Best smartphones under R2,000

It is possible to get a smartphone with a large screen and up to 64GB of storage in South Africa for under R2,000.

As smartphone manufacturers ramp up the technology on their latest flagship devices, budget-friendly smartphones receive a tech boost at a more affordable price.

We found five of the cheapest smartphones available in South Africa that still offer solid hardware specifications.

Most devices on this list feature similar hardware, including a 5000mAh battery, a screen of between 6.5 inches and 6.7 inches, 2GB to 3GB of RAM, and 32GB or 64GB storage.

A summary of each device follows below.

Samsung Galaxy A04 — R1,999

The Samsung Galaxy A04 is R1,999 from Takealot and was released at the end of 2022.

The smartphone has a 6.5-inch PLS LCD screen and a 5,000mAh battery that uses USB-C input for charging.

This model has 32GB of onboard storage and 3GB of RAM — models outside this price range offer increased RAM and storage options.

The A04 contains a Mediatek MT6765 Helio P35 chipset and runs on Android 12, which you can update to the latest version.

It features a dual front camera with a 50MP and 2MP camera and a 5MP selfie shooter.

Xiaomi Redmi A3 — R1,999

The Xiaomi Redmi A3 is one of Xiaomi’s budget smartphones, listed at R1,999 on Vodacom’s website, and was released in February of this year.

It has a 6.7-inch IPS LCD screen and a 5000mAh battery with 10W charging, using a USB-C input.

This model includes 64GB of onboard storage and 3GB of RAM; however, some models have increased storage and RAM.

The smartphone runs on Android 14 and uses a Mediatek Helio G36 chipset.

It has a dual camera setup comprising 8MP and 0.08MP sensors, and a 5MP selfie camera.

Tecno Pop 7 — R1,999

The Tecno Pop 7 retails for R1,799 on Takealot and was released in April of last year, making it just under a year old.

It has a 6.6-inch IPS LCD screen and a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging.

The Pop 7 runs on Android 12 and features 64GB of storage and 2GB of RAM.

The smartphone has a dual primary camera with 8MP and 0.8MP sensors and a 5MP selfie camera.

Honor X5 — R1,899

The Honor X5 is listed for R1,899 on Takealot and is roughly a year old, having been released at the beginning of February last year.

It has a 6.5-inch TFT LCD screen and a 5,000mAh battery that uses a Micro-USB port for charging.

The X5 comes with 2GB of memory and 32GB of storage — the only RAM and storage configuration available for this model.

However, you can upgrade storage with a microSD card.

The smartphone runs Android 12 and contains a Mediatek MT6762 Helio G25 chipset.

It only has one primary camera with an 8MP sensor and a 5MP selfie camera.

Nokia C22 — R1,699

The Nokia C22 is listed for R1,699 on Vodacom and was released in February last year.

It has a 6.5-inch IPS LCD screen and features a 5,000mAh battery that uses a 10W USB-C charging input.

The C22 runs on Android 13 Go and uses a quad-core Unisoc SC9863A chipset.

The model available in South Africa features 2GB of RAM, 2GB of Video RAM and 64GB of storage.

The dual-main camera uses a 13MP sensor with a wide lens and a 2MP macro lens, whereas its selfie camera has an 8MP sensor.