Not everyone wants to get locked into an expensive contract that, quite honestly, can be rendered useless the first time you drop your 'pride and joy' on the floor. Perhaps you just want to lower your monthly outgoings with something that is exceedingly wallet-friendly. Maybe you are going for pay-as-you-go to keep the recipient from racking up a huge bill.
Whatever your reason for jumping into the budget smartphone world, you should know things have never been so good. Go a model or two back and you can get ex-flagship devices for much less if you buy them outright. A Nokia Lumia 1020, for instance, can be had for £250 while a Nexus 5 is similarly priced.
But what if you really do want the cheapest slice of the SIM-free smartphone pie? I'm talking £150 or less. Here's a round-up of five of your best options.
Nokia Lumia 630
Penchant for plastic, bright colours and simplicity? You could do a lot worse than the £99 Nokia Lumia 630. This budget blower is the first Windows Phone to have the latest 8.1 update out of the box, which means access to Microsoft's Cortana personal assistant and the useful Action Centre for keeping tabs on notifications.
Big live tiles make the Lumia 630 a doddle to use regardless of age and the 4.5-inch display is big enough for eyes of all ages, which is more than can be said for some of the bright colours it comes in. The camera is pretty good, too, at this price point. A Snapdragon 400 CPU ensures everything runs smoothly.
Bear in mind that the 4G-enabled Lumia 635 is arriving in July so it might be worth holding off if you want access to faster data speeds.
ZTE Blade V
ZTE is hardly the coolest phone manufacturer on the block, but beggars can't be choosers at this price range. In the Blade V's defence, it would be a shame to ignore what is a really great value-for-money handset.
Android 4.1 ensures you are getting a not-too-old version of the Google mobile operating system, while the quad core processor is a rarity at this price. The 5-megapixel camera takes pictures you can at least look at without feeling nauseous and the 4GB of in-built storage is a good starting block. A 4-inch display is small by today's standards, but a sweet spot for most people.
It helps that the plastic Blade V has a blue metallic effect, elevating it from a dull brick to strangely likable. While it may be a chunky monkey, those extra pounds help make it comfortable to hold. There's really nothing else at this price that can compete.
Motorola Moto G
There is a cheaper Motorola Moto E available, but we reckon that the Moto G is worth the extra 20 smackers because it's quite possibly the best budget smartphone on the market by a significant margin. Your £150 gets you a 4.5-inch 720p IPS display that makes the rest of the devices in the list look positively barbaric.
Android 4.3 is only one version behind the up-to-date KitKat (and the update is already available), but most people would never notice anyway. It's highly customisable and there are a ton of apps and games to download from Google Play. Meanwhile, the 8 or 16GB of storage is generous enough for all but the worst digital hoarders.
A 4G-enabled version called the Moto G 4G is supposedly coming on the market towards the end of June, so bear that in mind. It helps that the 4G variant comes with a microSD slot for expanding the storage space.
Motorola Moto E
Forget the accusations of bias. I deliberately added two Motorola handsets because the Moto G's little brother is cheaper, but still extremely capable for less than £100. It has enviable build quality for its price point and the 4.3-inch display offers enough detail and brightness to please most eyeballs.
A lack of a front-facing camera is worth a mention, although only the selfie crowd will care. The rear-facing 5-megapixel camera is borderline acceptable for the odd low-res shot, as is the video quality. Performance is solid and actually faster in some cases than a Samsung Galaxy S4.
Where the Moto E scores points is with Android 4.4 out of the box (so no need to go through an update process) and its microSD slot, which is sadly missing from a lot of devices that cost three or four times as much. It helps, too, that Motorola guarantees the E and G will get updated to Android 5.0 so you can stay with the times.
Sony Xperia L
I was tempted to add in the BlackBerry Curve 9320 because it's cheap, reliable and has a QWERTY keyboard, which separates it from the crowd. However, the Sony Xperia Lsneaks in because Android is ahead of the curve in terms of performance, functionality and apps.
Performance is a good. The camera is 8-megapixels and has an Exmor RS sensor so it will take above average photos - plus it can video at 720p. Its 4.3-inch display is bright, clear and scratch-resistant and 8GB of internal memory is a good starting point before you need to buy a microSD card.
i found the Sony Xperia L for as cheap as £120, which is impressive given the build quality, specs and lack of weaknesses. Not a bad looker, either, if you opt for the Apple-esque white option.
Whatever your reason for jumping into the budget smartphone world, you should know things have never been so good. Go a model or two back and you can get ex-flagship devices for much less if you buy them outright. A Nokia Lumia 1020, for instance, can be had for £250 while a Nexus 5 is similarly priced.
But what if you really do want the cheapest slice of the SIM-free smartphone pie? I'm talking £150 or less. Here's a round-up of five of your best options.
Nokia Lumia 630
Penchant for plastic, bright colours and simplicity? You could do a lot worse than the £99 Nokia Lumia 630. This budget blower is the first Windows Phone to have the latest 8.1 update out of the box, which means access to Microsoft's Cortana personal assistant and the useful Action Centre for keeping tabs on notifications.
Big live tiles make the Lumia 630 a doddle to use regardless of age and the 4.5-inch display is big enough for eyes of all ages, which is more than can be said for some of the bright colours it comes in. The camera is pretty good, too, at this price point. A Snapdragon 400 CPU ensures everything runs smoothly.
Bear in mind that the 4G-enabled Lumia 635 is arriving in July so it might be worth holding off if you want access to faster data speeds.
ZTE Blade V
ZTE is hardly the coolest phone manufacturer on the block, but beggars can't be choosers at this price range. In the Blade V's defence, it would be a shame to ignore what is a really great value-for-money handset.
Android 4.1 ensures you are getting a not-too-old version of the Google mobile operating system, while the quad core processor is a rarity at this price. The 5-megapixel camera takes pictures you can at least look at without feeling nauseous and the 4GB of in-built storage is a good starting block. A 4-inch display is small by today's standards, but a sweet spot for most people.
It helps that the plastic Blade V has a blue metallic effect, elevating it from a dull brick to strangely likable. While it may be a chunky monkey, those extra pounds help make it comfortable to hold. There's really nothing else at this price that can compete.
Motorola Moto G
There is a cheaper Motorola Moto E available, but we reckon that the Moto G is worth the extra 20 smackers because it's quite possibly the best budget smartphone on the market by a significant margin. Your £150 gets you a 4.5-inch 720p IPS display that makes the rest of the devices in the list look positively barbaric.
Android 4.3 is only one version behind the up-to-date KitKat (and the update is already available), but most people would never notice anyway. It's highly customisable and there are a ton of apps and games to download from Google Play. Meanwhile, the 8 or 16GB of storage is generous enough for all but the worst digital hoarders.
A 4G-enabled version called the Moto G 4G is supposedly coming on the market towards the end of June, so bear that in mind. It helps that the 4G variant comes with a microSD slot for expanding the storage space.
Motorola Moto E
Forget the accusations of bias. I deliberately added two Motorola handsets because the Moto G's little brother is cheaper, but still extremely capable for less than £100. It has enviable build quality for its price point and the 4.3-inch display offers enough detail and brightness to please most eyeballs.
A lack of a front-facing camera is worth a mention, although only the selfie crowd will care. The rear-facing 5-megapixel camera is borderline acceptable for the odd low-res shot, as is the video quality. Performance is solid and actually faster in some cases than a Samsung Galaxy S4.
Where the Moto E scores points is with Android 4.4 out of the box (so no need to go through an update process) and its microSD slot, which is sadly missing from a lot of devices that cost three or four times as much. It helps, too, that Motorola guarantees the E and G will get updated to Android 5.0 so you can stay with the times.
Sony Xperia L
I was tempted to add in the BlackBerry Curve 9320 because it's cheap, reliable and has a QWERTY keyboard, which separates it from the crowd. However, the Sony Xperia Lsneaks in because Android is ahead of the curve in terms of performance, functionality and apps.
Performance is a good. The camera is 8-megapixels and has an Exmor RS sensor so it will take above average photos - plus it can video at 720p. Its 4.3-inch display is bright, clear and scratch-resistant and 8GB of internal memory is a good starting point before you need to buy a microSD card.
i found the Sony Xperia L for as cheap as £120, which is impressive given the build quality, specs and lack of weaknesses. Not a bad looker, either, if you opt for the Apple-esque white option.