We test a lot of Android phones. We like the options below, but you’ll be better off with one of the options above. If you haven’t done so, check it out Best cheap phone guide for more information.
Motorola Edge 2022 for $500: A sub-$500 Motorola smartphone with support for contactless payments, 5G, wireless charging, plus the promise of three OS upgrades and four years of security updates. Say no! Motorola Edge (7/10, WIRED Reviews) eventually matches its peers on some number of counts and exceeds them in a number of ways. It has a bright, light 144 Hz OLED display and a 5,000 mAh battery that almost lasts two days. This is also the first Moto with 100% recycled packaging. The downsides? The camera is lackluster and it’s only rated at IP52 for water resistance.
OnePlus 10T for $649: Always in a hurry? You may love that this phone will recharge from 0 to 100 percent in a shocking 20 minutes. The OnePlus 10T It has fast speeds, all-day battery life, and a pretty good software update policy. However, the camera is just fine, there’s no wireless charging, and it has an IP54 waterproof rating, which isn’t good enough for the price.
Google Pixel 6 for $599 and Pixel 6 Pro for $899: You can still buy last year’s Pixel 6 series (9/10, recommended with WIRED) are from different retailers, but you really should wait until they’re discounted. They’ve dropped to $499 and $699 respectively in the past, but I expect them to drop even further as the stock begins to taper off.
OnePlus Nord N20 5G for $300: Nord N20 5G (7/10, WIRED Recommend) packs a lot of features despite the low price. The first caveat I need to mention is that 5G doesn’t work on AT&T and this phone is not compatible with Verizon at all. It will also only receive one Android OS update (although it will receive security patches for three years). If that doesn’t matter to you, you get an AMOLED display, great performance, NFC, a MicroSD card, a headphone jack, and all-day battery life. Not bad at all.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE for $600: S21 FE (7/10, WIRED Recommend) are usually $600 or less, so you shouldn’t pay more than a dollar. It adopts many of the same features from last year Galaxy S21 but cut a few corners to lower the cost. It runs smoothly and has a bright 6.4-inch AMOLED display, plus Screen refresh rate 120 Hz. The battery is larger than the standard S21 and comfortably lasts more than a day. The cameras are a bit different, but you still get super-telephoto and telephoto zoom along with the main camera for a reliable imaging system. This is a no-nonsense phone that can check all the boxes. Its software support is also excellent, with the guarantee of four Android OS upgrades and five years of security updates.
