Cheap Smartphone, No Contract

[MWG14]

My wife would like a cheap smartphone, pay as you go and no contract. She wants to see if she can master it while still using her old Nokia.

Can anybody recommend one please?

[Hopkirk]

Depends what you mean by cheap.

One of the best budget phones is the Moto G.
The latest release is the G9, but you might find an earlier one at a good price.

For the SIM consider getting one on a one month contract rather than pay as you go. Plusnet are one provider who do one month contracts, and if by chance you have your landline with them, you get an extra 2GB of data.

[MWG14]

Landline with BT. I thought Tesco might do cheap ones.

[ladybirder]

Sim only with GiffGaff £6/m 500mb data unlimited texts and minutes. Cancel any time.

[Buenchico]

Alcatel make reasonable quality cheap smartphones. (I've got one myself). The cheapest that's currently widely available, the U3, at £40, doesn't get good reviews though, so I won't suggest that model. However the 1C, at £50, gets very good reviews for the price on many websites:
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1952085

It's SIM-free, so Mrs M could get a SIM card from Asda Mobile (which I use) for upwards of £5 per month. [If Mrs M might be watching a few Youtube videos, etc, on her smartphone but not going mad with downloading, I'd suggest the £7 per month bundle might be best].
https://mobile.asda.com/bundles
Alternatively, Giffgaff has many fans among ABers:
https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-deals

[MWG14]

Thank you. She is nervous of smartphones, after years with her old Nokia just phoning & texting. She would like to experiment & practice with something cheap just to see if she can get the hang of it. We are both in our 80s, so you will understand.

[alavahalf]

Further to Hopkirks mention of Moto G .. I have had 4 in a row over the past 8 years or so . They are a good phone but with each one, after a couple of years, the battery power dwindled. The best deal around at the moment is the Moto G8 from o2. £99.00 . Its on PAYG so no contract 4gb of operating memory and 64gb.
Personally I would avoid it as it has the old micro usb charging point.
Probably tommorow I will order a basic smartphone for the wife .. it isnt that basic as it is streets ahead of the phones that most people bought a couple of years ago.
The quality of these phones is amazing. Sim free with NFC and type c charging, they are without doubt well worth considering. The price shown is £129 but when you go to checkout it will be £10 off.
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xiaomi-redmi-note-9-128gb-4gb-mi-band-4-ps12899-delivered-at-xiaomi-uk-3623083
I have had one for 5 months now and can honestly say I will buy Xiaomi every time from now on !

[fender62]

alavahalf, i agree i have the note 9 pro i bought on the black friday deals.. but not a phone for the beginner, these seem good for the money though https://groceries.asda.com/product/view-all-mobile-phones/unlocked-alcatel-1-b-pine-green-mobile-phone/1000251777018

[Naheed]

If the phone is too cheap, she will not like to switch towards smartphones because the touch sensitivity and speed of the cheap phones are not good. So, I will suggest you go for some budgeted phone that is not too cheap. Here is a list of some budgeted phones:
Samsung Galaxy A51
Pixel 4a
Nokia 7.2

[Buenchico]

This (from Auntie Beeb) is worth a look:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-55355517

From that, the Alcatel 1S, at £80, would seem to be perfectly adequate for MRs M's needs (although I suspect that the 1C, as in my link above, would probably meet them just as well).