Samsung Galaxy S23 FE for $600: The price is constantly fluctuating, but I’ve seen the S23 FE drop to $500, which qualifies it for this buying guide. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, which is slightly older but still very fast and powerful. The triple-camera system is solid, with day-long battery life, and the 6.4-inch AMOLED screen is exquisite. It will get Android updates until 2027, and four more years of security updates.
Avoid These Phones
The HMD Vibe (5/10, WIRED Review) is the latest phone I don’t recommend. The performance is OK, but everything else is lackluster, and it will not get any Android OS upgrades. The Moto G Play 2024 offers a bit more for the money and is the better option.
I don’t recommend Motorola’s Moto G series phones from 2023 or older as they will not get any more software upgrades and the newer models don’t cost much more. Try to avoid buying a budget phone from a prior year (unless otherwise mentioned above) because they typically have short software policies and may be out of date.
Should You Buy Now?
Yes. Most major smartphone makers have unveiled their budget phone lineup for the year, though there are still a few options coming from TCL and HMD. I’m pretty confident in my picks above.
Consider Last Year’s Flagship Phones (or Used)
If none of these phones have the features you want or aren’t as powerful as you’d like, your best option is to look for last year’s flagship smartphones, which might be steeply discounted. Sometimes they’re easy to find, but manufacturers may stop selling them. Keep in mind that you’ll lose a year of software support, but that’s often still better than the software support available on cheap phones anyway. The Google Pixel 7, for example, has dipped to $400 at times, and the Pixel 7 Pro has dropped to $449. Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has started to creep down toward $600.
Alternatively, consider buying a used smartphone. (We have some tips here.) You’ll need to do your research, but sites like Swappa and Gazelle have a good reputation and are solid places to buy a used phone. Look for the current top models on Android and iPhone, and see what they’re going for used, or see what older used models are selling for.
Do You Need a 5G Phone?
5G is the current cellular network generation and it’s widespread enough that you should try to stick to phones that support it. It’s not completely replacing 4G LTE, so you’ll see this in your status bar as you roam around the country. You can read more about it here, but in short, 5G comes in two major types: sub-6 and millimeter wave (mmWave). The latter is usually only available in flagship phones and allows you to access superfast speeds, but you’ll rarely encounter mmWave (think select areas in major cities and certain venues, like stadiums and airports). Sub-6 isn’t much faster than 4G LTE, but it has a broader range and is more widely accessible. Most of the smartphones we recommend here support sub-6 5G, even those as low as $200.
Check Network Compatibility
If you buy an unlocked phone on this list and try to take it to one of your wireless carrier’s retail stores, they may tell you it isn’t compatible with the network. It likely is. Just use a paper clip or SIM ejection tool to pop the SIM card out of your current phone, then slide that SIM into your new phone. If it doesn’t work at first, reboot the phone or wait a couple of hours.
If you need a new SIM, try ordering one online from your carrier or see if they’ll give you a SIM when you activate a line in the store (if you’re starting coverage). Tell them you have a phone. Many times, reps will want to sell you a phone; that’s one potential reason they might hassle you into buying a different device in the store. Having said that, please make sure whatever phone you buy will work on your wireless network. Listings on retailers like Amazon should state clearly which networks a device will be compatible with. Also, make sure the listing says the phone is being sold “unlocked.”
In this guide, we’ve listed whether a phone works with a major US carrier. But what if you’re not on AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon? If we note that a phone works on T-Mobile, for example, that means it’ll likely work on smaller carriers like Metro By T-Mobile and Mint Mobile, both of which utilize T-Mobile’s cellular network. If you’re nervous about compatibility, look up the specifications of the exact model you’re considering. Make sure it has the LTE or 5G bands it needs to run on your carrier.
Warning for Verizon users: There’s a higher chance an unlocked phone will not work on your network. Make sure it is labeled to work on Verizon, or that it says the phone is CDMA-capable. If something strange is going on, like you don’t get any texts, you may also need to contact customer service and ask them to enable CDMA-less roaming. AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM carriers, which is the standard for most of the world; most unlocked phones are compatible with them.
