Best Phones Under $300 in 2024
Smartphone deals of the week
Deals are selected by CNET Group’s commercial team and may not be relevant to this article.
Phones priced at $300 or less, such as Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2024) and Samsung Galaxy A25 5Goffering more features and functionality than you might imagine. Phones under $300 come with NFC for contactless payments, 120Hz high-refresh-rate displays for gaming and smooth animations, support for wireless charging, and years of software updates, making them more versatile than ever.
This does not mean that every Telephone Perfect in this category. The cameras on all these phones are mixed. and at the time of purchase cheap phoneyou have a Main options: Do you want a fun phone or a durable phone? Unfortunately, you can’t have it both ways. Fortunately, there are many quality smartphones available for $300 or less. We’ve tested and reviewed every phone on this list.
If you want to save money on your next phone purchase, check out our roundup Best Cyber ​​Monday Deals. Keep in mind that you may find some Cyber ​​Monday Phone Deals This holiday season, these affordable models are down to even lower prices.
What’s the best phone under $300?
The best phone you can buy under $300 is Motorola’s 2024 Moto G Power 5G. It comes with a colorful vegan leather back, which adds an eye-catching design that we don’t usually see in low-cost phones – the Lilac color is definitely one to look at. Moto G Power 5G also comes with great features such as support for Google Pay contactless payments, 30W wired charging, and 15W wireless charging. We were able to capture some decent photos with the Moto G Power, and its multitasking capabilities make it a great choice for most everyday tasks. We just hope Motorola overhauls its software and security update commitments while designing it, as the phone will only get one Android 15 OS update and three years of security updates.
Best phones under $300
Hide our expert opinions
photo gallery 1/1
this Motorola Moto G Power 5G is the most feature-rich option in this roundup, offering wireless charging, a 120Hz high refresh rate screen, Google Pay for contactless payments, and a fantastic vegan leather design. Combine that with a camera capable of taking decent photos in bright environments and a processor capable of performing most day-to-day tasks, and you’ve got a device that’s fun to use without being overstuffed we’ve seen in higher-priced phones. A phone with extra bells and whistles.
While the phone does have shorter software and security support than the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G (1 year of main Android OS, 3 years of security updates), it’s a more useful device. It’s this appeal that makes the Moto G Power 5G our top recommendation for phones for $300 or less.
Hide our expert opinions
Showcase our expert views
photo gallery 1/1
this Samsung Galaxy A25 5G The best feature is that it promises to get four years of major Android OS updates and five years of security updates. If you’re buying a new phone to get the most out of it before you need to buy a new phone, the Galaxy A25 is the cheapest phone for long-term use. No other phone in this price range offers this level of support.
The Galaxy A25 5G has a lot going for it in other areas, including a decent 1,080p resolution screen and loud dual speakers for playing music. But I did find the phone had issues with multitasking. Its camera struggles to adjust to indoor conditions, and its plastic design combined with a thick camera notch makes it feel dated compared to other phones in this price range. That makes Samsung’s $300 phone a good choice when you just need a phone that’ll get years of support, but if you’re looking for more performance and features, you should consider other options
Showcase our expert views
Showcase our expert views
photo gallery 1/1
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G has a lot of features for the money, but its 50W charging speed is outstanding in this price range. The phone can charge from 0 to 100 percent in 45 minutes, while most other phones priced at $300 or less take 90 minutes to two hours to do the same thing. Its large 6.72-inch 1080p display runs at a 120Hz refresh rate, also enabling smooth animations in apps, games, websites, and streaming videos.
It’s worth mentioning that the 108-megapixel main camera – albeit a shocking megapixel number on a phone – takes photos that are only better than what I usually see on phones in this price range A little bit. This means it can take high-quality, detailed photos in well-lit outdoor settings. Taking photos in darker environments is difficult for the N30, with indoor photos looking washed out or blurry.
The phone will also only get one Android 14 software update and three years of security updates – an average timeline for this price range, but still disappointingly short.
While OnePlus does face stiff competition from Google’s Pixel 6A — especially when the Pixel is discounted to $299 — it does pack a lot of features for its price.
Showcase our expert views
Showcase our expert views
photo gallery 1/1
Admittedly, I’m cheating by including this phone in the list, but Google Pixel 6A already Discounted to $320 Used a lot lately, it’s an easy recommendation when it’s discounted into the budget phone range.
The Pixel 6A sells for $349 and won our Editors’ Choice award last year. In her review, CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco praised the phone for its excellent camera, Pixel-exclusive features like Magic Eraser, colorful design, and being the first to get new Android updates.
Although Google has since released $499 Pixel 7Athe Pixel 6A will still get more than two years of software updates and more than four years of security updates. That means it will continue to get new Android features and support from Google, and still have more time left than new phones in 2023 that cost $200 to $300.
Showcase our expert views
To achieve low prices, these cheaper devices tend to scale back significantly in one area. Most commonly, these drawbacks include limited software support, carrier support, or bloatware (pre-installed apps you never asked for). These trade-offs often mean These devices should not be used After two to three years, especially after security update support ends.
It’s also worth noting that while these phones retail for $200 to $300, many of them are often heavily discounted or even free as part of carrier subsidy deals. If you plan to stay with the same wireless carrier for two years, those phones may become part of the cost of your service.
Show more
Every phone on this list has been thoroughly tested by CNET’s team of expert reviewers. We actually use the phone, test features, play games and take photos. We evaluate any marketing promises companies make about their phones. If we find something we don’t like, whether it’s battery life or build quality, we’ll tell you all about it.
We check various aspects of the phone during testing:
- exhibit
- design and feel
- Processor performance
- battery life
- camera quality
- feature
We test all of the phone’s cameras (front and back) in a variety of conditions: from outdoors in sunlight to dimly lit indoor environments and nighttime scenes (for any of the available night modes). We also compared our findings to similarly priced models. We ran a series of real-world battery tests to see how long the phone lasted under daily use.
We considered other phone features like 5G, fingerprint and facial readers, stylus, fast charging, foldable displays and other useful extras. We also weigh all of our experience and testing against price so you know whether the phone is worth your money.
read More: How we test phones
Show more
There aren’t many other phones in this price range hitting the $200 to $250 price range this year, but if you’re looking to go a little cheaper, our top picks are phones under $200. Samsung Galaxy A15 5G. While I found the phone’s performance to be noticeably slower than the Galaxy A25, it does offer the same promise of four years of software updates and five years of security updates, which makes it a great phone for when you just need one An attractive option.
Motorola launches $200 Moto G 5G (2024) It’s also a good choice, and it’s close to a great $200 phone thanks to a similar vegan leather design and the Moto G Power (2024), NFC, and a decent camera. However, I found the Moto G 5G struggled with multitasking, making it harder to recommend it if you find yourself constantly switching between apps.
Show more
How about Apple’s iPhone?
