The Best Cheap Android Handsets

The best cheap Android phones include the Sony Xperia E (£108.50 at Amazon.co.uk), HTC Desire C (£105.49), and the Samsung S6310 Galaxy Young (£128.70).

All three have half-VGA screens (320 x 480 pixels), and both the Sony Xperia E and Samsung S6310 run Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) on 1GHz Cortex A5 processors. The older HTC Desire C lags in running non-upgradeable Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) on a 600MHz Cortex A5. I reckon the Sony Xperia E is the pick of the bunch, at the price, but these models are really aimed at people upgrading from feature phones, not downgrading from an iPhone 4. You will get a much better phone if you can spend a bit more.

For example, stepping up from the Xperia E to the Xperia U £149.95 would get you a better (but still 3.5in) WVGA screen with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, twice the memory, a better processor (dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9), and a better camera (5 megapixels instead of 3MP) with LED flash. The U comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) but you can upgrade it to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

You will lose some resolution compared with the iPhone 4's 3.5in screen (640 x 960 pixels). However, the Xperia U is about an ounce lighter, and you gain a microUSB v2.0 port with USB On-The-Go, stereo FM radio with RDS, camera image stabilisation, and the chance to use a Swype or other keyboard. (As you know, you will also lose access to the iPhone's app collection.)

For other differences, check this side-by-side comparison at the excellent GSMArena website.

The deal-breaker with the Sony Xperia U is that you cannot expand the 4GB of memory provided for your documents and media files (there's another 2GB for apps). This may involve swapping too many files around, depending on your musical tastes. While the Samsung I8160 Galaxy Ace 2 would solve that problem in an otherwise equivalent phone, the £178.12 price is a long way from your desired "around £100". Of course, you may find it cheaper if you shop around.

If you are feeling lucky, you could take a flyer on a cheap white-box Android smartphone. One of the better known examples is the V1277 or Star V12, which is sometimes referred to as the MTK6577 after its Media Tek processor. A Google search will find lots of YouTube videos, reviews and forum discussions. An Amazon.co.uk search for V1277 found it for £105.99 (MTK6577), though some sellers charge more than £150. I've not seen or tried the V1277 myself, but it generally gets good reviews and the specification is excellent for the price.

Affordable Android Smartphones