Top 10: The best smartphones up to 300 euros – Xiaomi ahead of Samsung The new cell phone should be able to do more than an entry-level smartphone, but at the same time not cost much? TechStage shows the best cell phones up to 300 euros. 8:00 p.m. tech stage

Even some 100 euro smartphones now have a surprising amount to offer, as our list of the best shows impressively : the 10 best cell phones up to 100 euros . It is also clear that models for 200 euros (top list) are hardly weaker than models for 300 euros. The main difference is the 5G standard, which is rarely found under 200 euros, but is becoming more common up to 300 euros.

There is also room for improvement for the camera up to 300 euros, manufacturers usually supplement the main and wide-angle lenses with a simple macro and depth sensor. For a noticeable leap in technology, however, buyers have to pay a few more euros. This is noticeable in almost every area of ​​the equipment.

Caution: As always, older models are tempting in terms of price. However, we advise against smartphones that came onto the market before 2021. Here the hardware and especially the software is often outdated. For this top 10, we have used devices that date from at least 2021. This is the only way to ensure a sufficiently long update supply.

In the price range up to 300 euros, prospective buyers should exclude smartphones that offer less than Full HD+ as a resolution. In addition, there are more and more OLED screens in this price range, which score with a particularly good black value, high contrast, intensive saturation and excellent viewing angle stability. Models with 90 or 120 Hertz have long since penetrated this price range – less is not recommended. Content can thus be played back even more smoothly. In our display compendium we give a precise overview of screen technologies and resolutions .

6 GB should be the lowest limit for RAM, 64 GB for internal storage, or even better 128 GB – why accept less when there is so much storage space easily available for less than 300 euros? A few models even offer 8 GB of RAM and/or 256 GB of expandable data storage.

There are many smartphones with Mediatek chips in the middle class in particular, but more and more models are now offering chipsets from the market leader Qualcomm and even older chips from the upper class can be found in this price range. The Mediatek chips are mostly competitive in terms of performance, but in the past they had disadvantages in terms of update supply and power consumption. Dimensity chips are different. From our point of view, there are generally no real reasons to avoid corresponding models with Mediatek chips in the middle class. If you want to be on the safe side, you can of course still keep an eye out for smartphones with Qualcomm chips.

The “cheap manufacturers” like Spreadtrum can no longer be found in this price range, the same applies to chipsets with fewer than eight CPU cores. Examples of reasonable chips are Mediatek Dimensity 700, 800(U), 1200 or Helio G96 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, 765(G), 778(G) or even 870. Of course, more is always possible.

The majority of smartphones up to 300 euros come to the customer with a quad cam, but prospective buyers have to be careful here. Because while top models above 600 euros and also some cheaper models (guides) now often deliver a universal package with main, wide-angle and telephoto lens as well as depth sensor as standard, many manufacturers in the price range discussed here still rely on macro lenses instead of telephoto lenses. To make matters worse, they are then often equipped with a very low number of megapixels. In everyday life, they can hardly be used in terms of quality, so that not three of the four cameras advertised, but only two can really be used in a meaningful way.

Instead, it would be better to have a decent telephoto camera instead of a macro lens and a reasonable wide-angle lens that can be used to bring objects very close up in the appropriate mode with slight magnification. We examine the tiresome subject of empty marketing promises in detail in our guide to budget phones with triple cams: More than a marketing gimmick? After all, there are sometimes even smartphones with optical image stabilization in the price range of up to 300 euros – but that’s still a rare spectacle.