Not everyone has the financial capacity to dish out $500 – $600 dollars on a smartphone. Thanks to other obligations, such as paying the bills and putting the family first, sacrifices are often made in the form of you not owning the wonder products offered by technology. However, owning a smartphone has its own perks; with the amount of flexibility and functionally that you’re receiving in a small handheld gadget is far more than you could ever hope for. Without further ado, we present to you five of the most cost effective smartphones that you can purchase in 2014.
1. HTC Desire 500
The HTC Desire 500 may come in a plastic build, which may compromise its structural integrity once you drop it, it possesses some technical features that truly give the phone ‘the bang for the buck’ title.
Features
- 4.3 inch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.
- 8 megapixel back camera.
- 4 GB internal storage.
- Snapdragon 200 SoC with a quad core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A5.
- 1 GB RAM.
The HTC Desire 500’s quad core processor steals the show from the flagship smartphones. Although the 1 GB RAM might limit users, it is impossible to get a better deal than this. Its running the Android Jelly Bean version 4.1.2 but we all know that after rooting the phone, you can find a compatible custom ROM for this terrific smartphone.
Price: $279.99
2. Moto G
We know the article would be useless had we proceeded without including the crown king of budget smartphones, the Moto G. Even after being sold to Lenovo for $2.91 billion by Google, Motorola knows the smartphone market and what customers want in a price / performance package.
Features
- 4.5 inch screen with a 1280 x 720 pixel display.
- Comes in the 8 GB and 16 GB storage variants.
- Snapdragon 400 SoC with a quad core CPU.
- 1 GB RAM.
Although the default factory version of the Moto G runs on the 4.3 Jelly Bean, one of the biggest perks of acquiring this phone will be that you will be receiving regular operating system updates from ours truly, Google. The only complaints that we have from this smartphone is that it does not support any expandable storage and removable battery features. Other than that, this smartphone is a budget device that the financially constrained gadget lovers would salivate over.
Price: $99
3. Google Nexus 5
This smartphone might be priced a tad bit higher compared to the other smartphones listed in this article, but look at all the trade – offs that you will be getting in return.
Features
- A 1080 pixel display present on a 4.95 inch screen.
- A Snapdragon 800 SoC with a quad core Krait processor clocked in at 2.26 GHz.
- 2 GB of RAM.
- Available in the 16 and 32 GB capacity variants.
Similar to the Moto G, the only complaints that we have from this smartphone is that it does not offer users any medium for expandable storage nor does it have any option for removing the battery (other than the fact that you are going to have to go to a store to get it done). Nonetheless, having the Nexus 5 in such a price range is something that smartphone fanatics will always covet. Before we forget, since the vendor of this smartphone is Google, another advantage of purchasing this phone will be that you will be receiving regular updates of the Android operating system without having to root your phone and install a custom ROM.
Price: Starting from $349.99
4. Nokia Lumia 620
If you are bothered by owning an Android operating smartphone and decide that you need to move on from this, then the Windows Mobile is the perfect substitute to appease your needs for a smartphone operating system. Assimilated in to the Lumia 620 is the Windows Mobile operating system. There is a reason why the Lumia 520 won the best cost effective smartphone award at the MWC and seeing as how we included its older brother in to the list should come as no surprise.
Features
- Dual core processor with a Snapdragon S4 SoC (clock speed of 1 GHz).
- 512 MB RAM.
- A 3.8 inch screen with an 800 x 480 pixel resolution.
- Windows 8 operating system.
The Windows Mobile operating system happens to be the most fluid operating system, securing only second place after the iOS. For those of you who want to purchase a cost effective windows smartphone, look no further than the Lumia 620. However, if you are still looking for a cheaper solution, then the Lumia 520 will be answer to your requirements (PRICE of $167.99).
Price: $239.99
5. Nokia X
We were contemplating when the former king of phones (Nokia) would finally be releasing a smartphone that will run the Android operating system. Luckily, we got our answer in the form of the Nokia X. Keep in mind that the specifications according to the smartphone are perfect with the price tag it carries (or if you happen to find a better product within the same price range, then you go ahead with that purchase).
Features
- Dual core processor clocked in at 1.5 GHz (Cortex A5) within the Snapdragon S4 SoC.
- 512 MB RAM.
- 4 GB internal storage with 32 GB expandable storage (microSD).
- 4 inch screen with a 800 x 480 pixel resolution.
For those of you who were worried that the smartphone will not be able to provide you with additional support with download apps from Google’s Play Store, we are pleased to inform you that the Nokia X has been hacked to run apps download from the Play Store. Furthermore, users will also be able to upload APK type files on to the smartphone and start installing the app from there.
Did we miss any other smartphone that you got an unbeatable deal on? Let us know in the comment banks below.
