Five great smarpthones under $250

There’s a big market for pre-paid mobile phones in Australia, more than 50% of us are on pre-paid telco deals, which means they aren’t paying off a phone and could upgrade without any consequence at any time.

Buying your phone directly, and paying cash up front is known as an outright purchase, today, more and more people are opting to buy outright and save bundles of cash.

Not only can you spend $1,000 or more on the top brand phones, there are an endless number of phones on the market for much less, perfect for those who are keen to save some coin.

These phones suit teenagers, those looking at a reluctant phone upgrade due to the failure of their current phone, those switching to their first smartphone and of course those who love the look or features of them.

All five of these phones are available to buy outright for under $250!

Moto G5

5 Inch screen, 13 Megapixel rear camera, 16 GB on-board storage expandable with a microSD card, this is a nice looking phone, especially in gold, the screen at Full HD is great quality but also brightness.

The shake for torch and twist for camera functions are unique to Moto and really are excellent features.  Fingerprint scanner is built into the home key making it one of three here with that feature.

Otherwise, as with most of these phones you’re getting a cracking great – clean version of Android.

Web: Officeworks – $249

Alcatel A3 XL

With a 6 inch screen this is for the big phone lover.

Very clean version of Android, some fun camera features for those who love those live characters on your face in photos.

With the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner this is amazing value for that security feature – Though in reality – this phone is all about size at this price range.

Web: Vodafone – $179

Kogan Agora 8

Metal construction, fingerprint scanner on the back, at $199 Kogan really have this one batting above it’s average.

Performs well, a decent bit of power under the hood will suit most users no problem.

Web: Kogan.com – $199

LG K4

With a removable battery this is a blast from the past, but the basic features may not have it snapping the best shots of the bunch, nor is it the most powerful, but the camera has gesture shot and auto shot built in the camera has a lot to offer – especially the selfie lover.

Plus, there’s expandable storage for your movies and photos.

5 Inch screen at under $200 at Telstra – great value.

Web: Telstra – $179

Nokia 3

They’re back!  Nokia are back with a new manufacturer taking the brand back to the masses.

Of the five here, this feels the most expensive.  At $249 it’s stunning value.

5 Inch screen, Corning Gorilla Glass, 8MP wide aperture cameras front and back – it’s not the best of the new Nokia’s but it is the cheapest.

Cracking good value.  Available this month – check JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.