Featured Product: Motorola Moto G Power (2021) | $250 | Amazon
Phones are getting obscene in both the level of power they bring to the table, or your pocket, and also the price of them. You’ll likely be shelling out over a thousand dollars at this point for the high-end phones, and that’s just not reasonable for a lot of people. Thankfully, you can actually pick up a lot of good phones for under $500, just as long as you know what to look for.
While you’re highly unlikely to get the latest fancy bit of tech for under $500, you’ll be getting a lot more than you’d expect. You’re still probably going to have a great camera, good performance, and all of the apps you could ever want. Thankfully, we also happen to know a few good people over at Gizmodo, and they’ve got a lot of thoughts on what the best smartphones under $500 are.
Best Budget Phone: Google Pixel 4a
Google’s Pixel line, like the Nexus phones that came before it, showcases pure, slimmed-down Android. You don’t get the customized manufacturer interfaces, extra apps, or other nonsense: just Android, as Google intended. And the Pixel 4a slims things down even further, eschewing the flashy extras for the most important features in a smartphone, at an affordable price.
“You get a single flat screen, a camera in the front, a camera in the back, a fingerprint reader, and a headphone jack for $350,” explains Sam Rutherford in Gizmodo’s review. “If the Pixel 4a is supposed to be the essence of smartphone simplicity, I think Google nailed it.”
You don’t get the extra color choices (originally; there’s now a Barely Blue variant), size options, or a multi-camera layout, but it does the important stuff well—including that camera, which is better than you’re likely to find on most budget phones. It’s also one of the more powerful devices on this list, which is good for longevity—as are the software updates you get straight from Google.
It doesn’t have an official water resistance rating, which Rutherford notes is a sour point for that peace of mind, but the overall package is still incredibly compelling. “It’s damn near impossible to find a better phone in this price range without turning to one of its spec-heavy Chinese rivals,” he notes—which rarely work well on US networks anyway. If you want a solid Android phone at a more budget-friendly price, the Pixel 4a is it.
Best Budget 5G Phone: Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
Samsung is a company capable of putting out some truly phenomenal phones. While they’re generally a company you’d think of when considering a high-end device, the mid-range devices they’ve been putting out has become a lot more enticing of late. One of the best of these is the Galaxy A52 5G, which has a beautiful 6.5" 90HZ display, good cameras, and relatively good performance too. Plus, it features sub-6Ghz 5G support. While the design isn’t much to look at, that doesn’t stop it being worth a look if you’re more about function than form.
At $500, it’s an excellent choice for your next phone. Gizmodo’s Sam Rutherford writes:
“The A52's biggest weakness may be its lack of personality, because you don’t get any other color options to choose from, and while its design is quite solid, it doesn’t have a feature or trait that gives it a real wow factor. But when it comes to everything else, Samsung has you covered. The A52 has a big screen with beautiful OLED colors, good battery life, and even expandable storage and a headphone jack. For $500, the A52 isn’t just a good deal, it’s probably the best value in mid-range phones right now.”
Best Budget iPhone: iPhone SE
I’m tired of people talking like Apple only sells $1,000+ monstrosities. I’m as quick to dunk on Apple as anyone (terrible keyboards, flexgate, dongles aplenty ... the list goes on), but the iPhone isn’t only for rich people anymore. In fact, Apple has offered affordable iPhones for years, and the latest iPhone SE is the best yet. The new SE contains the same A13 Bionic processor as last year’s iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, albeit slightly downclocked, which means the internal hardware should last you for a good number of years.
Instead of skimping on power, Apple cut costs by ditching the unnecessary stuff like an edge-to-edge screen and multi-camera layout. While those are nice-to-haves, you still get the most useful goodies, like a fingerprint scanner (which I much prefer to face unlock), wireless charging (goodbye cables!), and IP67 water resistance—plus Apple’s fantastic software support. The iPhone 12 is undoubtedly the better phone, but if I only had $400 to spend, I’d gladly take a phone that’s designed to last instead of one that tries (and fails) to act like a modern flagship. In fact, Gizmodo’s Caitlin McGarry called it “the best iPhone for most people right now,” which I’d agree with—if I were an iPhone user, it’d be at the top of my list for the next upgrade. You can get it new from Apple directly, or grab it refurbished on Amazon or Back Market for even less. (Sadly, Apple isn’t selling it refurbished yet.)
Best Sleek Design: TCL 10L
Sure, $250 may sound like a bottom-of-the-barrel price, but you might be surprised what a couple Benjamins will get you these days. The TCL 10L sports an edge-to-edge display, four cameras (okay, three plus a depth sensor), and a programmable Smart Key that you can use to launch any app you want. More importantly, budget phones tend to keep a lot of old-school niceties that flagships have abandoned, like expandable SD card storage and headphone jacks.
There are sacrifices here, of course. In Gizmodo’s budget Battlemodo, Sam Rutherford called the TCL’s camera an “adequate shooter,” with a slight edge over the Moto G Power (see below) for its ability to “nail exposure more often and with better focus.” It doesn’t handle dim light as well as some more expensive cameras, but if you don’t take a ton of pictures anyway, you’ll probably be satisfied. The Snapdragon 665 processor is far from the fastest on the market, but more than usable—Rutherford noted that “compared to budget phones from just a few years ago, it’s encouraging to see how smooth both phones are during everyday use” (referring to the 10L and G Power). “if you’re playing a game while installing an Android update, neither phone suffers from lag or stuttering.” Don’t expect the world, but for the TCL 10L will get the job done.
Best Battery Life: Motorola Moto G Power (2021)
How many times a day do you have to charge your phone? Everyone leaves their phones on charge overnight, but do you also have to charge yours during the day too? It’s a hassle, but if that’s your main concern with your next phone, then you should look towards the latest Moto G Power model. It’s been a frontrunner in this category for a long time because of its price, and the 2021 model has an immense 5,000Ah battery that’ll mean it’ll outlast most other phones. It even manages to beat out phones like the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S21 by hours in a Gizmodo video rundown test. Sam Rutherford writes:
The latest Moto G Power isn’t very pretty, and it’s not that fancy either, but for a simple, well-built phone that starts at just [$250], it’s got practically everything you need. And when it comes to its name, the G Power definitely delivers, with battery life that can actually last multiple days. Sure, this phone is incredibly basic, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Best Budget Stylus Phone: Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G
Most folks do just fine using their fingers with a smartphone, but if you want the added precision of a stylus or do a lot of on-the-go sketching and note-taking, then the Moto G Stylus 5G might be more up your alley. This recently-released revision adds 5G support to the handset, which has a huge 6.8” Full HD screen, 5,000mAh battery pack, and strong 256GB of internal storage.
At $400, it’s a budget-friendly alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones, which usually sell for two to three times as much depending on the model. Granted, the Moto G Stylus isn’t as speedy or polished, and the cameras won’t blow you away. But as Gizmodo’s Sam Rutherford writes, it’s “like a budget Galaxy Note in all the right ways.” And if you can do without 5G, the LTE-compatible Moto G Stylus (2021) model is just $300 with half the storage.
This story was originally published by Whitson Gordon on 10/23/2020 and updated by Jason Coles with new information on 01/20/2022.