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 too, with and without AI features. I've put together this guide to help you buy with confidence
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✅ We are solely focused on what creatives need ✅ Benchmark tests based on real workflows ✅ We consult actual photographers and creative pros ✅ Budget smartphones tested and rated
I've assembled this list of the best budget camera phones that I think provide real value to creatives. My top choice is the Google Pixel 8a, a stunning phone with next-gen capabilities that sits beneath the $/£499 mark. I've also considered factors like image quality, low-light performance, zoom, battery life, video, and overall value for money when comparing the more affordable phones we've tested.
Additionally, I've included some advice on how to choose your new smartphone at the bottom of this page. If you've got a more flexible 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 with a Master's degree in the subject, shooting regularly with smartphones.
This is our pick of the best budget camera phone overall, it's not the cheapest on this list – but the next-gen image quality and AI features are sublime. It's a truly excellent buy for creatives on a budget. 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 Honor Magic 7 Lite is a premium-tier smartphone in a super affordable package. At only £399, you get a phone that's near-indestructible, with impressive AI features, an amazing camera phone, and a sleek design. Read more below
POCO is a mid-range smartphone line that not many are familiar with, as a sub-brand of Xiaomi. These phones are impressively packaged, with superb battery life, performance power suitable for gaming, and a great camera unit all for $299 / £300. Read more below
The Nothing phone 2a is one of the most modern-looking and futuristic budget camera phones that you'll ever see. We love the design, but the inside of the phone is just as impressive as the outside. Read more below
Scratch that, the Doogee S200 is another one of the most sci-fi-looking phones on the planet. The best part? It has an AMOLED display on the back of the phone, which you can customise with widgets, watch faces, and text. 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
✅ 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
The Google Pixel 8a is the best budget camera phone you can buy right now. Its low price, strong feature set and broad worldwide availability make it the best fit for most creatives. I was already a fan of the Google Pixel 7a (which until recently, was the occupant of this very spot), and now the Google Pixel 8a has taken the best parts of its predecessor without adding too much in terms of cost.
The rear camera setup is impressive, though you only get a dual-camera module, comprising a wide and an ultra-wide lens, which is pretty standard at this price – generally, if you want a telephoto module as well you can expect to pay a bit more. The main 64MP wide camera produces the best images, but the 13MP ultrawide also puts in a good shift, and in both cases, you get the magic of Google's Gemini AI to give your images a quality tune-up.
You don't have to get on board with this AI stuff if you don't want to (though Google desperately wants you to want to) but even if you ignore the more egregious generative Magic Editor stuff, there are some very 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 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 quite slow. Other than those nit-picks, it's a winner!
✅ 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 S23 Ultra is a flagship from a few years ago that is now heavily discounted – and takes brilliant pictures. ★★★★½
Released back in 2023, the then-flagship Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra would have set you back, at minimum, $1,119.99/£1,249, with prices climbing as high as $1,599 or £1,499 for the model with more storage. Nowadays, you can get it for as little as $580 in the US, or approximately £600 in the UK, an astounding saving on what was originally a premium flagship not that long ago. Does 2023 really feel like some kind of historic, long-dead era where camera phones were a little better than rocks? Of course not!
With its quad-camera array that includes a powerful telephoto zoom, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra impressed us at the time, and still impresses us now. While the Space Zoom was and is a marketing gimmick, the 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 a slightly older phone now, it's not stuffed with all of the new generative Galaxy 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 S23 Ultra is the best choice – one I can wholeheartedly recommend.
"The real strength of the Samsung Galaxy S23 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 phone for portraits thanks to AI assistance
Specifications
Display: 6.78-inch AMOLED
Rear camera: 108MP Main Camera (f/1.75),OIS + 5MP Wide Camera (f/2.2)
Selfie camera: 16MP (F/2.45)
Video: 4K at 30fps
Available in: UK & Europe only
Reasons to buy
+
Premium feel despite budget price
+
Excellent camera for portraits
+
Near-indestructible
Reasons to avoid
-
No telephoto lens
Buy it if
✅ You want a phone that can take a beating: The Honor Magic 7 lite is ultra durable, and can resist drops, scratches, snow, and hammers. ✅ You want an affordable phone that doesn't compromise on the camera: The 108MP camera on the Magic 7 Lite is superb and takes crisp photos.
Don't buy it if
❌ You want a telephoto lens: The Honor Magic 7 lite only has a dual rear camera, so if you're a fan of zoom you might want to look elsewhere.
The bottom line
🔎 Honor Magic 7 lite is a top choice for content creators on a budget, never miss a moment with auto capture and tweak your photos with AI tools for editing ★★★★
Honor's Magic 7 Lite is one of the best budget camera phones that you can buy right now, and if it weren't for the fact that Honor phones aren't widely accessible in the US then I think this phone could even be top of our list. It sports a 108MP motion-sensing camera with a 5MP ultra-wide-angle lens and can capture pretty sharp shots.
The Magic 7 Lite has powerful tools for editing your photos after capture, and I love that AI photo modes can be toggled on and off as you please. There's also the option to shoot moving images, and multi-video recording, and one of my fave features is the ultra-clear AI Night Mode. It also has OIS stabilisation, and auto-capture features that can detect smiles, jumps, and action shots so you never miss a moment.
I spent a few weeks with the Honor Magic 7 Lite back in January and received a very specific set of instructions from Honor on how to test out this budget smartphone. It involved tasks such as dropping the phone from a height of 2 meters, scratching up the screen, leaving it in cold temperatures (I buried it in the snow for 2 hours) and using it as a utensil for cooking and food prep.
The Magic 7 Lite is a great all around phone, and has a ton of top features that really set it apart at this price point - only £399. For example, it's drop-resistant to military-grade standards, has a 3-day battery life, an OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, a slim titanium design, and impressive AI performance.
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Honor Magic 7 Lite scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Cameras
Two excellent options for this price
★★★★½
Performance
Superb performance with Honor AI
★★★★
Battery
This thing can last days without a charge
★★★★★
Price
Less than 1/3 of the cost of flagship smartphones
★★★★½
Our expert says
Our expert says
Beth Nicholls
"Honor asked me to put this phone through a Not So Fragile challenge during my time testing it, and I had so much fun while discovering that this phone is indestructible"
✅ You need a budget phone with good battery life: The Poco X7 Pro has a meaty 6,000mAh battery life, which can last for long periods. ✅ You're into mobile gaming: The fast performance of the Poco makes it an excellent choice for gamers, with a Dimensity 8400 Ultra chip.
Don't buy it if
❌ You're not a fan of AI: The Poco is one of the few budget phones equipped with on-device AI, which won't appeal to those who prefer simplicity.
The bottom line
🔎 Poco X7 Pro proves that phones with great performance don't need to cost the earth, and has everything you need in one package ★★★★
One of the most affordable AI smartphones you can get right now is the Poco X7 Pro, at a price of only $299 / £309 (though you can get it even cheaper than this during promotional sales periods). The entry-level configuration comes equipped with 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage which is plenty for most people.
I got hands-on with this camera phone during an event in London earlier this year, and I was very impressed with the ambitious performance of this phone for the ridiculously low price that you can get it for. The Poco X7 Pro model also launched with a standard Poco X7 sibling, which is a more stripped-back (yet still powerful) device at an even lower price of £249 / $229, which when on sale falls to only $199 (yes, really).
Talking camera phones, the Poco X7 Pro comes with a 50MP f/1.5 main camera, and an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, with a generous 20MP f/2.2 front camera for selfies. While this isn't the best camera phone that I've ever used, and is probably better branded as a gaming phone - at this price, I can't exclude it from this guide.
Not a lot of people are familiar with the name Poco, which is a sub-brand of the more popular manufacturer, Xiaomi, and also responsible for the brand Redmi. I think if more consumers were aware of Poco's existence, this smartphone brand would be game-changing for its high-quality devices at such a cost-effective price.
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Poco X7 Pro scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Cameras
Good but not great, though AI editing redeems it
★★★
Performance
Top-tier, great for gaming
★★★★
Battery
Phenomenal battery
★★★★★
Price
Unbelievably cheap
★★★★★
Our expert says
Our expert says
Beth Nicholls
"This phone is unbelievably affordable, and you get so much value for money thanks to its speedy and capable performance, and AI-boosted power making it great for creatives on a budget"
✅ You're seeking something a little different: Nothing phones are renowned for having a unique design, and some serious personality. ✅ You like an interface with a twist: Nothing's apps and interface has specific widgets in a dot matrix style, as well as AI wallpaper options.
Don't buy it if
❌ You need a powerful phone for creative work: This phone isn't the most power-intensive and you may struggle with more complex tasks like digital art
The bottom line
🔎 Nothing phone 2a is a phone designed for designers, with a fresh take on the interface and apps without compromising on performance at a great price ★★★★
The Nothing Phone 2a is another underdog handset that you may not have heard of, but the brand has been steadily evolving over the years and we love its innovative approach to tech and design above all else. While Nothing does have some flagship contenders, the 2a is a more budget-friendly model with very capable specs and a great camera phone all for a price of $350 / £319.
With that said, the price of this phone might be tempting but be wary that it does struggle with more complex uses, like digital art. During testing, our reviewer found that the phone performed flawlessly running games like Marvel Snap on its highest graphics settings, with no noticeable lag, although art apps like ArtRage Vitae and Sketchbook were less impressive and visibly laggy.
The phone runs Android 14, and comes equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro processor making it great for general use. Nothing has improved the battery life (5,000 mAh) dramatically with this model, improving charging speeds and durability compared with the Nothing Phone 1 and Nothing Phone 2. In terms of camera phones, you get a 50MP main camera, and a 32MP selfie camera, which is pretty rare for this kind of mid-range smartphone.
if you're looking for a Nothing Phone with a great camera, I recently pitted the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro against my Samsung S24 Ultra in a camera phone shootout, and the results were seriously close. We also have a review of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus model if you like your budget handsets a little bit bigger.
Rear camera: 100 MP AI + 2MP Macro + 20MP infrared night vision
Selfie camera: 20MP (wide)
Video: 4K 1080P
Reasons to buy
+
Incredible design with rear display
+
Underwater camera + night vision camera
+
Can withstand pretty much anything
Reasons to avoid
-
Super bulky and heavy, feels like carrying around a brick
Buy it if
✅ You need a phone that can take some damage: The Doogee S200 is military-grade certified to withstand almost anything, and can be fully submerged in water. ✅ You like cool camera phones with night vision: Doogee phones usually have a trick up their sleeve, and the S200 has an impressive night vision camera.
Don't buy it if
❌ You don't want a heavy phone: The Doogee S200 is bulky and rugged, but it's seriously heavy too, weighing in at approximately 396g.
The bottom line
🔎 Doogee S200 is an amazing phone for those who need it, like if you have an industrial job, work in risky environments, or love the outdoors and camping ★★★★
The Doogee S200 is a seriously unique budget camera phone. Technically, it falls more into the category of a rugged phone, since it's aimed at a very specific market of consumers who work in industrial careers, and need a phone that can withstand the elements, outdoors, and hefty drops. The price? Only $412 / £326.
I've spent years testing Doogee phones for our sister site, Digital Camera World, and these handsets are not only super affordable but appeal to photographers too since they're usually equipped with unique camera features. In this case, the Doogee S200 has a super impressive 20MP night vision camera (I've used this before to photograph foxes while walking my dog), as well as a worry-free underwater camera since the phone can be fully submerged without damage.
The coolest part about this phone in my opinion is its rear AMOLED display which can function as a digital watch, display widgets, or show customised text for whenever you need a quick reminder or a motivational affirmation to look at. It's a very pretty phone, and every time I take this thing out in public I hear "What kind of phone is that?".
As a budget camera phone, Doogee phones are an excellent choice, but only if you really need the rugged defence that it offers. I don't recommend a Doogee for daily use, not because it's not a great phone, but just because it's so dang heavy. It will seriously weigh down your pocket.
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Doogee S200 scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Cameras
Incredible Night vision and underwater cameras
★★★★½
Performance
Great for gaming
★★★★
Battery
Can last for days
★★★★★
Price
Very affordable
★★★★½
Our expert says
Our expert says
Beth Nicholls
"It's obvious that this kind of smartphone would certainly be appealing to photographers, and is a very strong contender in the rugged smartphone space"
✅ 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."
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.
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 S23 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 Magic 7 Lite is a solid mid-range phone that can generally be bought a little cheaper and has a 108MP 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.
