Content creation has officially become a lucrative full-time job and a business for many people around the world. With the rise of apps that can quickly monetize accounts like TikTok, we started to hear terms like “TikToker” or “YouTuber” as recognized jobs.
Many more aspire to join that particular field, with one obstacle: Budget. Most people who decide they want to become content creators come from watching high-quality, high-production content from creators that has been in the game for years. However, as a beginner, you don’t have to start at the end. Every creator started at a lower point and built their way up over the years.
Does this mean that for you to create a successful TikTok channel and monetize it, you must start with low-quality videos and wait years to see the fruits of your labour? No!
If you know what the algorithm of the platform looks for and endorses, you can get the best of both worlds and create decent-quality content with affordable equipment and not wait years to see traction, engagement, and monetization in your TikTok account.
The TikTok algorithm, in particular, prioritizes three factors in videos: sound, lighting, and storytelling. All of this can be achieved using a £250-£300 phone. In this post, we’ll show you how. So, forget about having to buy the £1,200 flagship and a dedicated sound setup to start a TikTok Channel. You can do it on a budget!
Why Refurbished Flagships Beat “New” Mid-Range Phones
With a £250-£300 budget, your mind might go directly to buying a mid-range phone to start your TikTok career, but this is not the best route since TikTok, as a platform require higher processing power to film, edit, and upload videos. So, how can you avoid the £1,200 flagship, spend only £250-£300, and still have flagship-quality videos? The answer is refurbished high-end phones.
Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are optimized for high-end phones and flagships like iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S series. Even if you’re just scrolling on these apps and not creating content for them, the experience on a flagship is vastly different in terms of quality and speed, and the secret word here is the processor quality. Along with other advanced software features like OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), processor quality, and power don’t change in refurbished flagship models compared to new ones. In other words, brand-new or refurbished, a flagship’s processor is superior to mid-range and budget phones’ processors.
Let’s take a look at 5 high-end and flagship phones you can get at a mid-range price of less than £300 to start your career as a TikToker.
The 5 Top Picks (For £300 or Less)
When it comes to creating videos for TikTok, the main things you want to look for in your phone, the device you’ll use to record, edit, and publish the videos, are camera quality and processing power. By choosing a phone from this list, you’ve already guaranteed the processing power of a flagship. So, let’s look at what each device’s camera offers.
- The All-Rounder: iPhone 13
This first and best choice, “budget-phone” to film TikToks, is the iPhone 13. While it has what may be seen as a basic camera with only a dual 12MP lens system, it can film 4K videos at 60fps. This means flawless video quality. When combined with the camera’s app Cinematic Mode and its perfect integration with the TikTok app camera, you get premium-quality videos from the first moment without any extra effort.
- The Zoom & Detail King: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
A refurbished Galaxy S21 Ultra packs a monster camera back and front! The main camera films 8K videos at 60fps and the front-facing camera films 4K at 60fps. If your content is going to be about makeup, DIY projects, art, or any other genre that requires closing up on details, at its price point, the S21 Ultra gives you amazing high resolution with zoom-in shots.
- The Pocket Studio: iPhone 13 Mini
If you don’t want to spend extra money on additional filming equipment like an expensive tripod, or you want to film content outdoors while you’re on the go, like the famous “walk & talk” videos, the iPhone 13 mini is your best option under £300. It has the same processor as the standard iPhone 13, with a similar camera, but at a smaller size that makes it easier to carry around while filming and stay steady on smaller, more affordable tripods.
- The Color Specialist: Google Pixel 7
Besides having an ultrawide lens on the front-facing camera, which is perfect for wide shots, the Pixel 7 has two important features that make it film professional-looking videos: Cinematic Blur and Real Tone technology. With a refurbished Google Pixel 7, you get the video at an aesthetic that looks like you spent hours editing it using colour-grading apps.
- The Performance Beast: Samsung Galaxy S22
In addition to its beast of a processor, which is perfect for video editing apps, the Galaxy S22 has an incredible feature called “Director’s View”, also known as Dual Record, that enables you to film using the front and back cameras simultaneously. This phone is perfect for multi PoV videos.
Once you start exploring options for refurbished phones, you’ll find that there are many other models of flagships that you can upgrade the starting point of your TikTok Channels to without having to pay much more money than new mid-range prices. Choosing a reliable refurbished phone seller, like the UK’s QwikFone, gives you an added layer of security. Saving money on your phone doesn’t mean that you’d have to risk having the camera die in the middle of filming. This is why the 12-month warranty QwikFone provides with their devices acts as an insurance policy for your content creation career for the first year. Additionally, you’ll get the phone’s essential accessories and the delivery service for free.
Conclusion: The Phone is The Start & The Sky is The Limit
Myths around needing to spend a fortune on filming equipment to become a content creator on TikTok cannot stop you now. You have multiple affordable options of powerful premium smartphones to choose from and start filming right away to kickstart your online career.
While you don’t have to pick one of the devices mentioned on this list, the list itself acts as a starting point for your search as you browse a wide collection of refurbished flagships to choose from within your budget. Remember to choose a trustworthy seller with safe deal terms, warranty, and return policies.
Break a leg!