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Four smartphones under £100

Four smartphones under £100

The entry-level of the smartphone market is expanding rapidly and while previously this end of the spectrum would have got you a poorly-designed phone lacking in features, that's no longer the case.

Here we have rounded up four smartphones under £100 that offer more than just a plastic casing with a bad display, and instead give flagship devices a little run for their money.

Motorola Moto E - £89

The Motorola Moto E offers a great design, affordable price, good display and excellent battery life for its £89 price tag.

There is microSD support to expand the 4GB of internal storage and it runs on raw Android 4.4 so you'll get a streamlined experience with no unnecessary additions.

In terms of specs, the 142g Moto E offers a 4.3-inch 540 x 960 display, along with a 1.2GHz processor, 5-megapixel rear camera with no flash and a 1980mAh battery.

EE Kestrel - £99

The EE Kestrel delivers those with £99 budget access to 4G, along with a bright display albeit a low resolution and microSD for storage expansion.

You'll get a plasticy build with this device and the headphone jack is in a slightly odd position but the viewing angles on the display are good and you get the 4G access, which isn't available on the Moto E.

If you crunch the numbers, the EE Kestrel weighs 145g and offers a 4.5-inch IPS display, 2000mAh battery capacity and an 8GB internal storage. There is a 5-megapixel rear camera with flash and a 1.2GHz processor too so the EE Kestrel has a couple of features that tip the Moto E to the post.

Nokia 630 - £100

Nokia launched the Lumia 630 recently offering a Windows Phone 8.1 device in the budget end of the market with its £100 price tag.

It is affordable, nicely designed and it feels like a good quality handset but you won't get 4G access like you will with the EE Kestrel and there are a couple of hardware compromises.

The Lumia 630 comes with 4.5-inch 854 x 480 IPS LCD display and a 5-megapixel rear camera, while under the hood you will find a 1820mAh battery, 1.2GHz processor and 8GB of internal storage with microSD support.

Acer Liquid Z5 - £95

If you are after a slightly bigger device for your limited budget then the Acer Liquid Z5 could be up your street with its 5-inch display, good battery life and generally good design.

The display might not be the best resolution and the viewing angles aren't brilliant but it is almost phablet territory for a decent price and the multi-tasking interface is great.

The Liquid Z5 has a weight of 150g so a little heavier than the others on this list but that was to be expected. The display offers a 480 x 854 resolution and there is a 5-megapixel snapper with LED flash on board, as well as 4GB of internal memory. There is also a 2000mAh battery to get you through the day and a dual-core 1.3GHz processor for performance.




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