The best cheap phones for 2023
You don't need to break your budget to find a great everyday phone.
A basic smartphone used to cost upwards of $500, but those days are thankfully over. Now it’s possible to find something that meets most of your needs for as little as $160. However, navigating the budget phone market can be tricky. Many options that look good on paper often aren’t great in use, and some handsets will end up costing you more when you consider many come with restrictive storage. While we at Engadget spend most of our time testing and reviewing mid- to high-end handsets, we've tested a number of the latest budget-friendly phones on the market to see which are actually worth your money. This guide will help you find a bargain and maybe save you money as it highlights our top picks for the best cheap phones under $300 that you can get.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G
The best cheap phone overall
Samsung Galaxy A14 5G
Another cheap Android phone
Samsung Galaxy A03s
The best cheap phone on an ultra-budget
Motorola Moto G Stylus
Honorable mention
What to look for in a cheap phone
For this guide, our picks cost between $100 and $300. Anything less and you might as well go buy a dumb phone or high-end calculator instead. Since they’re 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 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.
Second, you should know what you want most from a phone. When buying a budget smartphone, you may need to sacrifice a decent camera for a long-lasting battery or trade a high-resolution display for a faster processor. That’s just what comes with the territory, but knowing your priorities will make it easier to find the right phone.
It’s also worth noting some features can be hard to find on cheap handsets. For instance, you won’t need to search far for a device with all-day battery life — but if you want a great camera, you’re better off shelling out for one of the recommendations in our midrange smartphone guide, which all come in at $600 or less. Wireless charging and waterproofing also aren’t easy to find in this price range and forget about a fast processor. On the bright side, all our recommendations come with headphone jacks, so you won’t need to get wireless headphones.
iOS is also off the table, since the $400 Apple iPhone SE is the most affordable iPhone in the lineup. That leaves Android as the only option. Thankfully, in 2023, there’s little to complain about Google’s OS – and you may even prefer it to iOS. Lastly, keep in mind most Android manufacturers typically offer far less robust software 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. If you’d 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 four years of security updates on all of its devices. That said, if software support (or device longevity overall) is your main focus, consider spending a bit more the $500 Google Pixel 7a, which is our favorite midrange smartphone and has planned software updates through mid-2026.
The best cheap phone overall: OnePlus Nord N30 5G
Display: 6.72-inch
Resolution: 2400 x 1080 pixels, 391ppi
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128GB
Battery: 5,000mAh
Rear camera: Triple array (108MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
Front camera: 16MP
The $300 OnePlus Nord N30 5G offers the best value of any of the smartphones on our list. No other phone in the price bracket features a processor as fast as the N30’s Snapdragon 695 5G. Moreover, OnePlus has specced the N30 with 5G connectivity in addition to a generous 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, meaning you probably won’t need to budget for a microSD card or cloud storage. It also comes with a 120Hz IPS display, a feature that’s great for both gaming and everyday use. Best of all, the N30 ships with a 50W power adapter that you can use to get a full day of battery life in 30 minutes. The N30 would be almost perfect if it had waterproofing and OnePlus had committed to pushing more than one major Android update to the phone.
Another cheap Android phone: Samsung Galaxy A14 5G
Display: 6.6-inch
Resolution: FHD+
CPU: Octa-core chipset
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB (expandable up to 1TB)
Battery: 5,000mAh
Rear camera: Triple array (50MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
Front camera: 13MP
Don’t let the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G’s modest price and uninspired design fool you — it has a lot to offer. For $200, you get a phone that is surprisingly fast and features solid camera performance. Additionally, it has NFC connectivity for contactless payments, something you won’t find on a lot of phones in this price range. Battery life is also excellent, coming in at two days with moderate use. Plus, there’s that great software policy I mentioned above, with Samsung promising to support the A14 with two major Android updates and four years of security patches. The only thing missing from the A14 is waterproofing, so you may want to opt for something sturdier if you live by the beach or like to doomscroll in the tub.
The best cheap phone on an ultra-budget: Samsung Galaxy A03s
Display: 6.5-inch Infinity Edge
Resolution: HD+
CPU: Octa-core chipset
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 32GB (expandable up to 1TB)
Battery: 5,000mAh
Rear camera: Triple array (13MP wide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
Front camera: 5MP
If you want to spend as little as possible but still want something from a reputable brand, the $160 Samsung Galaxy A03s is your best bet. Thanks to its MediaTek Helio P35 processor, the A03s performs better than you would expect. Unfortunately, the phone feels about as cheap as it costs and the camera isn’t much better. Oh, and did I mention the A03s ships with a measly 32GB of internal storage? In other words, be prepared to buy a microSD card to store all your photos and music. Thankfully, the A03s, like its more expensive sibling, will receive four years of security updates from Samsung. You won’t find that kind of software support on any other handset in the sub-$200 category.
Honorable mention: Motorola Moto G Stylus
Display: 6.5-inch
Resolution: HD+
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB
Battery: 5,000mAh
Rear camera: 50MP Quad Pixel
Front camera: 8MP
The $200 Motorola Moto G Stylus 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 sports a big and responsive 6.5-inch display and a long-lasting 5,000mAh battery. Plus, it’s available in two lovely colors: midnight blue and glam pink.
As with other options in this price range, it would be nice if the Moto G Stylus came with a more capable camera, a fast charger and better protection against water. One word of advice: steer clear of Moto G Stylus 5G. It doesn’t offer enough of an upgrade to justify costing $400.
