[SOLVED] Best smartphone for roughly £50, used or new, UK

[TristanKing]

So I made a bet with my 12 year old brother that he couldn't survive a night in a very hard Minecraft modpack within three tries. If he won I'd buy him a phone. On the third try he used the pro-gamer strat of nerd poling so ridiculously high that no mobs (even with their much increased sight) could see him...
Shocked, since I don't really have the money and didn't expect him to do it, I told him I didn't say what phone and that I'd get him a £1 Wish.com phone.

But I don't want to cheat him like that, so I want to get a phone that's better than his smashed up Moto G third gen to surprise him, for around £50.

What's the best phone I can get around that price range, presumably used? Is something fairly decent even possible for about £50? Something that can play some games? I'm aware this is a stretch.

Thanks.

 

[britechguy]

The equivalent of US $62 is a bit on the tight end, but it's not impossible, particularly if you're willing to look at former flagships of several years back or companies like Xiaomi and Umidigi.

But I'll tell you what I tell everyone: If you already have a mobile service provider that allows you to bring your own phone then you need to first limit your shopping to models that will work on your network on the bands they use in your place(s) of use.

I have very good luck with the Kimovil.com frequency checker as far as determining whether a given model and specific Android version will work in a specific country.

I would start by shopping Amazon to see what you can turn up in your price range, then start exploring via Kimovil if the phone will work on the network of your service provider in the country where you'll be using it.

 

[Alabalcho]

Check websites like this, or use your favorite search engine for "best smartphone under $100". I have Nokia 2 as a spare phone, and I am pretty impressed (although 8GB flash get filled up quite fast).

 

[NightHawkRMX]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LG-Stylo-4-32GB-Black-LM-Q710-Unlocked-GSM-World-Phone-FR803/303295676274?hash=item469dd4bf72:g:cpoAAOSwPbhdiW9J&LH_BIN=1&LH_ItemCondition=4
Here is an unlocked LG Stylo 4 in used condition for around 48 pounds. The carrier-locked ones have 2gb ram and the unlocked models (like this) have 3gb.

Being released in mid-2018, Its about the newest decent phone you can get for that budget.

I have a carrier locked LG Stylo 4 with 2gb ram and 32gb storage (expanded with a 16gb MicroSD)
2160x1080 6in screen is bright and sharp so it is excellent for youtube and movies. Colors arent on retina levels, but passable.
Uses USB-C to charge and battery life is pretty good.
Things like 1080p youtube, web browsing and basic tasks are smooth and responsive.
It has a fingerprint reader (mine has become flaky, unfortunately) and facial unlock which actually works well.
Cameras are fine, and the microphone is fine.
Games are a struggle as they used a dated MediaTek SOC with 8 cores (Apples on 7nm EUV but this is on 32nm). The 3gb one above may be better, but I doubt its great. Luckily, you can actually drop the resolution of the entire phone to get better gaming performance and battery life.
Runs Android 8.1 Oreo