A few years ago, high-end smartphones cost less than $800. Now, top-end phones will run you $1,000 or more, many of which still lack easily replaceable batteries and other parts—meaning you’ll probably be buying another one in a couple years. If you just can’t stomach the eye-popping prices of today’s flagships, budget smartphones are the perfect alternative to keep you connected and your wallet happy.
Trying to save a buck on a budget smartphone doesn't mean you have to miss out on all the premium features found only on the most expensive mobile devices. If anything, you'll find that multi-camera systems, extra system memory, and display notches have all trickled down to even the cheapest handsets. While it's easy enough to see the best high-end smartphones sitting at the top of each manufacturer's catalog, pinpointing the best budget smartphones from the herd of cheap handsets is much harder. Well, you can rest easy because we've done all the hard work of picking out the best budget smartphones that won't cost you a fortune or short out on you just because it's cheap.
TL;DR – These are the Best Budget Smartphones:
Google Pixel 6a 5G
Best Budget Smartphone
The Google Pixel 6a 5G offers a whole lot for your money. You’d be hard-pressed to find a way that this phone isn’t a flagship Pixel smartphone were it not for that little ‘a’ in the name and the $449 price tag. You get the same Google Tensor chip found in the Pixel 6, giving you upper-mid range performance to cruise through games and open multiple apps at a time, switching between them with ease. And its AI tech makes for an impressive voice-to-text experience and cool camera functionality, among other conveniences.
That Tensor Chip powers the big, bright OLED display on the Pixel 6a, providing plenty of room for gaming, texting, and streaming. It also comes with Android 12, a super clean software toting only the basics like Maps and Pay. And Google has a strong track record for providing software support long after the launch of a phone, helping stretch its longevity. The only major downgrades when comparing the Pixel 6a and the 6 are battery life, charging speed, and its main camera is only 12.2MP, though you still get a stellar camera performance overall. Even with those few flaws, this phone still offers tremendous value.
OnePlus Nord N20 5G
Best Ultra Cheap Smartphone
Experience some of the latest smartphone luxuries at an impressive budget price with the OnePlus Nord N20 5G. At the moment, you can only snag this phone through T-Mobile, but if they're your carrier this phone packs a serious punch for under $300–though you can probably get a better deal. It runs on a mid-range Snapdragon 695 chipset and totes 6GB of RAM. Therefore, you not only get 5G connectivity but also enough oomph for scrolling the web, video chatting with friends, and even some light gaming. Those internals help power a large, bright AMOLED FHD+ display. And, that’s just the beginning.
The OnePlus Nord N20 5G provides a 64MP wide-angle camera on the rear to get great photos and videos, as well as a 16MP sensor on the front for crisp selfies. You’ll be able to run around all day snapping pics thanks to its 4,500mAh battery. And if you forget to charge your phone overnight, with a 33W fast charging feature, it’ll be ready for the day in 30 minutes. Plus, there’s ample room to store everything with the 128GB of space that’s expandable up to 512GB with a micro SD card.
iPhone SE (2022)
Best Budget iPhone
Though most of Apple’s latest iPhones tend to head towards the more exorbitantly priced end of the market, the recently announced third-gen iPhone SE (2022) manages to remain one of the cheapest iPhones worth buying. This model takes on the incredibly fluid A15 bionic chip, which is found in the iPhone 13. But the design itself sticks to previous iterations of the SE with a 4.7-inch screen and thick bezels – similar to the now very outdated iPhone 7 or iPhone 8. Luckily, it at least now comes toting 5G support.
The iPhone SE(2022) still offers the same 12MP rear camera seen in the 2020 model, but its new chip provides some photo software improvements like Smart HDR 4 and Deep Fusion for better-looking shots. There has also been a slight improvement to battery life. And, 64GB of storage comes standard on it, so if you're just looking to keep a smaller collection of photos, videos, games, music, and podcasts on your phone that should be enough. Otherwise, you can bump up to 256GB of storage. Starting at just $429, you're getting a lot for your money, and you won't find a more affordable iPhone than the SE.
Google Pixel 7
Best Budget Android Smartphone
Google is splitting the difference between its premium Pixel Pro line and its more budget-friendly A series devices with the Google Pixel 7. Running on Google’s Tensor G2 chip, you get an incredibly fast phone that also lets you take advantage of AI features like speech recognition and Night Sight photography. And your photos will be stunning day or night with an incredibly sharp 50MP main camera and serviceable 12MP Ultrawide camera, along with a Super Res Zoom feature that captures images with up to 8x zoom—though shots stop looking so great after 5x zoom.
The Pixel 7 slightly shifts the design of last generation's model, instead delivering a smaller 6.3-inch OLED display in a classier, more aluminum-rich frame. You still get a respectable 1080 x 2400 resolution, but the panel now hits up to an even brighter 1400 nits to shine in the sun, too. What’s more is the display’s refresh rate varies from 60Hz to 90Hz for super smooth scrolling, and you get it all for under $600—and the phone is often on sale—undercutting the competition.
Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro
Best Budget Gaming Smartphone
The Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro focuses on being a gaming phone first and foremost, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset running the show. That silicon lets the phone run faster and use less power than previous generations, while 12GB of RAM means this phone can multitask without breaking a sweat. And those heated moments in battle won’t make your phone equally as fiery thanks to a multidimensional cooling system that includes a quiet fan and a liquid cooling plate, ensuring your clock speeds stay high.
All that capability is behind a bright 6.8-inch AMOLED display featuring a speedy 120Hz refresh rate that can lower to 90Hz or 60Hz to boost battery life. If that weren’t enough, it's topped off with a 960Hz multi-touch sample rate and two touch-sensitive shoulder buttons that can be mapped to on-screen controls and are perfect for shooters. The only places we fault the Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro are its underwhelming camera system and slightly unpolished software, but it truly excels where gaming is concerned.
OnePlus 11
Best Budget Flagship Smartphone
Just because it’s a flagship smartphone doesn’t mean you need to fork over a ton of dough. Look at the OnePlus 11, a premium option with an insanely capable processor, and pricing starts at $699. Rocking the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and 8GB of memory means this phone will breeze through games, editing, and other heavy tasks. That also helps power the vivid QHD+ 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 1000Hz touch response rate and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, making it ideal for gaming.
Given all that performance prowess and stunning display, you’re probably wondering if the battery can keep up, but it’s equipped with 5,000 mAh of juice that should have no issue lasting through the day with average usage. But if it happens to run low, 80W SuperVOOC charging takes the phone from 0% to 100% in 27 minutes. The OnePlus 11’s sleek design and impressive high-resolution camera system round out this budget-friendly, high-end smartphone.
What to look for in a Budget Smartphone
When buying a budget smartphone, the first questions you should ask yourself is how you’re going to use it and what’s most important to you. If you watch a lot of movies and video, you might want to prioritize getting a phone with the biggest, brightest, and most colorful screen within your available budget. Alternatively, if you find yourself shooting photos with your smartphone all the time, getting a mobile device with a high-resolution camera or more than one camera could be your top priority. One simple trick for saving on your next smartphone is to buy a slightly older model, which will often cost a bit less than the latest models. All the smartphones from the past three years have all been spectacular, and they still largely hold up thanks to the incremental performance increase seen with mobile processors.
However, be sure whether the slightly older phone you’re looking at will be eligible for future software updates. The latest versions of Android roll out extremely slowly even on the latest flagship phones and Apple will inexplicably decide when its devices have hit the end of their life expectancy, so you might want to double check whether your budget smartphone will get Android 13 or iOS 16, the next iterations of Android and Apple's respective mobile operating systems.
One other simple move that might help you buy a phone for less is to get it on contract. Yes, this method has been around forever (aka the 1990s), but subscription-based discounts have become increasingly rare as service providers move more towards payment plans and subscription services like T-Mobile JUMP! and AT&T Next, which allow users to upgrade to a new smartphone every two years but never truly own their devices.
Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
