Smartphones
Recommendations for cheap and reliable smartphones.
Overview
Having a working phone is crucial – during the pandemic it’s even more so.
Smart phones allow you to help your clients maintain contact with family and support networks, access services that are working remotely in lock-down, find out crucial information, access the internet and take part in online activities and meetings.
Top Phones under £100 reviewed by Which?

Amazon Fire 7 (2019)
£49.99
Easy to use
Light and compact
Amazon Alexa-enabled
Not the fastest
Feels cheap

Lenovo Tab M7
£70.00
Small
Easy to use
Portable
Very bad sound
Slow to charge
Low-resolution screen


- Small
- Easy to use
- Small
- Easy to use

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Wifi
£119.00
Loads apps quickly
Decent battery
Responsive touchscreen
Drab screen lacks clarity
Sounds dull and harsh
Poor cameras

Huawei MatePad T 10s
£149.00
Decent display
Responsive touch controls
Expandable storage
Lacks support for Google services
Mediocre battery life
Poor sound

Lenovo Tab M8 FHD (TB-8705F)
£169.00
Great battery life
Small and light
Good performance
Poor speakers
Underwhelming cameras
Screen could be better

Alcatel 1S (2020)
£80.00
Outstanding full-charge battery life
Simple to use
Inexpensive
Good display
Terrible battery use after short charge
Cameras aren’t great
Processor isn’t very fast
External speaker is horrible
No NFC

Huawei Y5P
£90.00
Display isn’t bad
Nicely laid-out menu
Durable
Usability issues due to lack of Google
Poor cameras and speakers
Slow
Average battery life

TCL 20 SE
£99.00
Long-lasting battery
User-friendly
Nice display
Durable
Weaker battery life from a short charge
Average to poor camera quality

Oppo A5 2020
£100.00
Incredibly long-lasting battery
Fast and responsive security features
Easy to use
Slow charging
Front camera isn’t great
Poor quality manual
Costs and data deals (as of Nov 2021): Sim-Only
Sourcing phones locally
If you want to source phones locally try contacting local independent stores, the sort that do phone repairs and sell refurbished or second-hand units. These stores will have lost their core trade during the lockdown and might be open to doing a deal on higher specification units they have sitting on their shelf.