We recommend the best deals on new phones from the top three phone brands
With Black Friday deals getting started, you may think that the best bargain you’ll find on an affordable smartphone will be for a bargain brand or unlocked smartphone from Motorola or Nokia. If you want to spend less than $500 on a new smartphone, you can still find great picks from the top three US phone makers. I can recommend a great Apple iPhone, Google Pixel, or Samsung Galaxy to fit your budget.
You won’t need to dive deep into the past or pick up a used phone, either. Those aren’t bad ways to find a bargain, and a renewed iPhone 11 Pro Max might be a better bargain pick than any new iPhone you can buy. That still leaves you with an older phone. Older phones don’t get updated as long as new phones, especially Android phones. Instead, we’ll find something new-ish.
For these affordable phones, you won’t need to sign a contract agreement or trade in a fancy old phone to get a bargain. I can recommend devices that will cost less than $500 unlocked, so you can use them with any carrier, or switch mobile networks when you spot a better deal.
With the latest update to the iPhone SE (2022), Apple did something remarkable. It took a much older phone design and packed it full of the latest hardware. The iPhone SE has the Apple A15 Bionic chipset inside, the same processor you’ll find in the iPhone 14. That means it can run all of the latest games and apps. It also means the phone is likely to get OS upgrades just as long as this year’s top iPhone.
