Phone deals under £20 a month

Under £20 a month is the budget end of phone contracts, and it’s better than it’s ever been. A few years ago this price range meant a phone you’d want to replace inside 12 months. Now it covers solid mid-range Android handsets and the lower end Apple phones. For this budget you will typically get decent cameras, all-day battery life, 5G on most of them which will do everything the average person needs for the full two years of the contract.

What you’re giving up is processing power and premium build. Expect plastic backs rather than glass, screens that top out at 1080p, and cameras that struggle in low light. If you edit video, play demanding games or want a phone that feels genuinely fast in three years’ time, the under-£30 page is probably a better fit. If you mostly scroll, stream, message and take the occasional photo, under £20 covers it comfortably.

The other thing to watch is the upfront cost. This page shows contracts with no more than £50 upfront but the total contract cost matters more than the monthly price. A deal at £18/month with £50 upfront costs about the same over 24 months as one at £20/month with nothing down. The table shows both so you can compare properly.