The CMF Phone 1 is currently super popular, but it’s not the only phone in this price range and it might not be the best choice for you. Let’s take a look at the phone itself first.
It currently retails for £180 for an 8/128GB unit (there’s a microSD slot so adding more storage isn’t a problem). It has a 6.67” FHD+ 120Hz OLED display, a Dimensity 7300 chipset and a 50MP camera. The back is replaceable, but the 5000mAh battery is not (it supports 33W wired charging). Nothing promises 2 major OS updates and 3 years of security patches.
The Moto G84 is similarly priced, but has a 10-bit 6.5” OLED display (FHD+ 120Hz). The Snapdragon 695 is older and much slower. On the plus side, the 50MP main camera has OIS (the CMF camera doesn’t) and there’s an 8MP ultra-wide. On the downside, the 695 can’t record 4K video.
Upside down, next to the microSD slot, there’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack. The 5000mAh battery with 30W charging is a waste of time. Motorola is bad with software updates and the G84 will likely end its journey on Android 14.
By the way, the Moto G54 is a bit cheaper and looks similar to the G84, except that it uses a 6.5” IPS LCD (FHD+ 120Hz) and a Dimensity 7020. This chip is a bit faster than the SD 695 in the G84, but still no match for the CMF. This phone loses the ultra-wide camera, but keeps OIS on the main module. Also, the 5000mAh battery drops to 15W charging.
The Honor 90 Lite also has an IPS LCD, a larger 6.7” 90Hz panel (FHD+). It’s powered by the weaker Dimensity 6020 chipset, but has a 100MP main camera, which can handle in-sensor zoom. There’s an ultra-wide lens too, but it’s only a 5MP camera. The battery is smaller at 4,500mAh and charges at 35W.
The Honor 90 is relatively pricey at £300, but it fixes many of the Lite’s problems. It uses a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition chip and switches to a 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display with a higher resolution of 1,200 x 2,664px. The main camera has been bumped up to a 200MP 1/1.4” sensor, while the ultra-wide one is uprated to 12MP. The selfie camera is also of note, with a 50MP sensor. There’s also a 5,000mAh battery and 66W fast-charging.
For £50 less, there’s the Honor Magic6 Lite. It has a 6.78-inch 120Hz OLED display with a similar resolution, but features a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset, a 108MP main camera and 5MP ultra-wide camera. It has a 5,300mAh battery with 35W charging.
There’s still no small phone from Asus this year, so the Asus Zenfone 10 is the one to watch. It holds its own with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and some software tweaks, but one of the two promised OS updates has already passed. The 4,300mAh battery is bigger than the S24’s, and supports both 30W wired and 15W wireless. There’s no telephoto lens, and the 50MP main camera (OIS) and 13MP ultra-wide cameras failed to impress.
Finally, a genuinely budget option – the Redmi A3. It costs just £70 but runs Android 14. How well it does that with just 3GB of RAM is another question. Still, these days you need a smartphone to get around town (by bus or taxi), to pay for things, to stay in touch with people and so on. This is more of an alternative to those KaiOS Nokias than a proper Android phone (and it’s a lot more capable than a KaiOS phone).
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