your mileage may vary but I was able to get over 13 hours of screen-on time. Which is more than enough for at least a couple of days of moderate usage finally like that. You can quickly fill up the battery with a supplied charger in just about 1 hour and 20 minutes overall.
PROS
- Gorgeous design
- Long battery life
- Build Quality
- Cool gesture controls using the bezel-less screen
CONS
- Usability issues
- Availability
- Very expensive
10. iPhone 5s
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 11 iPhone 5s](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/20iPhone205s-1024x480.webp)
A lot has changed ever since this guy came out (iPhone 5s) screens got bigger and bezels got smaller. It performs and should you get one or should you even be using one. The iPhone 5s is totally worth and best budget gaming phone for 2019.
It especially when playing games. I’ve noticed the gaming experience is not that bad comparing. How all this phone is and how affordable it is nowadays it overall does a great job although in some games.
I have noticed graphics are a little compromised to keep up with performance. The iPhone 5s does heat up a little bit but that’s normal. When playing high intensive games other than that looking at the home screen scrolling around. You won’t really find a big difference from iOS 10 to hours unless.
Battery: I personally had problems with my iPhone 5s suddenly powering off. Even when the battery was 20 to 30%. Now you are able to get the performance back and remove the software limitations by replacing your battery. It’s actually fairly cheap and easy and you can do it yourself at home. If you absolutely want the performance back now using third-party apps and serving our content. It does take a little bit longer to load.
Storage: If you’re interested in the 5s to go for bigger storage than the bass one. It will ask you a lot longer also speaking terms of storage after upgrading to iOS 11. I did get some storage back since iOS 11 is a little smaller and a little more optimized. That optimization does make the iPhone 5s still usable in 2018. It’s running on a 64-bit system with the Apple A7 chip and surprisingly enough this thing came out with iOS 7 and look at it.
![Top 10 BEST BUDGET Gaming Phone 2022 [UPDATED] 12 iPhone 5s](https://bestconsumerrewards.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/iPhone-5s.webp)
So there we have it there was my brief comprehensive guide on the top 10 best budget gaming phones for 2020.
PROS
- The fingerprint scanner is intuitive/more convenient than a passcode
- Big performance boost vs. iPhone 5
- work app suite for free
- A7 processor
- Universal 4G support
- IOS 7 makes it a cleaner user experience
- Powerful core
- Excellent camera
CONS
- Lacks NFC
- ICloud still a mess
- No screen tech change