58 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 64ROUND-UP
In our experience, the ideal way to get a cheap
phone is to buy it SIM-free then grab a great-value
SIM-only deal. You won’t be paying £50 per month
for a phone for the next two years, and you can swap
it for a newer model whenever you fancy it.
Over the following pages we rank the best budget
phones on sale right now.- Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
Price: £199 from fave.co/2KGtORV
Following a Chinese launch in January, the Redmi
Note 7 officially is now on sale in the UK, charging
straight into the top spot in both our UK and Chinese
budget phone charts, knocking the Mi A2 Lite off
its perch. It’s the first phone from newly spun-off
Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi, and as such it marks a
huge departure from Redmi as you know it.
Headlining is a 48Mp dual-lens camera, and
Redmi Note 7 was actually the first Xiaomi phone
to pack such a high megapixel count – though Mi 9
then came along and did it better. There are some
similarities between this budget phone and Xiaomi’s
flagship, but Redmi Note 7 is much more closely
aligned in specs and performance with the Oppo F11
Pro, another Chinese phone that has not yet gone
on sale in the UK (and may not ever do so).
It’s also got a large 6.3in Full-HD+ screen and
promises all day runtime from a 4,000mAh battery
with Quick Charge 4 support. Plus some users will
be very happy to see the inclusion of a traditional
3.5mm headphone jack.