Here are the best cheap phones for those on a tight budget. Find out what you can get for around $500 or less as we highlight the best budget smartphones.
Don’t want to spend $1,000 or more on a new smartphone? We don’t blame you. The good news is there are plenty of models available for half that price, but the trick is knowing which cheap smartphone is worth buying. After all, just because you’re not spending flagship phone money doesn’t mean you want to be stuck with a phone that’s rubbish. There are plenty of options out there for the best cheap phones!
We’ve collected the models that still give you great performance, good cameras, the right connectivity, and often a desirable design and brand name too — all for less money than you may expect. Cheap phones in 2024 will surprise you with their strong performance, making them more than capable of playing the latest games; plus they have batteries that will last you at least a day.
If your budget for a new smartphone this year is around $500, then these are the best models you can get.
OnePlus 12RThe best cheap phone overall
Why you should buy this: It’s OnePlus’s newest flagship killer and the truest expression of OnePlus’s creed.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants an amazing phone at an incredible price.
Why we picked the OnePlus 12R:
OnePlus is best known as the „flagship killer,“ which certainly used to be accurate. These days, OnePlus’s flagship phones are, well, flagships themselves. While they’re no less capable, it’s hard to frame them as a true „flagship killer“. That title has instead been handed down to the OnePlus 12R, a $500 smartphone that absolutely deserves the nickname. It’s a powerful, gorgeous, and immensely desirable phone and our pick for the best cheap phone in 2024.
Performance here is top-notch. It uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, last year’s flagship chip, and it’s exceptional. It runs cool, even under pressure, and it’ll handle anything you can throw at it. It’s silky smooth, thanks in large part to the variable 1-120Hz refresh rate, and the 2780 x 1264 resolution means everything on the AMOLED 6.78-inch display looks crisp, vivid, and inky dark.
It looks great elsewhere, too. The aluminum frame has soft curves and the camera system on the back is unique without being ugly. Sure, it won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s not afraid to stand out, and we love it for that. Under the hood, it’s running Android 14 in the OxygenOS 14 flavor, and it looks and feels great. Even better, you get three years of Android updates and four years of security patches, too.
The battery is another big highlight. First, it takes serious advantage of OnePlus’s charging expertise, and has an 80W charging rate (100W outside of the U.S.), and while there’s no wireless charging, the speed of the wired charging is enough that you might not miss it. Not that it’ll need charging that much, as the enormous 5,500mAh battery is more than capable of lasting for two days on a single charge. It’s an exceptional performer here.
The camera is good, but not up to the level of the rest of the phone. The main 50-megapixel camera lens has taken some greats shots during our time with it, and while it’s taken some bad shots, it’s been solid on the whole. The ultrawide lens isn’t as good, largely because it only has 8MP, and the less said about the macro lens the better. Thankfully, the 16MP selfie camera is good, leaving this on a good note.
The OnePlus 12R is a great smartphone, and it comes at a great price, too. It starts from $500, but OnePlus offers a strong deal where it takes a further $100 off that price when you trade in any other smartphone in any condition. Yes, including that decade-old smartphone from the dawn of the era. That’s an unbeatable deal and makes the OnePlus 12R an even better deal. The best part? It’s available to take advantage of for the entire life of the OnePlus 12R. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Google Pixel 8The best premium cheap phone
Why you should buy this: It has everything we love about the Pixel 8 Pro, but in a cheaper package.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a powerful but reasonably priced Google smartphone.
Why we picked the Google Pixel 8:
It’s a great time to pick up the second model in flagship ranges, as they’re currently proving to be excellent phones. Many brands have finally hit the sweet spot in balancing power and price, and the Pixel 8 is a perfect example of this. It has a large number of the features we love from the Pixel 8 Pro, but in a smaller, cheaper package.
It has the same Tensor G3 processor as the Pro variant, and while that means you get the same flagship performance, it does also mean it shares the same temperature problems. However, the Pixel 8 doesn’t go past „warm“, so this isn’t an enormous issue by any means. The display is a 6.2-inch OLED panel running a 2400 x 1080 resolution and a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits — which is very bright. Add a 60-120Hz variable refresh rate, and you’ve got a very beautiful screen — and one that’s hard to pick fault with.
But as good as the performance is, it’s the camera that’s always going to be the big winner here. It’s a dual-lens system that misses out on a telephoto camera, but that doesn’t really matter because the 50MP main camera and 12MP ultrawide camera are so good. This time around, it also has the new Magic Editor, a step up on the Magic Eraser that can move subjects around your pictures, change the color of the sky, and other edits you used to need a degree in advanced Photoshop to make.
The battery is a little small for a flagship at 4,575mAh. You may be able to squeeze out two days if you’re moderate with your use, but a single day is more likely. The 30W wired charging is fine, but it’s nothing that’ll knock your socks off. Wireless charging sits at 18W, which is also okay, but nothing spectacular.
At $699, the Pixel 8 isn’t exactly the cheapest device around — but it’s still worth keeping in mind because it often falls below $500 during sale periods. We’re not talking about Black Friday discounts either (though those are worth watching out for); Google itself has been known to drop the price down to $499 whenever it fancies shifting a few phones, so this is definitely one to watch.
Samsung Galaxy A35The best cheap Samsung phone
Why you should buy this: It’s a very impressive phone for $400.
Who it’s for: Anyone who appreciates Samsung phones at a great price.
Why we picked the Samsung Galaxy A35:
The Galaxy A55 may have been a letdown, but that doesn’t matter because the Samsung Galaxy A35 is here to plug that gap. It’s a great-looking and feeling smartphone with a good amount of power, a strong display, a capable camera, and some very compelling reasons to be your next phone.
The design is a particular high point. It’s similar looking to Samsung’s flagships, but uses a plastic chassis instead of metal. That’s not a downside, as Samsung has invested well into plastic that feels great to hold, and when paired with the glass that curves into both sides, the result is a well-weighted device that doesn’t feel at all cheap. Keep a tight hand on it though; while the front glass is Gorilla Glass Victus+, the back is just regular glass, and might not have the durability to take the blows and falls the display glass will.
The processor isn’t a new one by any means, but the Exynos 1380 still has plenty of legs. It handled most of the games we threw at it without any noticeable heating up or lag.
