Good news for cheap 5G smartphones in South Africa

South Africans looking for an affordable 5G smartphone will find numerous models across multiple brands available for under R5,000 in early 2025.

MyBroadband’s latest analysis of budget 5G smartphones on the local market shows that the entry price has lifted slightly from a few months ago, when the ZTE Blade A72 was the most affordable option at around R1,500.

However, the cheapest option in March 2025 — the MTN Icon 5G — is much newer and boasts better hardware.

This model was selling for as low as R1,899 on Takealot at the time of our analysis, a R600 reduction on its R2,499 launch price in November 2024.

To achieve such a low price, MTN locks the phone to its network on at least one of the two SIM slots. This suggests MTN subsidises the device and banks on recouping the loss it takes on sales through airtime, minutes, data, or SMS bundle purchases.

The Icon 5G sports a 6.6-inch display, but its resolution and refresh rate are unspecified.

Other confirmed specifications include a 5,000mAh battery, 128GB storage, and a 2.2GHz octa-core processor.

There are many other components of this device that are also unspecified, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi versions, charging speeds, and biometric unlocking capabilities.

MTN does not even share what version of Android the phone runs.

From its design, the Icon 5G appears to be a rebranded ZTE Nubia smartphone, although a reverse image search failed to show precisely which one.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer offers two other highly affordable 5G models — the Nubia Focus and Nubia Neo2.

These were priced at R3,299 and R3,499 at the time of publication and offered some incredible specifications for budget devices.

For example, both boast 120Hz refresh rates, while the Neo2 supports up to 33W wired charging and IP54 dust and water resistance.

Hisense was the only other brand with more than one device in the top 10 most affordable options, meaning the selection of brands with budget 5G smartphones has increased substantially.

Oukitel, Oppo, Vivo, Tecno, and Samsung each had one device in the top 10 cheapest 5G smartphones available online.

Based on the retail prices of some of the devices in our analysis, the ad valorem duty exemption on smartphones below R2,500 may also help bring down 5G smartphone prices in addition to reducing 4G device price tags.

Below are the specifications and images of 10 of the most affordable 5G smartphones in South Africa in March 2025.

MTN Icon 5G — From R1,899 (Takealot)

ZTE Nubia Focus 5G — R3,399 (Vodacom)

ZTE Nubia Neo2 5G — From R3,499 (Makro)

Hisense Infinity H50s 5G — From R3,500

Hisense Infinity H60 5G — From R3,999 (Takealot/Bash)

Tecno Spark 10 5G — From R4,000 (Takealot)

Samsung Galaxy A25 5G — R4,299 (Bash)

Vivo Y52 5G — From R4,250 (Takealot)

Oppo A77 5G — From R4,299

Oukitel C50 5G — From R4,499 (Takealot)