**Is a $60 Smartphone Worth It?**

Hey guys, this is Austin. When it comes to affordable smartphones, there are actually quite a few choices at this price point. To kick things off, we've got the Alcatel Pixi 3, the Blu Advance 5.0, and the ZTE Maven.

**Unboxing and Features**

Get into the unboxing of each phone, and you'll find that they all come with a similar set of features. The Alcatel Pixi 3 comes with the phone itself, a power adapter, a pair of headphones (which are cheap but a nice inclusion), a MicroUSB cable, and a 1780 milliamp hour battery. You can easily install the battery by popping the back off the phone, which is also where you'll find the slots for the SIM along with a MicroSD card up to 32 gigs.

The Blu Advance 5.0 has similar features, including a power adapter, USB cable, and a 1800 milliamp hour battery. The Advance immediately looks and feels nicer than the price tag would suggest, especially in its white finish. Pop the back off, and you'll see the dual SIM slots, which is a nice plus on top of the MicroSD card that can handle up to a 64 gig card.

The ZTE Maven also comes with a similar set of features, including a MicroUSB cable, power adapter, and removable rear cover. The battery isn't replaceable, but you can install a 32 gig MicroSD and the SIM here.

**Performance and Benchmarks**

But what's it like to use a $60 phone? Actually not bad. All three have fairly similar specs with a quad-core CPU and Android 5.1. You'll notice the occasional bit of slowness compared to a flagship, but they're totally usable. Run a couple benchmarks such as Geekbench, and you'll see that the Pixi and Maven pull out a small lead on the CPU side.

However, when it comes to graphics with 3DMark, the Maven pulls out a fairly substantial lead. One of the most important things to make a phone feel quick is storage performance, and inside the PCMark storage bench, things are close enough that all three phones can compete with $600 flagships just a few years ago.

**Screens and Cameras**

Even though the Blu Advance is the weakest on paper, you'd be hard pressed not to notice the difference in real use. Most games like Badland run no problem. A big part of that has to do with the screens. Both the Pixi and Maven are sporting 4.5 inch displays with a resolution of 854 by 480.

They're about exactly what you would expect at this price point, but neither get very bright, and the contrast is poor. The Blu Advance is a surprising step up here, with the same fairly low resolution on a larger five-inch display that might not look impressive on paper, but it's really not bad.

The color and especially contrast are a massive improvement over the others, even if they can't stand up to a new high-end display at this price point. That same praise also carries over to the design of the phone.

**Design and Software**

Unlike the hard, cheap plastic on the Pixi and Maven, you get a soft touch fake leather finish on the Blu. It's also quite a bit thinner than the others, paired with nicely tapered edges that give it a much nicer feel in the hand.

All three have fairly unimpressive rear cameras, but the Blu Advance has an advantage on paper with 1080p video. However, I prefer the look of the 720p video on the Maven. One area where the Blu scores an easy win is with the front-facing camera, which is a two-megapixel shooter compared to VGA on the others.

It looks a lot better and that advantage is even more noticeable in video. For some reason, the Pixi and Maven record at a basically unusable seven frames per second on the front-facing camera, while the Advance keeps up a decent frame rate.

**Conclusion**

In a vacuum, the Alcatel Pixi 3 is a totally usable phone for $60, but in this company, it's simply outclassed. The ZTE Maven consistently delivers a small performance advantage with more storage and a better rear camera, but the Blu Advance looks and feels massively better, has a screen that's totally respectable, and a better selfie camera that makes it absolutely worth it.

Cheap phones have come a long way. So which one would you go for? Let me know in the comments below!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys this is Austin. Is a $60 smartphoneworth it? There are actually quite a few choicesat this price point and to kick things offwe’ve got the Alcatel Pixi 3. Get into theunboxing and you’ll find the phone itself,the power adapter, a pair of headphones whichwhile cheap are a nice inclusion, the MicroUSBcable and the 1780 milliamp hour battery.Pop the back off the Pixi 3 and you can easilyinstall the battery, this is also where you’llfind the slots for the SIM along with a MicroSDcard up to 32 gigs. Next up we’ve got theBlu Advance 5.0, get into the box and you’llsee the phone up front along with the poweradapter, USB cable and the 1800 milliamp hourbattery. The Advance immediately looks andfeels nicer than the price tag would suggestespecially in this white finish, pop the backoff and you’ll see the dual SIM slots whichis a nice plus on top of the MicroSD whichcan handle up to a 64 gig card. Last but notleast we’ve got the ZTE Maven which at firstglance looks almost identical to the Pixi.Like the others it comes with a MicroUSB cable,power adapter and the removable rear cover.The battery isn’t replaceable but you caninstall a 32 gig MicroSD and the SIM here.The real question is what’s it like to usea $60 phone? Actually not bad. All three havefairly similar specs with a quad core fairlylow powered CPU and Android 5.1, you’llnotice the occasional bit of slowness comparedto a flagship but they’re totally usable.Run a couple benchmarks such as Geekbenchand you’ll the Pixi and Maven pull out asmall lead on the CPU side where when youmove over to graphics with 3DMark the Mavenpulls out a fairly substantial lead. One ofthe most important things to make a phonefeel quick is the storage performance andinside the PCMark storage bench things areclose enough to put all three phones rightup there with $600 flagships just a few yearsago. Even though the Blu Advance is the weakeston paper you’d be hard pressed to noticethe difference in real use, most games likeBadland run no problem. A big part of thathas to do with the screens. Both the Pixiand Maven are sporting 4.5 inch displays witha resolution of 854 by 480. They’re aboutexactly what you would expect at this pricepoint. Neither get very bright and the contrastis poor, as IPS displays color and viewingangles are passable but neither are any betterthan tolerable. The Blu Advance is a surprisingstep up here, it has the same fairly low resolutionbut on a larger five inch display that mightnot look impressive on paper but it’s reallynot bad. The color and especially contrastis a massive improvement over the others,it can’t stand up to a new high end displaybut at this price point there’s absolutelynothing to complain about. That same praisealso carries over to the design of the phone.While the Advance is a fair bit larger thanthe others you’re getting a phone that couldeasily pass as something that’s far moreexpensive. Unlike the hard, cheap plasticon the Pixi and Maven you get a soft touchfake leather finish on the Blu. It’s alsoquite a bit thinner than the others whichpaired with the nicely tapered edges givesit a much nicer feel in the hand. All threedo have fairly unimpressive rear firing speakersand pretty large bezels but you’ll findon screen Android keys on the Advance comparedto capacitive keys on the others. With allthree running Android 5.1 the software sideis pretty even, the Blu and Pixi both havevery lightly skinned builds with minimal additionswhere the Maven has seen larger changes includingquite a lot of bloatware. The bigger issueis storage, where you’ll find eight gigson the Maven the Pixi and Advance only comewith four gigabytes out of the box. A MicroSDcard is a good idea for all of these but it’sbasically a necessity when you’ve only gotfour gigabytes to work with. It’s a similar storywhen it comes to RAM, where the Maven andPixi have a full gigabyte the Blu skimps abit here with 768 megs of memory. This complicatesthings a bit. While the Maven is a betterspecced phone the Advance looks and feelslike a much more expensive device. Get tothe cameras and it gets even more difficultto choose. You’re looking at five megapixelcameras with an LED flash across the boardbut here the Maven easily pulls out the win.It’s far sharper than the others, it doesa better job with color and to top it offit comes with a better camera app that remindsme a bit of the iOS app, it even gives youa Pro mode to tweak the settings. It’s thesame story on the video side, the Advancehas an advantage on paper with 1080p videobut again I prefer the look of the 720p videoon the Maven. One area where the Blu scoresan easy win is with the front facing camera,as a two megapixel shooter compared to VGAon the others it looks a lot better and thatadvantage is even more noticeable in video.For some reason the Pixi and Maven recordat a basically unusable seven frames per secondon the front facing camera where the Advanceat least keeps up a decent frame rate. Ina vacuum the Pixi is a totally usable phonefor $60 but in this company it’s simplyoutclassed. The Maven consistently deliversa small performance advantage with more storageand a better rear camera but the Advance looksand feels massively better, has a screen that’stotally respectable and a better selfie camerathat makes it absolutely worth it. Cheap phoneshave come a long way. So which one would yougo for? Let me know in the comments belowand I will catch you in the next one!