In recent years, the mobile gaming world has been seriously evolving. Gone are the days of poor quality and laggy gameplay. Now, players can boast HD and smooth play. However, to get the best mobile gaming experience, you have to have a powerful phone to run them.
There are many requirements such as processor, speed, RAM, and many more. Most mobile devices that meet the appropriate requirements can be quite pricey. However, there is a far better alternative which is to go for budget gaming phones. So, let’s take a look at some of the best budget gaming phones right now.
Best Budget Gaming Phones – Summarized List
- Galaxy A51 – See Deals
- Galaxy A52 – See Deals
- Iphone SE 2 – See Deals
- Galaxy S10E – See Deals
- Galaxy A71 – See Deals
1. Samsung Galaxy A51
The Samsung Galaxy A51 came out back in 2019, and it is still making waves, making it one of the best budget gaming phones of 2022. It comes in the 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB storage variant and an extra micro SDXC slot for expandable storage. The A51 comes with a 10 nanometer Exynos 9611 chipset and a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. The CPU comes with an Octa-core that is powerful enough to run almost any mobile game at high graphics. Depending on the one you buy, you can choose to go for 4GB. 6GB, and 8GB RAM.
You will also get a super AMOLED display on this 6.5 inches screen. The screen is wide for gaming, and you get an 87.4% screen-to-body ratio. You can trust the A51 for HD games as it supports resolutions of 1080 x 2400 pixels. They cap it up with a good 4000 mAh non-removable battery capable of up to 15W fast charging. You can buy the Galaxy A51 here.
Pros
- AMOLED Display
- Presence of a headphone jack
- 5-inch wide display
Cons
- Absence of water resistance
2. Samsung Galaxy A52
The Samsung Galaxy A52 is more recent and released in March 2021. This power-packed device comes in only 128GB and 258GB storage variants with a microSDXC slot. Enjoy endless gaming with the 8 nanometers Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G chipset with an Adreno 618. The CPU is an octa-core with enough capacity to run the latest gaming titles.
This device will get a super AMOLED display with up to a 90Hz refresh rate and clear brightness of 800 nits. It comes with a 6.5 inches display with a 1080 x 2400 pixels resolution for your HD games. The A52 offers a fairly decent screen-to-body ratio, lying around 84.1%. Depending on which variant you buy, you get 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB RAM. Samsung advertised that you can charge the 4500 mAh non-removable battery from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes, thanks to the 25W fast charging. You can buy the Galaxy A52 here.
Pros
- High refresh rate
- Great battery capacity
- Significant performance difference.
Cons
- Battery life could be better
3. Iphone SE 2
Apple never fails to deliver, and since they released the Iphone SE 2 back in April 2020, it never ceases to be one of the best budget phones. This handy phone comes with a 7 nanometer Apple A13 Bionic chipset and a Hexa-core CPU. The GPU comes fully loaded with a 4-core Apple GPU.
It comes with 3GB RAM but with no SD Card slot; however you can get up to 256 storage. It isn’t the biggest phone, with only 4.7 inches screen size and 65.4% screen to body ratio. The resolution is set at 750 x 1334, enough to run high graphics. The iPhone SE 2 is your typical budget phone with no excessive features. It comes with a non-removable 1821 mAH battery and supports up to 18W fast charging. It also supports wireless charging. You can buy the Iphone SE 2 here.
Pros
- Dust and water resistance
- Wireless charging support
- Great chipset
Cons
- Small screen size
4. Galaxy S10E
The Samsung Galaxy S10E is a powerful Android phone, released in March 2019. The specs are quite on the high end, and you are almost sure that you can play any game on it. It comes in only two RAM variants; 6GB and 8GB ram with 128GB and 256GB storage and a micro SD card slot for expandable storage.
You will find an 8 nanometer Exynos 9820 chipset for variants in Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and Latin America (LATAM). The USA and China variants come with a 7 nanometer Qualcomm SM8150 snapdragon 855 chipset. You get a Mali-G76 MP12 GPU for the EMEA and LATAM, while the USA and China version comes with an Adreno 640 GPU. Both variants have an octa-core, but the cores have different chips.
It comes loaded with a Dynamic AMOLE and HDR10+ display to run high-quality games. With its 5.8 inches screen size, you get an 83.3% screen-to-body ratio and a 1080 x 2280 pixels resolution. It comes with a 3100mAH non-removable battery capable of 15W fast charging, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging. You can buy the Galaxy S10E here.
Pros
- Great performance specifications
- Fast and smooth graphics display
- Advance GPU and CPU chipset
Cons
- Relatively small battery capacity
5. Samsung Galaxy A71
Samsung released the Galaxy A71 back in January 2020. This device is powerfully loaded with an 8 nanometer Qualcomm SDM730 Snapdragon 730 chipset, an octa-core CPU, and an Adreno 618 GPU. It is only available in 128GB, but it comes with an SD card slot for expandable storage; you can pick either a 6GB or 8GB RAM version.
The Galaxy A71 promises a smooth resolution on the 6.7 inches screen with the super AMOLED plus display; you also get 1 87.2% screen-to-body ratio. It has a high resolution peaking at 1080 x 2400 pixels. The Samsung Galaxy A71 comes with a powerful battery, a 4500 mAH battery capable of up to 25W fast charging. You can buy the Samsung Galaxy A71 here.
Pros
- Powerful Battery with fast charging
- Smooth gameplay with high resolution
- Great chipset for non-stop gaming
Cons
- Not water resistant
Benefits To Using a Budget Gaming Phone
Some may ask, who uses budget phones in 2022? Well, if you didn’t know, a lot of people do! It presents so many advantages. Let’s have a look at some of the benefits of owning a good budget gaming phone:
- Lesser price for good value: Price is a major limiting factor in getting many flagship phones, but budget phones make it easier. You will get good value for your money at a significantly lower price. In fact, there are also flagship budget phones.
- Good refresh rate: Any mobile gamer will undoubtedly know the importance of good refresh rates. With high refresh rates, you get to enjoy the smoothest gaming experience. Budget gaming phones come optimized with high refresh rates to avoid lags.
- Great RAM, CPU, and GPU: Budget gaming phones are specially optimized with the perfect RAM, CPU, and GPU to give you the best gaming experience. The CPU speed is also fast, and it allows you to play top titles on a cheaper alternative.
Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed this list of the best budget gaming phones for 2022. Budget phones are great ways to experience premium gaming at a lesser price. However, you should not expect it to be perfect and fully loaded with every feature. We call them budget phones for a reason, so they are just enough to give you exclusive mobile gaming.
To make your choice, you need to know what you need in a mobile gaming phone. Consider your specifications and match them with the one that suits you best. Who knows? It might just be enough to ditch console gaming.
