5 Best Budget Smartphones under $300 [Buyer’s Guide-2022]

Buying a smartphone but can not decide which one to choose? buying a perfect smartphone can be a tricky task because there are such a lot of choices and so many suggestions. In this article, you will see only those smartphone which worth buying and are the best smartphones under 300 dollars.
There are many factors that make smartphones good or bad for you. Like Performance, Battery life, Build quality and a lot of. Some smartphones are good at one point whereas some are all-rounders. I have done research and picked up all Benchmarks, tests, and Reviews Score from all over the internet and prepared this list.
 

5 Best Smartphones under 300 Dollars

 

1. Moto G6 Plus – Best All Rounder

The most reasonable device in this list is also one of the best-looking devices. The device’s back is of glass and also the frame is of plastic. The fingerprint sensor is on the front side with a Motorola logo above it that also make the bezels unequal. Overall the design is nice and build is also ok.
The display is a 5.9 inch also with an FHD+ 1080 x 2160 resolution. The display is nice and provides sharp and punchy colors. The brightness is also good enough under daylight.
Moto G6 Plus supports a Snapdragon 630 Octa-core CPU. Leaving the synthetic benchmarks aside, the real-life performance is nice enough and you are not going to notice any hiccups or slowdowns in apps. However, High intense games like PUBG can run on low settings and still they are simply playable.
The Moto G6 Plus android is Stock as always. There are some Moto apps for Moto Mods and Gesture.
However, In recent years, Motorola got a nasty reputation of late Android updates for its Moto G series. Moto G5 recently received oreo in Pie era.
G6 Plus is equipped with a 12 MP rear sensor and a 5 MP secondary unit. The camera gives good color with good Dynamic range. Low light shots also are good however noise reduction algorithm eats some details that make the image flatter. Shutter lag makes the camera slow.
Video recording is also smart with good color and decent dynamic range. The noise is pretty low however the audio quality is poor.
Moto G6 and includes a 3,200mAh battery that is medium enough in size. Turbocharging is there and it will charge the 20th battery under 15 minutes. Battery backup is sweet for moderate users and it will last for one day.

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2. Pocophone F1 - Best Performance

The design is good and builds quality is nice. Xiaomi decided to cut lots of fancy element to maintain the worth under $300-400 and that is why there is no glass back, chrome finish or other refinements. The back is of polycarbonate however the smartphone build is powerful.
The Pocophone F1 features a 5.99-inch display.
Pocophone F1 beats the double priced smartphone here. The Snapdragon 845 with 6 or 8 gigabytes of RAM give a monstrous performance. The UI is snappy and therefore the overall smoothness easily matches the pixel or Oneplus.
Pocophone is a Xiaomi smartphone which means it comes with MIUI. However, MIUI on Poco is a little different. The launcher now has an App drawer similar to star launcher.
There are several MI apps like File manager, music, video player and different MI cloud services.
The runner-up of MKBHD’s blind camera test, Pocophone F1 rocks a superb camera in the price range. The 12MP main sensor with a 5MP secondary sensor offers sensible details, dynamic range, and color on well-lit conditions. However, it struggles in low lightweight.
The 4000mAh battery is over enough. For a medium to the heavy user, the battery can last for one day.

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3. Redmi Note 6 Pro

Redmi Note 6 Pro follows the traditional Redmi design however with few adjustments. The plastic strips on top and bottom are currently on the sides too and it actually looks good. The back is of aluminum also with a vertical Camera set up.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro includes a 6.26-inch IPS LCD unit of 1,080 x 2,280 pixels. Comparing to Note 5 Pro, the display now includes a notch and the quality is improved just a bit.
When Snapdragon 636 was released, it absolutely was a performance beast in the department. Currently, it is a common CPU in all budget devices.
Snapdragon 636 that contains 8 Kyro cores. The Performance is great and this phone will handle any graphics intensive game. The Antutu benchmark score is around 112000 that is incredibly close to Snapdragon 820.
Xiaomi took a large step in camera department last year with Redmi Note 5. The improved image process and a very good bokeh effect, Redmi Note 6 Pro offers a decent camera in a budget.
Daylight performance is absolutely good with lifelike colors, good dynamic range, and details. Coming to Low light, the pictures captured contain details with reduced noise. The Portrait mode is also great, in fact, best in the budget department.
This phone ships with MIUI, an Android skin made by Xiaomi. It feels very polished however it is not for Stock android lovers.
MIUI is a heavily customized skin with a flower-ish kind of theme. The UI is quite a near iOS. there is a large variety of apps given by Xiaomi like file manager, a security app, mail, MI cloud service and lots of more.
One big drawback of MIUI is Ads. There are Ads on MI apps and it affects the user expertise lots.
A 4000mAh battery with smart battery backup. An average user will expect two-day use.

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4. Honor 8X - Best Build Quality and Design

Honor 8X contains a Glass sandwich design with a metal frame. it is one of the best-looking smartphones below $300. the most effective thing is the unique design Huawei gave to 8X. there's a two-textured back glass with tilted angles of reflections and front have a bezel-less display with a notch.
The build is also strong due to the metal frame.
Honor 8X is really massive, while the front is almost all display, the phone sizes at around 160 cm long. The display could be a 6.5 inch 1,080 x 2,340 LCD display with 19.5:9 ratio.
The display includes a blue tint which can be simply fixed by choosing normal colors in Settings. Overall, the display produces nice and vivid pictures.
Honor 8X is powered by homemade Kirin 710. The CPU outperforms snapdragon 660 in synthetic benchmarks and in real life, it is the same. opening and closing the apps is quick and gaming performance is nice too. The GPU is a bit weak compared to the competition however it will play PUBG and Fortnite on Low settings.
The camera app UI is a mess however with plenty of features to play with, although many of them are useless. just like the AI that over saturate the images and make them cartoonish. images taken with Honor 8X are good in dynamic range and smart in colors, however, it misses the details lots. The low light performance is bad and Night mode works, however, eats all details.
Honor devises ships with EMUI that is an Android skin by Huawei. The icons and UI is flowery and sounds like iOS. there's no app drawer by default but you'll be able to enable it in settings.
There are some extra apps that Chinese OEM always provides. Overall, the OS is full of features however lacks the cleanness and purity of Stock Android.
The winner in the battery department, Honor 8X’s fuel tank is 3750mAh but provides a backup of two days for the average user and up to three days for some users.

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5. Nokia 6.1

Nokia has always been a winner in design and builds department and its identical case here. The phone is made of aluminum and feels durable in hands. The build is powerful enough to resist some force.
The display could be a 1080 x 1920 pixels LCD with 16:9 ratio. The display is the plus purpose of Nokia 6.1. It is bright and it provides natural colors. The display is visible beneath the sunlight. The only drawback is the 16:9 ratio.
Nokia 6.1 has a Snapdragon 630 with 3 or 4 GB of RAM. The performance is very snappy and there's no lag anywhere. Games run well too and heavy games like PUBG automatically play at low settings and are quite sleek to play.
The credits are given to the Stock Android.
The camera is that the one major bad thing concerning Nokia 6.1. It's between average and below average. There's no dual camera setup whereas the competition is already giving it. Low light performance is worst and also the image processing over-do things.
Nokia smartphones are now below android One program, that means all Nokia devices are one of the first to get android Updates and Updates are handled by Google.
Android One brings pure Stock Android to all or any budget devices. Stock android is very sleek to use, with minimal interface and animations.

Nokia 6.1 includes a 3000 mAH Battery that although looks small, it provides a full day backup for the average user. Again, thanks to the Stock android and optimization that make this possible.

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Verdict

Best Performance:

Pocophone F1 has a flower 845 that is used in all android flagships, therefore, it’s a clear winner here. However as a result of Pocophone F1 doesn't support LTE bands in western countries, Honor 8X is the best performance smartphone under $300.

• If you live in Asia or wherever Pocohpne F1 supports LTE bands then choose it.
• If you're from the USA then choose Honor 8X.

Best Camera:

Pocophone F1 again wins and it's the most effective camera smartphone under $300. For Western countries, Moto G6 Plus is that the safest bet.

Best Build Quality and Design:

Honor 8X is the best-looking smartphone under $300. With a Glass Sandwich design and also the design is original too that make Honor 8X the winner.
The runner up is Moto G6 Plus. It also includes a Glass back with a camera setup that sounds like a hushed emoji. The front has a Moto logo that disturbs the symmetry.
Nokia 6.1 or Nokia 6 (2018) is that the strongest device in the list and it also appears good. The body is made of aluminum that makes it powerful compared to fragile glass. If the glass isn't your thing then choose Nokia 6.1.

Best All Rounder

Therefore that smartphone is all arounder and best smartphone under $300?
It comes down to three phones

• Pocophone F1
• Moto G6 plus
• Honor 8X

Pocophone F1 isn't only a good smartphone for $300, however, it beats the higher priced smartphone too and actually offers lots for the price tag.
Moto G6 and is also smart with good design, software, camera, and features.
If you'll ignore all those security warnings towards Huawei, then Honor 8X beats the Moto G6 Plus here. The only downside is that the software (EMUI) and Huawei also no longer support unlocking the bootloader. Huawei releases lots of smartphones and if you extend the budget a bit more, Honor Play is a better option.

Choose:-

Pocophone F1: if you want the most effective Performance and camera. A most suitable option for Asia and European countries.
Moto G6 Plus: if you wish a decent looking smartphone with balanced features.
Honor 8X: For a premium design and smart performance. sensible customer service in the USA.