I love a bargain, and these are the best cheap phones to buy in 2025

Under the hood is where the Pixel 9a really makes its weight, at least in my experience. It’s missing a few of the more recent Gemini-powered features, primarily due to its slightly lighter Gemini Nano XXS model. That means you’ll have to do without features like Pixel Screenshots, but you’ll still have access to photo editing features like Best Take, Magic Editor, and Pixel Studio, which I consider a fair trade.

Besides, with the battery life that the Pixel 9a offers, it’s hard to complain about the missing features. In our testing, the Pixel 9a lasted longer than its predecessor, its closest Android rival at the time, and the only realistic iOS alternative — a phone that you’ll see later on this list. It, of course, still charges kind of slowly, but the rock-solid battery life makes up for it.

One of the coolest aspects of Google’s latest budget offering, however, is that it changes its approach to macro photography. Where most cheap Android phones utilize their ultrawide cameras — or possibly dedicated sensors — the Pixel 9a employs its 48MP primary sensor, tapping into a slightly wider maximum aperture and larger pixels for improved light capture. If that’s not a classic Google approach to a camera, I’m not sure what is.

The Moto G Stylus (2025) does more than just keep up, though; it pairs a much brighter 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with thin bezels on all four sides, which handles my gaming needs just fine. Granted, that mostly means Pokémon Go around town, but I’m happy to report that Motorola’s 5,000mAh battery lasts all day long. You might want something a bit more powerful for dedicated gaming, but as an all-rounder, the Moto G Stylus (2025) fits the bill.

Anyway, the best part of Motorola’s powered-up setup is the Moto G Stylus (2025)’s wired charging. It now supports blistering 68W TurboPower speeds with a compatible charger, which means you can have the 5,000mAh cell back on its feet in less than an hour. Previously, speeds like that were reserved for Lenovo’s ThinkPhone and Motorola’s Razr Ultra, so fast charging is a big win for the cheap Android market.

The thing is, though, we’ve seen affordable Android phones with good cameras before. To combine great cameras with solid specs under the hood is much more impressive, and that’s what the CMF Phone 2 Pro does. It has a massive 6.77-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of brightness. That’s smoothness and sharpness to rival most flagship phones, but for less than half the price. Notably, the Phone 2 Pro also fixes one of our key complaints about its predecessor: it now has an NFC chip for wireless payments.

Also, if this is your first dip into the CMF ecosystem — and it probably is — you might notice an extra button on the side of the Phone 2 Pro. That’s the Essential Key, and it works like a screenshot button to add information to your Essential Space. From there, you can use it to create to-do lists, calendar events, and simply keep yourself organized. It’s a clever idea that has since been copied by OnePlus. Now, we just need CMF to copy Google’s Magic Cue, and the Phone 2 Pro will feel like one of the most capable AI-powered devices at an approachable price.

Perhaps the biggest reason to pick up this sub-$200 Android phone is its software. No matter how you slice it, One UI is one of the most flexible and customizable Android skins, making it easy to make your Galaxy A16 5G feel one of a kind. It’ll continue to feel that way for several years, too, thanks to six years of Android updates, which is more than most other options on this list. Granted, the Galaxy A16 5G will never be at the front of the line for those updates, but Samsung has already proven that they will, indeed, come.

Of course, if you’re buying a phone for more than just its software updates, you have to know that it can cover the basics. Samsung’s Galaxy A16 5G does just that, combining an Exynos 1330 chipset with a 5,000mAh battery, both of which trickle through power rather than chug it. A slightly underpowered chipset might not sound too exciting, and it’s not necessarily, but it feels like the right companion for this affordable Android phone — a phone that I’d say is perfect for a child receiving their first one or an older relative searching for a straightforward choice.

Thankfully, Samsung’s 50MP primary camera is good enough for family members at both ends of the spectrum, too. It’s sharp enough with bright enough colors that are a little more natural than Samsung’s usual reds and greens. You also get 5MP ultrawide and 2MP dedicated macro sensors to explore, both of which have their limits, but they still add a bit more range than single-lens setups like the one on the iPhone 16e.

Under the hood, the Phone 3a Pro is identical to its Phone 3a counterpart, marrying a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset with up to 12GB of RAM, both of which rise above what we usually find for this price point. That extra power keeps the lights of Nothing OS burning brightly, which is good because it’s one of my very favorite Android skins. Its combination of black and white detailing with the dot-based interface stands out among a sea of other generally bland options. During setup, I started with Nothing’s default, widget-heavy interface, but I have since adapted it to fit my needs by adding a large folder or two and cutting the home screen clutter.

When it comes down to it, both the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro could earn a spot on this list. If you’re not completely sold on the huge camera bump, you’ll still get great performance from the matching wide and ultrawide cameras from Nothing’s slimmer option. Both phones also pack carefully curated filters and camera presets, making it far easier to achieve unique looks in your shots.

No, that doesn’t mean its Dimensity 7400X chipset performs on par with the Snapdragon 8 Elite that sits in most of the more expensive flip phones, but it’s not terribly far behind, either. It still handles day-to-day tasks like scrolling through social media, streaming videos — on either the cover screen or the main one — and quizzing both Gemini and Perplexity when I need help with research. Usually, though, I’ll opt for Gemini on the cover screen as it gives me quicker answers that don’t involve opening the phone to read them.

And, with a flip phone like this, the less opening you do, the better. Motorola’s cover screen experience already lets you open just about any app in your app drawer without jumping through hoops like Good Lock, and its ample space for widgets means you don’t really need the internal display anyway. Honestly, when put up against the locked-down (but reliable) Galaxy Z Flip experience, I think Motorola’s flexibility makes it much easier to fine-tune your cover screen as a first-time flip phone buyer.

At this point, Motorola has had plenty of practice figuring out what works on its Razr and what doesn’t. Yes, I’ll admit that I begged the minds at Moto to ditch the ultrawide camera just a year ago, but I’m so glad the Razr (2025) doesn’t fall into that trap. Its wide and ultrawide cameras feel well-balanced and let you fit much more into your high-resolution selfies instead of pushing long-range zoom without a telephoto camera. Oh, and if you ask me, the Gibraltar Sea finish from Pantone is one of the best-looking phones of the year.

One of the more controversial (at least possibly controversial) parts of the OnePlus 13R is its design. It falls somewhere between the look of the OnePlus 13, with its circular camera bump and colorways, and the OnePlus 15, which is much flatter and cleaner overall. Thankfully, unlike the newer OnePlus 15, this mid-ranger retains the alert slider opposite its cameras, allowing you to easily toggle your volume instead of being thrown into Mind Space.

This pseudo-flagship isn’t just pretty around the edges, either — it has a 6.78-inch display that outdoes phones that cost much more. Yes, it has the same resolution as its predecessor, but the OnePlus 13R tops out at 6,000 nits of peak brightness, which is more than anyone could need and ensures the phone is still easily visible in bright daylight. Even cooler, though, is the fact that OnePlus’s display supports Aqua Touch 2.0, allowing you to tap and swipe even with wet fingers. As someone who often showers while my phone plays music on the counter, this flexibility has made it so much easier to skip songs here and there as needed.

Since I’m still trying to emphasize just how close this mid-ranger is to a flagship, let’s move over to its battery and charging combination. In true OnePlus fashion, the battery is gigantic at 6,000mAh (larger than the best from Samsung and Google), and the OnePlus 13R can handle 80W SuperVOOC speeds to get a full charge in less than an hour. You won’t find wireless charging, which is a bummer, but I’d say the wired speeds are good enough that you won’t miss it.

Design-wise, there’s no doubt that this cheap Samsung phone is a Galaxy S25 from top to bottom. It has the same metal frame, three individual cameras, and it comes Qi2-Ready, meaning that you can use magnetic accessories as long as you pick up a compatible case. You’ll definitely want a case, too, as the glossy Gorilla Glass Victus Plus back panel is a fingerprint magnet.

To me, the Galaxy S25 FE feels like the ultimate alternative to Samsung’s flagship lineup. It’s part Galaxy S25 Plus, part Galaxy A56, and it costs somewhere in between. Samsung’s 45W wired charging matches its top-end offerings, while 15W wired support puts this mid-range pick ahead of the OnePlus 13R that we just talked about. Oh, and reverse wireless charging means you can use the Galaxy S25 FE to juice up your friends’ phones while you’re at it — just don’t expect top speeds.

Although we won’t pretend Samsung’s 45W charging is in the same league as OnePlus’s SuperVOOC, we can say for certain that One UI keeps the Galaxy S25 FE deserving of its place on this list. It’s highly customizable, as mentioned while talking about the Galaxy A16 5G, and it feels far less iOS-inspired than the current state of Oxygen OS. You’ll get a full seven Android version updates, too, keeping this Fan Edition launch current long after you’ve finished paying for it.

For starters, the iPhone 16e still has a notched display to house its Face ID setup. Most of us haven’t seen a notch like that since Samsung poked fun at it in commercials, but it’s back now as an alternative to the usual Dynamic Island design. Outside of that, the iPhone 16e brings back the frame design we’d seen on everything from the iPhone 11 to about the iPhone 14. It’s much sharper than new phones, making it less comfortable to hold. That said, it’s one of the smallest iPhones on the market, so it should slot nicely into even the smallest of pockets.

If you can get past the simplified design, a few of the finer parts of the iPhone 16e are actually pretty good. Its 48MP primary camera is reliable and uses a sensor crop for optical-quality 2x zoom. It doesn’t support portrait mode for pets or most objects, but Apple’s library of Photographic Styles helped me overlook the limitations during my review period. Besides, you’ll still get access to plenty of Apple Intelligence features and years of software updates to extend the iPhone 16e’s lifespan into the 2030s, at which point its notched display will feel even more dated.