Budget phones close the gap with flagships as support and battery life take centre stage

A UK test of nine phones under £600 finds that buyers now need to choose between long-term software support, camera quality and exceptional battery life rather than simply chasing specifications.

In 2026, the case for buying a flagship handset is weaker than it once was. The budget end of the smartphone market has improved enough that many lower-priced models now offer OLED displays, capable processors and respectable cameras without straying into premium territory. According to The Guardian’s latest testing round, the real challenge is not finding a cheap phone, but choosing one that gets the right trade-offs for the way people actually use their devices.

That point matters because affordability alone no longer separates one handset from another. The Guardian’s review covered nine phones available in the UK, all priced below £600, and found that several budget models now approach the day-to-day experience of far more expensive rivals. Battery endurance, software support, display quality and camera processing emerged as the key differentiators, rather than raw specification alone.

The best all-round choice, according to the review, is the Samsung Galaxy A37. It combines a 6.7in AMOLED display, IP68 resistance and Samsung’s Exynos 1480 chip with a promise of software and security updates until 2032. That long support window is one of its strongest selling points, and Samsung’s One UI has become polished enough to compete with cleaner Android interfaces. The trade-off is that it is only a modest step forward from the cheaper Galaxy A36, which weakens its value proposition for anyone already looking at last year’s model.

For buyers who care most about battery life, the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion stands out. The Guardian found that its 7,000mAh cell can last close to two days, making it one of the most durable options in the group for heavy everyday use. Motorola’s software layer remains relatively light, which helps the phone feel quick and familiar. The drawback is longevity: the device only receives three years of operating system updates, and the model with the larger battery is restricted to a single colour, which limits choice as much as pricing broadens it.

Camera performance favours the Google Pixel 9a. Despite using a 48MP main sensor rather than the larger numbers found on some rivals, it benefits from Google’s image processing, which The Guardian said produces more natural skin tones and more pleasing colours than phones with much higher megapixel counts. It also includes editing tools such as Magic Eraser and Best Take, and Google has committed to seven years of support, extending the handset’s usable life well beyond many similarly priced alternatives. Its weakness is gaming performance, where the Tensor G4 lags behind Snapdragon-based rivals, and charging is relatively slow at 23W.

At the lowest end of the market, the TCL 60R 5G is the most convincing option under £150. It is not a perfect phone, but The Guardian found that its 6.7in 120Hz display, stereo speakers and MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip make it capable enough for everyday tasks and modest gaming. Its biggest problem is software support, with only two years of security updates, which sharply narrows its appeal for anyone hoping to keep the device for several years.

Other near-misses underline how fragmented the budget category has become. Samsung’s Galaxy A17 offers six years of support for under £200, but its camera does not match the Pixel 9a. Nothing’s Phone (4b) is one of the more distinctive-looking phones in the group, yet Samsung and Google still offer better long-term support for less money. Honor’s Magic 8 Lite is built around a huge battery and a very bright screen, while TCL’s Nxtpaper 70 Pro is aimed at people who want a calmer, more reading-friendly display. Taken together, the field suggests that low-cost phones in 2026 are no longer about basic survival; they are about deciding which compromise matters least.