The best budget smartphones

INQ Cloud Touch: A cheap and cheerful Android-powered smartphone featuring an almost toy-like design, but harboring a bumper crop of social networking and music features inside. There are oodles of Facebook tools, a Spotify app that automatically syncs with your music collection and a decent virtual keyboard. There’s also a nifty wi-fi connection feature that automatically finds available hotspots and the information button on the side of the phone enables instant access to core functions. It’s handy. Buy it if: You’re short on cash, but want a social networking tool that’s far from run of the mill.
Sony Ericsson Walkman Live: The Walkman Live is a real looker, but is also backed up by an impressive technical specification that has playing music at its central core. There’s a dedicated Walkman button, xLOUD loudness enhancement and seamless Facebook integration. You’ll also be able to enjoy quality images from the five-megapixel camera and flash, front-facing VGA lens plus a host of other goodies backed up by Android 2.3. Buy it if: You’re a music fan and love the style of a Sony Ericsson.
Samsung Galaxy Fit: Although it only runs a humble 600MHz processor, the Fit is one of the best low-end Android phones on the market. Granted, it`s essentially underpowered and suffers from a low-resolution screen, but this smartphone has an excellent five-megapixel camera with autofocus, responsive touchscreen and storagethat can be boosted up to 32GB. It feels well-built and looks pretty cool too. Buy it if: You want to take snaps, post social networking updates and go.
BlackBerry Curve 8520: RIM – Students and business people alike love their BlackBerry devices and it’s little wonder thanks to their superior on-board email and messaging tools. The Curve 8520 looks good, feels great, sports an ergonomically pleasing QWERTY keyboard and vibrant screen. Dedicated media keys, trackpad navigation and a host of BlackBerry apps round out the package nicely. Buy it if: You like your email and messaging duties seamlessly integrated.
Motorola Fire: Another Android 2.3 smartphone that boasts a full QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen display and a capacity for being heavily customized. Battery life is good, jump from work to play via a switchable widget system and expect all the usual toys including onboard camera plus music and video playback. Buy it if: You enjoy the feel of fingertips on a real keyboard and fancy something different.
Acer Liquid Mini: Many smartphones are big and cumbersome, while the Liquid Mini is just the opposite. This is a phone that sits nicely in your hand, has a 3.2-inch screen, a five-megapixel camera and runs Android 2.2. It`s also very cheap, with a simplistic design and screen layout, but that’s half the charm. Meanwhile, wi-fi, Bluetooth, music player, radio and the usual social networking tools make it a surprisingly bulky package that should cost you peanuts. Buy it if: You want to explore Android on a basic smartphone, but don’t want to commit to spending big money.
Motorola Defy: A surprisingly rugged smartphone with tough Gorilla Glass screen and water resistance means that this is an Android-powered handset that’s built for action. There’s a great responsive touchscreen, the MotoBlur UI for lots of social networking integration and the multimedia aspect of this phone is top-notch too. It also enjoys pretty good battery life compared with many of its counterparts. Buy it if: You like to stay powered up and tend to be on the clumsy side.
HTC Wildfire: It may be one of the cheaper phones from HTC, but expect plenty of surprises as you explore the feature-packed functionality. A five-megapixel camera with flash, GPS and geo-tagging, comprehensive social networking control via Friend Stream and great music and video players mean it`s a good all-rounder. Solid web browsing including Flash compatibility only adds to its appeal. Buy it if: You want a cheap smartphone that doesn’t look or feel light on features.
Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570: If you hanker after a Samsung Galaxy S or S II, but don’t have the available readies, then get a whiff of what’s so great about them with the Mini instead. A 600MHz processor, 2GB of memory, 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen and a 3.2-megapixel camera will all supply you with a taster of those fine Android smartphones. The difference with the Mini is that it’s way cheaper and with wi-fi and 3G plus the usual range of apps, this is a decent little entry-level phone. Buy it for: Its cutesy looks and respectable, though slightly pedestrian performance and specification.
Nokia C5-03: Available in several colors, the C5-03 is a handset that’s been poked and prodded into performing better than its original incarnation. Now there’s wi-fi and Ovi Maps too, along with the Symbian operating system that you’ll either love or loathe. Screen size is surprisingly decent with a crisp and clear resolution and anyone who wants a reliable basic smartphone with excellent battery life will love the C5-03. Buy it if: You still love a Nokia and its old faithful interface that’s easy to use.
Samsung Galaxy Pro: An Android phone with a proper keyboard, 2.8-inch display, three-megapixel camera and 800MHz processor means that the Galaxy Pro is a handset for people who want workmanlike tools, but aren`t expecting a blazing performance. The styling is simple but effective although it`s the usual Android widgets and apps that help make this more than just another also-ran. Buy it if: You need a phone that`s short on frills, but has plenty of features.
Motorola Flipout: The Flipout continues to drop in price because it`s a bit of an oddball. However, the quirky design houses a decent bag of tricks, including the neat connected music player and MotoBlur custom interface, backed up by an Android operating system core. Facebook and Twitter feeds can be easily integrated although its small screen makes web browsing a challenge. There’s even a proper QWERTY keyboard inside too. Buy it if: You want to stand out from the crowd and need a phone that can be easily pocketed.
Sony Ericsson txt pro: The all-lower-case moniker quickly tells you that the txt pro feature phone is all about getting your fingers to do the talking big time. Core features revolve around texts and instant messaging, via a three-inch scratch-resistant touchscreen or slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Integrated best friend tools amalgamate Facebook and Twitter posts, while being a Sony Ericsson means that there’s a wealth of music playing tools and options too. Buy it because: It’s fun, funky and the hits keep coming too, but go easy on those dinky keys if you’re plagued by RSI.