A few years ago, it might have been fashionable to spend $1,000 on the latest flagship smartphone, but for most people, that’s neither practical nor necessary. You don’t have to spend over $500 today to get a good handset, whether it’s a refurbished iPhone or an affordable Android phone, as there are plenty of good options available for less than $160.
However, the budget phone market can be difficult to navigate; Options that look good on paper may not hold up in practice, and some devices will cost you more when you consider that they come with restrictive storage. While we spend most of our time reviewing mid- to high-range handsets at Engadget, we’ve tested several of the latest budget-friendly phones available on the market to see which are the best cheap phones you can get right now.
cheapest phones
SAMSUNG
Read our full Samsung Galaxy A17 5G review
Making a good budget phone is difficult because manufacturers have very strict limits on what can be included in it while still staying within cost. Samsung has balanced this well on the Galaxy A17 5G by equipping it with a large 6.7-inch OLED display with solid brightness (up to 800 nits) and a 90Hz refresh rate. The design of the phone also belies its price as it is made of polycarbonate (aka plastic), but it doesn’t feel cheap. You also get a microSD card slot for expandable storage and three cameras on the back. However, since one of them is a 2MP macro, it probably won’t get as much use as a 50MP main or 5MP ultra-wide.
One thing I wish Samsung spent a little more on is the phone’s Exynos 1330 chip, as it’s a bit dated and sometimes struggles with things like multitasking or running more demanding apps. That said, starting at just $200 (or less depending on discounts), the Galaxy A17 offers a lot of value for very little money. -Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter
oneplus
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G was our previous top pick. At $300, it’s typically $100 more expensive than the A16 5G. However, if you can find it on sale at a lower price, it’s still worth considering the A16. For one, the N30 has a faster 120Hz display and its Snapdragon 695 chip, while older than the A16’s Exynos 1330, still has better performance in some areas.
Another reason to consider the N30 over the A16 is that it comes with a 50W power adapter, giving you a full day of battery life in 30 minutes. If you hope to use your new phone for as long as possible, the A16 is the better choice, but the N30 could be an attractive alternative. – Igor Bonifacic, Senior Reporter
motorola
For those on a really tight budget, the 2024 Moto G Play covers all the bases well. It has a pretty fast Snapdragon 680 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. And while that last number may seem small, the phone has a microSD card slot so you can add more space if needed.
Its 6.5-inch LCD screen is also amazingly sharp with a 90Hz refresh rate. The Moto G Play also has an IP52 rating for dust and water resistance. It’s not much, but it’s enough to prevent an errant splash or two. Sure, the G Play is basic, but it’s basic in a good way. – SR
motorola
The $400 Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G offers something that none of the others on this list do: a built-in stylus. If you like doodling and writing notes, this is the best cheap phone to buy. Thankfully, it includes a few other things too. The Moto G Stylus 5G features a large and responsive 6.7-inch display and a long-lasting 5,000mAh battery. Plus, it doesn’t look half bad.
Like other options in this price range, it would be nice if the Moto G Stylus 5G came with a more capable camera, faster charging, and water protection. With this recommendation, make sure you avoid paying full price for the Moto G Stylus 5G. Thankfully, this isn’t hard to do with phones that are on sale frequently. – IB
What to look for in a cheap phone?
For this guide, our top picks cost between $100 and $300. If nothing else, you might as well buy a useless phone instead. Since they are considered more affordable than flagship phones and even midrange handsets, budget smartphones involve compromises; The cheaper the device, the lower your expectations will be regarding specifications, performance and experience. For this reason, the best advice I can give is to spend as much as you can afford. In this price range, even $50 or $100 more can get you a dramatically better product.
Second, you should know what you want most from the phone. When buying a budget smartphone, you may have to sacrifice a good main camera for longer battery life, or exchange a high-resolution display for a faster CPU. That just comes with the territory, but knowing your preferences will make finding the right phone easier.
It’s also worth noting that some features can be difficult to find on cheaper handsets. For example, you won’t need to search far for a device with all-day battery life — but if you want a phone with excellent camera quality, you’re better off paying for one of the recommendations in our midrange smartphone guide, all of which come in at $600 or less.
Wireless charging and waterproofing are also not easy to get in this price range and forget about the fastest chipset. Luckily, most of our recommendations come with a headphone jack, so you won’t need to buy wireless headphones.
iOS is also off the table, as, following the discontinuation of the iPhone SE, the $599 iPhone 16e is now the most affordable offering from Apple. This leaves Android as the only option in the sub-$300 price range. Thankfully, today, there’s little to complain about with Google’s operating system — and you might even like it more than iOS.
Finally, keep in mind that most Android manufacturers typically offer far less robust software features and support for their budget devices. In some cases, your new phone may only receive one major software update and then a year or two of security patches. This applies to the OnePlus and Motorola recommendations on our list.
If you want to keep your phone for as long as possible, Samsung has the best software policy of any Android manufacturer in the budget sector, offering at least four years of security updates on all of its devices. Recently, it also began offering six years of support on the $200 A16 5G, which we recommend below. That said, if software support (or longevity of the device overall) is your main focus, consider spending a little more on the $500 Google Pixel 9a, or even the previous-generation Pixel 8a, which has planned software updates until mid-2031.
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