Smartphones that do not cost more than 300 euros are now amazingly powerful and popular entry-level devices that are often given away at Christmas. Ten of them did well at Stiftung Warentest with the quality assessment, ntv.de presents them.
In the past, the question of a recommendable smartphone that shouldn’t cost more than 300 euros was difficult to answer. The advice was mostly: “Better spend a little more.” That has completely changed. In this price range you can find a number of good devices that convince with sufficient performance, strong batteries and displays as well as high-quality workmanship. Even the camera equipment is no longer a reason to dig deeper into your pocket as long as you don’t have too high expectations. Stiftung Warentest has ten good and up-to-date smartphones in its list of the best, most of which are even significantly cheaper than 300 euros.
Although it is already available for around 170 euros, the Samsung Galaxy A13 with 64 gigabytes (GB) of internal memory achieved an overall rating of 2.5. The testers rated the display (6.6 inches), battery performance, handling and stability as good. The cameras are satisfactory, and since the processor is a bit weak, so are the basic functions of the device.
The Realme 9i with 64 GB has a little more processor power, but it does not get beyond the individual grade of 2.7 for the basic functions. It is hardly more expensive at just under 180 euros and also received the quality rating of 2.5. Although the screen (6.6 inches) is only satisfactory, Stiftung Warentest found the smartphone’s battery to be very good. The camera equipment was rated as satisfactory, handling and stability as good.
Buyers of the Realme 9 5G get a good display (6.6 inches). The device, which with a bit of luck can be bought online for around 200 euros, also offers a lot for its money. The reviewers rated it as good in every category, only photos and videos they found no better than satisfactory. The Realme 9 5G also achieved an overall score of 2.5.
You can buy the Motorola G52 for about the same price. The smartphone offers a 6.6-inch AMOLED display with a 90 Hertz (Hz) refresh rate, which was rated almost very well with a sub-grade of 1.6. In terms of basic functions, the Moto G52 received a devaluation (3.1) due to weak WLAN performance, otherwise it is a good device in all respects apart from the satisfactory cameras. Quality rating: 2.5.
The basic functions and camera equipment of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G are only satisfactory, but it did so well in all other categories that it was enough for a quality rating of 2.4 overall. The highlight of the smartphone, which costs around 215 euros, is its very good battery.
The Samsung Galaxy M23 5G got an overall score of 2.3. It is available from just under 230 euros. It missed an even better grade because the product test only rated its 6.6-inch display as satisfactory. The foundation liked the basic functions, handling, battery and stability. The cameras are only satisfactory, but with a partial rating of 2.7 they are among the best in the price range.
The same applies to the cameras of the Motorola Moto G41, which also achieved the quality rating of 2.3 in the version with 6 GB of RAM. Its display is almost very good (1.6), the testers rated everything else as good. The device is currently available online for just under 200 euros.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S (2.6) has the strongest camera equipment of the ten best smartphones up to 300 euros. The fact that the device, which costs around 200 euros, “only” received an overall rating of 2.2 is due to a failed drop test and a missing user manual. The smartphone did not get more than a satisfactory rating in terms of handling and stability. In return, it shines with a very good display (AMOLED/90 Hz/6.4 inches) and a very good battery performance.
The Xiaomi Redmi 11, which is even cheaper at around 175 euros, does not have a printed manual either, but it survived the drop test. Its display is also very good. There was even a straight 1 for endurance and charging speed of the battery, the basic functions were rated as good. Just because its cameras aren’t quite as good (2.9), the device got the same quality score of 2.2 as the more expensive Redmi.
With a quality rating of 2.1, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G is the best-rated smartphone under 300 euros at Stiftung Warentest. It owes this to its strong overall performance, with Stiftung Warentest only rating the cameras as satisfactory. The battery performance (1.0) is outstanding, and the smartphone received good ratings in all other categories. The 6.4-inch AMOLED screen just missed out on a very good rating (1.6). With prices starting at 292 euros, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G is comparatively expensive.
