I disagree. Telegram is wonky and filled with bugs and weird UX decisions. It's a prime example of a platform that is just "good enough" but has no polish and added value.
What is 'shitty' about a '£300-tops Android phone'? I never paid more than ~€200 for a new phone, my current 'daily' phone is a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 pro from 2018 (running a de-fanged Google-free Android distribution) which still runs 2-3 days on a single charge and runs all apps I care to use. I don't consider this a 'shitty' phone in any way.