Best Cheap Smartphones for Pokemon Go

Nintendo has launched, in collaboration with Niantic, Pokemon Go: a smartphone adaptation of their popular Pokemon franchise and a game that took the world by storm. Everybody seems to be playing it and enjoying it so far – but there are also people that either haven’t made the jump to smartphones yet or have a smartphone that’s too old and outdated to play Pokemon Go. We’re here to help you – and help you keep your budget secure as well because you don’t have to spend a fortune in order to be able to get a new smartphone that runs Pokemon Go.

And in order to save you from the trouble of searching and doing extra research by yourself, we did it for you and and sharing below the best cheap smartphones for Pokemon Go so that you can start capturing the little creatures right away without breaking the bank. We have three suggestions and it’s up for you to decide which one is the best pick!

Please note: We get commissions for purchases made through links in this article.

BLU R1 HD

best cheap phones for pokemon go 01

Probably the best option if you are on a very limited budget. At the moment of writing this article, Amazon runs a special offer on this phone for Prime owners, making it insanely cheap so if you have Amazon Prime, you get a bonus. Even without Prime, it’s still a very cheap phone good for Pokemon Go. Do expect it to run slow every now and then, but it will work and you’ll be able to enjoy the game on it.

It has decent specifications for such a low cost phone: it runs on a 1.3 Ghz Quad Core processor, offers 16GB of internal storage but also support for a SSD card to increase it, it has 2GB of RAM and runs on Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It also has a large 5″ HD display so I must repeat it: it’s a surprisingly good phone for its price!

For US/World: Click here to check it out & purchase options
UK/Europe: Click here to check out a similar product

Motorola Moto G

best cheap phones for pokemon go 02

Although this is not the latest phone on the market, it is cheap and does work well with Pokemon Go – we did some research and found out that there are some people who play a ton of Pokemon Go on this device, actually, and even though it does get slow every now and then, it’s at least satisfactory.

However, it does have poorer specifications than the model above: a 1.2 Ghz processor and just 8GB of internal storage with no slot for a SD card, meaning that you’ll have to deal with those 8GB forever and they tend to fill up quickly. But if you prefer a better known brand, go for this one and enjoy the game – more and more people are opting for this model and are extremely satisfied with it.

For US/World: Click here to check it out & buy it
For UK/Europe: Click here to check it you & buy it

Apple iPhone 5

best cheap phones for pokemon go 03

If you prefer an Apple phone for whatever the reason, you don’t have to go for the latest model – an Apple iPhone 5 for example is decently priced and it runs Pokemon Go just fine! It has a smaller 4-inch screen and it is powered by a decent A6 processor, offering 16GB of storage.

I know that people can get really attached to this phone – my wife absolutely loved it and didn’t complain about it being too slow (although it is, compared to new models) and it’s still the phone of her choice, enjoying it for a few years already. And indeed, it’s not a bad phone at all and it’s probably the cheapest you can get if you want a cheap iPhone to play Pokemon Go.

For US/World: Click here to check it out & purchase options
For UK/Europe: Click here to check it out & purchase options

These would be our three suggestions for cheap phones for Pokemon Go. If I were on a very limited budget and had to choose one of these, I would definitely go with the newer one which is the BLU R1 model, the first recommendation on our list. But all the phones can handle the game, so pick whichever seems best for you.

UPDATE: We received a lot of thank you e-mails from people who bought the Motorola model and consider it the best cheap phone for Pokemon Go, so just pick whichever of the two seems better for you if you want an Android Phone or go with the old iPhone if you prefer it (in this case, though, we’d suggest following the Android route!)

2 thoughts on “Best Cheap Smartphones for Pokemon Go”

Leave a Comment