Both these Android handsets are under $100.

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ZDNET's key takeaways

Both of these Blackview smartphones retail for under $100
Both handsets have what it takes for tasks such as messaging, taking photos and video, social media, and browsing the web
Both benefit form bumping up the virtual RAM to the max.

It's easy to think that you have to drop hundreds – if not thousands -- of dollars to get a new smartphone. If you want a flagship smartphone from the big brands, then yes, you're going to experience some serious weight reduction in the wallet or purse.

But fear not, because if what you're after is a cheap and cheerful smartphone to handle things like calling, messaging, social media and browsing the web, then you have options for handsets that you can pick up for under $100.

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I've been testing two of them, the Wave 8 and Wave 8C, both from Blackview, a company better known for building rugged handset.

Blackview Wave 8 (left) and Wave 8C (right)

Looking at the spec sheet, these handsets have a lot in common.

They both have a 6.56 inch IPS LCD display with 720 by 1,612 screen resolution and 450 nits of brightness, they both run Android 14 Go edition with DokeOS 4.0, both have a 13-megapixel main camera and 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, both have a 5,000 mAh battery that's up to 18 hours of continuous calls or 26 days of standby, a microSD card slot to boost storage, and both even have a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

There's not much to separate these two handsets -- but the differences are important. Blackview Wave 8 (left) and Wave 8C (right)

All three handsets are offered in Sunset Purple, Dawn Blue, Dusk Black finishes, and are supplied with a silicone case.

But there are differences.

Both the Wave 8 and Wave 8C have a modern feel and are only 8.8 mm thick!

The Wave 8 has a screen with a 90Hz compared to the 60Hz screen of the Wave 8C. The processors, RAM, and storage are also different.

The Wave 8 packing the octa-core 12-nm Unisoc T606 from 2021 running at 1.6GHz with a Mali-G57 MP1 GPU, 4GB of RAM (expandable to 12GB using virtual RAM), 128GB of storage, and it has a side-mounted fingerprint reader, while the Wave 8C has a much older octa-core 28-nm Unisoc SC9863A from 2018 running at 1.6GHz with a PowerVR GE8322 GPU, 2GB of RAM (expandable to 6GB using virtual RAM), and 64GB of storage.

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The Wave 8C is definitely the slower of the two handsets, and you do feel this, especially when they are side by side. Boot up, opening apps, and switching between apps is faster and smoother, and both handsets definitely benefit from boosting the RAM to use the maximum virtual RAM.

I recommend using the maximum memory expansion for both the Wave 8 and Wave 8C.

Using PassMark Performance Test for Android, it's easy to see the difference. The Wave 8 scored 2,949 for the CPU tests, 11,995 for the RAM tests, 17,794 for the disk tests, and 13,999 and 14,348 for the 2D and 3D graphics tests, respectively, while the Wave 8C scored 1,232 for the CPU tests, 3,536 for the RAM tests, 13,013 for the disk tests, and 5,470 and 2,036 for the 2D and 3D graphics tests, respectively.

Those are quite some differences.

PassMark Performance Test for Android scres for the Wave 8 (left) and Wave 8C (right).

Charging is also different. Both are limited to wired charging, but the Wave 8 chargers at up to 10W, while the Wave 8C can only manage 5W.

ZDNET's buying advice

Both the Blackview Wave 8 and Wave 8C definitely fall into the low-end category, but both are perfectly capable of taking photos, handling social media and browsing the web. The start throwing demanding tasks like photo or video editing at the handsets and you start to notice the limitations of the hardware.

The 450 nit maximum brightness of the display also becomes problematic in bright sunlight and is the reason that the displays on flagship smartphones peak at 2,000 nits these days.

But remember that these are budget handsets, with the Wave 8 coming in at $90, while you can pick up a Wave 8C for $75. For the money, these handsets really deliver.

Personally, I'd go for the Wave 8 over the Wave 8C because that extra RAM and more modern processor makes a big difference for only a few dollars, but if you have a situation where you need a super-budget phone – maybe for the workshop or as a phone to take with you hiking, or a phone you give to the kids, the Wave 8C is a great smartphone for the price.

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