The best budget camera phones offer impressive image quality, shooting versatility and high-level performance – without the premium price. There are plenty of bad cheap phones out there, but there are also some excellent ones, and I've put together this guide to help you tell the difference.
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I've assembled this list of the budget phones I think provide real value. My top choice is the Google Pixel 8a, a stunning phone with next-gen capabilities that tucks beneath the $/£499 mark. However, I've also drawn on our reviewing team's experience to provide more top contenders, considering factors like image quality, low-light performance, zoom, battery life and video.
I've included some advice on how to choose your phone at the bottom of this page. If you've got a bit more budget, check out our guide to the best camera phones overall, as well as our picks of the best iPhones for photography.
Beth Nicholls
Beth is Creative Bloq’s Ecommerce Writer and has the fun job of finding you the very best prices and deals on creative tech. She's also a keen photographer who shoots regularly on smartphones.
This is our pick of the best budget camera phone overall, it's not the cheapest – but the image quality and features are sublime and it benefits from current-gen features. An excellent buy. Read more below
One of the most affordable phones we've tested, the Infinix GT 10 Pro impresses with its gaming-friendly spec, a decent set of cameras and intuitive built-in photo and video editing apps for post-shoot work. Read more below
This former flagship has come down significantly in price, and now makes for a brilliant mid-range choice in the budget camera phone arena with a beefy quad-camera wide-to-telephoto setup. Read more below
If you can't bear toting anything other than an iPhone, don't worry – Apple's iPhone SE from 2022 is a great buy with a decent camera, and the price has come down enough that it fits with our budget picks. Read more below
The nubia Z60S Pro is a compelling mid-range smartphone with an impressive camera system, featuring a 50MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide, 8MP ultrawide, and a 16MP selfie camera. Our reviewer was especially impressed with its macro performance. Read more below
Best for battery
6. Honor 90
With long-lasting battery and fast charging capabilities, this mid-range camera phone will last you a day's shoot and then some. Its camera array is unspectacular, but gets the job done pretty nicely. Read more below
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✅ You want a known brand: This is the cheapest recent phone from one of the big players. ✅ You want AI features: While it isn't as AI-stacked as the Pixel 9 series, the Pixel 8a benefits from Google Gemini.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want long battery life: The Pixel 8a isn't the most long-lasting phone, and it lacks fast charging.
The bottom line
🔎 Google Pixel 8a is some of the best value you can get from an Android phone right now, with great cameras. ★★★★½
While we're still finishing up our full review of the Google Pixel 8a, I feel comfortable recommending it as the best budget camera phone you can buy right now. Its low price, strong feature-set and broad worldwide availability are going to make it the best fit for most people. I already was a fan of the Google Pixel 7a (until recently, the occupant of this very spot) and the Google Pixel 8a has improved upon it in a number of ways without adding too much in terms of cost.
The rear camera setup impresses. It's a dual-camera module, a wide and an ultra-wide, as is pretty standard at this price – generally if you want a telephoto module, you can expect to pay a bit more. The best pictures come of course from the 64MP wide main camera, but the 13MP ultrawide puts in a good shift, and in both cases you get the magic of Google's Gemini AI to give your images a little tune-up. You don't have to truck with this stuff if you don't want to (Google desperately wants you to want to) but even if you ignore the more egregious generative Magic Editor stuff, there are some useful tools here.
The Pixel 8a gets plenty of power out of its Tensor G3 chip – it's naturally not as speedy as the Tensor G4 in the Pixel 9 Pro, and it does tend to run hot, but that's why the Pixel 8a is fully half the price of the newer flagship. The only real ding against the Pixel 8a is the fact that its 4,400 mAh battery is not the most long-lasting (it'll generally do a day) and charging can be slow.
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Google Pixel 8a scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Cameras
Solid dual-camera setup.
★★★★½
Performance
Last-gen chip still works well.
★★★★½
Battery
Fine, but charges slow.
★★★½
Price
Fantastic value.
★★★★★
Our expert says
Our expert says
Beth Nicholls
"The Google Pixel 8a is going to be the best budget camera phone for most people. Great performance at an impressively low price – what more do you need?"
✅ You're on a very tight budget: This is the cheapest phone on our list and offers incredible value. ✅ You want a macro camera: Though it's only 2MP, the dedicated macro lens is great for close-ups.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want high-level camera performance: The images and videos produced by the phone are good rather than excellent.
The bottom line
🔎 Infinix GT 10 Pro is an ultra-cheap camera phone that gets the job done in solid if unspectacular style. ★★★★½
At first glance, the pricing of the Infinix GT 10 Pro looks like a mistake. It costs between $230 and $270 in the US and between £250 and £280 in the UK, which seems like it shouldn't get you anything decent at all. But the Infinix GT Pro is more than decent – it's pretty darn good, and scored well enough in our review that I feel comfortable recommending it alongside phones that cost between $400 and $500.
It's designed foremost as a gaming phone, so its display is bright and snappy and its speed of operation impresses. The camera setup is fairly standard for a phone of its type – a triple array with a 108MP main camera, a 2MP depth camera and a dedicated 2MP camera, the latter of which is particularly welcome. So many phones omit putting on even a basic macro lens, and it makes close-up photos so much richer and sharper.
The 108MP main camera is a bit oversold – there's heavy use of pixel binning, and the actual shots you get won't have anywhere near that pixel count (not that anyone particularly needs it). However, they do look punchy and vibrant, and thanks to the impressive suite of on-board editing tools, you can easily tweak them to look even better. The phone does well for video too, and also includes a similarly intuitive video editor that makes it easy to cut and assemble your clips. You can even use the ready-made 'mini-movie' formats to quickly create a finished video using a template by slotting in your clips.
"While the camera quality may not quite match its lofty megapixel figures, the GT 10 Pro is a large-screen phone that packs a surprising punch for a sub-£300 device."
✅ You want a name brand flagship: This has all the Samsung smoothness you could want. ✅ You want a flexible camera system: The quad-camera array handles itself from ultra-wide to telephoto.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want AI features: This pre-dates the big generative AI boom in smartphones.
The bottom line
🔎 Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a flagship from a few years ago that is now heavily discounted – and takes brilliant pictures. ★★★★½
On release back in 2022, then then-flagship Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra would have set you back, at minimum, $1,199 or £1,149, with prices climbing as high as $1,599 or £1,499 for the version with more storage. Nowadays, you can get it for as little as $740 in the US or an amazing £470 in the UK, an astounding saving on what was a flagship phone not even that long ago. Does 2022 really feel like some kind of historic, long-dead era where camera phones were little better than rocks? Of course not!
With is quad-camera array that includes a powerful telephoto zoom, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra impressed us at the time, and impresses us still. While the 100x zoom was and is a marketing gimmick, the zoom functionality works pretty well without it, and we were able to get decent shots of distant wildlife, which for a phone feels nothing short of miraculous. The wide main camera is brilliant for day-to-day shooting, producing punchy images that feel wonderfully vibrant. As it's an older phone, it's not stuffed with generative AI features, but plenty of users won't be bothered about that. Indeed, I suspect a few of you might prefer it.
This is a strong, versatile phone all-around – I haven't even mentioned that it shoots 8K video (though you can practically see the battery drain in real time while it does so). If you want a cheaper phone but don't want to run the risk of software jank from a lesser-known manufacturer, an older flagship like the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best choice – one I can wholeheartedly recommend.
"The real strength of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera array is versatility, as it’s just as great for wide snaps as it is for super zoomed-in ones."
✅ You're an iPhone devotee: If you just can't bear the idea of switching to Android, fear not – this is a solid budget iPhone. ✅ You want a smaller phone: Apple has packed a lot of tech into a very small handset.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want a multi-lens camera array: While the 12MP wide camera produces great pictures, it's all you're getting.
The bottom line
🔎 iPhone SE (2022) is an impressive little iPhone, with a camera setup that's basic but capable, and prices have come down since launch. ★★★★
Apple's iPhone SE has always been a great value camera phone, and price reductions in the years since its release have seen its price come down to very tempting numbers indeed. It combines good performance with water resistance and wireless charging – all flagship features. The design looks very familiar to older iPhones, but we found performance to be on-point when we reviewed it.
The camera only has one lens on the back, but the single 12MP snapper can grab high-resolution, portrait mode photos and even shoots 4K video. You don't get all of the features of the main line iPhones, like Night mode or Dolby Vision HDR and Cinematic Mode for video, but you do get the vital tools that make the pictures better, including Portrait Mode for people.
Photos don't have the vibrant colours and dynamic range of as those on the iPhone 14 Pro and subsequent models, but they do have a lot of detail. Add to that the price, which has come down since launch and Apple’s beating many Android smartphones at the game they normally dominate: value for money.
"The iPhone SE's small size will be exactly what some people want, and its strong camera and processor make it great for lots of creative tasks on the go."
The best budget camera phone for macro photography
✅ You want to capture close-up shots: The nubia Z60S Pro excels particularly at close-ups thanks to its dedicated macro camera. ✅ You want a bright, snappy display: The 6.78-inch AMOLED here particularly impressed our reviewer.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want a small phone: It's a big boy, and the camera notch only makes it bigger.
The bottom line
🔎 nubia Z60S Pro is a hidden gem of a camera phone with an impressive photography array – particularly for close-ups. ★★★★½
The nubia Z60S Pro is a compelling mid-range smartphone with several standout features, including a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The phone boasts an impressive camera system, featuring a 50MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide, 8MP ultrawide, and a 16MP selfie camera, and our reviewer was impressed with its overall performance.
If you're interested in macro photography, the nubia Z60S Pro appears to be particularly well-suited for this purpose. Its dedicated macro lens was our reviewer's favourite, and he praising its execution in practice. Overall, the camera system was feature-rich and crisp, and for the price, its capabilities came suprisingly close to more expensive flagship models.
Note that this phone is quite bulky and sturdy at 220g, which you might see as a good or bad thing depending on personal preference. Its 6.78-inch AMOLED display offers a resolution of 1260 x 2800 pixels and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. special touches, such as a customizable hardware switch and range of camera modes, add to its appeal and overall the nubia Z60S Pro offers great value for its features.
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nubia Z60S Pro scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Cameras
Superb quality.
★★★★★
Performance
Beats out mainstream rivals.
★★★★½
Battery
Does the job
★★★★
Price
Pretty tempting.
★★★★½
Our expert says
Our expert says
Erlingur Einarsson
"The camera takes bright, sharp photos with lots and lots (and lots) of features and editing options on board."
✅ You want plenty of battery life: The 5000 mAh battery loaded into this phone lasts well and charges very quickly. ✅ You want a big, premium-looking display: The screen on this phone is particularly impressive.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want a telephoto module: There's no long lens on the camera array.
The bottom line
🔎 Honor 90 is a mid-range phone that delivers plenty of photographic prowess and a generously long-lasting battery. ★★★★
Sitting around the middle of the Honor range, the Honor 90 is a capable camera phone available for a reasonable price. Does it set the world alight? No, I wouldn't say so. Does it take pretty decent pictures in a range of situations, offering good value for how much they're asking for it? Most definitely!
I've included it on this list as your best option for battery life, as the Honor 90 does very well indeed out of its 5,000 mAh battery unit. You'll comfortably get at least a day out of it with all but the heaviest use, and if you do find yourself falling short, you can juice it up extremely quickly thanks to the fast-charging capability (though note that there's no wireless charging – a pretty standard concession for a phone at this price).
Camera-wise, you get a pretty standard triple array, though Honor did see fit to make the main wide camera a 200MP unit. How useful this actually is beyond being a good line for marketing copy is debatable to say the least, but regardless, the Honor 90 consistently produces solid, vibrant images and videos (up to 4K 30p). It also has a depth camera for portraiture and shallow depth of field, as well as an ultra-wide for getting more into the frame.
With a beautiful display, solid performance and a decent camera-set, this is a budget-friendly phone that I would recommend to plenty of users – especially those who need to last long periods without a charge.
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Honor 90 scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Cameras
A solid triple array.
★★★★
Performance
Does well in most situations.
★★★★½
Battery
Long-lasting, fast-charging.
★★★★★
Price
Good value for money.
★★★★½
Our expert says
Our expert says
Beth Nicholls
"This is a solid mid-range budget camera phone, particularly for its generous battery life."
You've got three important things to consider in buying a budget camera phone. What do you wish to spend? What do you need from the camera? And what do you need from the rest of the phone?
So ask yourself how much money you've got to play with, and find a device that fits within this flexibility. What features do you need beyond the cameras itself? A camera phone is for daily life too, not just for the photoshoot, so think about what's important.
Do you need a large battery capacity? A big screen? Fast charging? A powerful chipset for gaming? Think about your lifestyle to determine which smartphone is best for you. The information included in each of the listings above caters to all these factors to help you make an informed choice.
How we test budget camera phones
At Creative Bloq, we test camera phones using benchmarks to measure battery life, response rate, general use – and the camera, of course. We put an unbiased reviewer (preferably a photographer) on the case to find genuine reasons why we think a camera phone might not be the best fit for creatives or up to scratch when compared with competition.
Where we haven't had a chance to review the model ourselves, we've consulted others in the business, including our sister sites such as Digital Camera World and TechRadar to pick their brains. Our writers are professional photographers and keen enthusiasts, with a good understanding of what consumers are looking for in a modern camera phone.
You can spend pretty much any amount of money on a camera phone if you look hard enough, but in general we'd say you're looking at a minimum or around $300-$400 for something decent. We do have one phone cheaper than this on our list, but the majority go for around $400, with some variance either side. In some cases, where we've included major brands like Apple and Samsung, prices go up to about $700, which is still pretty good value for a fully featured camera phone.
Which mid-price phone has a good camera?
Our mid-price pick for this list is the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, a former flagship that has come down to the mid-price point and still offers fantastic quality. If it's too expensive for you, the Honor 90 is a solid mid-range phone that can generally be bought a little cheaper and has a 200MP main camera.
Beth is Creative Bloq’s Ecommerce Writer and has the fun job of finding you the very best prices and deals on creative tech. Beth kicked off her journalistic career writing for Digital Camera World, and has since earned bylines on TechRadar too. With a Masters degree in Photography, Beth loves getting to tinker with new cameras, especially camera phones, as the resident Samsung fan on the team. Her background working as a tester for CeX let her play around with all kinds of weird and wonderful products, including robots, and she’s recently gotten into 3D printing too. Outside of CB, you’ll find her gaming on her PS5, photographing local shows under the alias Bethshootsbands, and making TikToks of her dog, Tilly.
