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It’s so easy to fall in love with the shiniest and fanciest premium phones on the market. That makes sense, as they have the best features and most robust specs. However, we don’t always have the $1,000+ to buy those devices, and we sometimes need to set our sites just a little lower. This is where budget Android smartphones come in handy.
The Android platform is home to a myriad of budget-friendly phones that pack more power than their puny prices project. If you’re looking for a new phone that breaks expectations (and NOT the bank), then continue reading. Here’s a list of 10 great budget Android phones.
Google Pixel 7a
The Pixel 7a is the newest mid-range phone from Google, and this phone brings some of the same things that we loved with the Pixel 6a for only $499. This phone has a nice compact display that gets plenty bright. Also, it’s a beautiful AMOLED display.
The main feature of this phone is the flagship-grade Tensor G2 chip. This is the same processor that powered the Pixel 7 series of flagship phones. This means that you’re going to get the same performance as those phones. It’s a great phone if you want very little compromise.
TCL 40 XE 5G
TCL has a line of affordable phones that offer a nice experience. The TCL 40 series of phones is the latest series of phones from the company and a good option to consider is the TCL 40 XE 5G. This version is in the middle of the series, and it offers a nice experience for the price of $99.99. It’s one of the most affordable phones on this list, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good phone.
The best aspect of the phone is the display. TCL utilized its NXTVISION technology to give the display a boost in color and contrast. It can give the impression of upscaling SDR video footage to HDR. This is all wrapped up in a pretty smooth smartphone experience. It’s a nice all-around smartphone experience that you can have for only $100.
OnePlus Nord N30
OnePlus has a track record of making stellar devices that cost much less than the competition, and that extends to its Nord series of phones. The OnePlus Nord N30 is one of the company’s most recent mid-range phones, and it weighs in at only $299. While this phone is inexpensive, it’s quite an amazing performer, gaining a 5-star rating in our review.
This phone comes with a large and beautiful display that runs at 120Hz. It gets plenty bright in the sunlight and it makes everything just look great. Along with that, the performance is buttery smooth while gaming is also great on this phone. You’re getting a very nice camera experience along with great battery life as well. OnePlus really knocked it out of the park with the Nord N30.
Galaxy A54 5G
This is the newest budget handset from Samsung, and it’s been making the rounds with reviewers. For only $374.99, you will have the latest One UI software from Samsung along with great features. This phone has a beautiful 6. 4-inch AMOLED display which is great for watching content on.
The phone comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and that’s pretty standard for a premium mid-range phone. Along with that, Samsung decked this phone out with a 50MP camera that’s accompanied by a 32MP selfie camera on the front. The company usually gives its budget phones pretty good cameras, so you won’t have any issues with this camera package.
T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G
T-Mobile wanted to get into the smartphone game, and the company has done a decent job at it. The Revvl phones are good competition in the budget phone space. These phones are rather affordable, and they have decent specs.
The Revvl 6 Pro 5G comes with an impressive 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. That’s not bad for the price of $139.99. Also, it has a large 5,000mAh battery which should give you really good battery life. Topping off the specs, this phone has a 50MP main camera which most likely bins to 12MP.
T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G - eBay
Nokia G400
The Nokia G400 is definitely a middle-of-the-road phone that deserves your attention. It’s meant to be an affordable phone at only $199.99, it gets the job done. What’s probably most notable about this phone is the display.
The display has a 1080p+ display with an impressive 120Hz refresh rate. That means that you’ll have some nice visuals. If you’re going to be using this phone for the camera, there’s a decently powerful 48MP main camera. On the front of the phone, there’s a 16MP selfie camera. It should be good enough to take some nice pictures.
Motorola G Stylus 2023
This is the latest in the line of popular Stylus phones from Motorola. The 2023 edition of the G Stylus brings the same specs that you’d expect from the series. It’s not the fastest phone, but it’s powerful enough to get the job done. Also, it has a nice screen for only costing $199.
The main feature of this phone is the built-in stylus that you can use to write, draw, and sign documents. There are tools that you can use to get the most out of this phone’s stylus. Here’s our full review.
Motorola G Stylus 2023- Best Buy
Sony Xperia 10 IV
Sony has been away from the affordable phone market a few years ago, but it seems to have made a return with its Xperia 10 series. These phones keep the same aesthetic that you see with much more expensive models. This means that you still get the large and tall 21:9 display.
This phone has your typical mid-range specs for the price of $329. It’s running the Snapdragon 695 5G SoC, which is a decent SoC. It’s backed up by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. So, you should get decent performance, and the large 1080p display only sweetens the deal. This is the phone to get if you’re looking to work your way up to the more expensive Xperia phones.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro
Tecno isn’t a company known too much in the US, but it’s one that’s worth some notoriety. This phone is an amazing mid-range phone that punches well above its price of $259.99. One of the best aspects of this phone is its display. This phone has a display that can go toe-to-toe with some of the phones from Samsung. It’s extremely beautiful and bright.
The performance of this phone is buttery smooth with barely any stutters ever. The smooth 120Hz display just makes everything look that much smoother, as well. As for the software, it was perfectly optimized to utilize the power of the MediaTek Helio G99. You’ll get a perfectly smooth and solid smartphone experience with this phone.
Redmi Note 10
The Redmi Note 10 is a mid-range phone with some neat specs for only $299.99. You have a sturdy build to give you a premium feel. This phone has a 6.57-inch 1080p+ display.
The phone is powered by the mid-range Snapdragon 765G SoC, and that will give you some good performance. This is backed up by 4GB of RM and 128GB of storage. Also, this phone has a pretty big 4520mAh battery. You can expect good battery life from this phone.