I thought that in 2026 I could buy a cheap cell phone without worrying about anything. big mistake

I have spent half my life being especially critical when analyzing phones and, on the only occasion that I have decided to stop being so, I have hit a wall. We are in 2026, a year in which one might think that at this point in the game practically any phone newly launched on the market must work well. Mistake, big mistake.

So I want to tell you how the component crisis in the technology sector and, to be honest, a certain apathy on the part of manufacturers, continues to make choosing an affordable mobile phone complex in 2026. Either we look closely at what we buy, or it may turn out to be a failure.

The objectives. A mobile to send and receive WhatsAppsliterally. I wanted a phone whose main use was to manage communication with clients in one of my projects and, taking advantage of the fact that I had a new purchase, use it as GPS when I ride a motorcycle. The demands were minimal, there were practically no requirements other than that the cell phone worked decently.

The expectation was not high either: I know that a low-end mobile phone does not work like a high-end one, not even like a mid-range one. I was just looking for something functional and simple.

The search. I started the search, with phones over 100 euros. For that price it was practically impossible to access basic phones like the LITTLE M7which at least has a Snapdragon 685 (a processor, mind you, from 2023), so I had to continue lowering the bar. I ended up finding a 199 euro phone on sale for 89 euros on Aliexpress. One with 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of internal memory… and a Helium G100 Ultra.

the drama. The Helio G100 Ultra is an entry-level processor launched in 2024, relatively modern, and should have enough capacity to run basic applications. That’s what I thought.

Almost two seconds to open the camera, lag in the launcher with the mobile newly configured, constant freezes and a performance that, after having tried other cheap mobile phones of a similar price (without offer), was simply unacceptable. And no, I’m not going to tell you the model so as not to draw blood, but it is one of the most popular mobile phones in Spain.

Blind. One of the supposed advantages that it has brought us the semiconductor race is all about performance. For some time now, in certain ranges, my recommendations when asked which mobile phone to buy for

The same does not happen with the entry ranges. Processors like Helium G99Helio G100, and even some Snapdragon 600 series (or Gen 6) are still barely moving basic apps. And the worrying thing is not how the phone performs right out of the box (which already performs poorly), it is how it will perform in a few years with some hardware degradation, system and app updates.

big horse. At this point in the game there is something that is very clear to me, something that I have always defended: the processor It is much more important than we can think as average users. It is the heart of our mobile:

• The Gross Performance Manager
• The person in charge of the modem who will make us have better or worse coverage
• The element behind photo quality and camera performance
• The one that allows the final audio quality to be better or worse
• The one that helps to manage energy consumption more or less efficiently

And here, even though the chip race continues at its pace, the high-end processors from a few years ago are noticeably superior to the entry-level ones. So between that high end of 2024 full of chicha and that newly released entry range… I’m clear about what I should have done.

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