The best cheap phones for 2024

It will possible be in vogue to spend $1,000 on the most in vogue flagship smartphone when they first to find launched, on the opposite hand it be not notable. You do not even desire to spend $500 nowadays to to find a tight handset as there are lots of solutions as low as $160 that would match your desires. Nevertheless navigating the budget mobile phone market will possible be not easy; solutions that search for appropriate on paper might perhaps perhaps not be in practice, and some handsets will discontinue up costing you more must you deem about many attain with restrictive storage. While we at Engadget spend most of our time checking out and reviewing mid- to excessive-discontinue handsets, now we non-public examined a assortment of the most in vogue budget-pleasant phones accessible on the market to search which would be in actuality worth you money.

Swiftly Overview

OnePlus Nord N30 5G

The best cheap mobile phone total

What to head wanting for for in a cheap mobile phone

For this information, our top picks mark between $100 and $300. Anything else much less and likewise that you just might perhaps as smartly tear aquire a tiresome mobile phone or excessive-discontinue calculator as a alternative. Since they’re intended to be more affordable than flagship phones and even midrange handsets, budget smartphones hang compromises; the cheaper a instrument, the decrease your expectations around performance and expertise must always unexcited be. For that reason, the best recommendation I will give is to spend as much as that you just might perhaps afford. In this mark fluctuate, even $50 or $100 more can to find you a dramatically higher product.

2d, that you just must unexcited know what it is best to have most from a mobile phone. When purchasing for a budget smartphone, that you just might perhaps wish to sacrifice a tight digicam for a protracted-lasting battery or exchange a excessive-decision advise for a sooner processor. That’s honest what comes with the territory, but gleaming your priorities will assemble it simpler to glean the actual mobile phone.

It’s moreover worth noting some aspects will possible be exhausting to glean on cheap handsets. For instance, you won’t desire to head wanting a long way for a instrument with all-day battery existence — but when that you just might perhaps fancy a huge digicam, you’re higher off meting out for one amongst the solutions in our midrange smartphone information, which all attain in at $600 or much less. Wireless charging and waterproofing moreover aren’t easy to glean in this mark fluctuate and forget about a fleet processor. On the intense aspect, all our solutions attain with headphone jacks, so that you just won’t desire to to find wireless headphones.

iOS is moreover off the desk, for the reason that $400 Apple iPhone SE is the most affordable iPhone in the lineup. That leaves Android because the best option. Fortunately, in 2024, there’s dinky to whinge about Google’s OS – and likewise you will even prefer it to iOS. Lastly, withhold in tips most Android manufacturers usually offer a long way much less sturdy instrument wait on for their budget devices. In some circumstances, your unique mobile phone might perhaps perhaps best obtain one main instrument update and a year or two of security patches beyond that. That applies to the OnePlus and Motorola ideas on our listing.

Must you’d desire to withhold your mobile phone for as long as attainable, Samsung has the best instrument protection of any Android manufacturer in the budget plight, offering four years of security updates on all of its devices. That mentioned, if instrument wait on (or instrument longevity total) is your main focal point, rob into tale spending a dinky more the $500 Google Pixel 7a, which is our favourite midrange smartphone and has deliberate instrument updates thru mid-2026.

OnePlus

The $300 OnePlus Nord N30 5G gives the best mark of any of the smartphones on our listing. No other mobile phone in the mark bracket aspects a processor as like a flash because the N30’s Snapdragon 695 5G. Furthermore, OnePlus has specced the N30 with 5G connectivity to boot to a beneficiant 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which procedure you presumably won’t desire to budget for a microSD card or cloud storage. It moreover comes with a 120Hz IPS advise, a characteristic that’s gigantic for both gaming and on a normal foundation use. Best of all, the N30 ships with a 50W energy adapter that that you just might perhaps use to to find a plump day of battery existence in half-hour. The N30 might perhaps perhaps be nearly excellent if it had waterproofing and OnePlus had dedicated to pushing more than one main Android update to the mobile phone. — Igor Bonifacic, Contributing Reporter

$250 at Amazon

SAMSUNG

For honest $200, the Galaxy A15 5G is an impressive powerful instrument. It has a 6.5-go advise with a fairly slower 90Hz refresh rate the Nord N30. Nevertheless, because it aspects an OLED panel in preference to an LCD advise, it boasts higher brightness and richer colors than in general all of its rivals. It will moreover be configured with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and its 5,000 mAh battery delivers a ton of longevity. And whereas its non-public isn’t too thrilling, the polycarbonate Samsung uses on the wait on has a pleasant matte fabricate that feels more fancy glass than cheap plastic. At last, the A15 comes with four years of security updates and three years of OS upgrades, which is longer than most handsets in this mark fluctuate. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter

$200 at Amazon

Motorola

For those on a truly tight budget, the 2024 Moto G Play covers the total bases smartly. It has a like a flash Snapdragon 680 processor along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. And whereas that last number might perhaps perhaps appear miniature, the mobile phone has a microSD card slot so that that you just might perhaps add more plight if and must it is best to have it. Its 6.5-go LCD conceal is moreover surprisingly absorbing with a 90Hz refresh rate. The Moto G Play even has an IP52 ranking for grime and water resistance. That isn’t much, on the opposite hand it’s appropriate ample to offer protection to against an errant splash or two. Certain, the G Play is traditional, on the opposite hand it’s traditional in a appropriate procedure. — S.R.

$150 at Amazon

Motorola

The $200 Motorola Moto G Stylus gives something none of the opposite picks on this listing attain: a built-in stylus. Must you fancy doodling and jotting down notes, then this is the cheap mobile phone to amass. Fortunately, it has about a other things going for it too. The Moto G Stylus sports activities a immense and responsive 6.5-go advise and a protracted-lasting 5,000mAh battery. Plus, it’s accessible in two sexy colors: nighttime blue and glam pink.

As with other solutions in this mark fluctuate, it’d be good if the Moto G Stylus came with a more succesful digicam, a fleet charger and better security against water. One observe of recommendation: steer clear of Moto G Stylus 5G. It doesn’t offer ample of an upgrade to clarify costing $400. — I.B.

$130 at Amazon