For those who have a budget of two hundred dollars for a smartphone, there are several choices available for them in the market. You might ask yourself what kind of features you look forward to and what would delight you the most. Again, the size and the dimension of the phone will also matter. You need to look at the different features and amenities available and decide on the ones that matter to you. Here is a list of ten smartphones that are best smartphones under 200 dollars and these can be looked at in order to decide on the right smartphone for one.
Before we proceed with list, let’s discuss on what type of phone you can actually buy by spending $200. Well there are quite a number of mobile handsets available to buy at this price range. Some are from older mobile manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Motorola etc. and some are from new mobile manufacturers like Xiaomi, Lenovo (new in manufacturing cell phones), BLU etc. I know you have never heard names of some of these brands but you cannot simply neglect them just because they are new in smartphone market. You will be surprised to know that, there are many phones from newer brands which are outperforming phones of Samsung and other renowned brands! So I have made this list by checking performance, build quality and by reading customer reviews of each phone models. I didn’t paid attention to brand names and other hypes while making this list but I have taken care of brands which provide good after service. So below listed phones are genuinely best phones under 200 dollars. Buy any phone from below given list and I assure that you won’t be disappointed with it…
Top 10 Best Smartphones under 200 Dollars
I have given rankings to all 10 phones as per my likability. I will start from 10th ranking phone and go to 1st ranking phone which will be the best smartphone under $200 of the month (updated every month). As I said earlier that rankings are given on based of my own personal choices so don’t be in misconception of not buying 10th or 9th or 8th placed phones. All below listed smartphones are best buys under your 200 dollars budget.
10) Xiaomi Redmi 2 –
Xiaomi is a new manufacturer in a smartphone market but it’s phones are beating flagship phones of other brands in performance. This phone is priced reasonably at $150 and it has an attractive design which is matte sprayed. There are several mellow shades that one can choose from. This phone has a rear camera of 8 MP and a front camera of 2 MP resolution. Both cameras are great shooters and it also provides manual settings option to take perfect picture. It is a good phone to consider in the given budget. There are several features and amenities that are unique in the phone but it is still hard to buy this phone in United States. Only way to buy this phone right now is; from Xiaomi website and pay extra shipping charges to get it delivered at your door steps which is still not a deal cracking thing for a smartphone with such powerful hardware.
Specifications –
| OS | Android OS v4.4.4 Kitkat – MIUI 6.0 (Lollipop update available) |
| RAM | 2 GB RAM |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 processor |
| GPU | Adreno 306 |
| DISPLAY | 4.7 Inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display with 312 ppi pixel density |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 8 MP autofocus with LED FlashSecondary Camera – 2 MP |
| MEMORY | 16 GB, Expandable up to 32 GB |
| SIM | Dual SIM (dual standby / micro SIM) |
| BATTERY | Li-Po 2200 mAh battery |
| WEIGHT | 4.69 oz |
| OTHER | FM Radio, 4G LTE, Fast charging, Corning Gorilla Glass 2 |
Price – $150.00
9) Nokia Lumia 635 –
For those who are willing to look at a Windows phone, the Nokia Lumia 635 is a great phone that is value for money. This phone costs only $69 but it can be listed as one of the best smartphones under 200 dollars. The phone has the fast quad core CPU with a RAM of 512 MB. Even if the RAM is low, it is great for running Windows operating system and all types of Office documents. It has long lasting battery life of 12 hours and it supports 4G LTE which will allow to access internet at lightning speeds. This phone comes with 5 mega pixel rear camera and it doesn’t have front camera which may disappoint some peoples but this is the cheapest phone in this list; so if you are a windows fan and don’t want to spend more than 100 dollars on your new phone than Nokia Lumia 635 is one to go with.
Specifications –
| OS | Microsoft Windows 8.1 Phone operating system |
| RAM | 512 MB RAM |
| CPU | Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 quad core processor |
| GPU | Adreno 305 |
| DISPLAY | 4.5 Inch multi-touchscreen display with 221 ppi pixel density |
| CAMERA | Rear Camera – 5 MP autofocus without flash |
| MEMORY | 8 GB, Expandable via micro SD up to 128 GB |
| SIM | Micro SIM |
| BATTERY | Li-Ion 1830 mAh battery |
| WEIGHT | 4.73 oz |
| OTHER | Loud speakers, FM Radio, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
Price – $69.86
8) Sony Xperia M2 –
We all know that all Sony phones has durable build and premium feels and looks. Well Xperia M2 is also of the same category. It has sturdy build and beautiful looking outer body. It has powerful Snapdragon processor and 1 GB of RAM. It runs Android v4.3 Jellybean operating system out of the box which can be upgraded to Lollipop. It has 8 MP rear facing camera with features like HDR, Panorama and face detection. Front camera is VGA which is best for video calls. It comes with Gorilla glass on the top of display to add more protection to the device and also has other features like FM Radio and NFC. This phone is priced at $179 and you get lot of great features for the price you pay. If you are Sony fan then this is best Sony phone to get under 200 dollars.
Specifications –
| OS | Android v4.3 Jelly Bean (Lollipop upgrade available) |
| RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| CPU | 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 quad core Snapdragon 400 processor |
| GPU | Adreno 305 graphics |
| DISPLAY | 4.8 Inches TFT capacitive touchscreen display with 229 ppi pixel density |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 8 MP autofocus with LED flashSecondary Camera – VGA |
| MEMORY | 8 GB inbuilt, Expandable up to 32 GB |
| SIM | Micro SIM |
| BATTERY | Non-removable 2300 mAh Li-ion battery |
| WEIGHT | 5.22 oz |
| OTHER | Corning Gorilla Glass 3, NFC, FM Radio |
Price – $179.99
7) Nokia Lumia 920 –
Another Windows phone which is priced under $200 in this list. Well this one is bigger in size than previous one and it also has great performing hardware inside. It is modular shaped smartphone with plastic outer body. It comes with LCD display with 1280 x 768 screen resolution. It produces true to life colors and delivers awesome gaming experience. It has standard Qualcomm chipset with dual core processor and 1 GB of RAM. You get 8 MP Carl Zeiss optics camera in this phone with Optical image stabilization. This phone comes with great camera and other useful features, so it is undoubtedly best budget windows phone to buy under $200 right now.
Specifications –
| OS | Microsoft Windows Phone 8 (Upgradeable to Windows 8.1) |
| RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| CPU | 1.4 GHz Krait dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor |
| GPU | Adreno 225 |
| DISPLAY | 4.4 Inch IPS LCD capacitive touch display with 332 ppi pixel density |
| CAMERA | Rear Camera – 8 MP Carl Zeiss optics, Optical Image Stabilization and dual LED flashFront Camera – 1.3 MP |
| MEMORY | 32 GB Non Expandable |
| SIM | Micro SIM |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery |
| WEIGHT | 6.53 oz |
| OTHER | NFC, FM Radio, Available in different colors. |
Price – $159.99
6) LG G3 S –
For those who have experienced an LG phone will surely love to invest in the G3 series of this brand. For those who have been eyeing the G4 can get all the features and benefits in G3 for a more affordable price. It is priced at $185 and offers a laser autofocus camera. For the cheap price that it comes for, there are several innovations packed in this phone. It has quad core processor similar to other phones featured in this list and standard 1 GB of Random Access Memory. The metallic design as well as its sleek and compact model with a long battery life and a smart keyboard is some of the several special features of this phone.
Specifications –
| OS | Android v4.4 KitKat (v5.0.2 Lollipop update available) |
| RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| CPU | 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor |
| GPU | Adreno 305 graphics |
| DISPLAY | 5-Inch IPS LCD display with 294 ppi pixel density |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 8 MP Laser autofocus with LED flashSecondary Camera – 1.3 MP |
| MEMORY | 8 GB, Expandable up to 64 GB via micro SD card slot |
| SIM | Micro SIM |
| BATTERY | 2540 mAh Li-ion battery |
| WEIGHT | 4.73 oz |
| OTHER | Infrared, FM Radio, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, NFC |
Price – $187.30
5) Blu Vivo Air –
This is a smartphone that has good looks to flaunt. The hardware that it offers is powerful as well. This phone offers a marriage of tech specs and looks. It has Cortex A7 octa core processor. The phone has a RAM of 1 GB and inbuilt storage of 16 GB. It comes with a touch screen display of capacitive AMOLED technology. The phone runs Android KitKat operating system. The rear camera is of 8 MP and a secondary camera of 5 MP. This phone is from new smartphone manufacturer and that might stop you to buy this phone but believe me Blu Vivo Air is a beautifully designed and durably built smartphone under $200 with all latest features.
Specifications –
| OS | v4.4 Android Kitkat |
| RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| CPU | MediaTek 1.7 GHz Quad-core processor |
| GPU | Mali 450 |
| DISPLAY | 4.8 Inch AMOLED display |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 8 MP with autofocus and LED flashSecondary Camera – 5 MP |
| MEMORY | 16 GB – No memory card card slot |
| SIM | Micro-SIM |
| BATTERY | Non removable Li-ion 2100 mAh battery |
| WEIGHT | 3.42 oz |
| OTHER | FM Radio, Bluetooth v4.0, Gorilla glass 3 |
Price – $198.98
4) Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Duos –
Samsung being a contender of Apple and one of the premier brands in the Android range, one will certainly love to consider a smartphone of this brand under the price tag of two hundred dollars. This phone has all the features that a top notch phone has to offer. With a quad core CPU its processing power is as expected. The camera is the key feature of the phone. It has a 5 MP camera for the front and an 8 MP camera at the back. The internal memory is only 8GB which can be expanded up to 64 GB. However, this phone has a large size which might be a deterrent for those who wish to get a sleek and slim phone model but by looking at its design and hardware I can say this is one of the best smartphones under 200 dollars.
Specifications –
| RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| MEMORY | 8 GB – Expandable up to 64 GB |
| CPU | 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 Quad Core processor |
| GPU | Adreno 306 graphics |
| DISPLAY | 5-inch TFT capacitive multi touch display |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 8 MP w/ autofocus and LED flashSecondary Camera – 5 MP |
| OS | Android v4.4 Kitkat (Lollipop update available) |
| SIM | Dual SIM with Dual Standby (Micro SIM) |
| BATTERY | Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery |
| WEIGHT | 5.50 oz |
| OTHER | Loud Speaker, FM Radio |
Price – $148.99
3) Lenovo K3 Note –
As we all know Lenovo is well-known laptop manufacturing brand. It is not even behind in manufacturing smartphones! This is a budget smartphone with tons of useful features. It comes with powerful octa core CPU build as well as 2GB of RAM. It has a front camera of 5 MP which makes it a great selfie camera to use and the rear camera has 13MP capacity. The screen resolution of the phone is 1080×1920 which shows everything in extreme details. With these features, priced below two hundred dollars, it is surely a best smartphone under 200 dollars to consider. Even though Lenovo is new in manufacturing smartphones but still it is definitely a brand to rely upon.
Specifications –
| OS | Android OS v5.0 Lollipop |
| RAM | 2 GB RAM |
| CPU | 1.7 GHz MediaTek Octa Core processor |
| GPU | Mali-T760MP2 |
| DISPLAY | 5.5 Inch IPS capacitive touchscreen display |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 13 MP with dual LED flashSecondary Camera – 5 MP |
| MEMORY | 16 GB – Expandable up to 32 GB |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Micro SIM) |
| BATTERY | 3000 mAh battery |
| WEIGHT | 5.29 oz |
| OTHER | Dolby Atmos sound, FM Radio |
Price – $178.00
2) Motorola Moto G 3rd Generation –
This might be a phone within a budget of two hundred dollars, but it provides lot of features which we don’t even find in flagship phones of other brands. This phone comes in two different variants, the one which falls under price range of $200 has 1 GB RAM and 8 GB inbuilt memory. Another is a 16 GB Moto G 3rd Gen model with 2 GB of RAM and it is priced at $219. I would never mind to pay extra few bucks to get more speed from my new smartphone. It has advanced Cortex A53 quad core processor and Snapdragon 410 chipset gives great performance. This phone was released recently in July,2015 so it comes with Android Lollipop. However, it is soon going to receive Marshmallow update. The cameras are much more improved than previous generation Moto G phones; it has 5MP front camera and 13 MP rear camera. It is water resistant which can be considered as a big benefit for many people. I am stock android lover and I love phones which receive timely software updates, if you too like it then Motorola Moto G is the best smartphone under $200 to consider.
Specifications –
| OS | Android OS v5.1.1 Lollipop (Planned upgrade to Marshmallow v6.0) |
| RAM | 1 GB | 2 GB RAM |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 1.4 GHz Quad core processor |
| GPU | Adreno 306 |
| DISPLAY | 5.0 Inch IPS LCD display with 294 ppi pixel density |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 13 MP with dual LED dual tone flashSecondary Camera – 5 MP with auto-HDR |
| MEMORY | 8 GB | 16 GB – Expandable up to 32 GB via micro SD card |
| SIM | Micro SIM |
| BATTERY | 2470 mAh Non-removable battery |
| WEIGHT | 5.47 oz |
| OTHER | IPX7 certified – water resistant, FM Radio, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
Price – $219 for 16 GB | $178 for 8 GB
1) Asus Zenfone 2 Laser – Best Phone Under $200 of the Month
Zenfone 2 Laser is the best smartphone under two hundred dollars you can buy right now. The reason behind it is, it’s high end hardware specifications. It comes with a 3GB RAM which is a big plus on this phone and not found in any other smartphone at this price range. The performance is absolutely smooth and the UI is easy to navigate. You get 32 GB of internal storage memory, still if you feel its low then you can expand it up to 128 GB via micro SD card slot on phone. It has 13 Mega pixel rear camera while the front camera is 5 Mega pixels. Both cameras can capture great shots and it also supports full HD video recording. With these features this phone is a great deal to opt for, especially at the price range stated. Asus has established itself as a reliable brand in the market and smartphones of this brand are already coveted for their features and functions.
Specifications –
| OS | Android OS v5.0 Lollipop (Planned upgrade to v6.0 Marshmallow) |
| RAM | 3 GB RAM |
| CPU | Qualcomm Octa Core processor |
| GPU | Adreno 405 |
| DISPLAY | 5.5 Inches IPS LCD display |
| CAMERA | Primary Camera – 13 MP with Laser autofocus and dual LED (dual tone) flashSecondary Camera – 5 MP, autofocus |
| MEMORY | 32 GB – Expandable up to 128 GB |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Micro SIM, Dual Standby) |
| BATTERY | 3000 mAh Li-Po battery |
| WEIGHT | 6.00 oz |
| OTHER | Corning Gorilla Glass 4, Available in Black, White, Silver, Gold & Red colors. |
Price – $199.00
These are some of the best smartphones under 200 dollars. Some phones offer great looks and standard features while some phones flaunt amazing technology innovations even at this price range. You might want to decide on the right phone for you. Which features would you value the most? Which brand would you want to choose at this price range? At this stage your experience with a brand would matter as well. You would probably choose a familiar brand’s product with greater peace of mind than an unknown phone of an unknown brand in the smartphone market.
So which phone did you liked from above given list? Tell me in comments section below. Feel free to ask me your questions or if you need any suggestion to buy new smartphone.
Brijesh Gohil is the founder of Tech Brij, A popular Tech Blog which is focused on Tech tips & Buying Guides. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Google + & LinkedIn.