Best Cheap Android Phones

So, you want to buy a cheap Android phone, but you are overwhelmed by the myriad options available. Let us point you in the right direction.

However, first you have to decide if you want to buy a mid-range or budget phone at all. Buying a less expensive device usually means forgoing some features like display refresh rates above 60Hz, fast charging, mmWave 5G and wireless charging. On the other hand, you won’t pay $1,000 for a top-of-the-line device.

You should pay close attention to things some manufacturers skimp on, such as upgrade plans, a decent camera, cutting-edge performance, NFC support, and support for newer versions of Wi-Fi.

Luckily, our favorite cheaper phones managed to hold onto a few spots on this list.

Note about 5G

There’s also a good chance you’ll miss out on some forms of 5G, but don’t let that influence your buying decision. Many carriers have started to rebrand traditional 4G technologies as “5G”, so you need to be really connected to understand the difference. And you can catch some carriers like Verizon offering an extra $50 sale of 5G mmWave on the phone, as is the case with the Pixel 6a.

mmWave is the ultra-fast 5G version responsible for record-breaking speed tests, but you need to run this speed test directly when you install mmWave. In the real world, mmWave covers somewhere around 1 percent of carrier networks. The more common “5G”is sometimes slower than 4G. So take our advice: don’t pay a dime more for any kind of 5G.

Ars Peak

$449 Google Pixel 6a – Sucks all the air out of a room

Buy: $449 at Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Google

For a cheap Android device, it couldn’t be better than the Pixel 6a. The Pixel A series is generally great, but this year the lineup is taking things to the next level with the inclusion of a flagship-class system-on-a-chip (SoC). Google has bundled its $449 mid-range smartphone with the same Google Tensor SoC you’ll find in the $600 and $900 Pixel 6 phones. This means that this little device has almost the same performance as many flagships. In our full review, you’ll see the Pixel 6a benchmarks, which are identical to the Pixel 6 in terms of CPU, GPU, and memory.

In addition to not compromising performance, the Pixel 6a offers a ton of other benefits that you wouldn’t normally expect in the mid-range market. Google’s Android update program may not be the best anymore, but for a mid-range phone it’s quite good – you get three years of major OS updates and five years of security updates. Most other phones in this class have nothing to offer when it comes to software updates.

Companies don’t really invest a lot of money in camera hardware for mid-range phones, but the good news is that Google’s camera software can deliver fantastic results even with the cheap, outdated 12.2MP Sony IMX363 camera on the Pixel 6a. This is the same sensor found in the Pixel 2, 3, 4 and 5 and is one of the best cameras you can get at this price point.

The important point is the Pixel’s IP67 waterproof rating. This means you can submerge your phone in water for 30 minutes and you’ll be fine. It’s great not to have to worry about using your phone with wet hands or being able to just wash your phone in the sink when it gets dirty. This is a nice feature for peace of mind and you won’t usually find it on cheaper devices.

The display on cheaper phones will always be a compromise and we think Google is making the right choice with the 6a screen. The display is a 60Hz OLED while some mid-range phones opt for 90Hz LCDs. We like the 60Hz OLED screen because these cheap phones can’t display anything at 90fps anyway. Also, using OLED instead of LCD means Google can provide an always-on display.

The always-on display is one of the best features you can get on an Android phone. When the screen should be “off”, it instead goes into low power mode and displays the time and any notifications you might receive. OLED allows you to do this without draining your battery too much, and it’s great to always be able to see the two most frequently checked items on a phone without even touching it.

Another surprise at this price point is Wi-Fi 6E compatibility. If you buy a new hotspot, this compatibility will allow you to use the newly available 6GHz spectrum for your home Wi-Fi, which is great if you live close to your neighbors and have Wi-Fi issues. Everyone has to share airways, and in densely populated areas Wi-Fi tends to drop due to lack of spectrum.

The new 6 GHz equipment will allow you to move to a portion of the spectrum that your neighbors that do not use early adapters do not use, which should greatly improve your communication. Support for 6E is currently mostly exclusive to flagship phones, and it’s a nice perk to get a device with a Tensor chip.

You may or may not be a fan of the in-screen fingerprint scanner. These readers are a little slower than the rear capacitive scanners you’ll get on most mid-range phones. Google also ditched the headphone jack this year, which you might be worried about. Finally, there is no expandable memory. You can still find these features in other mid-range phones.

We’re not even sure we’d recommend the Pixel 6 when the Pixel 6a exists. With the Pixel 6 Pro, you get a significantly larger and significantly faster display, but the difference between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6a isn’t worth $150. Pixel 6a is too good.

Fine

• Tensor SoC delivers flagship-class performance without the cash.
• The camera can compete even with some flagships
• Three years of Google updates on the first day is pretty good for this price.
• Waterproof IP67
• Fast build Android without extra programs
• Always-on Display allows you to always see the time and notifications, even when the screen is off.

Badly