![]() Take a look at lower-end OnePlus phones or models from Motorola and Nokia at prepaid carriers for decent quality at a low price. But there's also a thriving market, mostly prepaid, of phones that cost $300 or less. Most of the phones available in the US cost $600 or more because they're sold on monthly payment plans that hide the cost over 24 or 30 months. ![]() One tip at the very low end: carrier-branded phones (which don't mention the name of their manufacturer) often aren't very good. On the low end, the Motorola Moto G Pure and the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G are excellent values for the money. This list has phones from under $200 up to just about $2,000. The next big releases will be the Google Pixel 6a in July, the next version of Samsung's flip and foldable models in August, and then the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro probably in October. The Android release cycle has become perpetual, with a new set of flagships seeming to arrive every month. Read on for what to look for when buying, as well as our top picks for Android phones. Keep in mind that while the reviews above may not show your carrier of choice, most of the phones here are available unlocked and can be used with multiple US carriers. But therein lies the problem: With so many options out there, how do you settle on the right one? Lucky for you, we test and review nearly every smartphone available on all the major US carriers. And unlike Apple's rigid release cycle, Google's hardware partners unleash a seemingly endless stream of new devices year-round. Whether you're looking for a big or small phone, entry-level or top-of-the-line, Android offers options for everyone. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. ( See how we test everything we review (Opens in a new window).) How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.Water resistance is still rare in budget phones, but these devices should have sturdy bodies that don’t bend or creak if you sit on them, and their buttons and ports should be secure with no wobble. Design and build quality: If you have to buy a new phone after several months because your cheap one fell apart, that defeats the purpose of getting a budget phone in the first place.If that’s important, you should buy a Google Pixel, or move beyond budget phones. A good budget-phone camera should at least do okay outdoors or in bright light, but you shouldn’t expect much in poor light. Even high-end Android phone cameras sometimes struggle, and the cheaper you go, the worse things get. Camera: If a good phone camera is a key feature for you, your budget smartphone options are limited.A cheaper phone will probably lack some or all of these features, but it might still be worth purchasing if the price is right. Extra features: Phones toward the top of the budget range should have features such as a good fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone without a passcode, NFC for mobile payments, and support for newer, faster Wi-Fi and LTE standards.We recommend phones with decent brightness, viewing angles, and colors. Budget phones almost always have LCD screens, and they’re dimmer and less vibrant than the OLED screens in many high-end phones. Display: Most budget phones have 720p screens, which is the minimum acceptable resolution.Most budget phones are unlocked, so you can switch carriers this gives you the most choice when you’re shopping around for good deals on a plan. While 5G is showing up in some cheap phones, it’s not yet a must-have feature even for high-end devices. Carrier support: The best budget phones work on all major phone networks, and we won’t recommend models that are locked to a single carrier or have poor LTE or 5G band support.Budget phones with the best combination of price and performance usually cost $200 to $300. The less power-hungry hardware also lets these phones run longer on a charge than flagship phones. Any phone we recommend is fast enough to handle basic tasks like email, web browsing, and media playback. Performance and battery: Most budget phones have a midrange processor and less memory than expensive phones offer.If a manufacturer doesn’t have a good history of keeping phones updated, it’s harder to recommend that company’s phones. Lower-cost phones also tend to get fewer updates, so they should be running the latest Android software with recent security patches out of the box. Software: A budget phone is slower than a high-end model, so it’s important that the phone not be loaded down with unnecessary apps and heavily customized user interfaces that perform poorly.
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