A few years ago, it may have been fashionable to spend $1,000 on the latest flagship smartphone, but for most people, that\u2019s neither practical nor necessary. You don’t even have to spend $500 today to get a decent handset, whether it\u2019s a refurbished iPhone<\/a> or an affordable Android phone<\/a>, as there are plenty of decent options as low as $160.<\/p>\n However, navigating the budget phone market can be tricky; options that look good on paper may not be in practice, and some devices will end up costing you more when you consider many come with restrictive storage. While we spend most of our time reviewing mid-<\/a> to high-end handsets<\/a> at Engadget, we’ve tested a number of the latest budget-friendly phones on the market to see cut it as the best cheap phones you can get right now.<\/p>\n Samsung<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Read our full <\/strong>Samsung Galaxy A17 5G review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Building a good budget phone is tricky as manufacturers have a very hard limit on what they can include while staying under cost. Samsung has balanced this nicely on the Galaxy A17 5G<\/a> by equipping it with a large 6.7-inch OLED display with solid brightness (up to 800 nits) and a 90Hz refresh rate. The phone\u2019s design also defies its price because while it is made from polycarbonate (aka plastic), it doesn\u2019t feel cheap. You even get a microSD card slot for expandable storage and three cameras in back. However, since one of those is a 2MP macro, it probably won\u2019t see nearly as much use as the 50MP main or 5MP ultra-wide.<\/p>\n The one thing I wish Samsung splurged a bit more on is the phone\u2019s Exynos 1330 chip, as it\u2019s a little 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 delivers a lot of value for not a ton of money. \u2014 Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n OnePlus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The OnePlus Nord N30 5G<\/a> was our previous top pick. At $300, it\u2019s normally $100 more expensive than the A16 5G. However, if you can find it on sale for less, it\u2019s still worth considering over the A16. For one, the N30 features a faster 120Hz display and its Snapdragon 695 chip, while older than the A16\u2019s Exynos 1330, still outperforms it in some areas.<\/p>\n Another reason to consider the N30 over the A16 is that it ships with a 50W power adapter, letting you get 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 can be a compelling alternative. \u2014 Igor Bonifacic, Senior Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Motorola<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For those on a really tight budget, the 2024 Moto G Play<\/a> covers all the bases well. It has a decently fast Snapdragon 680 processor along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. And while that last number might seem small, the phone has a microSD card slot so you can add more space if and when you need it.<\/p>\n Its 6.5-inch LCD screen is also surprisingly sharp with a 90Hz refresh rate. The Moto G Play even has an IP52 rating for dust and water resistance. That isn\u2019t much, but it\u2019s good enough to protect against an errant splash or two. Sure, the G Play is basic, but it\u2019s basic in a good way. \u2014 S.R.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Motorola<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The $400 Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G<\/a> offers something none of the other picks on this list do: a built-in stylus. If you love doodling and jotting down notes, then this is the cheap phone to buy. Thankfully, it has a few other things going for it too. The Moto G Stylus 5G sports a big and responsive 6.7-inch display and a long-lasting 5,000mAh battery. Plus, it doesn\u2019t look half bad.<\/p>\n As with 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 protection against water. With this recommendation, be sure to avoid paying full price for the Moto G Stylus 5G. Thankfully, that\u2019s not hard to do with the phone frequently on sale. \u2014 I.B.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For this guide, our top picks cost between $100 and $300. Anything less and you might as well go buy a dumb phone instead. Since they\u2019re meant to be more affordable than flagship phones and even midrange handsets, budget smartphones involve compromises; the cheaper a device, the lower your expectations around specs, performance and experience should be. For that 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.<\/p>\n Second, you should know what you want most from a phone. When buying a budget smartphone, you may need to sacrifice a decent main camera for long battery life, or trade a high-resolution display for a faster CPU. That\u2019s just what comes with the territory, but knowing your priorities will make it easier to find the right phone.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting some features can be hard to find on cheaper handsets. For instance, you won\u2019t need to search far for a device with all-day battery life \u2014 but if you want a phone with excellent camera quality, you\u2019re better off shelling out for one of the recommendations in our midrange smartphone guide<\/a>, which all come in at $600 or less.<\/p>\n Wireless charging and waterproofing also aren\u2019t easy to find in this price range and forget about the fastest chipset. On the bright side, most of our recommendations come with headphone jacks, so you won\u2019t need to buy wireless headphones<\/a>.<\/p>\n iOS is also off the table, since, following the discontinuation of the iPhone SE, the $599 iPhone 16e<\/a> is now the most affordable offering from Apple. That leaves Android as the only option in the under-$300 price range. Thankfully today, there\u2019s little to complain about Google\u2019s operating system \u2013 and you may even prefer it to iOS.<\/p>\n Lastly, keep in mind 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 a year or two of security patches beyond that. That applies to the OnePlus and Motorola recommendations on our list.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to keep your phone for as long as possible, Samsung has the best software policy of any Android manufacturer in the budget space, offering at least four years of security updates<\/a> on all of its devices. Recently, it even began offering six years of support on the $200 A16 5G, which we recommend below. That said, if software support (or device longevity overall) is your main focus, consider spending a bit more on the $500 Google Pixel 9a<\/a>, or even the previous-gen Pixel 8a<\/a>, which has planned software updates through mid-2031<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBest cheap phones<\/h2>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/uu\/api\/res\/1.2\/DtBf9yvTvSPblAxxwaPMUQ--~B\/Zmk9c3RyaW07aD03MjA7dz0xMjgwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u\/https:\/\/media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2026-02\/28083b60-0122-11f1-ac6f-150732671998\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/uu\/api\/res\/1.2\/x0192DWh1kqkZsZQitP_GA--~B\/Zmk9c3RyaW07aD03MjA7dz0xMjgwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u\/https:\/\/media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2023-06\/bb12ede0-14ff-11ee-bffe-aa157f7b54bc\")
What to look for in a cheap phone<\/h2>\n