The best cheap phones are more important than ever, as phone prices climb higher and ridiculous, unwanted features seep into popular models. We've tested dozens of phones this year, including the best bargain phones you'll find on this list. I can recommend a powerful phone with a great camera, bright display, and proven durability for less than $500.
Why spend four times as much on a phone that folds? Why spend more on features you don't need? Often, the best cheap phones offer what we really want in a phone, like the best battery life, bright color options, and expandable storage. You can't find those features on a Pro Max anything.
Finding a bargain phone doesn't even mean missing out on the features of tomorrow, like cool AI magic. You can buy a Google Pixel 8a for features like generative writing and AI wallpapers. Or, if you'd rather skip the AI nonsense, our favorite bargain iPhone, the iPhone 13, will never get Apple's Intelligence AI features, so if you want to miss the AI boat, get Apple's best cheap(er) iPhone.
We're currently testing more bargain phones, including the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2024), as well as the Galaxy A15 from Samsung, so check back soon if you need phones that dip under $300 or less. We track price over time, so we'll let you know how much each phone costs, and also the lowest price we've seen. You'll know precisely when to give that purchase a green light.
Phil Berne is a preeminent voice in consumer electronic reviews. He has been reviewing phones since before the first iPhone, and he even worked as an internal reviewer for Samsung, offering his opinion on top secret new models before launch. He has reviewed hundreds of phones and tablets, including all of the latest Samsung Galaxy, Apple iPhone, and Google Pixel phones.
Quick List
- Current best price: $599 at Apple
- Best price ever: $599 at Apple
We found the iPhone 13 to be a better value than the cheapest iPhone, the iPhone SE, with its bigger screen, more cameras, and all the latest iOS features.
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- Current best price: $399 at Amazon
- Best price ever: $399 at Amazon
The Pixel 8a gets seven years of Android updates, plus all of Google's latest AI features. It takes great photos and is totally durable.
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- Current best price: $499.99 at Amazon
- Best price ever: $399.99 at Amazon
The OnePlus 12R gives you the best battery life on any smartphone, with super-fast charging. It's not very durable, but the trade-offs may be worthwhile.
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- Current best price: $253.99 at Walmart
- Best price ever: $253.99 at Walmart
The Galaxy A35 has a beautiful screen, satisfying performance, and lots of personality. It looks like Samsung's expensive phones, even though it costs a fraction of the price.
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The best cheap phones in 2024
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Below, you'll find full write-ups for each of the best cheap phones in our list. We've tested each model extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best cheap iPhone
- Current best price: $599 at Apple
- Best price ever: $599 at Apple
✅ You want the cheapest good iPhone: The iPhone 13 is the cheapest modern iPhone we'd buy, with enough power and a big screen to blend in with the rest.
✅ You want to be a blue bubble: This is the most affordable way we'd recommend being a member of the exclusive Apple club, with its blue bubble iMessage privileges.
❌ You can wait a bit longer: The iPhone SE is rumored to get an update with a more powerful processor and a modern look, but it may not be this cheap.
❌ You want Apple Intelligence: You'll need an iPhone 16 to use the upcoming Apple Intelligence AI features, this phone will never get them.
Don't be fooled by the iPhone 13's age. Sure, we first reviewed it back in 2021, but Apple supports phones for five years, so it's up-to-date on all the latest iOS 17 features. With an Apple A15 Bionic processor inside, it's powerful enough to take on even today's fastest Android phones, let alone the bargain models here.
The iPhone 13 starts at $599, which is more expensive than we'd like for a phone that's three years old, but if you need to buy a new iPhone, this is the most affordable model we'd recommend. The iPhone SE also has an A15 Bionic inside, and it was launched in 2022, but we've used both phones side-by-side, and we greatly prefer the iPhone 13.
We liked the iPhone 13's larger, OLED display, compared to the dinky LCD screen on the iPhone SE. The iPhone 13 also gives you two 12MP cameras, including an ultra wide that also handles close-up photography, as well as a better selfie camera. Plus, you won't look like the person carrying the terrifically old iPhone with a Home button if you pick the iPhone 13 over the iPhone SE.
Read our full iPhone 13 review
The best cheap Android
- Current best price: $399 at Amazon
- Best price ever: $399 at Amazon
✅ You want Pro-ish photos to share: The Pixel 8a takes great photos that look a lot like what the Pixel 8 Pro can shoot, but the photos are smaller and easier to share.
✅ You want the latest AI features: We found all of the latest Pixel AI features on the Pixel 8a when we reviewed the phone, and it gets updates regularly.
❌ You want the new Pixel look: The Pixel got a major redesign with the Pixel 9, so you may want to wait (or save up) if you don't want to look dated.
❌ It isn't on sale with a discount: The Pixel 8a gets regular price cuts, so wait until you find a great deal to press GO on that purchase. You may save hundreds.
The Google Pixel 8a is one of the best A-series bargain phones I've seen from Google in a while, and it keeps up with the fancier Pixel 8 family in all the best ways. Most importantly, the Pixel 8a will get Android OS updates for the next seven years, an unheard-of promise for a phone in this price range. That means you can keep it longer and it will still be totally up to date.
I enjoyed using the Pixel 8a with all of Google's cool new AI features, including the generative writing tools to help you write text messages and emails in Gmail. I preferred using Google Gemini to replace the older Google Assistant. Google Photos gets the Magic Editor tool that helps you restyle your photos, and Best Take to perfect your group shots. You really get everything with this bargain model.
If you are looking for an absolute steal, keep a close eye on this phone. Google A-series phones get great deals on Amazon throughout the year, and you may find this one priced even lower than $499. The Pixel 7a dropped to $349 on the regular.
Read our full Google Pixel 8a review
The best cheap phone for battery life
- Current best price: $499.99 at Amazon
- Best price ever: $399.99 at Amazon
✅ You want the best battery life: You have to find a specialty gaming phone to beat the OnePlus 12R in battery longevity, and nothing at this cheap price.
✅ You want great performance: The OnePlus 12R is surprisingly fast for such a bargain phone with great battery life. It's a true flagship killer.
❌ You might get it wet: You can find other phones that are IP68 water resistant, but the OnePlus 12R can't handle a dunk, or even a very heavy rainstorm.
❌ You want an AI phone: For better (I think) or worse, OnePlus has skipped most of the AI features you'll find on Google's Pixel 8a and other new phones.
The OnePlus 12R finally brings the winning OnePlus R-series phone to the US, and I was surprised by how powerful and capable this phone could be, especially in terms of battery. It's available for $499, but in classic OnePlus fashion almost everybody will get at least $100 for any phone you can trade, so it's effectively a $400 phone.
For that price, you get an amazingly bright display, larger and brighter than the iPhone 13 and Google Pixel 8a by far. You also get blazing performance with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that was the crown of the best Android phones in my 2023 benchmark testing. OnePlus knows how to kill your desire to spend a lot of money on flagship phones, with a great display and fast performance.
The OnePlus 12R also has the best battery life of any smartphone I've tested. With a huge 5,500mAh battery inside, a cell normally reserved for hardcore gaming phones, this phone lasted 18 hours in my rundown tests, while most phones die before 12 hours is up.
Unfortunately, the OnePlus 12R isn't water resistant, it can only handle a light splashing. It also gets a respectable four years of Android updates, but Samsung, Google, and Apple all offer more than that. This phone won't likely drop in price, so if you can find a trade to help you knock the cost down, go for it.
Read our full OnePlus 12R review
Take a look at our OnePlus discount codes for the best OnePlus offers and savings.
The best cheap Samsung phone
- Current best price: $253.99 at Walmart
- Best price ever: $253.99 at Walmart
✅ You want a great display for less: At this price, the Galaxy A15 is the best smartphone screen you're going to see. It looks like a premium device.
✅ You want tons of features: The Galaxy A15 has Samsung's pedigree, which means plenty of software features to take advantage of the hardware.
❌ You expect Galaxy S cameras: This is a Galaxy A phone, not a premium Galaxy S, so it's cameras won't measure up to the best camera phones.
❌ You need to charge fast: The OnePlus 12R charges faster and lasts longer, so if battery and longevity are important, you may want to spring for that phone.
The Samsung Galaxy A35 5G impressed us with its top-notch features and its great Samsung display, all for less than $400. We liked diving into Samsung's OneUI software features, which gave us plenty of useful tools, customizations, and shortcuts, especially compared to more basic Android software from Google and Motorola.
Compared to other phones at this price, we preferred the Galaxy A35 5G's camera options, with a 5MP macro camera lens in addition to the 50MP main camera and an 8MP ultra wide. It also has solid battery life with a 5,000 mAh battery, the same size you'll find in Samsung's big flagship Galaxy S phones, and in our testing it had no trouble lasting all day.
Samsung's Exynos processor is no slouch, but we still got better performance from the flagship Samsung Galaxy S24. Still, we had no trouble playing our favorite games and browing the web with this Galaxy device. If you need a serious work phone, you'll have to spend more, but for less than $400, the Galaxy A35 5G is the best phone to buy.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy A35 review
FAQs
When does the iPhone (or Galaxy) get cheaper?
Different phone makers drop prices at different times. Apple almost never drops the price of the iPhone before the next edition is launched. It doesn't get the discount sales that the iPad and Macbook might get before the next big thing arrives. Instead, you have to wait for the new iPhone, and then the older iPhone comes down in price. It's still worth buying then, because iPhone devices last a long time.
Samsung's Galaxy phones usually see periodic sales throughout the year. The best discounts happen at launch or soon after, but you may see a discount a month or so before the next Galaxy launches. Samsung keeps its phones around when the next big thing arrives, but they don't always drop in price then, so take advantage of a discount when you see one.
Google's Pixel phones fluctuate in price throughout the year, but they usually hit a low price around the November holiday shopping season, and that's the lowest price we'll see for a while. Once that bottom is established, that's the price you should pay (unless you find it cheaper).
What is the best cheap phone?
The best cheap iPhone is the iPhone 13, because it offers a larger, OLED display than the iPhone SE, and an extra ultra wide camera. The best cheap Android is the Pixel 8a, because it gives you all of Google's Pixel AI features, plus great photos, on a phone for less than $500. The OnePlus 12R is also a great option with incredible battery life, and it's especially cheap if you also have a phone to trade.
How to choose the best cheap phone
If you are looking for a cheap phone, you'll need to first decide on your price range. Our bargain phones cost less than $500, but there are plenty of options that are even cheaper. Then you need to decide what is most important, and what you can sacrifice. You can find a cheap phone with top-notch software features, extra-long battery life, or impressive durability, but usually not all three.
If battery life is the most important thing, choose OnePlus and give up on Samsung's features and durability. If durability is key, choose a Samsung phone, but know that OnePlus charges faster and is more powerful. If the latest features are important, look at the Google Pixel, but it won't have the battery life of a OnePlus phone or the impressive display of the Samsung devices.
Do I need a name brand phone from Apple, Samsung or Google?
You can find a good device cheap from an unfamiliar phone maker, but the question is what happens when something goes wrong? No matter which iPhone, Galaxy or Pixel you buy, you know who to call if you have questions or if it breaks. Apple, Samsung and Google, respectively, all have a reliable track record, and they operate locally so you won't have to ship a broken phone internationally for repairs.
Before you buy an off-brand phone, see if they have a customer service number you can call, and check what the warranty covers and how they handle repairs. That's the worst case scenario, so it's best to be aware in advance.
The other advantage is software updates. Google offers seven years of updates on the Pixel 8a, starting from 2024, and Apple will support each iPhone for at least five years from when it launched. Samsung supports its Galaxy S phones for seven years, but not the Galaxy A phones.
Should I buy a used phone?
I would personally avoid used phones right now, unless you are buying from the most trustworthy source. While you might find an iPhone 15 cheap on Swappa or eBay, you can't be sure that the phone you get is what it claims. If that iPhone broke, was it repaired by Apple, or was it repaired by a company like uBreakiFix, which might swap premium parts, like the display, with sub-par tech for cheap? I would rather get a cheap new phone I can rely upon than buy a used phone and hope I don't encounter shenanigans.
How we test
- Review period: At least one week, usually 2-4 weeks or longer
- Testing includes: web browsing, photo editing, social media, photography, gaming, streaming video, audio playback, writing documents, being creative
- Tools used: 3D Mark: Original, 3D Mark:Extreme, 3D Mark: Slingshot Extreme (unlimited), Geekbench 6.2.2, Geekbench, Crossmark, proprietary tests
We test cheap phones the same way we test all smartphones, by using them as our primary device over a period of weeks. We judge these phones based on what they deliver for the price, so we aren't expecting top performance and professional photographs, but we do expect high quality, because even a cheap phone is an expensive investment.
We use these phones for messaging, phone calls, listening to music and audio, and browsing the web. We watch videos, play games, and use these phones in our cars for navigation and music. We use these phones for work and personal business.
We also test these phones in Future Labs, where they undergo rigorous and scientific testing for performance, display quality, battery life, and much more. We use colorimeter equipment to understand display quality, electrical testing gear to understand charging and battery performance, and other quantitative tools. All phones are given the same benchmark testing and real world expectations.
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